Scientifically perfect?
http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/04/a-scientific-at/
Scratch that. Reverse it.
I’m going from memory here, but my understanding is that Clapton was writing the song with Ringo Starr sitting across from him. Ringo was trying to read the lyrics upside down and says, “Why the hell is the song called Badge?”
Great picks here - I really love Sugar, Sugar and She’s Not There as choices. I think if I had to choose the most perfect song I can think of though, I’d have to go with California Stars by Wilco and Billy Bragg.
Swamp Thing by the Chameleons. So perfect. It starts off with a long, incredible intro, which I initially fell in love with. But then over time I realized that the rest of the song was complete perfection as well.
Btw, fantastic thread. I’m going to check out every single one of the songs listed here.
“I Want You To Want Me”. Agreed.
Also, “Alone Again Or…” by Love.
Probably the Chameleons song I’d pick too, even though it’s not my favorite Chameleons track (Second Skin or Soul in Isolation for that). An acquaintance of mine actually got to play backing for Burgess when he did sort of an impromptu Chameleons set over here, which later spawned a mini tour. It was very cool, Marty Wilson-Piper (The Church) even made a surprise visit and jumped on stage to play with them for the encore.
Totally agree with these three (don’t know the other two).
Having listened to everything up-thread with an easy link, I decided this thread needed more metal. (Maybe any metal at all, depending on what you consider Tool to be.) My pick would be Symphony of Destruction from Megadeth.
The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Twistin the Night Away - Sam Cooke
White Wedding - Billy Idol
You’re So Vain - Carly Simon
Agree with Here She Comes.
Would also add:
Sumerland (What Dreams May Come)
A New England
Kiss Me
Gotta Getaway
I am the Resurrection
Body Electric
“Evangeline” by Matthew Sweet.
[i]Stand By Me - Ben E. King (1960)
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals (1964)
Pick Up the Pieces - Average White Band (1974)
Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste of Honey (1978)
Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1981)[/i]
“The artist looked at the producer.
The producer sat back.
He said what we have got here,
Is a perfect track…”
From Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero, Part 1), off Neil Young’s album Freedom. Which isn’t itself a perfect track, but Wrecking Ball, off the same CD, probably is.
No Miles Davis? ‘So What’ is THE perfect song! :)
I’d also throw ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed in there too.
Most of my perfects involve synths. Particularly older Roland and Korg Synths.
Xtal - Aphex Twin
Theme From Ernest Borgnine - Squarepusher
Belfast - Orbital
Computer World - Kraftwerk
Aqua Worm Hole - Drexciya
Tango n’ Vectif - µ-Ziq
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4 Jeff Buckley’s cover of hallelujah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFySnZl2O8o Damien Rice Eskimo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdRHSuPxgXo Anna Nalick Breathe (lyric’s)
I agree with most that have already been posted, so I thought I would throw in some from a different direction.
Funny, I would consider including Girlfriend in this list. Haven’t really heard much of his stuff since then though.
I’m actually putting a list together of top songs for my kids that I want them to know. For example I can’t imagine the bus scene in Almost Famous would be as moving if someone didn’t know Tiny Dancer.
My turn in the blender:
“Erica’s Word” by Game Theory. Love the way it builds by adding instruments (which is something that GT frontman Scott Miller does a lot.) Love that you can sorta tell that drummer Gil Ray got his start playing in metal bands by the way he’s destroying his snare drum throughout. Yeah, Miller’s voice (which he describes as his “usual obnoxious vocals”) can be an acquired taste for those who haven’t heard the last Big Star album, but it works. Finally, there’s the guitar solo/bridge thing, that features a perfectly tasteful lead figure that does exactly what it should do, and notice that there are handclaps on every snare pop to help emphasize it. So perfect, it might take you a few listens to realize just how deep the lyrics actually go: “Erica’s gone shy, some unknown ‘X’ behind the why”
“Throwing Stones” by Sneaky Feelings Push-to-shove, maybe the most personally affecting song of my life, this is the perfect angry-about-a-broken-heart, shattered relationship song. No chorus, really, rather a recurring motif at the end of each verse…and then there’s the bridge. Oh shit there’s the bridge. Sneaky Feelings co-frontman David Pine must’ve gone through a terrible breakup when he wrote this song, “The Trouble With Kay”, and “The Strange And Conflicting Feelings Of Separation And Betrayal”. I love the way the bass carries the melody through the guitars, the way the drums hit the cymbals at just the perfect spots, and the clenched agony of Pine’s vocal here. And again, there’s the lyrics: “Sometimes you show me simple things you say will make him fall/All the time is hours spent that mean nothing at all/Everything you show me, all the the things you know/They’re not true; they’re not true”. Perfect.
“Cool” by Superchunk Quibble, if you like, with Mac’s singing or the tinny production. That’s all valid. Such notes, however, seem trivial when compared against the sheer majesty of this self-referential song. From the genius, catchy verses into a brilliantly pithy chorus. If: “I heard this song on the radio once/I stole a bar, stole a drink/I used the last drop for my ink/Sometimes I fear I neglect to think” doesn’t sum up post-'80’s rock, then the bridge does. And again, what a fucking bridge! They change keys and start chugging like a runaway locomotive there; I’ve heard this damn song ten thousand times in my life, and it still makes the short hairs stand on end. The great lost anthem of 1990’s rock? Yep. Perfect.
There’s something that feels kind of cheesy about their version of it – don’t get me wrong, I like it a lot – but I’m a little embarrassed to do so :)
This is only, like, my opinion, man.
Covers: The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You, Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower, Pearl Jam - Little Wing (then) Maggot Brain
Non-covers: Portishead - Sour Times, White Light Riot (a local band that sadly broke up last year, leaving only 1 EP, 1 GREAT album, and 1 album that was less so) Atomism, Smashing Pumpkins -Rocket.
P.S. I’d be grateful for any song recommendations based on the picks above.
I’ve always thought of Squeeze’s “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” as being pretty much perfect.