The Truth About...Amazing Songs
By Wes Fessler |
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August 6 , 2010 |
There has been much debate through time about what amazing songs truly are. Many have tried to condense the vastness of all that music is into ten or 100 songs that are the best or most popular of all time. This makes for a good headline, and at the right time, can sell a lot of magazines, newspapers, or pull page views on the Internet, but what really are amazing songs?
More than the Numbers
The truth about music is that, while it can be quantified in sales and longevity, these are merely numbers in an ever-evolving musical universe. Amazing songs, and more elusively, the most amazing songs of all time are measured not only in numbers, but also in influence on individuals, groups, and masses of people.
Defining Amazing Songs
Some have tried, as if by some magical formula, to determine what are the most amazing songs of all time. They paint, package, and mass-produce their results to people in every corner of the world, and their conclusions are generally accepted as facts. What truly is successful about songs, however, is not the same from individual to individual or from time to time.
Changing Times and Opinions
Take for instance an issue of Rolling Stone, published on December 9, 2004, which claimed by the title to reveal “the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Among that list, at number nine, was “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. While at the time, the world was still languishing over the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, a decade after his passing, would the same song be found in a study conducted by “musicians, critics, and music-industry figures today?” Perhaps it would have been included, or perhaps it may have been found somewhere else on the list, but the point is that music appreciation is not an exact science, and opinions about music are subject to changing trends and tastes.
The True Music Authority
People don’t need research, or scientific experimentation to discover the greatest songs. People don’t need to be told what truly amazing songs are. There is certainly no way to determine the greatest song of all time, while time continues to tick away without end. If a song touches someone in a personal way—inspiring that person with emotion, or stirring feelings of a sort that endure through time, or if a song helps a person through a difficult time in life, it is an amazing song. Truly amazing songs can inspire masses in crowds, small groups of people, or they can occupy a treasured place in a single person’s heart. When it comes down to it, the only true music authority is you.
List of Amazing Songs
The following are twenty of the most commonly published amazing songs (intentionally in random order), for which you can be the judge of their worthiness as such:
“Respect” by Arethra Franklin
”What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
“Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
”What’d I Say” Ray Charles
“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd
“Thriller” by Michael Jackson
“Imagine” by John Lennon
“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin
“Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
“Hotel California” by the Eagles
“Hey Jude” by the Beatles
“What’s Goin’ On” by Marvin Gaye
“White Christmas” by Bing Crosby
“Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones
“Jailhouse Rock” Elvis Presley
“Good Virbrations” by the Beach Boys
“Layla” Derek and the Dominoes
“Let it Be” by the Beatles
References:
The Greatest Songs of All Time, Accessed August, 6 2010
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/NeilYoung1/the_greatest_songs_of_all_time
100 Greatest Rock Songs at DigitalDreamDoor Accessed, August 6, 2010
http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/best_songsddd.html
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Accessed, August 6, 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time
