JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum What is your favorite song and why?

As far as I've been able to determine, most people, among the responders here, think a song is "good" if it is one that touches them and is memorable for them. So now I'd like to see what folks think is more than just "good" but what is their favorite.

What is your favorite song? Why is it your favorite?

Maybe you've never thought about it. Give it a try. See if you can put into words why it's your favorite.

Maybe you don't have a favorite. Why not? Do you have a reason for that?

Man, that's a tough one, Mike - it probably changes by the day.

But one that would be my favorite on many days and close to the top on any day would be "Tangled Up in Blue" by Bob Dylan.

Why? Well, first of all it's pretty uptempo. While I like plenty of slow ones, my favorites are always going to be something that moves along at a pretty good clip.

As far as the performance - Dylan's vocals are a matter of individual taste - but they are perfectly suited for this song. I don't think anyone else could sing it convincingly.

What really makes it for me though is the story. It's filled with imagery, which is something that always appeals to me. But the story is highly non-linear. It's difficult to figure out sometimes if it's even the same character from one verse to another. But it all hangs together in a way that's difficult to describe - which is probably why I haven't ever gotten tired listening to it.

And it ends with a very cool harmonica solo...

Scott

Humm,
So many. Today I got out a Carl Smith CD. Carl passed away last Saturday the 16Th. Carl recorded the best recording of AMAZING GRACE I have ever heard.

A song that was a big hit many years ago was HEARTS OF STONE recorded by Red Foley as well as others.

Another song I like is PRETTY WORDS by Marty Robbins. IT'S BEEN SO LONG by Webb Pierce is another. Too many to name just one.

Whatever I just wrote yesterday.

MAB

I agree with others who say that it pretty much changes every day.
But I think that the most-consistently moving song that I've ever heard is:

"You Still Believe In Me"
by The Beach Boys

Why?
It comes down to one thing, really -- the melody.
And the harmonies.
And the dynamics.

Okay, so that's a few things, but they are all intertwined, in this case.

At the end of the song, when the full choral harmonies come in, it never fails to send chills up my spine, a lump to my throat, and a tear to my eye.

The only thing I can compare it to is Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus. It's that beautiful.

I belong to this camp. If I were to pick "the best", I would immediately feel mistaken, and think about all sorts of other great ones. I'm just not a favorite song, favorite color, favorite ice cream kind of guy.

Why not? Because I'm not one-dimensional...I don't remain the same from day to day. I grow, I change, and so do my feelings and tastes. Could be that makes me a flip-flopper, but it's also the reason why I own more than one CD.

I don't think my favorite color is the "best" color, my favorite color is blue, by the way. Nor do I feel mistaken that it is my favorite. That doesn't mean that I might not change favorites, but so far, I haven't. Not since I was about seven years old.

A long time ago, I decided that I would pick my favorite things and think about why they were my favorites.

It fascinates me to read about others' thoughts on this. It's a real eye opener when considering how to communicate as an artist. There are so many variables when it comes to touching people with art, that it is worth studying them.

Here's an example.

I wanted to get hired more as a live bassist. So, among other things, I began practicing playing without looking at my hands. When I play the electric bass, I rarely look at my hands, not even when making moves up the neck. Instead, I look at the audience and smile. Now, this doesn't make me a better bass player, certainly I'm not a great one. But it undoubtedly gets me more work. I've had more than one person remark about it, and have had band leaders mention it.

I already have a feel for what my favorite things are. I know my favorite song, favorite overall male singer, favorite overall female singer, favorite male bluegrass singer. favorite female blues singer, favorite production, favorite live bands, and so on. And, I can tell you my reasons why they are all my favorite. It's funny, because my favorites used to shift until I spent time thinking about it, and now they seem to solidify. These things shape and focus my art. So now, I want to find others' favorites, along with their reasons.

Certainly, not everyone picks favorites, and that's ok, some of my favorite people don't pick favorites

Other than several of the "pearls" I've created... LOL... my favorite song is "Stardust." Why, you ask... simply because of the melody, lyrics and timeless continuation of this old "standard." Naturally, Hoagy Carmichael is also my favorite songwriter. Thanks for asking.

My favorite song is Visions of Johanna and my favorite album is Blonde on Blonde. It has been since I was a kid, and I have never wavered on that. For me there is an emotional connection that goes way beyond any style.

As Mark said, it is an impossible question but the closest thing I can come is to say what were my favorite songs at different times in my life.

"I believe", the first song I wanted to learn to sing. I was about 8. My sister and I did a duet of it. "I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows...."

"Only you". By mother brought home a portable record player and one Platter platter. The other side was "Smoke gets in your eyes" a much more complicated song and later it was my favorite. It still kind of is I think!

"I'm Mr Blue" I was 12 or 13 and I listened to it over and over until I was sure I could sound exactly like Bobby Venten. Latter when I was older and wiser I decided it was stupid overly sentimental tripe. But at the time, nothing got any better- it's all wrapped up with first love, mystery and adolescence.

"Wipe out" and "Sloopy hang on". I was in a rock and roll band that covered Louie Louie, the Witch, the Ventures etc. I was the drummer. One party at the VFW hall I took the lead vocal. I sang Sloopy hang on. The girls were interested in me for the first time in my life. You've gotta love a song like that!

"Malagueña" I was in El Paso headed for Viet Nam. I bought a cheap electric guitar with a battery powered head set so I could play in the army barracks. I didn't like it so I traded it in at a pawn shop for a 1946 acoustic Gibson with a narrow neck. My sister still has the guitar today. A guy in the barracks taught me Maleguana, a song I can still play on the guitar today.

"Fortunate Son" It said everything I was feeling about the last 18 months of my life. War is hell and I had been used. I came home with a purple heart and a blackened soul.

"For What it's Worth" Had friends at the University of Oregon who were big time war protesters. One went to jail for burning his draft card. Surely there is sanity somewhere in the middle because the extremes were out of control. I still do the song today.

"Shower the People". Went to work in a television station in Oregon and got pretty popular locally covering James Taylor and the Eagles. I sang on television doing commercials and telethons. This song was always identified with me. It didn't hurt that I looked like James Taylor. It was the first time in my life that I actually experienced something like fame. I went to a party and was asked to sing. When I sat down, people came around like I was their best friend. Suddenly I was suppose to be a counselor and sage and have all the answers just because I sang songs that made me seem wise and good.

"Take it to the limit" Only a few times was I confident enough to sing this song in the original key. It defines my vocal limits. When I can nail this song, I am in good form. It is also just a great song. It would be on my top 10 list of all times.

"Hotel California" One of those songs that just blew me away the first time I heard it. I didn't know it was possible for musicians to be that together and that tight on a song that sounds so spontaneous. It is a masterpiece of composition and arrangement and execution.

Having just tried to list "favorite" songs in order tells me I missed a bunch. Every Beatles album generated in me a new "Favorite". It might have been Rocky Racoon, or Let it be or A day in the Life. "He stopped loving her today' and a dozen other great country songs would be on my list. Martina Mc Bride's "Anyway" is a favorite until something else come along. It will. Maybe you will write it!

We head a thread going about this not too long ago but I'll be glad to share my favorite again and again and again!

Turn it up close your eyes and listen until the final piano note on outro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbeQa2hmznk

Take that Grammies!!!

Lynn,

I can't tell you how many "fave" posts I've seen here LOL.

OK, RM has always been one of my faves, and his work is high up the list of my favorite productions. So, that's your favorite...but why?

Okay let me see if I can break down 3 minutes and 17 seconds of pure heaven (from 1977) on earth scientifically, instrumentally, creatively, logically, vocally, fundamentally, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, legibly, and credibly, as I listen for the 1,000th time. Deep breath...

Okay...... the simple piano/violin intro itself teases me in an anticipatory fashion, then Ronnie (who by the way is the only artist I like singing this since he does so so masterfully) starts in w/the 1st verse with his strong but gentle deep voice again with simple instrumentation and an ever so simple melody and lyric that are both incredibly likeable and memorable and sad but in a beautiful sort of way that only my heart can understand. Second verse pretty much the same heaven w/alittle more instrumentation as is typical and expected towards the build of the bridge. Then comes the short and sweet breathtaking bridge melodically very different, pleasing and passionate returning again to the simple verse melody and lyric again. The crux is probably the last verse (modulated (1/2 step or whole you tell me?) that is repeated a second time after the instrumental break where Ronnie, the instruments, female harmonies and THAT DRUM ROLL before the last lyrical line and in the final lyrical line just consume me (rapid heartbeat) with a sad but beautiful and bittersweet return to that simple piano outro w/the very last high piano sprinkle/tickle being so important in itself like the last bite of your favorite dessert that you don't want to end, so you savor it.

The irony of it is how he sings "almost like a song but it's much too sad to write" yet the song was written and sung in spite of or as a result of a love no more, how clever is that. Genius!!

Or more simply it makes me choke up every single gosh darn time I hear it! I believe it is a combination of several elements that if you took even one away, it wouldn't work for me.

1. the voice
2. the instruments (did I mention the violins)
3. the words
4. the melody
5. the harmonies

It's simply perfect and it's perfectly simple!

End of thesis.

oops forgot to give credit to the writers Hal David and Archie Jordan. Forgive me. Also this was Ronnie's 8th #1 hit!

I'm a fan of most genre's but I grew up on classic rock...my favorite song has been and is "Layla"...the Derek and the Dominos version...it's the combination of that great band... Radle, Whitlock, Gordon, and Clapton...Duane Allman as a guest player on slide puts it over the top for me...rockin' sound and so melodic...when they break in to the piano driven part near the end and Duane is killin' it on slide, never gotten tired of it...saw Clapton do it once...Albert Lee was touring with him as guitar #2 at the time...the concert started from pitch black to all blue lights with that signature guitar lick from "Layla"....wow...Leon Russell was touring along with him then and it ranks among the best shows I've seen in a large venue...yeah, Layla...that's the one for me...and thanks for askin' !!

I have several "favorites" but I've come to the decision my big favorite is one of these:

For The Good Times written by Kristofferson and made famous by Ray Price

Sunday Morning Coming Down written by Kristofferson and made famous by Johnny Cash

I used to think it was "FTGT" but it recent years I've about decided it is "SMCD."

The reason I like both of these songs is the heartfelt emotion that comes through the lyrics to me. I like FTGT because of the short lines (4-5 syllables most of them) and almost every line is a cliche. Yet when you hear it, it reads perfectly just like you're saying it to someone.

In my life -- my whole life -- there's been a lot of loss, and there are so many times I wish I could have said, "hey, let's get together for one more good time." I couldn't, because many times I had no warning that the next day someone would be gone. I wish I could have heard them say "I'll be here if you should ever need me" and I wish I could have said it to them. But words went unspoken and hearts stayed broken. I wish there would have been one more smile, one more hug, one more moment but it was later than I knew.

I like SMCD because there isn't a cliche in the whole song and the lines are long -- I think about 17 syllables. Even so, it reads just like someone talking.

It starts out with a great picture of a drunk the morning after--"I woke up with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt." But you don't learn anything so "the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad so I had one more for desert." And so on and so on.

I guess the losses in my life lead to why I like this song so much too. It's a different kind of loss--the loss of dreams more than anything else. They echo through the canyons like a lonely church bell ringing...growing dimmer every second till they finally are gone.

I've never been high or drunk on substances but I've had mornings coming down. I've been in Nashville in the areas I think inspired this song. I've sat on a bench on Edgehill on a Sunday morning as a cruel and lonely wind slapped me in the face. And I have thought about something that I lost somehow somewhere along the way.

These are the things that come to mind for me.

Pretty impossible question to answer definitively, but my pick usually goes to "Do You Miss New York?" by Dave Frishberg. An irresistible jazz setting, a near-perfect lyric, and I'm in tears every time after laughing through most of it.

The song is about a writer who moves from New York to LA, and comparing the peace and sunniness of LA to the constant energy of NYC. But what it's *really* about is getting older. Worse, getting older and remembering what it was to be young.

It's chock full of great lines.

Do you miss the pace
The rat race
The racket
And if you had to face
It now
Do you still think you could hack it?

(Besides all the internal rhymes crammed in there, it's a great question)

By the second time through he's asking some really painful questions...

Do you dream your dreams out here
Or is that passe?

Did you trade the whole parade for a pair of parking places?

Do you find yourself in line to see Annie Hall again?

And at the end,

Do you ever run into that guy who used to be you?
Tell me do you miss New York?
Me too
Me too


It's great, great songwriting.

So what is your favorite song (and why), Mike?

Scott

Well, I'm glad you asked, Scott. Harry PM'ed me and asked too.

My favorite song is Gordon Lightfoot's "Song for a Winter's Night." It's a simple song that paints a picture of longing.

The guitars in the intro create a scene of snowfall and wistful contemplation. With a basso ostinato that transforms simple chords into lush movement, it sparkles and twinkles like flakes fluttering in the moonlight. Lightfoot's baritone then describes the scene...

"The lamp is burning low upon my tabletop.
Snow is softly falling.
The air is still in the silence of my room.
I hear your voice softly calling.

If I could only have you near,
To breathe a sigh or two,
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love,
on this winters night with you."

He doesn't tell us he's lonely, doesn't say he's missing her, just leads us to it, allows us to feel it.

The guitars again suggest the scene as if we turn to look out the window to watch the winter.

"The smoke is rising in the shadows over head.
My glass is almost empty.
I read again between the lines upon each page.
The words of love you send me.

If I could know within my heart,
That you were lonely too,
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love,
on this winters night with you."

A little more is revealed, but there is no sudden epiphany, no twists and turns, just a scene that gradually marries itself to the music. He never says that he is lonely, only to know that she is lonely too. Again, we're lead to his feelings, not informed of them.

"The fire is dying,
My lamp is growing dim.
Shades of night are lifting.
The morning light steals across my windowpane,
where webs of snow are drifting.

If I could only have you near,
To breath a sigh or two,
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love,
On this winters night with you.

… and to be once again with you."

Just an evening by the fire. Watching the snow fall, drinking a little wine and reading a letter. Missing someone. But the guitars, the bass, some sleigh bells and Gordon Lightfoot paint a definitive scene in my mind.

That's been my favorite song for many years.

for some reason, I'd always thought your favorite song was 'Wooly Bully' Mike... SOMEONE once made a case for it, and if the notion embarasses you, my apologies. But that had a profound effect on me... in the long run, it doesn't matter what I like best... I'd like to give the impression when I'm performing that THIS one is my favorite- because my tastes change from year to year, but I like the same 'type' of song.. eg. I like Katy Perry's 'Waking up in Vegas' for the attitude, which I find similar to Cyndi Lauper ... refreshing and humorous...

I'm like Mark, but if you want to pin me down, Wooly Bully will do....

mike

Hi Mike

Man that is impossible for me, no way I can get it down to one song, just no way.
I can't even get down to one genre for certain lol..

Well one song though that always makes me feel GREAT every single time, still after all these years is the pop tune "Love Train" by the Ojays

As soon as it opens with that guitar riff, bass line, groove and that tremolo fender rhodes, It fills my entire heart and soul with joy.

Don't laugh,

"Over The Rainbow"

Why? Combination of:
The Melody,,,my God the Melody! (The First Two Notes are octaves too)! I'm easy, huh? Two notes, and it had me locked in; The vocal performance; The Bridge; THE FEELING of the entire song!; Hope; A Magical aspect because of seeing The Wizard Of Oz first as a little kid and being entranced by it ALL.

I write dribble in comparison. The melody alone. Just hum that one and see how it really goes. I would love to hear that melody played by a great violinist! The no frets would be as expressive as Garland's performance, and would stand on it's on as something great, in my ears anyway. Wow,,,that melody!

I'm over the rainbow while reliving that song! Thanks!

Johnny D

Mike,
my favorite tune is Eric Clapton's Lay Down Sally but mt favorite song has to be Willie and Ray's duet of Seven Spanish Angels. Thinking about many favorites I keep coming back to that one. It's the story, the strength of love, along with those 2 heartfelt performances. Course the last lyric I wrote is high on the list but it doesn't have a tune yet. Anyone into bluegrass gospel?

Yeah Seven Spanish Angels for me

Good question,
John

The Answer to that actually varies with different points in my life.

All-Time Fave: "All I Have to Do is DREAM", (1958) by Felice & Boudleaux Bryant/Sung by the Everly Bros. First 45 Record I ever bought. The Harmonies, the Lyrics, that Twangy Guitar, the ENERGY...The Soul of it. Not MANY Since-Then have really come all-that-close TO it for the way it affected my lonely li'l Teenage Heart...heh!

"One Fine Day" (Carole King/Gerry Goffin) sung by the Chiffons in '63 was a fave since my HS Graduation year.

"Can't Get No SATISFACTION" by The Stones peaked me in Civillian Life in the Later 60's thru College.

"All Along the Watchtower" (1969) was my fave during my 'Nam Year. Bob Dylan penned it/it was Jimi Hendrix' ONLY Top 40 hit in the US I just found out when I Googled the year...He shoulda had WAY more Chart..JMO.

Hadda Google Hits of the '70s, since my memory didn't pull any up Instantly: DID narrow it down to 6:
"Benny & The Jets" (1974) Elton John/"One of These Nights" (1975) The Eagles/"Go Your Own Way" (1976) Fleetwood Mac/"Sultans of Swing"(1978) Dire Straits/"Hot Stuff" (1979) Donna Summer/"Cocaine" (1979) Eric Clapton

Three that come to mind from the '80's: "Superfreak" by Rick James and "Urgent" by Foreigner, both in 1981, & Bryan Adams' "Run to You" (1984).

I'll Post this & get back with some '90's faves!
Best Wishes,
Stan

1990's: "Jamie's Got a Gun" (1990) Aerosmith/ "Nothing Compares 2 U" (1990) Sinead O'Connor/ "What's The Frequency Kenneth" (1994) REM /"Unbreak My Heart" (1996) Toni Braxton/ Genie in A Bottle" (1999) Christina Aguilera

2000's: "Smooth" Santana/"Breathe" Faith Hill/"I Hope You Dance" Lee Ann Womack/ "Wide Open Spaces" (JPFer Susan Gibson penned it) Dixie Chicks/ "Live Like You Were Dying" Tim McGraw...& so-far TONS of Country Songs, like Dierks Bently's "What Was I Thinkin'?"

Forgot to research Mah Hero, Jimmy Buffett..but "Come Monday" is also a "Lifetime Fave", whenever it turned-up...I'll guess 1970-ish?


"

Hi Mike!

For years my favorite song was "Mercy Street" by Peter Gabriel, then "Fisherman's Blues" by the Waterboys... but for the last several, it has been "1,000 Oceans" by Tori Amos.

The Tori Amos song has the ability, I am not ashamed to say, to make me weep uncontrollably, from the sheer beauty of the way the melody plays against her chords. There is no other song that comes close to moving me emotionally, so much, and without really knowing exactly "why" --as I can't say I have paid particular attention to the words!

On a side note, the official video that goes with this song....I came to, late, and it is moving, as well...she sings inside a glass cage, while a lifetime of events, and people gaze upon her...if I had to guess, I would say Geoffrey Reggio of "Koyanisquaatsi" fame, directed this, in that there are some similar slow motion techniques, that seem to get us inside, into the "heart" of the subjects.

Song and Vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ48lDtj8cI

Mike Z

Real men can say they love "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" John, so don't be shy! And real women with discernment for one of the finest melodies ever written. That song is in it's own league/category. It is truly special and understandably so. Not all songs earn the title of "classic" a high and revered standing, but Rainbow does and for good reason.

Let this be our motivation/inspiration to write that "classic"....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0-um0pHTAg

BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN written by Fred Rose is an all time favorite.

SCARLET RIBBONS and THE OLD LAMPLIGHTER are some that I like.

Mike, Wooly Bully is my favorite song to sing. I don't sing "Song For a Winter's Night," my all time favorite. I don't do it justice. Wooly Bully, however, is a song I've sung live for years. A friend of mine, Robert Thames, sings it in the middle of Rocky Top, a practice which I have stolen. Wooly Bully makes people happy. There's a weekly festival in Stearns Kentucky where I absolutely must sing it, even if I'm just visiting. Those coal miners are a rough bunch, and they'll make me do it
Wooly Bully will be sung by the folks at my funeral, Song for a Winter's Night will be played.

Yes, that is a beauty, Mike. I first heard it when I purchased Gord's Gold back in the 70's.

I still think Gordon Lightfoot is one of the most underrated songwriters ever - for reasons you gave examples to in your post.

On that same album, he took some of his songs and made two-song medleys from them. One of them was For Lovin' Me/Did She Mention My Name. This observation isn't original to me but it was really cool how by running those two songs together, a different story emerged. "That's what you get for lovin' me" in the first part and, in the second part "And by the way, did she mention my name?"

Scott

I listen to Gorden Lightfoot's "Song for a Winter's Night" here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3nq8t_song-for-a-winters-nightgordon-ligh_music

Sarah McLachlan slowed it way down and this is her version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbgfXp5M02M

Joe,

That's the version from "Gord's Gold" released after he had signed with Warner Reprise. The original cut was on "The Way I Feel" on United Artists in '67, which is my favorite version. They are very similar, but on "Gord's Gold" there is an orchestra background, which makes the song less personal to me. The original was mostly acoustic guitars and had a charm that still captures me. I like Sarah McLachlan's version too, but again, not as much.

other than ones I've written.... Butterfly Kisses ... closly followed by chad morgan's shotgun wedding...

Oooohhhh...
I thought of another:

Merle Haggard - "Mama Tried"
The first thing I remember knowing,
Was a lonesome whistle blowing,
And a young un's dream of growing up to ride;
On a freight train leaving town,
Not knowing where I'm bound,
No-one could change my mind but Mama tried.
One and only rebel child,
From a family, meek and mild:
My Mama seemed to know what lay in store.
Despite all my Sunday learning,
Towards the bad, I kept on turning.
'Til Mama couldn't hold me anymore.

And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.
That leaves only me to blame 'cos Mama tried.

Instrumental break.

Dear old Daddy, rest his soul,
Left my Mom a heavy load;
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes.
Working hours without rest,
Wanted me to have the best.
She tried to raise me right but I refused.

And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.
That leaves only me to blame 'cos Mama tried.
--------------------

No way to explain it really. It just strikes a chord with me, grabs my heart and tells a story (in less than 3:00) that I cannot let go of. The remorseful renegade still loves his mama. Damn.

Well,
When the current type of country music was being discussed, anything conversial like the cheating songs of yesterday, now being avoided like the plague, I remembered a song Bill Anderson had written entitled, GET A LITTLE DIRT ON YOUR HANDS. It seems no one today wants to get anywhere close to real country music anymore. Well I hear it is still being recorded but you don't hear it on the radio. So get down and dirty folks! You will like it!

Ray,

Imagine this song being a hit today...Wynn Stewart's classic that he penned with Jimmy Velvet:

Why did you ever tell me that you loved me
When you knew that it was all the lie
I think that you deserve to and I think I got the nerve to
Make this the last day of your life

I'm gonna kill you I think I'm gonna kill you
I'm gonna close your cheatin' bedroom eyes
I'm gonna kill you I think I'm gonna kill you
And bury you in a box about half your size

You told you you were just goin' to the store
Seems like a month of Sunday since you've been gone
I've been sittin' here walkin' the floor
You'd better be prepared when you walk through that door

Cause I'm gonna kill you...
I'm gonna kill you simply gonna kill you
And bury you in a box about half your size

#####################

Of course, these days it is perfectly acceptable for a woman to write such a song about a man and have a hit with it, but this song would never be played. That is because we now have equality.

I couldn't find the original but I did find this little gem. Here is a young black man, busting open any stereo-type I may have been harboring about the way he looks and the "rap" I expected to come out of his mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i316RYsUEKY

This week "Stuck In Lodi Again" by Creedence and "Sultans Of Swing" by Dire Straits are fighting it out.

Next week it might be "On The Road Again" by Canned Heat, or that old blues song, "Yonders Wall."

There's a lot on my list of contenders, incuding several sung by Suzy Bogguss.

Mike that's a heavy song! I saw Jimmy Velvet one time on a show. Never heard the song. A lot of good songs heve been written over the years, they seem to be forgotten until someone plays them again. Some time maybe in the 50's I recorded a song by Marty Robbins on tape. Don't even know who I borrowed the record from. I was listening to the tape a few years ago and found the song, didn't even have enough tape because I ran out of tape and didn't get all of the song. The song is entitled GROWN UP TEARS. Write a hit!

My favorite, since the first time I heard it to today, I love tolisten to it, love to hear it but don't have it on cd or tape...is....

At This Moment by Billy Vera and the Beaters (is that the right name?)

Anyway...I love the song, the honest vocal, simple and to the point, isn't overly produced, and it just beautifully written.

I've had many favourites over the years.. two of my favourites are Merle Haggards "I take a lot of pride in what I am" and Carrie Underwoods "Temporary Home".

To me songs are as huge as life, and these two songs reminds me of two very important people in my life that's gone, and resonate deeply in my emotional experiences as a human being.

It doesn't matter to me whether songs are classics or not, just that I can recognize something bigger than life in them. I particularly like Dean Martins performance of "I take a lot of pride in what I am" because of his classic careless vibe which sits well with me due to the subject matter, but most importantly has something I can identify myself with or that I believe is present in my relations with the ones I love.

Carrie Underwood has in a short time recorded many songs that I believe are some of the finest country music can provide today, and many of her songs has that spiritual loft department without forcing a particular belief down on you.

This is something I need from music in this god forsaken world, where each has his own and nobody cares how you live or die.

So to me, good songs are the ones that rings true to the 'ME', it has nothing to do with technicalities of chords, notes nor anything else. The REAL ones are the ones that counts, and even if real can mean 6.000.000.000 things, there are somethings that's real beyond our corporeal experiences that I'd like my music to embrace and capture. Otherwise it doesn't make sense to me to write songs in the language of music at all.

.. Now, off to fabricating something 'real', that rings true for other people

"Taxi" by Harry Chapin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5dwksSbD34&feature=related

Man, that song is so achingly sad, yet beautiful. I love how it seems simple, yet keeps changing, and every chord plumbs the depths of our emotions. So many different and daring directions, but they all work, and they all come back around, and the story holds together, and the song feels whole. There are a lot of songs I like as well, but probably not better.

This is a very easy question for me.

My Favorite song...and has been since the 60's...is Percy Faith's "Theme From A Summer Place". I am referring to the original movie soundtrack piece. There have been subsequent versions, both with vocals and as instrumentals. But none of them compare to the original.

So why, you ask? That, too, is simple. I refer to Brian Austin Whitney's proverbial question...Does it move you? The answer is yes, many times over. It makes no difference where I am or what I am doing, if I here that song, I stop and listen. The serenity of the melody takes me away from everything around me. It is such a beautiful song that it overpowers any other emotion I have at the time, no matter the time.

Helen and I have donated our bodies to the Washington University School of Medicine upon our deaths, so there won't be a funeral. However, I have instructed my children "Theme from A Summer Place" should be played at any memorial service there might be.

Now, I have to go listen to the damned thing, since I've "talked" about it so much. Be back in about four minutes!

Alan

She's Not There (No One Told Me About Her) - the Zombies.


I love the aura of the song.


Tom Shea

Or maybe Once Upon A Dream - Emily Osment

Pretty, simple, great beat and melody

Tom

No, no - it is

So Good - Rock Angels

(Bet you never heard it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPudZthwIEg

Tom

wow! interesting reading here!
very loaded question.
I am going to answer like several and say that I have about 100 favorite songs in different venues.
I listen to so many different kinds of music even latin , when I'm in mexico and there are some good ones ( even if I don't totally understand the words)
but the one song that really gets under my skin and I can't hear enough of is KASHMIER by Zeplin. I don't know what it is, maybe the chord progression or the heavy drum. But just thinking about it I get chilled.....ooooh
I should have that one played at my funeral...(that would make some heads scratch)... LOL

Lee, I love "Lodi," play it a lot at the dances, that Canned Heat song is great, love the vocal and the understated production. Look over yonders wall, hand me down my walkin' cane...I used to listen to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band do that back in Chicago. Great stuff.

Caroline, wow, what a song. We play that with Donna Fargo a lot. "What do you think, I would do at this moment, when you're standing before me with tears in your eyes?" What a marvelous, simple statement so beautifully matched to some of my favorite R&B.

Magne, Hag rules. Yes, Carrie Underwood has a dynamic, emotional voice with great range and control. She has one of the best female voices in country music, ever. Her song choices have been very good. Reality is central to good music. The problem is: it is the perception of reality that counts. I've written a song that is absolutely the most real song of my life. A lot of people like it, some have told me it's their favorite song, it's gotten cut a couple of times, but there is a significant percentage of folks who just don't "get" it. So, unfortunately, it's not "great."

Mark, Taxi's a trip. I say that literally, colloquially, and as a paronomasia. I like Harry Chapin Carpenter, he was great even before the sex change. That cello part blew my mind. Interesting guy.

Al, "Summer Place" sends me too. Also, "Stranger on the Shore" which still moves me. Two others similar for me are "I'd Like to Get to Know You" by Spanky and our Gang, and "Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp. In both of those, it is the coda in particular that sends my soul soaring.

Tom, "She's Not There" is worthy of being anyone's favorite for sure. Emily Osment's version takes the old Disney waltz and puts a modern "Cars/Police" (Police Cars?) treatment for the track. Very well done, pretty stuff. Ha. The Rock Angels rock! I think a lot of the modern pop, that which is not as hip hop tinged, owes a lot to the Little River Band.

Good stuff, folks. Interesting.

Have any of you had any revelations from thinking about why songs are your favorites?

Well,
Have you heard the Theme to PETER GUNN lately? A moving experence to be sure. Somewhat like an earlier JAMES BOND theme.

And STAR WARS. Who can forget that music.

Ray,

I loved the Peter Gunn theme. Henry Mancini, I also loved the theme from "Experiment in Terror" and Baby Elephant Walk from the film "Hatari." I read recently that the memorable guitar riff from the James Bond theme was not written into the score but was played as "fill" by the guitarist on the session. Another argument for the value of the session musician. John Williams? Of course! One of the very best.

BTW, I play the Peter Gunn theme often. I use it as the basso ostinato for the Bruce Springsteen song, Pink Cadillac. Sometimes the band will use the Peter Gunn ending, if the other pickers are old enough to know it LOL.

Mike,
Another one I remember and have on record as well as disc is SAIL ALONG SILVERY MOON by Billy Vaughn. Also A WALK IN THE BLACK FOREST by Horst Jankowski. Who says good music from the past is dead. Anyone remember THE POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS?

The Billy Vaughn Orchestra, they had another hit, what was it? The old mind is going on me. Horst Jankowski! I whistled it the first time I walked in the Schwarzwald. I remember Chet Atkins having a version of The Poor People of Paris, but I can't remember how it goes. Wonderful stuff.