15. "Hey Jude" by the Beatles
I certainly do have an affinity for songs written primarily by John Lennon, but how can you not love this one by Paul? This song is hands down the greatest sing-a-long song of all time. Any time this song is played in public, it always ends in a crowd of people singing "Naaaa, naaaa, naaa, na-na-na-na." The song is simple enough in structure, and who doesn't love it when Paul McCartney plays the piano, but the song contains the greatest gang vocal of all time. As far as the content of the song, it is common knowledge that Paul wrote the song for Julian Lennon, but John once remarked in an interview that the song was about John himself. I have to say when you read the lyrics, it actually makes sense that Paul is encouraging John: "You have found her, now go and get her." I will leave the interpretation up to you, but I must say that John's argument has some validity.
14. "Sluttering (May 4th)" by Jawbreaker
Only Blake Schwarzenbach could successfully get away with creating a word in a song. I am still waiting for the word to catch on in our vernacular, and I will probably be waiting awhile, but I have decided if ever the occasion arises, I will definitely use the word "Sluttering." The lyrics are great, in fact, the best that Jawbreaker has to offer in my opinion. Some of my favorite lines are the super-catchy chorus: "I got this dress. I'm hiking it around this waste of laughter./ Slow dance alone with no one to the sound of four hands clapping./Congratulations to you both, I hope someway you're happy./ If there's a moral to this story then I wish you'd show me." The song really is a very hard-rocking song. Any time I listen to it, you better believe that I repeat several times.
13. "The Bleeding Heart Show" by the New Pornographers
This song is still kind of a new classic to me, and was definitely one of the more recent songs in the chronology of my own life to make the list. I think that A.C. Newman and Neko Case achieve male/female rock vocal perfection in this song. It is also one of those great songs that has three very specific parts: the intro, the "hey-la" section, and the end where Neko Case is belting "We have arrived too late to play the bleeding heart show." Now I know that the song was used in a commercial and is still probably today the most great to blame for the amount of commercial success they have received. I also hate to say it, but pop culture can have this song, and I will still love it. I also simply love the title. I think that we all, myself included, have moments in life that we might construe as our very own bleeding heart show.
12. "Sun in an Empty Room" by the Weakerthans
The Weakerthans have never stopped growing on me, and they are still putting out great music when they have time to put out an album. I would classify this song as the greatest break-up song I have ever heard. In fact, I need to write a film script just to have this song in it. The imagery is fantastic, "Now that the furniture's returning to its Goodwill home," "Parallelograms of light on walls that we repainted white." I can just picture a guy holding his last box while moving out of a place that he shared with his lover and thinking back to the times that were had and the love that was lost. The chorus is really catchy and really easy to sing along with, especially with the repetitive "Sun in an empty room." Keep writing great songs, Mr. Samson.
11. "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles
It is almost a shame that this one didn't crack the top 10. This is by far one of my favorite Beatles songs, and also one of my favorite last songs on an album, and let me tell you, I am an aficionado of final songs on albums. The song developed out of a puff piece: John Lennon just trying to write. I love the dream imagery. I especially love it when the song goes from an awake Paul back into John's dream. It is John's song, to be sure, but Paul's bridge piece simple gives the song meaning and structure. The orchestra parts are also great. I know the instructions given to the orchestra was to play from the bottom of their instrument's range to the top. The discordance is akin to something you might find in John Cage or the like. This song is truly a piece of art.
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