A poll by dreary music channel VH1 has revealed that the nation's favourite pop lyrics are by U2, from their song 'One'. I like the Johnny Cash version of this record, which is rather less pious than the original.
I dunno, but I would have hoped that there was room for some Dylan in the list. Apparently the Pogues were in there somewhere, so that's some consolation. One would also hope that Ray Davies, Jarvis Cocker, Pete Townsend, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and many others would be there too. Not bleeding Coldplay.
8 comments:
i heard that too... it was on the radio this morning. of all the lyrics... it shows more about vh1 than anything else.
for me it would be townshend... or ray davies... or dylan ("even the president of the united states must sometimes have to stand naked"),even "So we tanned his hide when he died Clyde, and that's it hanging on the shed.". not the inflated egos of bono and co!
How about Dylan's "masters of war":
let me ask you one question:
is your money that good?
will it buy you forgiveness
do you think that it could?
I think you will find when your death takes its toll all the money you made will never buy back your soul
and I hope that you die and your death will come soon
I'll follow your casket on a pale afternoon
I'll watch while your lowered into your deathbed
and I'll stand over your grave till I'm sure that your dead
(Hope George Bush is listening)
I was watching the Old Grey Whistle Test DVD with Sean this evening, and I was startled to watch Randy Newman performing 'Political Science', partly because his bone dry irony is such an un-American quality, and partly becuase the song remains so prescient 34 year after it was written.
No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us
We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too
Boom goes London and boom Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now
I'm loathed to do it, but here's the Top 100 in full:
1) U2 – One
2) The Smiths – How Soon Is Now
3) Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
4) Bob Marley – Redemption Song
5) Coldplay – Yellow
6) Eminem – Lose Yourself
7) Robbie Williams – Angels
8) The Who – My Generation
9) Radiohead – Creep
10) Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On
11) U2 – Where The Streets Have No Name
12) Abba - The Winner Takes It All
13) The Kinds – Waterloo Sunset
14) Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall
15) Tupac ft Snoop – California Love
16) Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
17) Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues
18) Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot
19) David Bowie – Heroes
20) The Police – Every Breath You Take
21) REM – Everybody Hurts
22) Christina Aguilera – Beautiful
23) Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil
24) The Pogues – Fairytale Of New York
25) Elton John – Candle In The Wind
26) The Streets – Fit But You Know It
27) The Smiths – There Is A Light
28) The Beach Boys – God Only Knows
29) The Jam – That’s Entertainment
30) Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
31) Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
32) Johnny Cash – I Walk The Line
33) The Beatles – A Day In The Life
34) Eminem – Stan
35) Damien Rice – Cannonball
36) Dionne Warwick – Walk On By
37) The Smiths – This Charming Man
38) Elvis Presley – In The Ghetto
39) U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love)
40) The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
41) The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
42) Radiohead – Karma Police
43) Carole King – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
44) The Beatles – Yesterday
45) The Killers – All These Things That I Have Done
46) Jay Z – 99 Problems
47) David Bowie – Space Oddity
48) Little Richard – Tutti Frutti
49) Stevie Wonder – Livin For The City
50) Stone Roses – I Am The Resurrection
51) The Rolling Stones – Jumpin Jack Flash
52) The Clash – London Calling
53) Elvis Costello/Robert Wyatt – Shipbuilding
54) White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
55) Cat Stevens – Father And Son
56) Snoop Dogg – Gin And Juice
57) James Brown – It’s A Man’s World
58) The Monkees – I’m A Believer
59) The Prodigy – Firestarter
60) George Michael – Freedom 90
61) Madness – Our House
62) Radiohead – Paranoid Android
63) The Kinks – Lola
64) Simply Red/Cole Porter – Every Time We Say Goodbye
65) Outkast – Hey Ya
66) Blur – Parklife
67) Public Enemy – Fight The Power
68) The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
69) Robbie Williams – Feel
70) Missy Elliott – Ger Ur Freak On
71) The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
72) Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
73) Iggy Pop – The Passenger
74) T Rex – Children Of The Revolution
75) Underworld – Born Slippy
76) The Ramones – I Wanna Be Sedated
77) Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA
78) Bill Withers – Lean On Me
79) Grandmaster Flash – The Message
80) Happy Mondays – Kinky Afro
81) The Beatles – Hey Jude
82) TLC – No Scrubs
83) Human League – Don’t You Want Me
84) Motorhead – Ace Of Spades
85) Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds
86) Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes
87) 50 Cent – 21 Questions
88) The Beatles – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
89) Bob Marley – No Woman No Cry
90) Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Thru The Grapevine
91) Kylie Minogue – I Should Be So Lucky
92) Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug
93) Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb – By The Time I Get To Phoenix
94) NWA – Straight Outta Compton
95) Scissor Sisters – Take Your Mama
96) Madonna – Like A Virgin
97) Radiohead – No Surprises
98) The Beatles- Sergeant Pepper
99) 10cc – Life Is A Minestrone
100) Ms Dynamite – It Takes More
More time to rant in the morning. But Yellow. Angels. Kaiser Fucking Chiefs. And I'll be honest; I haven't a bloody clue about the Eminem song.
Amazingly, the top 30 is Beatle free - and no sign of Imagine.
The lack of the flatulent platitudes of 'imagine' is nothing to be sorry about!
What a shitty list of songs. Of course Christina Aguilera is best known for her lyrics.
I have to say Dan, that they picked the wrong NWA track too. Shoulda been Fuck Tha Police! All together now: 'Ice Cube will swarm!...'
In the spirit of looking on the bright side, there are a few classics in there: Madness, Pogues, Kinks, Motorhead ('That's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna to live forever!' - almost a DEFINITION of rock n roll)...and Kinky Afro is another favourite of mine - 'Son, I'm thirty, I only went with your mother cos she's dirty'. Puerile, but fun.
Don't misunderstand me. I think the Beatles are arguably the most over-rated band in history. And Imagine the most over rated song. I hate it with a passion. A self-indulgent hymn to nihilism. As Robert Elms (who I agree with on many things - apart from Spandau Ballet - this is after all the man who was living with Sade at the height of her fame) puts it
"That mawkish, manipulative dirge, in which the multi-millionaire with one temperature-controlled room in his Manhattan mansion just to store his fur coats, whimpers "Imagine no possessions..." is the most sickly and irritating song ever."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/12/robert_elms_beatles_feature.shtml
The fact that it is regularly lauded as the greatest song ever written, and that it's message is perceived as one of hope makes me despair.
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