Turning Japanese by the Vapors is the best song ever.
EVER!!!
If we are going with slowies, then this is pretty much the best ever,
Stardust - Nat King Cole, originally written by Hoagy Carmichael and sung my many many artists, this one is the definitive version. The song is deceptively sophisticated with the key changes couple of time changes and inspiring lyrics.
Whole Lot of Love by Led Zeppelin
or
Shoot to Thrill by AC / DC
Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berryis #7 on rolling stone’s list of 500 greatest songs of all time. It’s also the only rock and roll song to be (physically) sent into space on the Golden Record which is attached to the Voyager spacecraft.
My favourite song for years has been “Smells Like Content” by The Books. They’re an extraordinary little band, doing home-made folk, experimental and electronic. Nothing scary, just a lot of creative juice.
In this case, it’s the lyrics that keep me coming back - never read anything quite like it. If you’re interested and can’t find it, I could throw it up on Mediafire.
**Smells Like Content - The Books
Balance.
Repetition.
Proposition.
Mirrors.
Most of all, the world is a place where parts of wholes are described
within an overarching paradigm of clarity and accuracy.
The context in which makes possible an underlying
sense of the way it all fits together,
despite our collective tendency not to conceive of it as such.
But then again, the world without end is a place where souls are combined,
but with an overbearing feeling of disparity and disorderliness.
To ignore it is impossible without getting oneself into all of kinds of trouble,
despite one’s best intentions to not get entangled with it so much.
Meanwhile,
the statues are bleeding green.
And others are saying things much better than we ever could;
as the quiet become suddenly verbose.
And the hail’s heralding the size of nickels.
And the street corners are gnashing together like the gears
inside the head of some omniscient engineer.
And downward flows the garnered wisdom that has never died
Then finally,
we opened the box, we couldn’t find any rules.
Our heads were reeling with the glitter of possibilities, contingencies…
but with ever increasing faith we decided to go ahead and just ignore them,
despite tremendous pressure to capitulate with fate.
So instead, we went ahead to fabricate a catalog
of unstable elements and modicums and particles.
With not zero total strangeness for brief moments which amount
to nothing more than tiny fragments of a finger snap.
Meanwhile,
we’re furiously seeing green.
And the map has started tearing along its creases due to overuse…
when in reality it’s never needed folds.
And the air’s withholding the sound of its wellspring.
And our heads approach a density reminiscent of the infinite productivity of the center of the sun.
And therein lies the garnered wisdom that has never died.
Expectation -
leads to disappointment. If you don’t expect something big huge and exciting…
usually…
I dunno,
just, uh yea…**
That’s my choice too.
Reviving this thread to note that One Direction has released their own song titled Best Song Ever which will no doubt become a Huge Hit even though I personally think Katie Armiger’s “Best Song Ever” song was the better of the “Best Song Ever” songs.
Like everyone else, this changes with the day, but neither Sympathy for the Devilnor Purple Haze have ever done me wrong.
Favorite songs for today:
Dragon Attack - Queen
Stuff is Messed Up - Offspring
Dreams - Molly Hatchett
How I Could Just Kill a Man - Rage Against the Machine
The best song ever for covering an unusual topic brillantly is American Pie.
I tend to judge people by how they react to this song.
I took a lady I’d been dating to a Springsteen concert last year. I put my arm around her while he sang. It was quite obvious she didn’t get the significance.
We broke up shortly thereafter.
Symphony No. 9 - Beethoven There isn’t a more amazing piece of music. Despite my other suggestions.
Also see “Don’t Worry Baby” by The Beach Boys" and “Another Piece of My Heart” by Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin).
There are a lot of great songs suggested in this thread, but you are all wrong; the best song ever is The Kingsmen’s version of Louie Louie.
The second greatest song of all time is Ace Of Spades by Motörhead.
Mods, feel free to close the thread now.
ETA:
Nope, not with me it doesn’t. At least, not for the past, um, 33 years (Louie Louie has always been #1, but Ace Of Spades wasn’t released until 1980). Always those 2 songs, and always in that order.
Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason doing a live version of “Low Spark of High-heeled Boys.” Very different from the Traffic version.
I’m going to go with “Would?” by Alice In Chains, which has been my favorite song for many years now.
‘‘Tom Sawyer’’ - Rush
‘‘Seven Nation Army’’ - White Stripes
‘‘Sanctuary’’ - Madonna
‘‘This is Why We Fight’’ - The Decemberists
‘‘Comfort Eagle’’ - Cake
Yeah, I could go on.
5th Symphony - Ludwig van Beethoven
7th Symphony, 1st Movement - Ludwig van Beethoven (his 9th symphony has the Ode to Joy; well, this movement IS pure, unadulterated joy. Yeah, I know all about the 2nd movement, but give me the first movement any day.)
“More Than This” - Roxy Music
“If Not For You” - George Harrison’s cover
“Birdhouse in Your Soul” - They Might Be Giants
Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Bob Dylan - Thunder on the Mountain
mmm
I recently found a box set by the Longines Symphonette at an estate sale.
My favorite songs (partial list)
“See A Little Light” - Bob Mould
“Near Wild Heaven” - R.E.M. (now, where did my username come from? 
)
“Anagram (for Mongo)” - Rush
“More Than A Feeling” - Boston
“Hoover Dam” - Sugar
“It’s Magic” - Pilot
and plenty of others too numerous to list.