# Prettiest Song Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949 "2003-10-22T18:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/61 "2003-10-24T11:48:19Z")
Wow there’s a lot of pretty stuff here but no-one’s mentioned The first time ever I saw your face (If that is the title) There was a fairly recent version that ruined it but the original hit version is pretty damn pretty. Not really a song… slow movement of the Mozart Clarinet concerto ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/62 "2003-10-24T12:33:14Z")
“In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel. I love his voice. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/63 "2003-10-24T13:13:18Z")
**twit** – If you’re going to go for Prince, I think you’d be better off with _Damn U_. So creamy you can scoop it up with a knife and spread it on toast. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/64 "2003-10-24T20:35:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gail \* > **"For Emily Wherever I may find her" (or is it whenever?) by Simon and Garfunkel…** Wow, Gail! I opened this thread with the main intent of posting **For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her**. I imagined the odds of seeing it mentioned in a thread with 60-ish posts was somewhere between nil and minute. Needless to say, I totally concur – it’s a remarkably beautiful song that has the ability to wash away the blues and offer optimism…especially after a relationship has ended. Almost as strange is the fact I always get the title wrong too. In fact, a search of the boards Café Society forum has me using “…Wherever I May Find Her” in 3 different threads. I think the reason for the title confusion is because the implications made within the song lead the listener to believe there’s a past history with Emily (Dickinson?) and that she’ll one day return to a rekindled romance. The title, “…Whenever I May Find Her” implies Emily is just a fantasy – someone the singer has yet to meet. I have no idea why I’m over-analyzing a song that’s barely 3 minutes long and rather straightforward – I guess it probably has to do with the fact every note & every word are etched into my brain. If by chance you return to the thread, I got a question for you: Do you prefer the original studio version (sung in harmony) Or The live version (sung unaccompanied by Artie)? I like the live version better. But that’s because I heard that one first. Well that, plus the fact I think the song lends itself toward being sung by one person, as opposed to a duet. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shayna \* > **Whenever I think “pretty” song, Since You Asked, from the Twin Sons of Different Mothers album by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg, is what always immediately pops into my head…** A snip of Judy Collins’ doing her version of [Since You Asked **is linked _here_**](http://mfile.akamai.com/6555/wm2/muze.download.akamai.com/2890/us/uswm2/901/262901_1_07.asx?obj=v10207) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/65 "2003-10-25T00:14:44Z")
The first song to pop into my mind was “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/66 "2003-10-25T01:19:31Z")
“Crying” by Roy Orbison also “Llorando” by Vanessa del Rio Either version gives me goosebumps, but “Llorando” has the edge because of the acapella-ness. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/67 "2003-10-25T01:42:52Z")
“All is full of love” by Bjork. Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/68 "2003-10-25T02:58:40Z")
Small Clanger writes: \> There was a fairly recent version that ruined it but the original \> hit version is pretty damn pretty. The hit version, by Roberta Flack, was not the original version. The original version was sung by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger (and was written by MacColl). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmundex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Sigmundex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmundex)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/69 "2003-10-25T05:22:39Z")
I vote for the trifecta of: What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong As Time Goes By - Louis Armstrong …and how could you all have forgotten… I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos …Oh, but it’s hard to resist Lovefool by the Cardigans, too. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/70 "2003-10-25T06:57:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Small Clanger \* > \*\*Wow there’s a lot of pretty stuff here but no-one’s mentioned > The first time ever I saw your face (If that is the title) > > There was a fairly recent version that ruined it but the original hit version is pretty damn pretty. > > Not really a song… slow movement of the Mozart Clarinet concerto \*\* Roberta Flack! Yeah! What a beaut! That song brings tears every time I hear it. **Sigmundex** , “I Only Have Eyes For You” is a gorgeous song!!! Glen Campbell did one in the mid '70’s that I really liked. Don’t know the title… "When the sun came up this morning I took the time to watch it rise And as it’s beauty chased the darkness from the skies I thought how small, and unimportant all my troubles seemed to be and how lucky another day belonged to me." ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/71 "2003-10-25T07:20:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dinahmoe \* > \*\*“Crying” by Roy Orbison > \*\* Beautiful song, but it’s “Anything You Want” that makes me cry. Most beautiful song: “Pink Moon,” by Nick Drake. Never has a song been more lovely. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/72 "2003-10-25T07:39:59Z")
_Here There and Everywhere_, The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/73 "2003-10-25T10:13:35Z")
Vince Guraldi - Cast Your Fate to the Wind. Bruce Hornsby - Every Little Kiss. I’m just a freak for piano music. Grew up sitting next to my dad on the piano bench. Wonderful World always makes me sniffly. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/74 "2003-10-25T11:12:43Z")
“Patience of Angels” - Eddi Reader “Sunny Came Home” - Shawn Colvin “Pull The Wires From The Wall” - The Delgados and (the title’s a bit of a giveaway) “Prettiest Eyes” - Beautiful South ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/75 "2003-10-25T14:53:47Z")
As posted by JohnBckWLD: * * * If by chance you return to the thread, I got a question for you: Do you prefer the original studio version (sung in harmony) Or The live version (sung unaccompanied by Artie)? * * * To be honest with you, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the original version. I’ve only heard Art sing it solo. And…hearing that made me realize that Art Garfunkel has a better voice than Paul Simon…if he could write music, I can’t imagine how far he would have gone … Oh…and to everybody else…I just remembered another one. The Allman Brothers “Sweet Melissa” ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/76 "2003-10-25T15:23:32Z")
Teardrop by Massive Attack. Blown A Wish by My Bloody Valentine. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/77 "2003-10-26T07:05:58Z")
_Matepedia_ by Kate and Anna McGarrigle A shivers-down-your-spine beautiful song ---
**Author:** ![INSANE1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@INSANE1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/INSANE1)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/78 "2003-10-26T08:21:11Z")
What about Weezer’s ‘Island in the Sun’? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/79 "2003-10-27T00:29:34Z")
Am I the first person to nominate Elbereth’s theme, from the Ainulindulë? OK, good. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949/80 "2003-10-27T00:53:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*My current favourite song (because of its sheer beauty) is _Nwahulawana_ by **Wazimbo & Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Mocambique**. > > It’s been around for a while, and was in a movie too, I think. I’ve only just discovered it though. > > There is a brief snippet of it available [here](http://www.petrolrecords.org/petrol/africa.htm) on MP3\*. Wow, **TLD**! Thanks for posting that link. Another day another CD to buy. 🙂 A few more lovely, albeit really _old_ songs: Rainy Night House - Joni Mitchell White Bird & Girl with No Eyes - It’s a Beautiful Day Into White - Cat Stevens Coming Back to Me - Jefferson Airplane And the most beautiful of all? Queen of Love - The Incredible String Band [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prettiest-song-ever/208949.md?page=5)