Sheesh, I ended up writing a lot more than I expected. This is what me procrastinating tons of homework and studying can do:
Van Morrison - “Brown Eyed Girl”
Paul McCartney - Like with John Lennon, it’s hard to choose, but I’d go with “Yesterday,” although “Hey Jude” and “Let it Be” come close . . .
Norman Greenbaum - “Spirit in the Sky”
Green Day - “American Idiot”
Patsy Cline - “Walkin’ After Midnight”
Simon & Garfunkel as a group - Either “Bridge over Troubled Water” or “The Sound of Silence”
Paul Simon by himself - “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” “You Can Call Me Al,” or “Slip Sliding Away.”
Eric Clapton - There are some good options upthread, but I’m going to say “Tears in Heaven”
Bob Dylan - “Like a Rolling Stone”
Woody Guthrie - “This Land is Your Land”
Francis Scott Key - “The Star-Spangled Banner” (Talk about a one hit wonder!)
The Foundations - “Build Me Up, Buttercup”
The Supremes - “You Can’t Hurry Love”
The Who - “Behind Blue Eyes”
Buddy Holly - “That’ll Be the Day”
Don McLean - “American Pie”
Train - “Soul Sister”
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World”
George Formby - “When I’m Cleaning Windows”
Queen - “Bohemian Rhapsody”
The Eagles - “Hotel California”
Whitney Housten - “I Will Always Love You”
The Beatles - Talk about impossible to choose! I would say their most iconic song is “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” but “Strawberry Fields,” “I am the Walrus,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Hey Jude” come really close.
Chuck Berry - “Roll Over Beethoven”
The Mamas and the Papas - “California Dreaming”
The Byrds - Personally, I can’t stand it, but maybe their cover of “Mr. Tamborine Man”? “Turn Turn Turn” is up there as well.
Irving Berlin - “God Bless America”
Sam Cooke - “Wonderful World”
Frank Sinatra - “Sunny Side of the Street”
Ella Fitzgerald - How about her and Louis Armstrong’s duet of “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”?
Elvis Costello - “God’s Comic”
And some classical composers:
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9/ “Ode to Joy.” Honorable Mention: The Moonlight Sonata.
Haydn - Symphony No. 94/ “Surprise Symphony”
Wagner - “Ride of the Valkyries” (I killed the wabbit, I killed the wabbit . . .)
Pachelbel - “Canon in D” (aka The Wedding Song)
Mozart - I was going to say “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” but he technically just did a series of arrangements for that, so I’ll go with either the Queen of the Night’s aria or “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.”
