I’m thing of “like a hurricane” Neil Young. Then, I just caught this clip.
What song to you remember as the adultress who tempted from its first listening.
The Beatles - Come Together. I was eleven years old. I’d never heard any music like it before, or since, really. It’s the only thing in their catalogue even remotely like it. It made me want to learn how they made that sound. It made me want to learn to play the guitar, and the bass, and the drums. It made me want to hear all the music I possibly could, in case any of it was nearly as good. A lot of it is, but there’s nothing like it. It’s the perfect wave. An audio snapshot of a time that would only come once and never be repeated or imitated by the composer or anyone else.
Peter Murphy’s song Cuts You Up. I don’t know if there are any songs I liked more on the first listen. Something about it really grabbed me.
Lots of songs do that, but there were three that impacted my life. First, “Watcher of the Skies” by Peter Gabriel’s Genesis. I’d never heard anything like it, and it instantly changed my perception of music (before that I was mainly into Top 40 and southern rock), that music could be art. I became an instant fan. Because I was a fan I discovered Kate Bush through a mutual Genesis fan.
“Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush. The first time I heard it, I knew it was a life-changing experience, because until then I hardly listened to female vocalists at all, but I had no idea just HOW life-changing it would be. Because of that song I became an instant, huge, fan. Because I was a fan I met my husband of 25 years. Because I was a fan I got a radio show. Because I was a fan I discovered Happy Rhodes through a mutual Kate Bush fan. Because I was a fan I met a lot of people and a million things happened to me that otherwise would never have happened (most of them good, so far).
“Off From Out From Under Me” by Happy Rhodes. Something about it just smacked me upside the head, and I spent months trying to track her down, which I did, and we became friends, and led to my primary hobby (being a Happy Rhodes fan 
).
I’ve had a lot of these kind of experiences with music but if I had to pick a definitive one, it would be “Turn That Heartbeat Over Again” by Steely Dan.
Live’s Throwing Copper rocked my face off from the moment I heard it. When Selling the Drama kicked in, I remember having the sudden dawning realization that music transcended human reality. That album has something to do with what god is.
I still feel that way.
Cocteau Twins’ Blue Bell Knoll
Joy Division’s Atmosphere
Dead Can Dance’s Saltarello
Shelleyan Orphan’s Shattered
My Bloody Valentine’s Strawberry Wine
Sugarcubes’ Birthday
all made me want to have the musicians’ babies.
I think the only two albums I’ve heard in record shops and gone up to ask who was playing and bought it immediately were Iggy & the Stooges Raw Power and Blondie’s Plastic Letters (before Denis, which was on it, was a hit).
Other songs have made an impact, but none that hit my wallet so quickly!
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
- Gordon Lightfoot
Yeah, fully prepared to be made fun of but songs that hit me hard:
Seasons in the Sun- Terry Jacks
Never Been to Me- Mary MacGregor
Having My Baby- Paul Anka
At Seventeen- Janis Ian
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. I heard in on a dark morning in the car on my way to work. I was miserable in my job, my marriage and my life. It seemed like such a statement of tranquility and love. That’s a lot to put on a pop song, but I went out and bought the CD. It is still one of my favorite songs. I am no longer miserable in my job or my life. (not due to the song of course).
There are more, but I can’t recall them.
U2 - Staring at the Sun.
I had ignored popular music for so long it was great to hear that it wasn’t all melancholy bullshit about unrequited love.
Launched me into a whole new world of music.
I admit I have not listened to modern music since 1973, and I have no idea who some of these artists are, therefore I am square. But I wonder, could some of you
folks discuss a little bit what your songs mean. I don’t want to speak for anyone 3lse but what the hell do some of these songs mean?
I got an advance copy of Ben Folds Five’s The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner and listened to it on my drive home from North Carolina. I’ll never forget how the first track, “Narcolepsy” hit me like a beautiful ray of light, and the whole album captivated me.
My favorite little piano pop trio had just made an extremely mature, full-sounding album. I was dumbstruck.
More recently, the Cake cover of “War Pigs” had me from moment one.
*Virus * by Sarah Fimm, Seed of Wonder by Jesca Hoop, *Schizophrenia * by Blue October, Walking With the Ghost by Tegan and Sarah, *Schism * by Tool *Veins * by Charlotte Martin, The Tower by Vienna Teng, Down by the Water by PJ Harvey, and Nazi Halo by Jack Off Jill.
It happens to me a lot.
Reflex by Duran Duran
Beds are Burning from Midnight Oil. I was listening to radio while waiting for friends to go to a party (high school). I was just going through the dial when I heard it and had to listen to about 5 more songs before they said what it was. Woke up next morning looking for it.
Blue Bell Knoll from Cocteau Twins (cheers to MrDibble who has a great list, btw). I walked back home from school with a friend who had it in a tape he had just gotten. He entered his house and put it on. Darn it, I had to get back home to give something to my mom who was waiting for it, and literally ran there and back to hear the song and the rest of the album.
Sara from El Ultimo de la Fila. I heard it playing through a window and stood there for the entire song.
Iris by The Goo-Goo Dolls
Taxi by Harry Chapin
Crawlin’ From The Wreckage by Dave Edmunds
Like A Hurricane by Neil Young
Twilight Zone by Golden Earring