# What are your favorite songs that begin with the letter A? See rules in OP \[Final Poll Added\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music, mmm-song-poll\ **Created:** [December 16, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671 "2023-12-16T01:21:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/121 "2023-12-18T13:15:18Z")
> [@saucywench](#): > > I almost picked Abracadabra, but I thought…“They’re all going to laugh at you.” I wouldn’t have laughed, but I would have reached out and grabbed ya. > [@saucywench](#): > > Did I miss the poll where we pick only three? Nope, tune in tomorrow morning. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/122 "2023-12-18T14:41:10Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I’m curious about the song **Appalachian Stomp** (Bill Monroe). Between Youtube, Wikipedia And Amazon I found a **Bluegrass Stomp** (Bill Monroe) and various anthologies and revues named _Appalachian Stomp_. But I struck out on the actual tune. Couldn’t find it cited that way, either, in interweb searches, that’s just the way it came up in my playlist. mmm, please disregard Appalachian Stomp. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/123 "2023-12-18T15:13:15Z")
> [@Dogginit](#): > > mmm, please disregard Appalachian Stomp. My thumb is up. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/124 "2023-12-18T15:42:35Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I strongly dislike the Juice Newton one. On the other hand, it’s the perfect accompaniment to the opening credits of _[Deadpool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MjyGL0go60)_. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/125 "2023-12-18T19:15:50Z")
That was good! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/126 "2023-12-18T19:21:07Z")
I have the Merrilee Rush version of Angel Of The Morning. It had to have been one of the first 45s I bought. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/127 "2023-12-18T20:34:58Z")
We were walking along the prom in Worthing on Saturday and I thought of about half a dozen songs, including this little gem. Bust a gut to remember them. When I got home and was ready to post, I just knew there was a song I thought of and it’s …it’s…gone. Here it is, back again. Long fade in. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/36B225lLvY4/hqdefault.jpg "Brian Eno "Another Green World"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36B225lLvY4&t=10/) j ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/128 "2023-12-18T20:43:18Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Ain’t That a Shame- Fats Domino Good one–that almost made my list also. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/129 "2023-12-19T00:11:55Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Here it is, back again. Long fade in. Heheh, I was actually split between that and Alberto Balsam, and went with the Aphex Twin track instead of Eno. Pity, it would have gotten at least two votes. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/130 "2023-12-19T11:22:22Z")
**FINAL POLL** – What are your favorite **A** songs? Select up to **3**. _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/130))_ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/131 "2023-12-19T11:27:21Z")
The most recent song on that list (“Africa”) is from 1982. Clearly this means that modern music is crap, and not that we’re just all old. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/132 "2023-12-19T11:33:07Z")
Weird that we could have reached these same results…[_does the math_]… 40 years ago. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/133 "2023-12-19T11:37:23Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The most recent song on that list (“Africa”) is from 1982. > > Clearly this means that modern music is crap, and not that we’re just all old. What are you talking about? 1982 _ **is** _ modern music! j 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/134 "2023-12-19T14:18:35Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Clearly this means that modern music is crap Seriously, it is, most of it, objectively. (Not counting the hundreds of world/folk musics out there). In the epilogue in his 1990s book _Revolution in the Head_, Ian McDonald explains this well (and of course the 90s look like melodic/harmonic/complexity/craftsmanship /originality heaven, form the standpoint of 2023.) Well worth a read. Rick Beato’s videos over the last several years deal with this also, and well (if not quite as eloquently as McDonald). (One of McDonald’s points is “recording as (mostly) performance” vs. “recording as post-production-style layering”.) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/135 "2023-12-19T14:55:37Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Seriously, it is, most of it, objectively. (Not counting the hundreds of world/folk musics out there). Seriously, no matter how many times this is posted, it’s still nonsense. I’ve never read McDonald’s book, but Beato’s practices as a producer are part of the “post-production-style layering” where you do dumb things like replace your poorly recorded drum part with samples that they’re triggering using the recorded drum part. Plus, the Beatles’ era where most people think of them as innovative is during the period where they really were using the studio as an instrument. If you want to find musicians who don’t use the studio that way, they’re still out there. If one can’t find new music they like; then I feel that either their tastes have calcified and they can’t appreciate new things, or they just don’t look very hard. I’ve heard the “They stopped making good music in X year” argument from people of various ages over the decades, beginning with my parents who thought the Beatles ruined everything. Those claims never seem to hold up. If you’re only talking pop music, then yes. Pop music has always sucked, including the pop music of your youth. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/136 "2023-12-19T14:56:39Z")
Of course, in many internet hangouts, if you dare voice this sentiment you’ll get excoriated a million times to Hades and back, even here. [Oh golly gee the old 9:55 ninja’ed me right on time] ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/137 "2023-12-19T15:02:13Z")
As has already been mentioned in one of these threads, part of the reason there appears to be a cut-off in the '90s is also because the internet allowed for increasingly niche styles to flourish that previously wouldn’t have been played on the radio. So there are a lot of good songs about that have been made recently, but they may not have been heard by most people or indeed been enjoyed by a majority of people who did hear them because they are niche. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/138 "2023-12-19T15:17:30Z")
Of course some pop made today is good pop. I would have voted for _As It Was_ over most of the finalists. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/139 "2023-12-19T15:24:44Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > Clearly this means that modern music is crap > > Seriously, it is, most of it It is, because Sturgeon’s Law. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671/140 "2023-12-19T15:30:48Z")
This^^ The songs we find to be worthwhile have been filtered over the years. They are the “10% that aren’t crap”. They’ve withstood the test of time. Empirically. we can see that “the test of time” is about 25-30 years for the denizens of the Dope. That makes sense. If you’re a really old fart 65+ (like me), your prime for discovering new songs was the 70’s and 80’s. If you are in your 50’s, it was probably the 80’s and 90’s. In ten years, maybe the line will have moved to the 2000’s (as we old farts fade into the aether). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-songs-that-begin-with-the-letter-a-see-rules-in-op-final-poll-added/994671.md?page=8)