This didn’t make it to the finals by accident.
Indeed, even though its one of the few times the leader gets my vote, it kinda hurts that Willie’s classic isn’t in the running.
Driving down the highway, long road trip, singing along to the radio…the only time I’d change the station would be when Over the Rainbow came on. None brilliant, but some great pop in there.
More than half those songs are less than 45 years old, and not a single Beatles or ex-Beatle track in the lot. I think that makes them unusual for these polls.
I would have preferred the superior Fun Boy 3 version, but yes, it’s a great song.
Even though I didn’t vote for it, Once In A Lifetime is an absolute great, I don’t resent its lead.
I was hoping Oliver’s Army would make it higher, that’s also a great one. And Orange Crush is one of REM’s best tracks ever, IMO.
I don’t either, really, tho I didn’t vote for it. [I was big into the Heads for about a year or so c. 1981 but haven’t gone out of my way to listen to any of their stuff in years-this cut specifically bugs me because of the mondegreen “letting the days go by at the water hole” but that’s mainly on me I guess]
No big thing, but yeah, being annoyed at a song because a line is often misheard is odd. Interestingly the mondegren is about as good as the actual lyric.
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And on the topic of ‘O’ song lyrics, the Band’s Ophelia didn’t poll well, which is understandable — it’s charming but not one of their 5 best songs — but it does have the nice line, “please darken my door”.
“Darken my door” is a fun English expression, normally used for its negative connotations. I’m interested if other languages have a similar expression.
It’s the pick of the bunch, I would happily concede that. But here’s what I was thinking; I’m too lazy to review every letter, but the last with a final poll was H. We had:
Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles
Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel
Honky Tonk Women – The Rolling Stones
Hotel California – Eagles
Hey Jude – The Beatles
House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
Have You Ever Seen the Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Hard Day’s Night, A – The Beatles
Help! – The Beatles
Heart of Gold – Neil Young
Our mileages may vary, obviously, but I don’t think the O list is in the same class. (I’m no great fan of Here Comes The Sun but it’s the most streamed Beatles song by a distance - one of many cites).
I’ll stroll down to the next one.
You Really Got Me – The Kinks
Yesterday – The Beatles
You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ – The Righteous Brothers
The Year of the Cat – Al Stewart
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away – The Beatles
You Keep Me Hanging On – The Supremes
You Really Got a Hold On Me – Smoky Robinson & the Miracles
You’re No Good – Linda Ronstadt
You’re So Vain – Carly Simon
And again (IMHO) the O list doesn’t compare well. It’s a good list, but to me it seems a below average one.
j
Huh? It is in the finals.
On the Road Again – Willie Nelson
I think Mr. Lendervedder realizes this.
mmm
Oh, I know it’s there and you can vote for it, but it’s currently getting 21%. So, it’s not in the running to win the O category.
I love Willie Nelson, but On the Road Again is far from my favorite song of his. Ones I like better include Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, Always on My Mind, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, Whiskey River, If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time, Stardust, and Blue Skies. I’d rather listen to On the Road Again than To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before, but that’s not saying much.
My mileage varies. Check my voting history on Beatles songs. Maybe 3 or 4 have gotten my vote over all letters. Any list that’s like 40% Beatles songs is a bad list, IMO.
And any best-of list with Hotel California on it is immediately inferior to any list that doesn’t have it on just because of its stench.
Again, MMV. I mean, Blondie and the Go-Gos vs Ronstadt and Simon? No contest. The Supremes are doing all the heavy lifting there for the distaff side, and it’s not their best (hell, not even their best Y song), and it’s up against the original rainbow anthem…
It’s 7 songs from the 80s (one of which is country, not rock), two from the early- to mid-60s (from an artist that has more of an “early rock”/50s vibe), and one from the 1930s. The other polls have more pop and rock from the late-60s and 70s, so if that’s the era you prefer, this would definitely seem like a lackluster poll.
I think I even (perhaps subconsciously) skew my submissions to appeal to the audience here. I like 90s/00s/10s/20s songs a lot more than my submissions would suggest.
From the Smooth Jazz genre;
OLD SCHOOL by Nelson Rangell