# What's your "perfect" rock song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466 "2010-09-03T04:53:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/21 "2010-09-03T13:17:28Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Born To Run](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuThNgl3YA&ob=av3e) - Bruce Springsteen > > Grab your girl and get out of this town before it turns you into your parents. Pounding drums, screaming guitars…what else do you want? This is what I came in to say. It is not my favorite Springsteen song, though I like it a lot, but the combination of the the message, the beat, the driving force of it make it, IMO, archetypical rock and/or roll. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/22 "2010-09-03T13:20:03Z")
Hmmm - - 1950’s: Johnny B. Goode, Tutti Frutti,[Somethin’ Else](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW34W67ZYG0), Jailhouse Rock - 1960’s: I Want to Hold Your Hand, Tears of a Clown, Satisfaction, Sunshine of your Love - 1970’s: oops, gotta go - see if I can add later… ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/23 "2010-09-03T13:22:55Z")
Well, my first two choices (‘Rock and Roll’ and ‘Born to Run’) have been taken, so I’ll add ['Thrash Unreal’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzJ21OpFnZ0&ob=av2n)by Against Me! ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/24 "2010-09-03T13:24:35Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > This thread would make an awesome playlist!.. Yeah, in the back of my head I was thinking this could help me fill up some empty space on my iPod. Keep 'em coming! Some great suggestions here. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/25 "2010-09-03T13:26:00Z")
Great question! This is really making me think a bit. Some preliminary candidates: [ul] [li][“Eight Days a Week”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtuybFrq7Rw) - The Beatles[/li][li][“Beds Are Burning”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejorQVy3m8E&ob=av3e) - Midnight Oil[/li][li][“Dirty Water”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5apEctKwiD8) - The Standells[/li][li][“Sunday Bloody Sunday”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM4vblG6BVQ&ob=av2n) - U2[/li][li][“Nobody’s Fault But Mine”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esZ15n6_5JY) or [“Out on the Tiles”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTsad_V08AQ) - Led Zeppelin[/li][li][“Rocket Queen”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7xQ04nlePM) or [“Mr. Brownstone”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VJa-sYsyU) - Guns ‘N’ Roses[/li][li][“Interstate Love Song”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjJL9DGU7Gg&ob=av2e) - Stone Temple Pilots[/li][li][“Breed”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2JgqF384cU) - Nirvana[/li][li][“Black Coffee”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqsMKvkzdwc) - Humble Pie[/li][li][“Gimme Shelter”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVor2Xm8qg0) - The Rolling Stones[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/26 "2010-09-03T13:27:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I thought about choosing Springsteen’s “Born to Run” or the Stones’ “Rock and a Hard Place” or Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower”, but then I realized the OP wanted “perfect”, rather than “best”. So my choices for the most perfect rock songs are: > > [More Than a Feeling](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm_-sW4Vktw), by Boston, and > > [Eye of the Tiger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI6r6APUwK0&ob=av3n), baby! My first thought was also **More Than a Feeling** by Boston. There is also something about **I Love Rock and Roll** by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts that captures the essence of rock for me. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/27 "2010-09-03T13:31:12Z")
> [@sweepkick](#): > > Go With the Flow - Queens of the Stone Age. > > Great tune.. short, fast-paced and urgent, with a fairly intimate message wrapped around a somewhat simplistic choral framework and catchy hook. > > The video became icing on the cake: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBwWUfLlglw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBwWUfLlglw) > > This. Is. Rock. If you haven’t gotten into **Them Crooked Vultures** yet, do so now. I’ve always like spacey, mystical rock, so **Kashmir** is a pick here that I agree with. **Aces High** by Iron Maiden rocks like very few songs have ever rocked before, or will again. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/28 "2010-09-03T13:32:45Z")
Man, did I really not post Elvis Presley’s [“Mystery Train”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_eE0NPArEY)? What an oversight on my part. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/29 "2010-09-03T13:39:53Z")
Not because they epitomize the spirit of rock so much as they just haven’t been mentioned yet: Smells Like Teen Spirit Cherry Bomb Baba O’Reilly ---
**Author:** ![defecthunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@defecthunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/defecthunter)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/30 "2010-09-03T13:56:39Z")
For me, it’s The Cowboy Song by Thin Lizzy ---
**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:** [September 3, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/31 "2010-09-03T14:28:28Z")
[QUOTE=defecthunter] For me, it’s The Cowboy Song by Thin Lizzy [/QUOTE] Surely if you’re going with Lizzy then it’d be either _The Boys are Back in Town_ or _The Rocker_? Another vote for “Rock and Roll” for all the reasons **RickJay** gave plus: 1. It’s a 12 bar blues, the root of R’n’R. 2. It’s got a shit hot guitar solo Or maybe something by Status Quo 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/32 "2010-09-03T14:29:07Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > **Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf**. (Can’t provide song link from work.) > > Subject matter –getting it on for the first time- is pure rock and roll. It’s got an upbeat, driving tempo and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s actually a couple of songs rolled into one and works brilliantly. This. The song is full of sex and youthful angst, which is the fire of rock ‘n’ roll itself. Motorcycles don’t hurt either. The voices are full of lust and and anxiousness that oozes from the speakers. At times their voices, their thoughts, are screaming their passion, and an argument as old as time is set to music. And the music … there is more true “rock ‘n’ roll” in this song that most others. There is screaming guitars, and boogie piano and one of the greatest rock singers of all time. The song builds in speed and intensity, then falls almost to a whisper as the back-and-forth pleading and bargaining continue. Then it all builds again to the big release at the end. Youthful love and lust - gone just as quickly as it, uh, came. I have always considered the original “Bat Out Of Hell” album the be the best all-round rock ‘n’ roll album, and this song is the centerpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/33 "2010-09-03T14:43:23Z")
Back in Black. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/34 "2010-09-03T15:12:13Z")
I had a quick flip through the “rock” genre in my iTunes, and I’m gonna have to go with ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’, but really to come up with my “definitive” answer I’d have to have a bit more of a think about it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/35 "2010-09-03T15:38:02Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Louie, Louie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vae_AkLb4Q) by the Kingsmen is the definitive rock song and rock song performance. It’s perfect rock & roll. This is the first song that came to mind upon reading the title of the OP. And, after further reflection, I’m going to stick with it. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/36 "2010-09-03T15:38:18Z")
There are just way too many for me to have one favorite, but the one that came to mind just now was [“Drivin’ Sister”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ulWOUJVkc) by Mott the Hoople. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/37 "2010-09-03T16:17:19Z")
It’s a question that makes you examine your basic musical beliefs. **Rock n’ Roll** by Zeppelin was the first thing that came into my mind, but it’s a little too steamline. Rushes by without anything to grab on to. Maybe that makes it archetypal, but for me it’s missing something. **Born to Run** was the second thing to come to mind. It’s sublime, but there’s a little _too much_ to hold on to. The perfect rock song can’t be rococo, which is how I see early-mid Springsteen. Early Stones are either too riff-based, or too blues based. Early Beatles (I love **I Want to Hold Your Hand** ) a little too breezy or melodic or idiosyncratic or something… So, I don’t have an answer. For some reason my brain keeps offering up **Walk Away** by the James Gang, and Berry’s **Brown-Eyed Handsome Man**. Maybe **All Right Now** …? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/38 "2010-09-03T16:26:11Z")
I’ll throw in **Highway Star** for consideration. 8 cylinders all mine! ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/39 "2010-09-03T16:34:21Z")
[Running on Empty](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub0OC1fsl1s) by Jackson Browne. The dates work with my age and it’s just a great foot-tapping rock song! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466/40 "2010-09-03T16:37:36Z")
Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets. It threw down the gauntlet to parents that everything was going to change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-perfect-rock-song/552466.md?page=3)