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.
Hmmm -
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1950’s: Johnny B. Goode, Tutti Frutti,Somethin’ Else, Jailhouse Rock
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1960’s: I Want to Hold Your Hand, Tears of a Clown, Satisfaction, Sunshine of your Love
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1970’s: oops, gotta go - see if I can add later…
Well, my first two choices (‘Rock and Roll’ and ‘Born to Run’) have been taken, so I’ll add 'Thrash Unreal’by Against Me!
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.
Great question! This is really making me think a bit.
Some preliminary candidates:
[ul]
[li]“Eight Days a Week” - The Beatles[/li][li]“Beds Are Burning” - Midnight Oil[/li][li]“Dirty Water” - The Standells[/li][li]“Sunday Bloody Sunday” - U2[/li][li]“Nobody’s Fault But Mine” or “Out on the Tiles” - Led Zeppelin[/li][li]“Rocket Queen” or “Mr. Brownstone” - Guns ‘N’ Roses[/li][li]“Interstate Love Song” - Stone Temple Pilots[/li][li]“Breed” - Nirvana[/li][li]“Black Coffee” - Humble Pie[/li][li]“Gimme Shelter” - The Rolling Stones[/li][/ul]
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.
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.
Man, did I really not post Elvis Presley’s “Mystery Train”?
What an oversight on my part.
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
For me, it’s The Cowboy Song by Thin Lizzy
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:
- It’s a 12 bar blues, the root of R’n’R.
- It’s got a shit hot guitar solo
Or maybe something by Status Quo
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.
Back in Black.
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.
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.
There are just way too many for me to have one favorite, but the one that came to mind just now was “Drivin’ Sister” by Mott the Hoople.
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…?
I’ll throw in Highway Star for consideration. 8 cylinders all mine!
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne. The dates work with my age and it’s just a great foot-tapping rock song!
Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets. It threw down the gauntlet to parents that everything was going to change.