• Top 10 Songs of all Time

  

  Written by Zeromage 207 Comments
  Last Updated:: December 19, 2008

  The 10 greatest songs of all time. This was definitely one of our most difficult lists to make. With a subject that is considered as subjective as music, it’s hard to make any top 10 list about anything musical. We’re going for the gold though and listing what we think are the top 10 greatest songs of all time. We had a list of 50 songs and from those songs, and then narrowed it down to these top 10. What was left off this list was more than difficult to omit. Sometime in the future, we will have to expand this list to a top 50 and maybe even a top 100 to do justice to all the great songs that have passed over our ears in our lifetimes. We tried to be both objective and subjective when making this list. We couldn’t fill this list with a bunch of Rolling Stones and Oasis songs, nor could we simply put “Let it Be” as one of the greatest songs of all time. This list is both partial and impartial, if that is even possible. We will let the reader decide.

  10. I’m waiting for the day (Beach Boys)

  Every song on Pet Sounds could be put as the greatest song of all time. It’s this song though that stands out as The Beach Boys best moment though. Pet Sounds was filled with some of the most innovative drum sounds and playing of all time and it’s showed off perfectly in the introduction to the song. Brian Wilson then comes in with one of the most angelic vocal takes of all time which perfectly matched the innocence in the lyrics. All those vulnerable boys trying to care for the girls who were just hurt. Was there anyone who could sound better on this subject than Brian Wilson? When Brian Wilson sings “I’m waiting for the day” he is really waiting for the day that his admired lover can love again. A minute into the song when the full arrangement comes in with the drums and backing vocals you are brought into a drama as large as summer romance gone astray. This drama is perfectly epitomized in this classic Beach Boys song.

  9. Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks)

  Like most of the bands on this list, you could choose from a countless number of songs in their catalog to put on a best of list. The same goes for The Kinks. Waterloo Sunset though was a step above all their other songs for the perfect summer mood epitomized throughout the whole song. The serenity that one feels when one hears this song is like on par with the best trip you had in your life. Ray Davies gives a wistful vocal delivery that sounds like there was no effort required which adds to the breezy quality. The song is simple, it moves along in a moderate to slow tempo and doesn’t ask much of the listener except to relax with it. Some of the best backup vocals in the Kinks catalog is found in this song. Most of the song is filled with backup vocals that sound more unique than any backup vocals from the time mostly due to Dave Davies unique voice which was always more effective as a backup tone rather than a lead. Waterloo Sunset is the setting sun at the end of a perfect day.

  8. When the Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin)

  Oh my lord John Bonham, you created the raunchiest drum beat ever put to record produced like a ton of bricks were smashing the snare. After Bonham’s massive drum intro comes the instrumentation that becomes even more raunchy with a wailing harmonica and Page’s loose guitar riff that makes this song the tightest loose song ever written. Bring in Plant’s vocals at 1:36 and the song gets sweltering. “When the Levee Breaks” is a band firing on all cylinders. It’s a band who has come to know exactly who they are and what they are capable of, in the case of being musical gods. Listening to When the Levee Breaks somehow sounds like your listening to what Zeus or Zarathustra would sound like walking down a mountain I.E. absolute power and command when in the appearance of the mere mortals. To this day, this song stands as the greatest drum sound to ever come out of a record partly due to pure production talent and partly due to how great of a drummer Bonham was. It was the whole song though that defined just how godly Zeppelin were.

  7. Come see about me (The Supremes)

  Come See About Me is one of the greatest pop songs ever created. The strength and flexibility of pop music is showed off perfectly in this classic by The Supremes. The greatness of this song is a combination of many different aspects. First off, credit needs to be given to the Holland-Dozier-Holland combination who wrote the best songs of the Motown era. Their penchant for strong hook is unmatched by any songwriter(s) before or after. To this day, there is no songwriting group with more hits under their belt than the Holland-Dozier-Holland symbiosis. After this, we have to give credit to “the funk brothers” who played some of the most precise backing music to most of the Detroit girl groups of the 60’s. It’s unfortunate that they are often forgotten as these records would not be possible with out them. Finally, we must give credence to Diana Ross who has arguably the greatest feminine vocal of all time, if not the greatest, easily the sweetest. All these forced combined to make pure dance pop that one need not feel guilty about when listening too this song. The song is just too strong on all angles to be considered a “guilty pleasure”, even though it’s enormously catchy.

  6. Time of the Season (The Zombies)

  The Time of the Season defines the 60’s and why it was the golden age for music. The song starts off surreptitiously with a bass line that is as creepy as it is addicting. Then comes in Rod Argent’s wispy vocals with lyrics evoking the open sensuality of the time. When the chorus hits, this full band vocals come firing in to demand a statement that wasn’t political, nor imperative. It was dreamlike and made for all ages beyond the one it was written it. To say that “Time of the Season” is the greatest summer song of all time is an understatement. You don’t listen to this song in the winter. You listen to this song going to the beach knowing that there’s going to be coquettish females showing off their strides and making all men into slobbery dogs. It’s this power that makes Time of the Season appealing to everyone. It makes the women feel sexy and the men feel like they need to do something to please the women. This song makes everyone hot by being subtle in its entire delivery proving that sexuality doesn’t operate on purely open grounds.

  5. Live Forever (Oasis)

  This was a difficult choice for Old-Wizard. We all love songs like “The Masterplan”, “Underneath The Sky”, and “Columbia”, but had to choose Live Forever as one of the greatest songs of all time. In terms of the timeless quality of pop songwriting, Live Forever is one of the best examples in pop music’s short history. The vocal delivery is Liam Gallagher’s most passionate and Noel’s solo is the best he ever played. The mix is loud and very live sounding. This is the sound of a band who knew what it wanted for its sound. The sound wasn’t a traditional pop sound that was polished and perfectly in time. It was the sound of a band who liked their live sound but at the same time loving the best parts of a traditional pop song. The bridge is incredibly heartfelt and the post-bridge/chorus is Oasis’s flying moment where they first became recognized as a timeless band. The musicianship isn’t amazing, the production isn’t polished, but something about Live Forever screams of pop perfection more than the most perfectly played pop songs.

  4. Get it On (T-Rex)

  Get it On has the most memorable riff in pop music history. The amount of times this riff has been aped is unprecedented. The groove of this song is unmatched by any in rock history. To put it simply, “Get it On” is the most danceable rock song ever released. Marc Bolan, prior to his rock/pop aspirations was a folk musician who utilized his childish and androgynous vocal talent to create music on par with the likes of Donovan, but it was only when he went into his obsessions with Elvis and Little Richard did we see his best music. Get it On represents the best of his glam rock output that is played on almost every radio station imaginable. The production of the song is one of the best pure rock productions ever released. Tony Visconti produced the drums that were like explosions on every snare hit and mixed the guitars with perfect EQuing. Add to this, Bolan’s seductive and surreptitious vocal delivery and one has the perfect rock song. Get it On will never be forgotten because how hypnotic of a song it is.

  3. This Charming Man (The Smiths)

  One could argue that the entire Smiths catalog are the greatest songs of all time, but in trying to be objective in this list (I.E. giving a 1 song per band), we had to choose what the best Smiths song was. Choosing between Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, How Soon is Now, Panic, and This Charming Man was excruciating, but it was This Charming Man that came out on top. Johnny Marr’s riff is instantly recognizable to anyone who knows anything about music. The calypso musical backing serves as a perfect counterpart to Morrissey’s lugubrious and otherworldly prose, which is what made The Smiths one of the greatest bands of all time. This Charming Man is littered with self-conscious observations like “Will nature make a man out of me yet”? and “Why ponder life’s complexities when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat”. Fans of The Smiths know what Morrissey is referring to in this song, and know why this song is as hilarious as it’s purely pleasurable to listen to. Those country boys who never found their place. They would find there place in The Smiths and this perfect pop gem.

  2. Echoes (Pink Floyd)

  When many music listeners think of Pink Floyd they think of Dark Side of the Moon and songs like “Time” and “Money”. While Dark Side of the Moon was certainly a classic album, their other work often goes unnoticed, like Meddle. The album started off with the dooming one of these days and flowed perfectly to the stranger country musings Seamus. It was at the end of Seamus though that the goosebumps will spike on all parts of your body at the first strike of the keyboard that was the first second of Echoes. At 23:31 minutes, Echoes represents the most universal experience in music history. While Zeppelin walked the world as contemporary God’s and The Stone’s lit a fire to anything safe in the modern world, Pink Floyd distanced themselves from anything existentially purposeful by making this massive song bigger than anything of any human concern. Tragedy and resolution embody this song at every turn by being epitomized by the always changing dynamics. The ostensible sound of dolphins come in mid way through the song where everything halts to the apparitions of these creatures crying out at a distance. Slowly, the song crawls back into the beginning keyboard parts and an organ slowing fading in that takes the listener out of limbo back into themselves with more suspense than any other song could ever convey. One could write forever about this song; about the amazing metaphysical lyrics, Gilmore absolutely ripping it on guitar and the incredible groove before the mid section, but as always, one has to listen to this song to understand the experience of the song. More than any other song in pop history, Echoes is the one that is most experienced. Don’t listen to it at a party or casually with loads of friends. Listen to it by yourself in candlelit room and you will have a transcendental experience.

  1. Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones)

  Where does one begin when trying to describe Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones? Where does one end when trying to describe this song? How does one go about talking about this song? Something happened in Gimme Shelter that never happened before or after it; a rock song became immensely emotional without becoming mawkish. Gimme Shelter is the grittiest and most raw song of all time while at the same evoking a universal emotion above any song in the entire Beatles catalog. The collective fire and yang of humanity is perfectly epitomized in this song. Beyond this description is an endless, daunting, and ultimately untenable musical exposition. One could talk about the Richard’s haunting guitar intro, but this would do no justice to the experience of the intro. One could talk about the passion of Jagger’s voice, but this would again do no justice to the vocal take. One could talk about Watt’s drum fill in the chorus that made the crash cymbal one of the most important arrangements in a chorus forever on. Everything in this song can be talked about to a point of becoming tired. It’s with this in mind that it absolutely shouldn’t be described or talked about. Everything positive that can be said about Gimme Shelter is an injustice, and ultimately a negativity to the most powerful song of the 20th century.

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207 Comments

1. #1 Jump man says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 12:32 am

   HOW THE FUCK IS OASIS ON THE TOP 10 BEST SONGS LIST!?!?!! ARE YOU GUYZ DRUNK OFF YER ASSES?????????????????????
2. #2 The Hunter says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 12:41 am

   Decent list. Here are some great songs you guys missed:

   Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan
   Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones
   Imagine, John Lennon
   What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye
   Respect, Aretha Franklin
   Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys
   Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
   Hey Jude, The Beatles
   Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
   What’d I Say, Ray Charles
   My Generation, The Who
   A Change Is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke
   Yesterday, The Beatles
   Blowin’ in the Wind, Bob Dylan
   London Calling, The Clash
   I Wanna Hold Your Hand, The Beatles
3. #3 Fry says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 12:49 am

   Good list if you like gay music.
4. #4 The Mountain says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 1:05 am

   I wanna hold your hand? What the fuck?
5. #5 Ray says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 7:59 pm

   This list is completely ignorant. First of all, how is it you have a Led Zeppelin song on the list, but its not Stairway to Heaven? Worst of all you have an Oasis song but no Beatles songs?! And worst of all since when is Gimmie Shelter the best Rolling Stones song of all time, nevermind the best SONG OF ALL TIME????? Ever hear Paint it Black? Or Sympathy for the Devil? Or Tumbling Dice? Anyway, seeing as though you have a Beach Boys song on this list, I’m just gonna assume you’re gay and leave it at that.