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Candidates for Perfect Songs (or near enough)


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You know, we all go back and forth about "good, better, best" and so on with songs. There's a sense, 'tho, to me, where a song so perfectly does its job, is so satisfying in its construction and execution at all practical points, that such a song seems to stand on its own pedestal and it seems like to some extent missing the point to compare it qualitatively with other songs. It's like the song both fulfills and creates an ideal thing with a unique value. It may be a small thing, a simple thing, sure - not a four-movement symphony for the ages and so on. But still, if it fulfills so wonderfully what it attempts, what else can you ask?

 

(Not that I mean total, absolute perfection (whatever that is.) But near enough for this life.)

 

So I'm inviting entries for songs you admirable ladies and gents feel similarly about.

 

Here's one I'll throw out that I think of in these terms:

 

Crowded House - Into Temptation

 

[video=youtube_share;umn2JOHRcNo]

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I wouldn't know how to categorise a perfect song - I just know those songs I've never tired of after 50 years.

 

The Crowded House song is great, but as the lyrics appeared on the screen, I found myself adjusting them to achieve better prosody. It was easy to do, so why didn't the songwriter do it?

 

The Sinatra piece with Mercer as the lyricist was just perfect in it's prosody, but is it a perfect song? - I don't know.

The whole exercise is so subjective.

 

I have a few songs that I use to set the standard of my own songwriting. I doubt that I'll achieve the level I would like, but maybe just one excellent song and I'll be happy.

Here's one that I consider worthy of aspiring to:

 

Waterloo Sunset

 

[video=youtube;g-D9xcZgKX4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-D9xcZgKX4

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I wouldn't know how to categorise a perfect song - I just know those songs I've never tired of after 50 years.

 

The Crowded House song is great, but as the lyrics appeared on the screen, I found myself adjusting them to achieve better prosody. It was easy to do, so why didn't the songwriter do it?

 

The Sinatra piece with Mercer as the lyricist was just perfect in it's prosody, but is it a perfect song? - I don't know.

The whole exercise is so subjective.

 

 

I just want to know what songs strike people this way, that's all. Not looking for some definitive universally supreme creation in a technical sense. Just something that totally does the trick for you. Like what you mean when you take a big pull on your favorite beer on a hot day and say "it doesn't get any better than this". You're not interested in listing pluses and minuses or defining absolute perfection for your beer experience at the moment. Still, it's something you like so much from beginning to end that it stops the analytical machine for the time being, as analysis seems beside the point when you're in the moment.

 

If it has flaws that you can't get around, can't transcend in the experience, then it fails the test for you.

 

This one - I don't even know all the lyrics - but that one image of one headlight, in that it is enough to keep going in spite of a world of negative voices and so much damage already done...that's a perfect image and the song nails it.

 

[video=youtube_share;Dccx5QSsOqs]http://youtu.be/Dccx5QSsOqs

 

 

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

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Both Sides Now - the perfect simplicity of the lyric blows me away every time. I wouldn't change a word. The melody leaps then pauses, like she's playing with us. Wow.

 

[video=youtube;Pbn6a0AFfnM]

 

 

Others? Yesterday is pretty great. I'm Only Sleeping. I'm sure there are some standards.

 

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Into Temptation. Knowing full well the earth will rebel. Don't tell. When I first heard that lyric, incidentally, on the day it was released, I rejoiced inside. Here was someone speaking to me. Was there a God then? ? But an earth? Yes. I got that. Right and wrong, devotion or deception. That spoke to me then and still does today. Neil Finn talks of blood and mud and floating through the sky. Of the cosmos and a coffee cup. The great unknown and the things we do know for sure. I get that too. I love him, and I love that song even more.

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This one - I don't even know all the lyrics - but that one image of one headlight, in that it is enough to keep going in spite of a world of negative voices and so much damage already done...that's a perfect image and the song nails it.

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

Another good choice. I remember the first time I heard that song and I thought, "Where did this come from? It's so good!" At the time I was unaware of the singer's DNA possibly being part of the equation...

 

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As far as my perfect song... Oddly enough, i'd have to say Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel. It's such a silly song and yet... Somehow it always spoke to me about self doubt and really knowing your place in the world. He gets up to wash his face and when he comes back to bed someone is taking his place. I get that.:-) and a great groove you can't destroy half drunk with an acoustic guitar around the campfire. Everyone, everyone! ...loves to sing it. I want to write my Cecilia.

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Yeah, One Headlight. Great tune, great lyric, great performance by the band, and fantastic production by T-bone Burnett. Not only did Jacob come from out of nowhere, but T-Bone's dry punchy realistic production did as well. That sound set the benchmark for radio hits for the next couple of years.

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Yeah' date=' One Headlight. Great tune, great lyric, great performance by the band, and fantastic production by T-bone Burnett. [b']Not only did Jacob come from out of nowhere[/b], but T-Bone's dry punchy realistic production did as well. That sound set the benchmark for radio hits for the next couple of years.

 

T Bone is am amazing producer, one of my favs. On Jakob's last solo album he even did a better job imo than he did on that second Wallflowers album, it's a different rootsier style though.

 

I believe T Bones style is keeping it real and keeping it simple, but that might be not as simple as it seems.

 

Rubin also did a killer job with Jakob's first solo album. Another fav of my is Don Was.

 

All these producers seem to let songs stand on there onw and don't try to cover up stuff with over production. I'm quite sure how out of nowhere Jakob came, as his dad made a few albums over the past 50 years. :D

 

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I just want to know what songs strike people this way, that's all. Not looking for some definitive universally supreme creation in a technical sense. Just something that totally does the trick for you. Like what you mean when you take a big pull on your favorite beer on a hot day and say "it doesn't get any better than this". You're not interested in listing pluses and minuses or defining absolute perfection for your beer experience at the moment. Still, it's something you like so much from beginning to end that it stops the analytical machine for the time being, as analysis seems beside the point when you're in the moment.

 

If it has flaws that you can't get around, can't transcend in the experience, then it fails the test for you.

 

This one - I don't even know all the lyrics - but that one image of one headlight, in that it is enough to keep going in spite of a world of negative voices and so much damage already done...that's a perfect image and the song nails it.

 

[video=youtube_share;Dccx5QSsOqs]http://youtu.be/Dccx5QSsOqs

 

 

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

Love this song. Not a single cymbal in the song (other than hi-hats).

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This one has got so much going for it - it's not just soul 'tho it's great soul - it's got a blues mood and the vocal is totally blues phrasing, plus it's supremely funky and all the parts just click and fit perfectly and the recording is great. Not much missing here! And it always puts me in the zone.

 

Love and Happiness (of course)

 

[video=youtube_share;rqqAnjY2Rmo]

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

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Woah, I have so many tunes to offer that it feels like it was my destiny to post in this thread. :)

 

Pink Floyd has way too many songs to mention - I can think of half a dozen perfect tunes on "The Wall" alone - but I'll run with "Mother" since I finally figured out why the timing of the pre-chorus walk-up to F always screwed me up. It's a switch from 4-4 to 6-8, only it is so smooth because of the 123, 123, 12 emphasis of the verses!

 

[video=youtube;lX3uCuFKlqw]

 

Here is another one that I consider a perfect song. Mr Knight once stated that he wished the lyric was clearer, but for me the fact that exact meaning is just barely out of grasp is a perfect metaphor for the elusive object of his desire.

 

[video=youtube;amVqlbGBHbw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amVqlbGBHbw

 

This song hits me hard every time. Brings me back to being on my bed, too tired to sleep, a lonely kid afraid that no one was ever going to love him.

 

[video=youtube;cs-XZ_dN4Hc]

 

And I can't tell you how much this song has impacted me. Holy {censored}.

 

[video=youtube;g_ihXlWKC7g]

 

This guy helped me through one of the toughest times of my life. Strangely, I don't listen to him much anymore even though I get a big kick out of it whenever I stumble on one of his songs.

 

[video=youtube;hHVBzLGAIbU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHVBzLGAIbU

 

I was never the biggest Duran Duran fan, but this latter release is outstanding.

 

[video=youtube;dDLiVwpv89s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLiVwpv89s

 

If we are going Crowded House, it is impossible for me not to mention this gem.

 

[video=youtube;J9gKyRmic20]

 

These guys were very formulaic, but were still very enjoyable and hit a few out of the park.

 

[video=youtube;tnFKaU8H4v8]

 

I'm still trying to get my head around why so many people were bothered when these guys were inducted into the R&R HOF.

 

[video=youtube;LU78wkEpmY8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU78wkEpmY8

 

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention these guys. "Creep", "High and Dry", "No Surprises", "Let Down" and "Fake Plastic" are absolutely worthy of this thread, but this song just knocks my socks off.

 

[video=youtube;RByvzmmEFiQ]

 

I guess that's enough for now. :)

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Love this song. Not a single cymbal in the song (other than hi-hats).

 

Cymbals kill guitars, right?

 

"Waterloo Sunset" has this amazing beautiful melody that stands up to being played and sung over and over, but I think the rest of the track lets it down musically. It's on my "I love this but" list.

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I've never been a huge fan of that Cure song, Justin. I'd run with "Friday I'm in Love" if forced to choose a perfect pop song from their catalog. Funny enough, every time I hear "JLH", it takes until the vocals come in for me to realize that it isn't "FIIL". Must be based on the same chord progression or something. :)

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I was just a kid with a mono record player in a molded plastic case when I bought (or maybe I just lifted) the Byrd's Turn, Turn, Turn album. At any rate, this simple song I loved from the start and still love - gets the mood of the situation described in the lyrics spot on, and all the parts just work like clockwork - I wouldn't change a note.

 

A Gene Clark song - Set You Free This Time

 

[video=youtube_share;9QSTy3fkWSA]

 

 

nat whilk ii

 

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How about this one? [video=youtube;NdiRhzTsSnk]
I was 11 and standing in the "record department" of West Covina's White Front store. Like a Target. The clerk puts on this tune on a new little self contained record player speaker combo and... I remember hearing her voice, then his. Wondering if it was the same person. That voice. That groove. It sounded wise but not like my dad. This was... WISE. It hasn't aged at all. Fantastic.
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