The Perfect Song

[sisabet]

My lovely and sweet and wonderful public radio station (WRVG - I had the call letters wrong in a previous post - http://www.wrvg-fm.org/ ) was just running a retrospective of Roy Orbison. And I had to go back to my desk. Sigh. My life is hard. I'd listen to it here, but the carpet behind me flooded and they have these huge fans going now and there is no way I can hear anything at all. I can't even hear my phone ringing. As long as it doesn't mildew, I can tolerate noise. It is a kind of white noise, anyway. I'm pretending it is the ocean and I have a couple of co-workers set to "kaw-kaw" if they walk by my cubicle to give it that authentic touch. I am so very lucky that most people humor me.

Back to Roy. So I was thinking about "Pretty Woman" - did you know that song is 39 years old? How is that possible? But that wasn't my original thought, it was just an aside, my original thought was that the music in Pretty Woman is just about perfect. The guitar riffs, the drum beats - that song is very satisfying to me as a person. It is like really great pizza. Y'know - the kind of pizza that is just exactly what you want out of pizza. The kind of pizza that is in the back of your mind everytime you order (or if you are heres_luck make) pizza. That song does it for me. I should make a list of others. That would be fun.

Hell, tell me your perfect song. I want to know.

Comments

[luminosity]

I'd have to think hard about an all-encompassing perfect song, but my perfect Roy Orbison song is "Crying."

What a tenor!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Well - now "Pretty Woman" is not my actual favorite Roy Orbison song. Which is strange, because it is my perfect song - but I like others more, and "You Got It" and "Crying" I probably like more than "Pretty Woman. But I wouldn't say either of those songs is perfect, IMO. But "Pretty Woman" is. And I probably like some Traveling Wilbury's stuff more than "Pretty Woman". Oh, now that I think about it, perhaps "Poor House" is also a perfect song, but that I may like "Last Night" more.

Now I am confusing myself. Perhaps I should examine what "perfect" and "favorite" mean to me.

And now I really need to make a list of my potentially perfect songs. And then divide it up by genre and time period, perhaps with footnotes and maybe I should go back to school?

[luminosity]

I am following the same sort of logic here. My favorite Traveling Wilburys song is "Dirty World," which will be a vid eventually, but the perfect TW song is "Last Night" or maybe "End of the Line."

Hmmm.. thinking. My favorite Led Zep is "How Many More Times," but the perfect Led Zep is "Kashmir".....

thinking... thinking.. Ouch!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

See!! You get it.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Okay Weezer:

The perfect Weezer song is probably "Hashpipe" (with "Getchoo" and "Buddy Holly" as potential alternates) but my favorite Weezer song is "El Scorcho."

[luminosity]

Yeah!

Favorite Stevie Ray Vaughn? "Crossroads." Perfect SVR? "The Sky is Crying."

Favorite Jonny Lang? "Little Schoolgirl." Perfect Jonny Lang? "Lie to Me."

Favorite Disturbed? "Down With the Sickness." Perfect Disturbed? "Down With the Sickness." Because sometimes, they dovetail. :)

Kinda hung up on icons, though, like the Beatles or the Stones. I can't pick a favorite, but I think I can pick a perfect. Perfect Beatles? "Carry That Weight" or "Come Together." But favorite? I can't imagine. Perfect Stones? "Satisfaction" or "Emotional Rescue" or "Waiting on a Friend." Favorite? God. Who knows?

[heresluck]

Well, thank goodness we're allowed to pick a perfect and a favorite for each band, because otherwise my head would explode. And yes, impossible to pick a favorite for some bands -- though in my case they're more personal icons than cultural icons.

Off the top of my head, I'm only coming up with definitive answers for one band:

perfect Madder Rose: "Beautiful John"; favorite Madder Rose: "Razor Pilot."

Clearly I need to go home and look at my CDs. Yeah, like I needed an excuse to do *that*.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Yes - you need to participate in this.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah icons are hard. This requires serious thought.

Favorite John Hiatt "Everybody Went Low" - perfect John Hiatt "Riding with the King"

Favorite Guns-N-Roses "Mr. Brownstone," perfect GNR, "Sweet Child O' Mine"

Favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Sir Psycho Sexy" perfect, "Give It Away" or "Taste the Pain"

Favorite Dr. Dre "Ain't Nuthing but a G-Thang", perfect Dre "Fuck the Police"

Favorite Lucinda Williams "Gotta Get Right with God" perfect Lucinda Williams "Bleeding Fingers" or "2 Cool 2 Be 4-Gotten"

[luminosity]

Icons!

Joni Mitchell: Favorite, "All I Want." Perfect, "Blue."

Aretha: Favorite, "Chain of Fools." Perfect, "Respect," of course!

Pink Floyd: Favorite, "Wish You Were Here." Perfect, the entire Dark Side of the Moon.

Gershwin! :)

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Stephen Foster: Favorite "My Old Kentucky Home" (of course!) perfect "Camptown Races"

Oh, Oh, Oh!!!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Warren Zevon: Favorite, "Lawyers, Guns and Money." Perfect, "Werewolves of London"

Johnny Cash: Favorite, "One Piece at a Time" Perfect, "Ring of Fire"

Now I'm sad

Re: Oh, Oh, Oh!!!

[luminosity]

Let's just celebrate that we were here to love and be affected by their marvelous talent!

Warren Zevon: Favorite, "Searching for a Heart." Perfect, "Werewolves of London."

Johnny Cash: Favorite, "Ghost Riders in the Sky." Perfect, "I Walk the Line."

Frank Sinatra: Favorite, "I've Got You Under My Skin." Perfect, "I Get a Kick Out of You," both of which are Cole Porter songs.

Nirvana! Favorite, "Come As You Are." Perfect: "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Re: Oh, Oh, Oh!!!

[luminosity]

WILLIE!! Favorite, "Stardust." Perfect, "Crazy."

HANK!! Favorite, "Half As Much." Perfect, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."

"Wichita Lineman" is Glen Campbell. :)

Re: Oh, Oh, Oh!!!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Oh - I shoulda known that

Willie: favorite "Pancho and Lefty" perfect "Crazy"

Hank, Jr: favorite "All My Rowdy Friends (Are Settling Down)" perfect "Country Boy Can Survive"

Waylon Jennings: favorite "Luckenbach, Texas" perfect "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys"

Re: Oh, Oh, Oh!!!

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

Crazy is the perfect Willie Nelson song.

It may be the perfect song of all time. The Patsy Cline version of it is perfect, though my favorite is the Robin and Linda Williams version (no annoying strings).

Re: Oh, Oh, Oh!!!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

ITA with the Nirvana selection.

The Doors: favorite "Break On Through" perfect, "Riders on the Storm"

Alice In Chains: favorite "Man In a Box," perfect "Would" or "Rooster"

Keith Whitley: favorite "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" perfect "When You Say Nothing at All"