What's your favorite song?

The other day someone asked me to name my three favorite songs of all time. I think he was talking about rock, so that’s how I started to think about the songs that I never grow tired of listening to. If you grew up with the Beatles, it’s easy to pick some of theirs. I was shocked when iTunes classified them as “Pop”. I never really thought about them as anything other than rock and roll, but maybe it’s so, that they don’t really fit that category. I did include them on my list, since I decided to keep going past the “rock” category and add some more types of music.

My sisters were listening to rock before I was, and they were the ones who turned me on to WMCA in New York City and the “Good Guys” collection of DJ’s who worked there. There was also WINS with the famous Murray the K disk jockey. I even have a cassette tape from one of those Golden Oldies collections from 1964 that features his show and his goofy catch phrases.

I had no idea that that beautiful, amazing music was out there. I was too busy playing baseball and doing guy stuff to realize that my younger sisters were onto something good. We pooled our resources to get the three dollars it took to buy The Beatles’ first album and then shared it carefully. Later I would be in the record stores each week looking for the next big single, gradually accepting that maybe people other than The Beatles would also be worthy of inclusion in my collection.

So, without further ado, here is my list along with an explanation of why each song is meaningful to me.

Rock::
1. Gimme Shelter--Rolling Stones
2. Let the Day Begin --The Call
3 All Revved Up and No Place to Go --Meatloaf

Gimme Shelter became some kind of anthem in the small group of friends I hung out with sophomore year in college. One stoner pointed out to me that little bit where Merry Clayton’s voice cracks on “oh, baby” and even now, 36 years later, I still wait for it. The way the song builds in intensity, driving and driving thrills me every time.

Let the Day Begin was a song I didn’t pay much attention to from a group I didn’t know about. In fact, this is the only song of theirs that I like. When the Clinton-Gore campaign bus rolled into our town in the summer of 1992, “Let the Day Begin” poured from the speakers at the campaign stop just a half mile from my house. Maybe it was kind of sappy, but I heard what I wanted to hear in it, and identified immediately with its message. Was it hope? I think so.

All Revv’d Up and No Place to Go is the song I played when I was finished studying for my masters degree comprehensive tests and just wanted to get them over with. “Bat of Hell” is still one of my favorite albums—hardly a clunker on it.

If you are talking about blues:
1. Angel from Montgomery --Bonnie Raitt
2. Piece of My Heart --Janis Joplin
3 Can't You Hear Me Knockin' --Rolling Stones

Angel is chock full of wonderful feeling. I always liked angels (married one, in fact), so I was naturally drawn to this song. “How the hell can a person go to work in the morning, come home in the evening, and have nothing to say?”

Piece of My Heart kind of sums up poor Janis’ life to me. I was lucky enough to see her in concert once. Her wrenching vocals haunt even to this day. How could she dredge up such emotion and put it out there as a voyeuristic feast?

Knockin’ has this wonderful passage in the middle, a classic blues passage where you feel as though you are being led down into a tunnel where you are shown both the mysteries of and maybe some of the answers to life. Gradually you climb up out of the depths into the sunlight, but maybe you pine for the dark passage just a little.

If you are talking about folk:
1. Widow with Shawl: A Portrait --Donovan
2. Simple Twist of Fate --Joan Baez' version of Dylan's song
3. Tangled Up in Blue -Bob Dylan

Widow--now before you get all up in my face about it being Donovan—just listen sometime to the story. I like it because I love the ocean and I know what a “widow’s walk” is. The prayer expressed so plaintively here is, well, touching.

Fate is just a hoot the way Baez handles it, especially as she does her Dylan impression at one point. Sometimes it really seems like a simple twist of fate that brings people together or keeps them from ever meeting.

Blue is my favorite color. Besides, I like to think I’m “the solid type.”

If you are talking about pop:
1. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
2. Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles
3. Things We Said Today - the Beatles

Here Comes the Sun became Kathy’s and my song. I shan’t describe the circumstances that led to this momentous decision since my children sometimes read this blog.

Rocky Raccoon. What’s not to like? It’s just a fun story, and you can’t help pulling for good old Rocky.

Things We Said Today hit me just right in high school. It seemed to articulate my feelings about girls and relationships in general.

If you are talking about country:
1. I've Been Everywhere - Hank Snow
2. Wild One - Faith Hill
3. Long Black Veil - either Johnny Cash or The Band

I’ve Been Everywhere. Now come on—how does he remember all the names of all those places? Someday I will memorize it just to see if I can.

Wild One is a nice jumpy little song. I always think of Daughter Ann and her strong willed contrariness. In sign language class, this is the song I signed. Everyone else picked slow songs—they were shocked when the opening strains of Wild One started up.

Veil tells a great story—one I first heard by The Band. A tragic story, but a classic. Son Patrick sang it for us in Ireland when we were at Peter’s parents’ house. Peter’s mom and sister started singing one of their classics and Patrick answered with “Veil”. That was a fun night.

OK, I'll stop now.

When someone asks about a favorite song, it’s very difficult to pick one. It seems to depend on my mood, as melodies shift like albums in a six-disc CD changer.

So, how about you? Can you pin down your favorite songs and justify your choices?