This is the end...my only friend, the end. (No, there aren't any Doors songs, but I could easily name several I wish I'd written.) Here are the Top 5 Songs I Wish I'd Written, the aural works of beauty, power, and/or perfection that cause a tinge of jealousy before I go ahead and sink into their exemplary songwriting craftsmanship. Please take some time to enjoy #20-16 and #15-11 and #10-6. Hope you've enjoyed being reminded of some old favorites or being introduced to some new ones. And the hits just keep on coming!
5) "'Round Here"--Counting Crows
First, there's lyrical perfection like "Step out the front door like a ghost into a fog/ where no one notices the contrast of white on white. / And in between the moon and you / angels get a better view / of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." Then you throw in Adam Duritz's uncanny ability to deliver the phrases with the skill of poet-singer-songwriters like Dylan and Springsteen. Finally, you glue it all together with just a great American rock n' roll band, and you've got a great song with other great lines like "Round here we talk just like lions / but we sacrifice like lambs..." I actually wrote a song called "Dying to Hear It" that was inspired in part by this song. It's a decent tune that a lot of folks like, but I still wish I'd written this one!
4) "Praying for Time"--George Michael
Okay, I finally had to admit that I'm a George Michael fan...and this was the song that did it. To be honest, I was floored by "Father Figure" and a couple of other cuts from the Faith album, but I just couldn't get past "I Want Your Sex" and the title cut (even though it is a decent pop tune), as well as the whole Wham days. But the next album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, allowed me to go back and admit, this guy can write a song...and can sing the hell out of it, too!
Remember when George gave up appearing in videos and became a serious songwriter? "Praying for Time" is beautiful, "Freedom! 90" was a great pop tune, perfectly produced and passionately delivered. If only he'd stayed out of that bathroom... But he also had contract headaches and other personal issues that just kept him from what he seemed like he might become. Maybe there's still hope for Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2. Ya gotta have faith...
3) "Walk On the Wild Side"--Lou Reed
This is one of those songs that defies description. Gets under my skin every time, with its simplicity, intimacy, beauty, and horror. All about real people in the Warhol/Velvet Underground/NYC scene that was the antithesis of the hippie stuff happening at the same time on the left coast and up the road at Woodstock. A perfect example of less is more.
2) "Walking in Memphis"--Marc Cohn
What a great, fresh song. That piano riff just carries you along like you're, well, like you're walking in Memphis...with your feet 10 feet off of Beale. (Just fyi, Beale is a street in Memphis, about which W.C. Handy wrote "Beale St. Blues"--see how it all comes together?) Cohn is a super songwriter. Unfortunately, he's also the victim of the "Best New Artist" Grammy curse (see also Starland Vocal Band, Paula Cole, Milli Vanilli, etc.), not to mention the fact that Cohn got shot in the head a few years ago! But he's still going. And if you're gonna be a one-hit-wonder, what a hit!
1) "In Your Eyes"--Peter Gabriel
The most beautiful love song ever written? Certainly one of the deepest and most sincere. A glorious praise song? That's between you and God--it works better for me than many "official" hymns and praise songs. "In your eyes, / the light the heat, / in your eyes / I am complete. / In your eyes / I see the doorway to a thousand churches, / the resolution of all my fruitless searches..." I know that does it for me--toward my wife, toward God--a better lyric expression of love than most others I've found.
5) "'Round Here"--Counting Crows
First, there's lyrical perfection like "Step out the front door like a ghost into a fog/ where no one notices the contrast of white on white. / And in between the moon and you / angels get a better view / of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." Then you throw in Adam Duritz's uncanny ability to deliver the phrases with the skill of poet-singer-songwriters like Dylan and Springsteen. Finally, you glue it all together with just a great American rock n' roll band, and you've got a great song with other great lines like "Round here we talk just like lions / but we sacrifice like lambs..." I actually wrote a song called "Dying to Hear It" that was inspired in part by this song. It's a decent tune that a lot of folks like, but I still wish I'd written this one!
4) "Praying for Time"--George Michael
Okay, I finally had to admit that I'm a George Michael fan...and this was the song that did it. To be honest, I was floored by "Father Figure" and a couple of other cuts from the Faith album, but I just couldn't get past "I Want Your Sex" and the title cut (even though it is a decent pop tune), as well as the whole Wham days. But the next album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, allowed me to go back and admit, this guy can write a song...and can sing the hell out of it, too!
Remember when George gave up appearing in videos and became a serious songwriter? "Praying for Time" is beautiful, "Freedom! 90" was a great pop tune, perfectly produced and passionately delivered. If only he'd stayed out of that bathroom... But he also had contract headaches and other personal issues that just kept him from what he seemed like he might become. Maybe there's still hope for Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2. Ya gotta have faith...
3) "Walk On the Wild Side"--Lou Reed
This is one of those songs that defies description. Gets under my skin every time, with its simplicity, intimacy, beauty, and horror. All about real people in the Warhol/Velvet Underground/NYC scene that was the antithesis of the hippie stuff happening at the same time on the left coast and up the road at Woodstock. A perfect example of less is more.
2) "Walking in Memphis"--Marc Cohn
What a great, fresh song. That piano riff just carries you along like you're, well, like you're walking in Memphis...with your feet 10 feet off of Beale. (Just fyi, Beale is a street in Memphis, about which W.C. Handy wrote "Beale St. Blues"--see how it all comes together?) Cohn is a super songwriter. Unfortunately, he's also the victim of the "Best New Artist" Grammy curse (see also Starland Vocal Band, Paula Cole, Milli Vanilli, etc.), not to mention the fact that Cohn got shot in the head a few years ago! But he's still going. And if you're gonna be a one-hit-wonder, what a hit!
1) "In Your Eyes"--Peter Gabriel
The most beautiful love song ever written? Certainly one of the deepest and most sincere. A glorious praise song? That's between you and God--it works better for me than many "official" hymns and praise songs. "In your eyes, / the light the heat, / in your eyes / I am complete. / In your eyes / I see the doorway to a thousand churches, / the resolution of all my fruitless searches..." I know that does it for me--toward my wife, toward God--a better lyric expression of love than most others I've found.
And that's it! For now...
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