What is your favorite song (if you have one)

[Phoenix87x]

My favorite song ever written is Nutshell by Alice in chains

In particular the live version from unplugged

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKi2E9dVY8&ab_channel=AliceInChainsVEVO

Basically sums up everything I am and how I feel as a person existing in this world.


how about you all, do you have a favorite song and what does it mean to you?

[lonestar]

I can whittle it down to 3...best I can do man. These three represent a definite path I've walked in the last 15 years..


Sugarmice by Marillion- The album is basically the story of the main character Torch as he falls deeper and deeper into alcoholism, Sugarmice is where he reached that point of resolve, resolve to the life of a barroom drunk who has abandoned his children. I've been there, and this is exactly how it is.


"So if you want my address it's number one at the end of the bar
Where I sit with the broken angels clutching at straws and nursing our scars
Blame it on me, blame it on me,
Sugar mice in the rain, your daddy took a raincheck"

https://youtu.be/6COmtBk6lYo


One Fatal Mistake by IQ- This one really paints the hopefullness I found in recovery... in taking chances to be more than what seemed to be my fate, that of a drunk...

"Remember all the promises you planned on
The only one whose arms you ever ran from
The best of you was locked away for so long
Don't wait another day"

https://youtu.be/fiAtEviAMmE


Life by Nemophila- A late comer, but it'd be impossible to measure the impact this song has had on me these last three years. It showed me that perseverance and the struggle are what truly make up the best moments for us.
 
"All the wishes made upon a star
No one ever answered them
I'm only here now because I kept on stubbornly blooming"

https://youtu.be/HFnEYhbEAqg

[Stadler]

My personal favorite kind of changes.  I know what I'd answer if someone asked for my top five favorite songs of all time (below) but a sort of "personal favorite"?  I don't think I could name one.

"Evidence of Autumn", Genesis - to this day reminds me of my college girlfriend.  I don't miss her in the sense of wanting to be with her, but she reminds me of a better time and a time of growth, so I think of her a lot.

"Drops Of Jupiter", Train - reminds me of a crucial point in my first marriage (that ultimately ended).  We rebounded, briefly, from her "looking for herself out there", and that period was one that changed my life forever.

"Tonight", Ozzy - I don't know; I just love the lyrics, that to me point to a sort of personal strength and personal resilience.  Yeah, everything is bad, I'm feeling down, but tonight, tonight, it's going to be special.  And that solo is just redemption personified.

"Me And Bobby McGee", Kris Kristofferson - my dad's favorite song is Kris's "Sunday morning Coming Down" but this was one of the first songs he ever played for me, and that wasn't really something we shared. It was a great insight into him and now it's a symbol of what he meant (means) to me.  I'm thinking of doing a couple three songs at a local bar open mic night, and this will certainly be one of them, if I can get past the "and somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away, looking for the home I hope she'll find" line without crying like a toddler.

For the record, if asked, I usually list "Good Vibrations" and "A Day In The Life" as the two greatest songs of all time.

[Adami]

Idioglossia by Pain of Salvation.

Can't really explain it. It just has more emotion in one song than I've ever heard. The music is fresh and interesting and it is constantly engaging in unique ways.

And, not for nothing, but I've heard the song 1000 times and I tear up every single time I hear it. No other song does that to me.

[Zydar]

For the record, if asked, I usually list "Good Vibrations" and "A Day In The Life" as the two greatest songs of all time.

I knew I liked you, Stads.

I usually list "Penny Lane" and "God Only Knows" as my two favourite songs of all time. They're my #1 and #2 favourite bands ever, respectively.

[hefdaddy42]

My favorite song is "Stranger In Your Soul" by Transatlantic.

[Stadler]

For the record, if asked, I usually list "Good Vibrations" and "A Day In The Life" as the two greatest songs of all time.

I knew I liked you, Stads.

I usually list "Penny Lane" and "God Only Knows" as my two favourite songs of all time. They're my #1 and #2 favourite bands ever, respectively.

It's a cliche, but I could listen to the Beach Boys harmonize the phone book.

And there was that mid-period where McCartney was just ON FIRE - Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, Lady Madonna, Hello Goodbye - and I'd agree, Penny Lane is probably the best of that lot. For all I write about Kiss, the Beatles are my favorite band of all time.   

(By the way, if you're a fan, the box sets they're putting out are really, really good.   Especially Abbey Road.  Yes, the main CD is a remix, so it's TECHNICALLY not the same as the original, but they include the original on there, and the deeper tracks and vault tracks are really interesting.)

[jammindude]

Idioglossia by Pain of Salvation.

Can't really explain it. It just has more emotion in one song than I've ever heard. The music is fresh and interesting and it is constantly engaging in unique ways.

And, not for nothing, but I've heard the song 1000 times and I tear up every single time I hear it. No other song does that to me.

That song has one of the coolest riffs I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

For me, I think Supper’s Ready by Genesis is the greatest piece of music ever written by anyone ever. But to be honest, Hemispheres has probably had a greater influence on my outlook on life. Balance of heart and mind is a major focal point of everything I do because of that song.

[Awaken]

Here comes the sun - that melody has never failed to put me in a better mood the second I hear it

[Lonk]

Learning to Live (DT) or Second Life Syndrome by Riverside.

Time by Pink Floyd might be in the competition as well.

[Buddyhunter1]

Octavarium. Blackwater Park is the runner-up.

[HOF]

If pressed to choose just one, I’d probably go with “Victorian Brickwork” by Big Big Train.

“Over The Hillside” by The Blue Nile is up there as well. And I’d also say all of “Gazpacho,” “Afraid of Sunlight,” and “Fantastic Place” by Marillion are in the running.

[SoundscapeMN]

[Her] Favorite Song 

[Duetsch Dream Dates]

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

[Stadler]

Here comes the sun - that melody has never failed to put me in a better mood the second I hear it

Good call!

Hey buddy; hope you're well.

[WilliamMunny]

This is an age-old question that is sooooo difficult to answer, but always guaranteed to spark some fun conversations!

My favorite song? Some of you have posted songs that it seems you identify with, or songs that remind you of things, and when I go by those criteria, I have a list a mile long.

That said, without overthinking it (which I am very prone to do), I'd go with a song called "Spanish Doll" of a super-obscure album (Haunted) by the long-forgotten artist Poe.

In the unlikely event that any of you have an idea of who Poe is, you probably know her for a second-tier, late '90s radio single ("Trigger Happy Jack"). Well, her second (and final) album, Haunted, is a long-time favorite of mine, and a companion of sorts to the cult-classic book House of Leaves (written by her brother).

I've been routinely listening to "Spanish Doll" for over twenty years, and it always inspires an emotional reaction. I honestly don't know why—I don't identify with any aspect of it, but yet it moves me nonetheless. I never tire of hearing it, so much so that I've tried to limit how often I hear it, in an effort to savor what is one of my favorite musical moments.

So there you go, today, that's my favorite song!

[HOF]

This is an age-old question that is sooooo difficult to answer, but always guaranteed to spark some fun conversations!

My favorite song? Some of you have posted songs that it seems you identify with, or songs that remind you of things, and when I go by those criteria, I have a list a mile long.

That said, without overthinking it (which I am very prone to do), I'd go with a song called "Spanish Doll" of a super-obscure album (Haunted) by the long-forgotten artist Poe.

In the unlikely event that any of you have an idea of who Poe is, you probably know her for a second-tier, late '90s radio single ("Trigger Happy Jack"). Well, her second (and final) album, Haunted, is a long-time favorite of mine, and a companion of sorts to the cult-classic book House of Leaves (written by her brother).

I've been routinely listening to "Spanish Doll" for over twenty years, and it always inspires an emotional reaction. I honestly don't know why—I don't identify with any aspect of it, but yet it moves me nonetheless. I never tire of hearing it, so much so that I've tried to limit how often I hear it, in an effort to savor what is one of my favorite musical moments.

So there you go, today, that's my favorite song!

That's exactly how and all I know about her. I'll try to check out "Spanish Doll" though!

[lonestar]

For the record, if asked, I usually list "Good Vibrations" and "A Day In The Life" as the two greatest songs of all time.

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

“Fantastic Place” by Marillion

Here comes the sun - that melody has never failed to put me in a better mood the second I hear it

All outstanding choices. If I went just by how fucking amazing a song is, without involving personal connections, I'd go with The Seventh House by IQ.

[twosuitsluke]

The Decline by NOFX

[ReaperKK]

In the unlikely event that any of you have an idea of who Poe is, you probably know her for a second-tier, late '90s radio single ("Trigger Happy Jack"). Well, her second (and final) album, Haunted, is a long-time favorite of mine, and a companion of sorts to the cult-classic book House of Leaves (written by her brother).

I actually know Poe and Haunted because I read House Of Leaves first and then heard there was a sort of companion album. I love 5 and a half minute hallway off that album.

I've had a lot of favroties over the years but the one I always return to is "Wish You Were Here" by Incubus from the album Morning View. I heard the album while in high school going into college and that album was a soundtrack to many moments during those years.

Now whenever I hear the song I always smile because it brings me back to a time where I was in a new city, on my own, with the new friends discovering myself. I never tire of the song. To me those few Incubus records were special because they had this melancholy feel to them that made timeless yet anchored in a specific time period in my life.

[pg1067]

I'm not sure I could cobble it down to a single song.  Looking at the songs I picked as #1 in the recent countdowns:

- Rush - Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres

- Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land

- Queensryche - Suite Sister Mary

- Fates Warning - The Ivory Gate of Dreams

- Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

- Metallica - Creeping Death

Add to that:

- Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons

- Yes - Close to the Edge

- Judas Priest - The Sentinel

- Helloween - Halloween or Keeper of the Seven Keys (it's almost impossible for me to pick just one)

- Triumph - Fight the Good Fight or Time Goes By

- Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (probably)

And, if you want to stretch the definition of "song," Pictures at an Exhibition by Prokofiev.

If I really narrowed it, it would be either Close to the Edge or Hemispheres.

[King Postwhore]

And You & I - Yes.

[lonestar]

And You & I - Yes.

 

[Stadler]

I'm not sure I could cobble it down to a single song.  Looking at the songs I picked as #1 in the recent countdowns:

- Rush - Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres

- Iron Maiden - To Tame a Land

- Queensryche - Suite Sister Mary

- Fates Warning - The Ivory Gate of Dreams

- Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

- Metallica - Creeping Death

Add to that:

- Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons

- Yes - Close to the Edge

- Judas Priest - The Sentinel

- Helloween - Halloween or Keeper of the Seven Keys (it's almost impossible for me to pick just one)

- Triumph - Fight the Good Fight or Time Goes By

- Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (probably)

And, if you want to stretch the definition of "song," Pictures at an Exhibition by Prokofiev.

If I really narrowed it, it would be either Close to the Edge or Hemispheres.

Always like to see the love for "The Sentinel".  What an epic track (and would be in my Priest top 5).

[T-ski]

Rush “Subdivisions”.

Impossible not to see my youth when hearing this song.

[KevShmev]

2112 by Rush has been my favorite song since late 1991/1992, but I can count on one hand the number of fully-engaged listens I have given it in the last decade.  It gets the lifetime achievement nod, even though I rarely reach for it anymore (after listening to a zillion times for many years).

This gives me an idea for a new thread, however...

[nick_z]

Always like to see the love for "The Sentinel".  What an epic track (and would be in my Priest top 5).

Yes! Couldn't agree more. I'd add that the first 4 tunes on Defenders of the Faith make up a near-perfect run of "heavy metal" songs (there is a lot to like on side B too, of course)

[Dave_Manchester]

Telegraph Road by Dire Straits.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

This is really hard, and while I did a lot of work a year ago or so on getting my top 500 songs or so down to a top 200, I didn't really think that hard about my top 10 or so, which badly needs a reevaluation. 

My favorite is probably "Everybody Wants To Rule the World" from Tears For Fears.  It was a song that I'd heard at various points earlier, and had parts of stuck in my head at times, but never knew what song it was.  After going a number of years without hearing it at all, I finally stumbled upon it in my early 20s, and have had so many binges with it since then.  Rick Beato did an interesting "What Makes This Song Great?" video on it a number of years ago, but I'd already picked up on most of it since I found the stems for it at one point and spent a lot of time listening to different combinations of various parts of it.  But he neglected to talk about how fascinating the song is rhythmically, which is arguably even more intriguing how fluid it is with all of the different types of rhythms interlocking. 

Another favorite is Opeth's "Still Day Beneath the Sun".  It's probably my favorite song to play on guitar, all of the semi-chromatic chord movements are really thrilling to hear develop. 

There are so many candidates for a third song, I can't even begin to narrow them down right now.  I'll just go with probably my favorite of the last few years, recency bias and novelty be damned.  So it's Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle's "Anhedonia".  It just really encapsulates a side of my taste that I've been focusing on more in the past half-decade, of folkish, melancholic, atmospheric, dark but melodic music. 

Rush “Subdivisions”.

Impossible not to see my youth when hearing this song.

I'm not quite old enough for that to have been my youth, but that song is definitely in my upper echelon, and my favorite Rush song. 

[pg1067]

Always like to see the love for "The Sentinel".  What an epic track (and would be in my Priest top 5).

Yes! Couldn't agree more. I'd add that the first 4 tunes on Defenders of the Faith make up a near-perfect run of "heavy metal" songs (there is a lot to like on side B too, of course)

Yup.  There are other Priest songs that are very close, but I'm 99% sure that The Sentinel is my favorite (and Defenders my favorite Priest album).

[Ced156]

Like others I don't think I can pick one single song.

- Judas Priest - The Sentinel

Maybe my favorite 80's heavy metal song. The twin guitars, the metal god, the riffing, perfection in every way.

Rush “Subdivisions”.

Impossible not to see my youth when hearing this song.

thanks to the countdown, I've discovered this song, I feel the same, even if youth in France in the 80's was certainly not like youth in North America.

[El Barto]

For the record, if asked, I usually list "Good Vibrations" and "A Day In The Life" as the two greatest songs of all time.

Certainly wouldn't be my favourite, but Good Vibrations might qualify for greatest. I've made a point to turn others onto it that would probably have never really given it much though. Strangely, I consider Pet Sounds to be highly overrated, so I suppose it's fitting this didn't make the album.

Not a Beatles guy.

Rush “Subdivisions”.

Impossible not to see my youth when hearing this song.

I certainly see parts of my youth, but didn't while this song was out. I didn't really give it much attention until after I'd moved out of the burbs. In my case, the suburb was also fairly rural, so that also differentiated my life from the song. In any case, it certainly qualifies as one of my very favourite Rush songs.

[lonestar]

Rush “Subdivisions”.

Impossible not to see my youth when hearing this song.

I definitely feel you on that one... That song crushed me when I was a detached, disillusioned teen... That, combined with all of Quadrophenia gave a voice to so much of what I was internalizing, I couldn't believe I wasn't alone in so much of that.

[Kram]

It's very very hard to pick just one - but I'd have to go with East Coast Racer by Big Big Train.

[Kram]

Always like to see the love for "The Sentinel".  What an epic track (and would be in my Priest top 5).

Yes! Couldn't agree more. I'd add that the first 4 tunes on Defenders of the Faith make up a near-perfect run of "heavy metal" songs (there is a lot to like on side B too, of course)

Agreed!  I absolutely love The Sentinel and the Defenders of the Faith album.  Coincidentally, about a month ago or so, I was having a bit of a back and forth on FB about the Defenders album, and The Sentinel in particular, with Daniel Gildenlow of Pain of Salvation.  He too loves the album and that song, but his big take was how fantastic the production was on that album. And I have to agree, it still sounds amazing some almost 40 years later!