After reading Bob Dylan’s and Jeff Tweedy’s top 50 song lists, I decided to indulge myself by coming up with my own. Enjoy! I’m a “Lyrics” person, as you’ll quickly discern. Music has always meant a lot to me, and you’ll see it referenced in my novel on a number of occasions
My Top 50 Songs List: Rich Hanson – Alphabetically by artist. No more than two by any artist.
1. “Highway to Hell” AC/DC I could have chosen a number of their songs, but THIS one I want played at the end of my funeral.
2. “With God on Our Side” Joan Baez. A sneaky way to include another Dylan song
3. “A Day in the Life” The Beatles. The most impressive of all their songs in my opinion, at least.
4. “Eleanor Rigby” The Beatles. A superbly written paean to loneliness.
5. “War Pigs” Black Sabbath. It was either this one or “Paranoid.” Figured this was more appropriate given all the political saber-rattling (wish it was JUST sabers) in the World.
6. “The Legend of the Sinking of the U. S. S. Titanic” Jamie Brockett. Leadbelly’s “Titanic” song meets the drug culture. “You’ve gotta let it out, Captain!” (Nancy HATES this song).
7. “By the Time I get to Phoenix” Glen Campbell. I love Jimmy Webb’s songwriting. This is one of two songs that he wrote that I’ve chosen. A story told in 4 stanzas. Songwriting perfection.
8. “A Better Place to Be” Harry Chapin. My favorite song of his. With a nod to “Taxi” and “Cat’s in the Cradle.”
9. “Color My World” Chicago. I’d better include this one. It was Nancy’s choice to have sung at our wedding.
10. “Both Sides Now” Judy Collins. A sneaky way to work in another Joni Mitchell song.
11. “Dance Me to the End of Love” Leonard Cohen. Nancy and I agreed that this is our favorite of his.
12 “Tales of Brave Ulysses” The Cream. I had this on 8-track. Better than even “White Room.”
13 “The End” The Doors. Who can forget this song if you saw the movie “Apocalypse Now.”
14. “Light My Fire” The Doors. No group has yet to duplicate the Door’s sound. Of course how many lead singers are there like Jim Morrison.
15. “Like a Rolling Stone” Bob Dylan. From Al Kooper’s opening chords to the masterfully bitter lyrics. This song grabbed my attention when I first heard it, and has never let go.
16. “Tangled Up in Blue” Bob Dylan. A lyrical and musical triumph. Nods to “Highway 61 revisited,”
“Subterranean Homesick Blues” and of course “Desolation Row.”
17. “Burn Down the Mission,” Elton John. With a nod to his “Your Song” or “Someone Saved My Life tonight.” His early work is his best.
18. “Dreams” Fleetwood Mac. You have to love Stevie Nick’s voice.
19.” “What’s Going On?” Marvin Gaye. This is the title song of one of the greatest albums of all time, which should be listened to in its entirety.
20. “All Along the Watchtower.” Jimi Hendrix. Jimi took this Dylan song and made it his own.
21. “Dirty Laundry” Don Henley. Love these cynical lyrics. With nods to “Sunset Grill” and “All She
Wants to do is Dance.”
22. “White Bird” It’s a Beautiful Day. It’s a hauntingly beautiful song.
23. “White Rabbit” Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick not only wrote the song, but gives a great rendition of it as well.
24. “Epitaph” King Crimson. My pick for my favorite song on an album, “In the Court of the Crimson
King,” that like “What’s Going on?” deserves to be considered in its entirety.
25. “To Beat the Devil” Kris Kristofferson. A great songwriter. So many to chose from. This is my favorite song of his.
26. “Imagine” John Lennon. How I overlooked this song at first is beyond my understanding. Sorry Gord. Had to cut you down to one song.
27. “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” Gordon Lightfoot. If you’ve lived on Lake Superior, as I have, this song will burrow deep into your soul.
28. “We Can’t Make it here Anymore,” James McMurtry. Simply one of the most effective and bitter protest songs ever written. Dylan would have been proud to call this one his own.
29. “The Last Time I saw Richard” Joni Mitchell. “All romantics meet the same fate someday/ Cynical and drunk in some dark cafe.”
30. “A Song for Sharon” Joni Mitchell. A long and seldom played poem/song of hers in which she compares her life to her good friend, and more conventional seeker, “Sharon.”
31. “Nights in White Satin” The Moody blues. One of my pet peeves is a disc jockey (I like Earl Bailey’s term “Music Presenter’ better) who cuts the moving spoken word ending from the end of the song.
32. “All Apologies” Nirvana. I have been told that I have been hearing the refrain wrong, but “all alone is all we are” seemed both poignant and universal.
33. “Jeremy” Pearl Jam. “Jeremy” reminds me of what I felt like in grade school and junior high. I still harbor a resentful hatred for some teachers that I waged an unwinnable war against.
34. “Blowin in the Wind” Peter Paul and Mary. Saw them do this song a LONG time ago in a concert in Duluth. A great performance. You’ll notice I’ve smuggled more Dylan in.
35. “The Wall” Pink Floyd. “All we are just another brick in the Wall.” (see “Jeremy” above)
36. “Comfortably Numb” Pink Floyd. A sad look back at the childhood wonder and innocence that we lost,
and what too many of us have become.
37. “When Doves Cry” Prince. One of many of his that I had trouble choosing from.
38. “What About Me” Quicksilver Messenger Service. One of my favorites by one of the great psychedelic groups of the late 60s.
39. “Sympathy for the Devil” I can’t imagine anyone but Jagger performing this song. The perfect song to fit his image. I doubt if any of the Beatles could have pulled this one off.
40. “Turn the Page” Bob Seger. An eloquent expression of the loneliness that artists on tour experience. A nod goes to “Night Moves.”
42. “The Dangling Conversation” Simon and Garfunkel. I love the lyrics of this song, and feel that it has been unjustly neglected in favor of other songs of theirs. Nods to “Sounds of Silence,” and “America.”
43. “Born to Run” Bruce Springsteen. The Boss’s best.
44. “The River” Bruce Springsteen can spin a ballad with the best of them. A sad, poignant song.
44. “Deacon Blues” Steely Dan. So many Steely Dan song’s to pick from. This is my favorite of theirs. They do not do a bad song.
45 “Road to Moscow,” Al Stewart. The GOOD Stewart. Not the preening and prancing Stewart. Al has a beautiful voice, mellow melodies ad well-crafted lyrics.
46. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” George Thorogood. I’d love to have the liquor concession at a Thorogood concert.
47. “John Barleycorn Must Die” Traffic. I’m not a big Traffic fan, but will make an exception for this ballad that seems to come from an earlier time. One of my favorites.
48. “Aqualung” Jethro Tull. The title song of one of my most listened to Albums, a concept album that deserves to be listened to in its entirety.
49 “The Highwayman” Jimmy Webb. I know Willie Nelson made this Webb song his own, but I have a CD of Jimmy performing his own work, and prefer this version. Great songwriting.
50. “After the Gold Rush’ Neil Young. So many of Neil’s songs to choose from. This is my persoal favorite. With nods to “Sugar Mountain,” “Old Man” and “The Needle and the Damage Done.”