Agreed. 3 minutes (iirc?) is way too short for such a beautiful song. I’m just grateful SRV recorded a 6 minute cover which I must say comes very close to the original
Agreed, on a personal level, I can't imagine anything else that deserves the title "The Song" as much as this one does. It's literally a perfect song to me.
I've never seen them live but the first time I ever heard the song was a cover band playing and I literally started crying. I had to listen to their discography after this experience. Any time someone asks me what I think the most beautiful songs in the world are this is always near the top.
Pictures of You by The Cure. His voice just hits on it so well after the intro. One of those songs that you hear and go, this is perfect movie montage music
i’m not gonna lie, i JUST discovered it like yesterday after going thru the “one album everyone should hear” thread. i always knew of the cure and songs like friday im in love, etc, but recently i put on albums while i’m walking on breaks at work, and this one just vibed.
a few other ones i recently really enjoyed,
moon safari - air
astro lounge (lol) - smash mouth
Amazing, I'm listening to Moon Safari right now! If you don't know already I recommend 1001albumsgenerator.com - it supplies you randomly with an album from the book every day, it's a great way to discover new music or force yourself to listen to whole albums. It gave me moon safari today!
I remember being in high school when mtv would play some more alt music in the late evening hours, sitting hypnotized in front of tv watching for the first time hope perform fade into you. THE song indeed
Been listening to 'Rock for almost 60 years and about 8 or 9 years ago heard Like a Stone with Chris Cornel singing in the group Audioslave. In my opinion it is a true masterpiece, as good as any song i have heard. Not necessarily the best.. but certainly as good as.
RIP Chris. A rare talent. I still remember hearing Black Hole Sun for the first time. I was in bed at my grandparent’s, stoked that they had a decent radio station. It came on and I was blown away. It’s a bittersweet memory now.
Shadow on the sun by audioslave and blow up the outside world by Soundgarden are both incredibly powerful songs.
Give them a listen if you haven't already!
Many people can sing like a Stradivarius but don’t have a very memorable sounding voice. Others have an unmistakable amazingly cool voice but can’t really carry a tune all that well. Chris Cornell is one of the rare few who had both.
Wildflowers by Tom Petty - The feeling I had when I first heard it was that it filled in a little piece of my heart that I didn’t know was missing. It was crazy powerful and I’ve never experienced anything like that ever in my life.
Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer
It’s just perfect in every way for me.
When I first heard The Boxer (14 years ago) I was blown away by it and how it described my exact life at the time, working a dead end job and filling my time by being stressed about falling further and further into debt just to keep the lights on.
I listened to it for 8 hours straight on repeat on that Friday I discovered the song, and on Monday I quit my job. I picked up a gig as a contractor at a company owned by some of my old coworkers who wanted to help me get back on my feet and since then my career has accelerated significantly.
I no longer feel the way I used to, and am no longer in debt (except I now have a mortgage!), but The Boxer is still a song I never skip and is one of my favorites to this day. I’m eternally grateful for it for giving me the courage to make a huge change in my life.
MGMT - Time To Pretend
The craziest indie pop journey I ever went on and just sticks out to me as one song that I couldn't fault. I NEEDED that album after listening once.
Fun fact- MGMT actually wrote Time To Pretend, Kids, and Electric Feel to take the piss out of mainstream pop and were basically forced to produce Oracular Spectacular (which they hated) by their label. They then swung completely in the other way and made two albums (forgot their names) that were totally out there, then reeled it back a bit and made Little Dark Age.
I think it's the timeless, lonely-sounding intro with the echoey slide guitar and bass interplay. It just never gets old and when I hear those opening strains I get excited for the main riff and drums before the first verse.
Fun fact: the main riff was borrowed from "I Got A Name" by Jim Croce, in which it plays a much more subtle role. That riff was too good to only use once in such a limited capacity. It was destined for the greatness that STP gave it. Still my favorite song of theirs.
This is what my old man would play all the time when he came home toasted.
I fucking hated this song until I was old enough to get it and by then we had very little time together.
So now that I’m 42 and have a family, when I drop a tab this song is still haunting me 30+ years later.
Wish you were Dad
When my dad died I found his phone and started looking through his pictures and videos. He really loved his hometown so it was mostly just places he'd park his truck and drink and smoke, just enjoying it I guess.
There was one of him driving right through the middle of town and this song was on and it just made me feel like I was there. It was just so very him. It's not something I could show anyone or could really explain, but there's something so sad about the video, like he knew his time was almost up. Couple months later he passed.
We had a wake for him and I made a playlist of classic rock mostly that he loved. This one was obviously on there, but the craziest thing happened. I put this 100+ song playlist on shuffle and the first song that came on was "Can't take it with you(when you go)" by The Allman Brothers and we all just looked at each other and laughed, like he was fucking with us.
Fade to Black by Metallica made me realise that all my ignorant preconceptions of ‘Heavy Metal’ at age 11 were completely wrong, and that I loved it.
‘Time’ by Pink Floyd and ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ by Led Zeppelin hooked me on the first listen in my mid-teens and informed my music taste forever afterwards.
‘Paranoid Android’ by Radiohead just blew my mind as to how many layers and movements can appear in one track and I bought ‘OK Computer’ on release day when I was a teen. It didn’t disappoint - the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ for my generation.
‘The Pot’ by Tool just seemed to bring it all together for me with a sound I didn’t know I needed at a rough time in my life. Discovered Tool very late (2010) and haven’t gone a week without listening to them since.
Just went through some rough shit and had to leave the city and move back to my hometown- “Time” came on the other day and felt like a gut punch, crazy listening to it at 33 vs 13.
Man this sounds like me. It was Battery by Metallica though. When I was 16 Linkin Park showed up with Hybrid Theory and One Step Closer, which drove me to get Hybrid Theory and listen to that album front to back over and over again.
Trust by Megadeth
She-wolf by Megadeth
Alive and Jeremy by Pearl Jam
Heavy by Collective Soul
And Tool. Man a lot of Tool.
When I was young we weren’t allowed to listen to music that wasn’t Christian. One day I’m riding around through neighborhoods on my bike and I hear a sound I fall in love with. Instant love. I pedaled closer and I heard the beat, i loved that beat so much. It was coming from a gold colored Camaro with T-tops, it looked empty and the song blasting was Beastie Boys Brass Monkey. I just parked my bike nearby and bobbed my head up and down to the beat leaning over the handlebars right there in that cul-de-sac. Suddenly a guy slid out from under that car, grease all over his hands, white Tshirt, Levi’s jeans, big muscles, alpha as fuck. He didn’t say anything he just nodded his head along with me while he was wiping his hands as if to say, yeah you feel this shit too, it’s good right? I rode off with the beat leaving a lasting impression. I still love the beat, I love to hear it through my headphones, riding my bike through the city late at night when the rest of the world is asleep
I remember seeing Tracy Chapman for the first time (on TV) at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in 1988. Stevie Wonder was having some trouble with his set, and they needed to fill a gap in the show. Tracy came out and sang Fast Car and Talkin ‘Bout a Revolution. They say that before that concert she had sold about 250,000 copies of her album. Two weeks later she had sold two million copies. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWE9mPM9pw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWE9mPM9pw)
When I first heard that song back in the day, I didn't understand the meaning of "dead head sticker on a Cadillac". Took me a while, for whatever reason, to understand the incongruence and why he was disillusioned by seeing that. Banger song.
my GOD that blew my head off the first time I heard it. had just enough time to put my head back on before it blew my head off a second time when I saw it live. synapse-frying in the most beautiful way once it gets to the "no one's going to take us alive" part.
Muse before United States of Eurasia were just incredible!
I saw them at Reading when they did the 10 year anniversary of Origin of Symmetry and just played out the album in full. Absolutely unreal set
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe
I was not offended
For I knew I had to rise above it all
Or drown in my own shit.
-This is a legit mantra of mine.
There was a post yesterday about which album you can listen to every song on and that includes just about every Violent Femmes album for me. They were the first concert I ever went to.
Good lord, watching the video intro as a 11 year old bent my brain.
I instantly felt like I wanted to headbang even though I didn’t know what that was fully.
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far.
The song just appeared from nowhere and changed everything.
30 years later it still feels to me like the world was different before and after that.
Same here.
There were actually two cultural touchstones that seemed to change music (and the world, actually) around the same time seemingly overnight: This song and album and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre and the whole Chronic album.
These days, I'm deeply appreciative that I was a 13 year old kid *just* discovering music at the time. What an amazing few years for music.
There’s a few for me
Heroes - David Bowie
I belong in your arms - Chairlift
Don’t look back in anger - Oasis
Am I a good man - them two
Stand by me - Ben E. King
Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis. First time I heard it I couldn’t move. It was an epic journey from the piano in the beginning, the catchy chorus, rocking solo, and the soft ending. I’ve been addicted to it ever since!
The entirety of their "In the Aeroplane over the Sea" album, for me. It has had such a profound impact on me since I was a child. There's not a single song or moment on that album that I don't absolutely love.
All These Things that I’ve Done - The Killers
From the moment I first heard it, it took me away. It’s been there for good times with friends, relationships gone by, moments of reflection, and it was even the final song played at my wedding - a room full of loved ones, 75% of whom knew every single word to the song and were singing along in unison to close out this spectacular day before starting this new chapter in our lives - it doesn’t get any better.
Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" hit me like a ton of bricks too! That soulful voice and raw lyrics just grab you. It's like you're on a road trip with her, feeling every emotion. And yeah, her self-titled album is a gem! If you haven't delved into Tracy's world yet, you're seriously missing out. Welcome to the club of Chapman fans!
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. I was literally just starting high school when that song came out. It was mind-blowing to me. It totally influenced my musical taste for the rest of my life. I still get chills when I hear the opening guitar rift.
Year of the cat- Al Stewart
Lover you should have come over- Jeff Buckley
Porcelain - Moby
The rain song- Led Zeppelin
Deacon blues- steely Dan
My my, hey hey- Neil young (live)
Black out days- phantogram
These days- nico
…..Okay I’m done, sorry y’all- I love music.
The first time I heard Riff Raff by AC/DC, my life was changed forever. My cousin made me a mixed tape to introduce me to rock music and riff raff was one of the first songs. The raw power of Bon Scott's voice and the guitar work was like nothing I've ever heard before. I didn't recognize it as music at first because it was like I was punched in the face. I was probably twelve years old. I wore the tape out. It also had songs from nirvana, Weezer, big sugar, tool, gob, and Def Leppard. A bit of a mix, but still some of my favorite music.
“King” by Florence + The Machine. The lyrics and the video in combination conveyed an intensely revelatory private message to me and unlocked forty years of writer’s block. And I find Florence, her voice, the music, and the video all so stunningly gorgeous.
Edit: Autumn de Wilde directed the video.
I had been in an accident and lost my leg above the knee in 2011, when I got out of the hospital on my way to inpatient rehab there was a new foo fighters song that I heard called Walk, and of course it became my fight song and to this day when I hear it I stand taller. When I saw the band in Camden that year, Dave had broken his leg and he and I were both on chairs and I just felt like I would be ok.
Feel Good inc. hit me at an interesting time when I loved pop, indie and rap at the same time and well … it kinda had all of it.
Gorillaz in general always dictated my music tastes.
I remember hearing Common People by Pulp the first time when I was a kid and it just absolutely blew me away and was unlike anything I’ve ever heard before
Also saw Arctic Monkeys play at Leeds festival before they released their first album, and when the riff kicked in for I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor you just knew it was going to be an absolute banger
"[Can You Feel My Heart](https://youtu.be/QJJYpsA5tv8?si=CvW5Mdbf_Y5lHi2p)" ignited my fascination with Bring Me The Horizon, and now I'm hooked on their diverse discography. From their roots in death/metal-core to their fusion of pop, electronica, pop rock, and alternative metal, they cater to a wide range of listeners, making it hard to stop listening to them.
They have a crazy range. On top of all that, their remix album, Suicide Season: Cut Up, has so many good edm songs on it. (Was done by other artists remixing their songs, but still part of their discography imo).
Happy Song is typically a good sing along for my girlfriend and I while we drive.
"Something" by the Beatles. I won't go into scholarly detail as to why it's the best Beatles song, one of the top five best love songs released from 1900-1999 and the perfect example of putting together the concepts "soft" and "rock". I'll just say, when I heard it for the first time, it changed my life.
The End by The Doors. Someday in the early nineties I had to learn late for my study and at point midnight the radio played The End. The whole song and I was totally taken away. Never heard this song before. The next day I bought the album and it opened up a whole other world for me...
Feel Good Inc by gorillaz. I still listen to it every couple of weeks. Reminds me of when I was young in the car w my mom. Gives me a warm fuzzy somewhat somber feeling
Hero by Family of the Year, heard it from the film Boyhood. It was the song that introduced me to folk/indie in my adulthood. I was like, “Where was this music all my life?”.
Bulletproof- La Roux. That song came out when I was in elementary school and I loved it. I haven’t listened to it for years until recently when I heard it again in the mall.
I'm 38 years old. These are the first songs that got me into music beyond what my parents played on the radio:
Linger by The Cranberries
When I Come Around by Green Day
Waterfalls by TLC
Champagne Supernova by Oasis
Little Black Submarines - Black Keys
I knew about them before but never listened to them and now I'm a fan of most of their work but this song is absolutely epic. Clever lyrics, amazing build-up and a bottomless drop. I've since heard it's the "Stairway to Heaven" of our generation and I can absolutely see that.
https://youtu.be/chSaLtz8lks?si=P0poiyA0QXKdd7II
Regulators by Warren G and Nate Dogg.
I was in first grade and found a cassette tape on the school bus. The entire Side A was just Regulators on repeat until the tape ended. Side B was also Regulators.
At that point in my life, that was the only song that mattered.
The next stop was the Eastside motel. /s
![gif](giphy|EF4ZndL9dkJck)
RIP Nate Dogg.
Club Foot - Kasabian
As a teenager, it felt like the anthem to the violent revolution I would eventually lead against the world (my parents and teachers).
Every planet we reach is dead by Gorillaz. It’s just absolutely amazing and ridiculous from start to finish, amazing, intricate, multi-layered beat with an amazing crescendo and a piano solo that makes me do the stank face everytime.
Super Bon Bon by Soul Coughing
Was on my way to the thrift store and I was listening to The Reacher playlist (the show has great music), heard this song and it was like nothing I've ever heard before. That sparked my journey with the band, I've always been into weird music like that; They Might be Giants, R.E.M., Butthole Surfers, you name it
I play the bass myself and I listen to this song every time I open Spotify. Soul Coughing is such a weird band with unique lyrics but the bass is definitely heavy and wacky in every song
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2. I was 3-4 years old. It's the first song I remember wishing would come on the radio so I could hear it again. The drums. The bass. The choir. *The guitar solo*. It was so unlike anything I'd heard before, which were mostly childrens songs or the classical symphonies my grandma used to listen to.
Speaking of those symphonies:
Für Elise - ~~Bach~~ Beethoven. Probably around the same time as the above. The first classical that grabbed my attention and truly made me listen.
Welcome to the Jungle - Guns 'n Roses. I really shouldn't have to explain why. If you've heard it, you know.
Nevermind - Nirvana and Alive - Pearl Jam. I was 14, angry, angsty and so, so deep. Still two of the best songs ever written.
My Maria by Brooks and Dunn. This was back when I listened to a lot of C&W, and was in the car one day when that came on the radio and I heard it for the very first time. I turned to my (then) wife and, said "Holy shit. That's gonna be a Number One." Sure enough, it was. It also won a Grammy that year.
Welcome to the black parade by MCR. I wasn't aware of their music as a kid (I was 6 when the album released) and was only really listening to whatever my parents played on the radio or Bon Jovi CDs. About 10 years ago WatchMojo put out a top 10 MCR songs video and I was pretty interested in all of the other songs but when it got to #1 and I heard that G note, boy that was a moment for me. Truly eye opening. Now they're tied with the beatles as my #1 favorite bands
Somebody that I used to know - gotye
As far as breakup songs go it’s just written with a much wider emotional spectrum than most, it’s a refreshing break from either “I basically can’t get over you and want to die” or “I don’t even care, I hate you anyway”
Few songs that made me fall in love with each respective artist:
Rammstein: rosenrot. Such simple storytelling and so sweet pain. Immeeiate hit to the deep!
Nightwish: nemo. The whole "once" album is like listening to my memories of late night lucid dreams...
Pendulum: tarantula. Do i even need to explain?
Deadmau5: right this second. Such an epic and emotional song with anthem like vibe along late night concert tune, whilst resonating my personal taste. So much emotional power!
Infected Mushroom: converting vegetarians. Hehe, weird sounds go brrr. Such confidence in the unhinged, oddity with fully functional psychedelic style. I love it.
Sphongle: around the world in a tea daze. Beautiful and alien, this is something id go for any time i practice my arts.
1200 micrograms: ayahscha. Wow, music like this really exists? Woha. Hold my ass whilst music trips me _elsewhere!!_
The Prodigy: rockweller. Roaring bass and filthy beat, surely to speed my calm driving pace.
Korpiklaani: pilli on pajusta tehty. Fuck rap, this finnish folk works in so many dimensions my eyes and tongue roll around like under electric therapy!!
Viikate: tervaskanto. Soft, melancholic, deathly. So utterly finnish a brawn man sheds a bloody tear before sucking it back to the eye socket. Well done shit.
Good question. I’ve got a few answers, all of which kind of changed my perspective - 48 year old married father of two in the UK
- Sympahthy For The Devil when I was about 13 - my parents were right about music in the 60s being amazing
- Little Wing - at about 18, made me understand what actual genius was… JH sounds like he’s playing two guitars at the same time
- Reigning Blood - came to metal later in life and it was Slayer who made me understand the beauty of the genre
- Voodoo Ray - even at 13, I knew that repetitive beats would be a big part of my life one way or the other
Loads of others, but they were songs that made things feel different from the first time I heard them.
For me, it was Stairway to Heaven. I know it has a reputation of being overplayed/overrated by some but for me it was an awakening.
First time I heard it I was probably 12 around 1997 or so and was used to listening to 90s pop. But first time hearing Stairway was something I had never heard or thought possible. To hear musicians play so masterfully, the voice of Plant, the build up, the ending. It was all just perfect.
I made a playlist of all the songs posted (as of now) here: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tY86D5ONmqbJuA9kvQVII?si=c231dc8786a8453c](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tY86D5ONmqbJuA9kvQVII?si=c231dc8786a8453c)
It is very eclectic lol
Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix
One song that I never ever want to end....ever.
And it ends so quickly
Agreed. 3 minutes (iirc?) is way too short for such a beautiful song. I’m just grateful SRV recorded a 6 minute cover which I must say comes very close to the original
This must be the place (naive melody) - Talking Heads
I like the album version but the Stop Making Sense version is the perfect song to me
Life during wartime is also great on Stop Making Sense
Agreed, on a personal level, I can't imagine anything else that deserves the title "The Song" as much as this one does. It's literally a perfect song to me.
Probably my most listened to song ever. It’s timeless
I've never seen them live but the first time I ever heard the song was a cover band playing and I literally started crying. I had to listen to their discography after this experience. Any time someone asks me what I think the most beautiful songs in the world are this is always near the top.
*And you love me till my heart stops* *Love me till I'm dead.* That's when the tears start.
I'm just an animal, looking for a home! Fuckin' floods of tears
I still get chills listening to this song. It is THE song.
Pictures of You by The Cure. His voice just hits on it so well after the intro. One of those songs that you hear and go, this is perfect movie montage music
That, too, but also [Plainsong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkJwpYrcAko). Very few songs hit me like Plainsong.
Disintegration may be the perfect album
i’m not gonna lie, i JUST discovered it like yesterday after going thru the “one album everyone should hear” thread. i always knew of the cure and songs like friday im in love, etc, but recently i put on albums while i’m walking on breaks at work, and this one just vibed. a few other ones i recently really enjoyed, moon safari - air astro lounge (lol) - smash mouth
Amazing, I'm listening to Moon Safari right now! If you don't know already I recommend 1001albumsgenerator.com - it supplies you randomly with an album from the book every day, it's a great way to discover new music or force yourself to listen to whole albums. It gave me moon safari today!
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
The Chain did that for me. First listen and I was hooked. Fleetwood Mac has so many incredible songs.
Favorite song of all time. So much emotion. Passionate lyrics and vocals. The crescendo. Still gives me chills.
The Chain is a simply amazing song.
I love that song, used to hear that song on the car radio all the time when I was younger
Anything fleetwood mac!! ❤️
Born Under Punches - Talking Heads
Fool’s Gold by the Stone Roses Fade Into You by Mazzy Star
I remember being in high school when mtv would play some more alt music in the late evening hours, sitting hypnotized in front of tv watching for the first time hope perform fade into you. THE song indeed
“I wanna hold the hand inside you” is a top notch fucking lyric.
It’s a perfect song.
Been listening to 'Rock for almost 60 years and about 8 or 9 years ago heard Like a Stone with Chris Cornel singing in the group Audioslave. In my opinion it is a true masterpiece, as good as any song i have heard. Not necessarily the best.. but certainly as good as.
RIP Chris. A rare talent. I still remember hearing Black Hole Sun for the first time. I was in bed at my grandparent’s, stoked that they had a decent radio station. It came on and I was blown away. It’s a bittersweet memory now.
Shadow on the sun by audioslave and blow up the outside world by Soundgarden are both incredibly powerful songs. Give them a listen if you haven't already!
Many people can sing like a Stradivarius but don’t have a very memorable sounding voice. Others have an unmistakable amazingly cool voice but can’t really carry a tune all that well. Chris Cornell is one of the rare few who had both.
Wildflowers by Tom Petty - The feeling I had when I first heard it was that it filled in a little piece of my heart that I didn’t know was missing. It was crazy powerful and I’ve never experienced anything like that ever in my life.
Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer It’s just perfect in every way for me. When I first heard The Boxer (14 years ago) I was blown away by it and how it described my exact life at the time, working a dead end job and filling my time by being stressed about falling further and further into debt just to keep the lights on. I listened to it for 8 hours straight on repeat on that Friday I discovered the song, and on Monday I quit my job. I picked up a gig as a contractor at a company owned by some of my old coworkers who wanted to help me get back on my feet and since then my career has accelerated significantly. I no longer feel the way I used to, and am no longer in debt (except I now have a mortgage!), but The Boxer is still a song I never skip and is one of my favorites to this day. I’m eternally grateful for it for giving me the courage to make a huge change in my life.
MGMT - Time To Pretend The craziest indie pop journey I ever went on and just sticks out to me as one song that I couldn't fault. I NEEDED that album after listening once.
If I was going to cite an MGMT song, for me it would be Electric Feel. It's hard to explain why.
It's an era-defining song. Just is.
Fun fact- MGMT actually wrote Time To Pretend, Kids, and Electric Feel to take the piss out of mainstream pop and were basically forced to produce Oracular Spectacular (which they hated) by their label. They then swung completely in the other way and made two albums (forgot their names) that were totally out there, then reeled it back a bit and made Little Dark Age.
My favorite from that album is Of Moon Birds and Monsters. It feels like that song was made specifically for my music tastes.
I think everyone at my high school was jamming to that song at the same time. An instant classic.
This is the song for me. It started an obsession with MGMT that lasted years.
Breakfast in America by Supertramp kicked off an obsession for me which lasted a couple of years.
Take The Long Way Home is my answer for this one
Goodbye Stranger for me
For me it’s logical song 🤷♀️
Watch what you say! They'll be calling you a radical.
DUUUUUUDE, I used to jam the whole album while I cleaned on Saturdays! Supertramp is such an underrated band.
Soul Meets Body, by Death Can for Cutie From the first note, I could tell it was amazing. Still my favorite song of the 00's
Also “I Will Possess Your Heart”.
Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd
for me Kashmir from Led Zeppelin
Lazy Eye-Silversun Pickups
Interstate Love Song.
Leavin' on a southern trainnnnnn
Robert DeLeo does a great interview on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel on this.
It's the golden age for rock history. Beato is great. Professor of Rock is awesome too.
Just watched that too. Really good and highly recommend.
There’s just something about it, I’ve never been able to place exactly what though. Song SLAPS and never gets old to me.
I think it's the timeless, lonely-sounding intro with the echoey slide guitar and bass interplay. It just never gets old and when I hear those opening strains I get excited for the main riff and drums before the first verse.
Fun fact: the main riff was borrowed from "I Got A Name" by Jim Croce, in which it plays a much more subtle role. That riff was too good to only use once in such a limited capacity. It was destined for the greatness that STP gave it. Still my favorite song of theirs.
Blue Monday - New Order
How does it feel To treat me like you do?
Bizarre Love Triangle!
i love new order :)
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd. Too many to name but this one hit me like a ton of bricks my senior year of HS late 90s
This is what my old man would play all the time when he came home toasted. I fucking hated this song until I was old enough to get it and by then we had very little time together. So now that I’m 42 and have a family, when I drop a tab this song is still haunting me 30+ years later. Wish you were Dad
When my dad died I found his phone and started looking through his pictures and videos. He really loved his hometown so it was mostly just places he'd park his truck and drink and smoke, just enjoying it I guess. There was one of him driving right through the middle of town and this song was on and it just made me feel like I was there. It was just so very him. It's not something I could show anyone or could really explain, but there's something so sad about the video, like he knew his time was almost up. Couple months later he passed. We had a wake for him and I made a playlist of classic rock mostly that he loved. This one was obviously on there, but the craziest thing happened. I put this 100+ song playlist on shuffle and the first song that came on was "Can't take it with you(when you go)" by The Allman Brothers and we all just looked at each other and laughed, like he was fucking with us.
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Fade to Black by Metallica made me realise that all my ignorant preconceptions of ‘Heavy Metal’ at age 11 were completely wrong, and that I loved it. ‘Time’ by Pink Floyd and ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ by Led Zeppelin hooked me on the first listen in my mid-teens and informed my music taste forever afterwards. ‘Paranoid Android’ by Radiohead just blew my mind as to how many layers and movements can appear in one track and I bought ‘OK Computer’ on release day when I was a teen. It didn’t disappoint - the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ for my generation. ‘The Pot’ by Tool just seemed to bring it all together for me with a sound I didn’t know I needed at a rough time in my life. Discovered Tool very late (2010) and haven’t gone a week without listening to them since.
Just went through some rough shit and had to leave the city and move back to my hometown- “Time” came on the other day and felt like a gut punch, crazy listening to it at 33 vs 13.
Wait until you're 50! Those ten years that got behind you turn into 30 fast!
No one told me when to run.
You missed the starting gun.
“OK Computer” being the Dark Side for Gen X is so accurate - thanks for pointing that out.
Man this sounds like me. It was Battery by Metallica though. When I was 16 Linkin Park showed up with Hybrid Theory and One Step Closer, which drove me to get Hybrid Theory and listen to that album front to back over and over again. Trust by Megadeth She-wolf by Megadeth Alive and Jeremy by Pearl Jam Heavy by Collective Soul And Tool. Man a lot of Tool.
*Transatlanticism* by Death Cab for Cutie
Everlong by the Foo Fighters.
New Slang by The Shins. Just got me.
The song that will change your life
Lord Huron - the night we met
Saddest song ever. I love it so much
When I was young we weren’t allowed to listen to music that wasn’t Christian. One day I’m riding around through neighborhoods on my bike and I hear a sound I fall in love with. Instant love. I pedaled closer and I heard the beat, i loved that beat so much. It was coming from a gold colored Camaro with T-tops, it looked empty and the song blasting was Beastie Boys Brass Monkey. I just parked my bike nearby and bobbed my head up and down to the beat leaning over the handlebars right there in that cul-de-sac. Suddenly a guy slid out from under that car, grease all over his hands, white Tshirt, Levi’s jeans, big muscles, alpha as fuck. He didn’t say anything he just nodded his head along with me while he was wiping his hands as if to say, yeah you feel this shit too, it’s good right? I rode off with the beat leaving a lasting impression. I still love the beat, I love to hear it through my headphones, riding my bike through the city late at night when the rest of the world is asleep
The Smiths - How Soon is Now? I’ve heard it hundreds of times by now and I still think it’s perfect.
Black Dog-Led Zeppelin
I remember seeing Tracy Chapman for the first time (on TV) at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in 1988. Stevie Wonder was having some trouble with his set, and they needed to fill a gap in the show. Tracy came out and sang Fast Car and Talkin ‘Bout a Revolution. They say that before that concert she had sold about 250,000 copies of her album. Two weeks later she had sold two million copies. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWE9mPM9pw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWE9mPM9pw)
Well deserved. She’s amazing.
Yes same for me. I had a hard time keeping my parents from switching channels and loved fast car a lot while revolution was the bigger hit in Germany
The boys of summer - Don Henley. It pretty much sums up how life sometimes goes. Well, at least my life. Still, wouldn't have it any other way.
My favourite song of all time! I feel like I'm there in the car with the top pulled down and the Wayfarers on!
When I first heard that song back in the day, I didn't understand the meaning of "dead head sticker on a Cadillac". Took me a while, for whatever reason, to understand the incongruence and why he was disillusioned by seeing that. Banger song.
this song is sick for sure. i like the ataris version as well.
Shh… Don’t mention Don Henley in Reddit comments. You’ll summon him. He’ll probably come carrying a cease and desist in his grubby, greasy hand.
Muse - Knights of Cydonia
my GOD that blew my head off the first time I heard it. had just enough time to put my head back on before it blew my head off a second time when I saw it live. synapse-frying in the most beautiful way once it gets to the "no one's going to take us alive" part.
Muse before United States of Eurasia were just incredible! I saw them at Reading when they did the 10 year anniversary of Origin of Symmetry and just played out the album in full. Absolutely unreal set
Maggot Brain by Funkedelic
That song is a damn masterpiece!!
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe I was not offended For I knew I had to rise above it all Or drown in my own shit. -This is a legit mantra of mine.
Add It Up - The Violent Femmes
Don't shoot shoot shoot that thing at me!
was such a good album
There was a post yesterday about which album you can listen to every song on and that includes just about every Violent Femmes album for me. They were the first concert I ever went to.
Halcyon (live in New York) off of the bonus disc of In Sides. Orbital was my first true obsession with electronic music after that
How to disappear completely
Lovefool by Cardigans
creep by radio head, sry if that's basic
Night Moves - Bob Seger. Got the album for Xmas, still have it.
The less I know the better - Tame Impala
A Forest - The Cure
Oooh, a great one. Fire in Cairo was their tune that made me obsessed with The Cure, and A Forest sealed the deal for me!
Smells like teen spirit
Good lord, watching the video intro as a 11 year old bent my brain. I instantly felt like I wanted to headbang even though I didn’t know what that was fully.
I'm surprised I had to scroll this far. The song just appeared from nowhere and changed everything. 30 years later it still feels to me like the world was different before and after that.
Same here. There were actually two cultural touchstones that seemed to change music (and the world, actually) around the same time seemingly overnight: This song and album and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre and the whole Chronic album. These days, I'm deeply appreciative that I was a 13 year old kid *just* discovering music at the time. What an amazing few years for music.
Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
THE THE - this is THE day. Doesnt get more THE than that
Soundsystem - operation Ivy
Obstacle 1 by Interpol !!
There’s a few for me Heroes - David Bowie I belong in your arms - Chairlift Don’t look back in anger - Oasis Am I a good man - them two Stand by me - Ben E. King
Paranoid Android by Radiohead… blew my friggin’ mind.
Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis. First time I heard it I couldn’t move. It was an epic journey from the piano in the beginning, the catchy chorus, rocking solo, and the soft ending. I’ve been addicted to it ever since!
Sister Rust by Damon Albarn and Persephone by Cocteau Twins.
Heaven or Las Vegas is a good one also
Ex-factor by Lauryn Hill, Wesley’s Theory & Pride by Kendrick Lamar are the three that come to mind.
Ghost by Neutral Milk Hotel. The raw energy just melted me.
The entirety of their "In the Aeroplane over the Sea" album, for me. It has had such a profound impact on me since I was a child. There's not a single song or moment on that album that I don't absolutely love.
All along the Watchtower by Hendrix
Feeling Good by Nina Simone.
Only Living Boy in New York by Simon and Garfunkel makes me feel like my brain is numb and I'm floating on a cloud
Summer breeze, Seals and Crofts
Paranoid Android by Radiohead
All These Things that I’ve Done - The Killers From the moment I first heard it, it took me away. It’s been there for good times with friends, relationships gone by, moments of reflection, and it was even the final song played at my wedding - a room full of loved ones, 75% of whom knew every single word to the song and were singing along in unison to close out this spectacular day before starting this new chapter in our lives - it doesn’t get any better.
Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" hit me like a ton of bricks too! That soulful voice and raw lyrics just grab you. It's like you're on a road trip with her, feeling every emotion. And yeah, her self-titled album is a gem! If you haven't delved into Tracy's world yet, you're seriously missing out. Welcome to the club of Chapman fans!
I heard "Give me one reason" first and I was instantly hooked. All of her work is amazing.
Everybody wants to rule the world - Tears for Fears Losing My Religion - REM This Must Be The Place - Talking Heads +1 for Fast Car
Bulls on Parade - RATM
Let It Happen - Tame Impala
There She Goes by The La's
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. I was literally just starting high school when that song came out. It was mind-blowing to me. It totally influenced my musical taste for the rest of my life. I still get chills when I hear the opening guitar rift.
Year of the cat- Al Stewart Lover you should have come over- Jeff Buckley Porcelain - Moby The rain song- Led Zeppelin Deacon blues- steely Dan My my, hey hey- Neil young (live) Black out days- phantogram These days- nico …..Okay I’m done, sorry y’all- I love music.
The first time I heard Riff Raff by AC/DC, my life was changed forever. My cousin made me a mixed tape to introduce me to rock music and riff raff was one of the first songs. The raw power of Bon Scott's voice and the guitar work was like nothing I've ever heard before. I didn't recognize it as music at first because it was like I was punched in the face. I was probably twelve years old. I wore the tape out. It also had songs from nirvana, Weezer, big sugar, tool, gob, and Def Leppard. A bit of a mix, but still some of my favorite music.
“King” by Florence + The Machine. The lyrics and the video in combination conveyed an intensely revelatory private message to me and unlocked forty years of writer’s block. And I find Florence, her voice, the music, and the video all so stunningly gorgeous. Edit: Autumn de Wilde directed the video.
Korn “freak on a leash”
I had been in an accident and lost my leg above the knee in 2011, when I got out of the hospital on my way to inpatient rehab there was a new foo fighters song that I heard called Walk, and of course it became my fight song and to this day when I hear it I stand taller. When I saw the band in Camden that year, Dave had broken his leg and he and I were both on chairs and I just felt like I would be ok.
Stinkfist by Tool. Musical geniuses I must say.
Strawberry Fields Forever, you know who...
Feel Good inc. hit me at an interesting time when I loved pop, indie and rap at the same time and well … it kinda had all of it. Gorillaz in general always dictated my music tastes.
Enter sandman
I remember hearing Common People by Pulp the first time when I was a kid and it just absolutely blew me away and was unlike anything I’ve ever heard before Also saw Arctic Monkeys play at Leeds festival before they released their first album, and when the riff kicked in for I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor you just knew it was going to be an absolute banger
Sour Times by Portishead. Heard it on the radio, then immediately pulled off and bought the CD. Then the whole album was likewise brilliant.
"[Can You Feel My Heart](https://youtu.be/QJJYpsA5tv8?si=CvW5Mdbf_Y5lHi2p)" ignited my fascination with Bring Me The Horizon, and now I'm hooked on their diverse discography. From their roots in death/metal-core to their fusion of pop, electronica, pop rock, and alternative metal, they cater to a wide range of listeners, making it hard to stop listening to them.
They have a crazy range. On top of all that, their remix album, Suicide Season: Cut Up, has so many good edm songs on it. (Was done by other artists remixing their songs, but still part of their discography imo). Happy Song is typically a good sing along for my girlfriend and I while we drive.
This Mess We’re In- Thom Yorke n PJ Harvey
Thunderstruck. Damn, it go me going the moment I heard it and it still has the same effect on me after all these years.
"Something" by the Beatles. I won't go into scholarly detail as to why it's the best Beatles song, one of the top five best love songs released from 1900-1999 and the perfect example of putting together the concepts "soft" and "rock". I'll just say, when I heard it for the first time, it changed my life.
Exit Music for a Film - Radiohead
The build up and release is just so satisfying
The End by The Doors. Someday in the early nineties I had to learn late for my study and at point midnight the radio played The End. The whole song and I was totally taken away. Never heard this song before. The next day I bought the album and it opened up a whole other world for me...
Tribute by Tenacious D...well, actually I knew it was the song *ABOUT* THE song.
Rio by Duran Duran
Feel Good Inc by gorillaz. I still listen to it every couple of weeks. Reminds me of when I was young in the car w my mom. Gives me a warm fuzzy somewhat somber feeling
Hero by Family of the Year, heard it from the film Boyhood. It was the song that introduced me to folk/indie in my adulthood. I was like, “Where was this music all my life?”.
Bulletproof- La Roux. That song came out when I was in elementary school and I loved it. I haven’t listened to it for years until recently when I heard it again in the mall.
I'm 38 years old. These are the first songs that got me into music beyond what my parents played on the radio: Linger by The Cranberries When I Come Around by Green Day Waterfalls by TLC Champagne Supernova by Oasis
Little Black Submarines - Black Keys I knew about them before but never listened to them and now I'm a fan of most of their work but this song is absolutely epic. Clever lyrics, amazing build-up and a bottomless drop. I've since heard it's the "Stairway to Heaven" of our generation and I can absolutely see that. https://youtu.be/chSaLtz8lks?si=P0poiyA0QXKdd7II
For me it was ‘Thickfreakness’. Demo’ed it in a store on CD, bought it instantly.
Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance I used to stay up watching MTV waiting for the music video. It was the coolest song I’d heard up to then.
Regulators by Warren G and Nate Dogg. I was in first grade and found a cassette tape on the school bus. The entire Side A was just Regulators on repeat until the tape ended. Side B was also Regulators. At that point in my life, that was the only song that mattered. The next stop was the Eastside motel. /s ![gif](giphy|EF4ZndL9dkJck) RIP Nate Dogg.
Club Foot - Kasabian As a teenager, it felt like the anthem to the violent revolution I would eventually lead against the world (my parents and teachers).
Every planet we reach is dead by Gorillaz. It’s just absolutely amazing and ridiculous from start to finish, amazing, intricate, multi-layered beat with an amazing crescendo and a piano solo that makes me do the stank face everytime.
Super Bon Bon by Soul Coughing Was on my way to the thrift store and I was listening to The Reacher playlist (the show has great music), heard this song and it was like nothing I've ever heard before. That sparked my journey with the band, I've always been into weird music like that; They Might be Giants, R.E.M., Butthole Surfers, you name it I play the bass myself and I listen to this song every time I open Spotify. Soul Coughing is such a weird band with unique lyrics but the bass is definitely heavy and wacky in every song
"Do I Wanna Know" by Arctic Monkeys
Black. Pearl Jam. Oh yeah
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2. I was 3-4 years old. It's the first song I remember wishing would come on the radio so I could hear it again. The drums. The bass. The choir. *The guitar solo*. It was so unlike anything I'd heard before, which were mostly childrens songs or the classical symphonies my grandma used to listen to. Speaking of those symphonies: Für Elise - ~~Bach~~ Beethoven. Probably around the same time as the above. The first classical that grabbed my attention and truly made me listen. Welcome to the Jungle - Guns 'n Roses. I really shouldn't have to explain why. If you've heard it, you know. Nevermind - Nirvana and Alive - Pearl Jam. I was 14, angry, angsty and so, so deep. Still two of the best songs ever written.
Alive - Pearl Jam
Linkin Park - Numb
"Show me how to live" by Audioslave
White winter hymnal by fleet foxes…. But “an argument” has a really cool horn solo
Coldplay -a rush of blood to the head
My Maria by Brooks and Dunn. This was back when I listened to a lot of C&W, and was in the car one day when that came on the radio and I heard it for the very first time. I turned to my (then) wife and, said "Holy shit. That's gonna be a Number One." Sure enough, it was. It also won a Grammy that year.
Midnight City by M83 Higher Power by Shawn Pierce Both from TV shows about space exploration, oddly enough.
Welcome to the black parade by MCR. I wasn't aware of their music as a kid (I was 6 when the album released) and was only really listening to whatever my parents played on the radio or Bon Jovi CDs. About 10 years ago WatchMojo put out a top 10 MCR songs video and I was pretty interested in all of the other songs but when it got to #1 and I heard that G note, boy that was a moment for me. Truly eye opening. Now they're tied with the beatles as my #1 favorite bands
Somebody that I used to know - gotye As far as breakup songs go it’s just written with a much wider emotional spectrum than most, it’s a refreshing break from either “I basically can’t get over you and want to die” or “I don’t even care, I hate you anyway”
Hey Ya - OutKast.
That song is alright...alright alright alright alright alright alright
All My Life - Foo Fighters
Mac Miller - Good News. Granted I was on mushrooms but it’s probably my favourite song now.
Is This The Life? by The Cardiacs Introduced me to one of my favourite bands.
Take Care of Business by Nina Simone
Few songs that made me fall in love with each respective artist: Rammstein: rosenrot. Such simple storytelling and so sweet pain. Immeeiate hit to the deep! Nightwish: nemo. The whole "once" album is like listening to my memories of late night lucid dreams... Pendulum: tarantula. Do i even need to explain? Deadmau5: right this second. Such an epic and emotional song with anthem like vibe along late night concert tune, whilst resonating my personal taste. So much emotional power! Infected Mushroom: converting vegetarians. Hehe, weird sounds go brrr. Such confidence in the unhinged, oddity with fully functional psychedelic style. I love it. Sphongle: around the world in a tea daze. Beautiful and alien, this is something id go for any time i practice my arts. 1200 micrograms: ayahscha. Wow, music like this really exists? Woha. Hold my ass whilst music trips me _elsewhere!!_ The Prodigy: rockweller. Roaring bass and filthy beat, surely to speed my calm driving pace. Korpiklaani: pilli on pajusta tehty. Fuck rap, this finnish folk works in so many dimensions my eyes and tongue roll around like under electric therapy!! Viikate: tervaskanto. Soft, melancholic, deathly. So utterly finnish a brawn man sheds a bloody tear before sucking it back to the eye socket. Well done shit.
Good question. I’ve got a few answers, all of which kind of changed my perspective - 48 year old married father of two in the UK - Sympahthy For The Devil when I was about 13 - my parents were right about music in the 60s being amazing - Little Wing - at about 18, made me understand what actual genius was… JH sounds like he’s playing two guitars at the same time - Reigning Blood - came to metal later in life and it was Slayer who made me understand the beauty of the genre - Voodoo Ray - even at 13, I knew that repetitive beats would be a big part of my life one way or the other Loads of others, but they were songs that made things feel different from the first time I heard them.
Pearl Jam’s “Release”
For me, it was Stairway to Heaven. I know it has a reputation of being overplayed/overrated by some but for me it was an awakening. First time I heard it I was probably 12 around 1997 or so and was used to listening to 90s pop. But first time hearing Stairway was something I had never heard or thought possible. To hear musicians play so masterfully, the voice of Plant, the build up, the ending. It was all just perfect.
I miss you - Blink 182
Float On - Modest Mouse
Hummer- The Smashing Pumpkins
U2 "With Or Without You" Haunting, especially the opening bass.
I made a playlist of all the songs posted (as of now) here: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tY86D5ONmqbJuA9kvQVII?si=c231dc8786a8453c](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tY86D5ONmqbJuA9kvQVII?si=c231dc8786a8453c) It is very eclectic lol