Best song written during the 20th century

[begin_within]

Poll question: Best song written during the 20th century

Of course there are hundreds more likely candidates. Please reply if your favorite is not listed here.

[pitohui]

1. take me to the river EOM

.

[Phillycat]

22. Oh god yes.

[XemaSab]

2. 21st century digital boy

:bounce:

[Robb]

17. Good tune, great album

:thumbsup:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I had to go with Stardust.........

But there are so many good choices.......

[begin_within]

4. and Nat King Cole made the best recording of it

[MissMillie]

28. amen!

:thumbsup:

[sarge43]

32. Oh yes

The opening credits of My Favorite Year mmmmmmmmmm

[begin_within]

36. It was also used in "Sleepless in Seattle"

The only song on the radio that ever caused me to pull over and park on the side of the road to listen to.

[sarge43]

39. Understand

That man's voice could melt your bones.

Another great 20th century song: Route 66

[Floogeldy]

5. You blew it.

"Close To The Edge" by Yes.

A close second: "Telstar" by The Tornados. It raised the collective consciousness.

:_

[begin_within]

15. You gotta be kidding.

[MissMillie]

29. certainly do enjoy Yes very much

I don't know that I'd say that was the best song written in the 20th century though. I'm not even sure it's the best song written by Yes.

[Bucky]

6. Since neither "Kick It Out" by Heart nor "Mongoloid" by Devo isn't here

I can't accept this as a valid poll. By any objective measure, the best song of the century would be a run off between those two, with the winner taking on Waylon Jennings's "Just Some Good Ol' Boys" theme song from The Dukes of Hazard.

[tuvor]

12. I would love a Mongoloid/Kick it Out mashup.

Just sayin'.

[Bucky]

14. Never thought of that. But you're right, it would seriously rock.

[Rowdyboy]

7. I'm with the "silent plurality".....Gershwin etc and "Summertime...."

[Robeson]

8. That's like asking "how long is a piece of string?"....

...it's hard to answer, because there is no definitive answer.

[BrotherBuzz]

9. What he said!

:thumbsup:

[Ron Green]

10. "Stardust" is the best, but may not be the most popular among DU's

demographic, which is more rock- and alt- oriented.

[begin_within]

16. Personally, I think the best composition is "Laura," but I figured nobody

would vote for it, so I left it off.

[Ron Green]

40. Yeah - a hipper song than "Stardust," with more interesting changes,

but it doesn't carry quite the emotional weight. "Lush Life" is also a great song (and tune,) but we're really getting into arcane jazzer territory there.

[BlueJazz]

21. Aint that the Truth...I usually have to bite my tongue in posts....

...such as these.... :)

[calico1]

27. Going by the demographic of most of the

population here, its rare to see anything pre 1980's nominated for anything. :crazy:

[tuvor]

11. Give me a couple of days.

Not quite finished listening to all of them.

There's a few hundred I think I've forgotten, though. May have to give them another spin.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. FREE BIRD!!!11

:hide:

[wildhorses]

18. what?!?!? NO. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN?!?!?

*harumph*


what about Happy Birthday? or White Christmas? heehee


my personal favorite is Fly Me To The Moon:

Fly me to the moon
Let me sing among those stars
Let me see what spring is like
On jupiter and mars

In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby kiss me

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg04J7lpvGU

[av8rdave]

19. I have to agree....

Even overplayed as much as it was, Stairway to Heaven has to be one of the "gold standards" of the 20th century.

Personally, I'd put "Time" right up there too, but that's just me...

[BlueJazz]

20. I went for Stardust because of the complexity of the chords and...

...the Melody line.

[terrya]

23. "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin

I think this song, quite simply, is a masterpiece.

The best song written during the 20th Century. Imo.

[begin_within]

34. And it will have its 100th anniversary in 2024. I read that when it was

played for the first time ever, at the Aeolian Hall, after it ended, the audience simply sat in stunned silence for a few seconds, then erupted into an ovation. The composition is of course George Gershwin's, but the arrangment you usually hear was partially arranged by Paul Whiteman, so he deserves some credit for the orchestral arrangement.

[sarge43]

41. If we're going to the concert hall for short selections

Copeland's Appalachian Spring and Barber's Violin Concerto, especially the Adagio movement. One critic said that it's the memory of a great tragedy endured and overcome.

[begin_within]

43. Oops - I should have typed that Ferde Grofe did the orchestration for

"Rhapsody in Blue" - not Paul Whiteman. Paul Whiteman was the bandleader at the premiere. My mistake. Ferde Grofe is the composer of "Grand Canyon Suite." Gershwin wrote this about working on "Rhapsody in Blue" while taking a train to Boston:

"It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise... And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end. No new themes came to me, but I worked on the thematic material already in my mind and tried to conceive the composition as a whole. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness. By the time I reached Boston I had a definite plot of the piece, as distinguished from its actual substance."

[LaraMN]

46. It is absolutely amazing.

My music teacher played it for us in early elementary school, and I never forgot the sound of it.

[Deep13]

24. Somewhere over the Rainbow

[calico1]

25. Of that list I would go with Stardust..

But there are so many other songs and it is all subjective depending on what a person's tastes are.

[LynneSin]

26. Where the hell is "The Lemon Song" by Led Zeppelin

I mean geez, everyone knows a great song talks about "Squeezing one's Lemon until the juice runs down one's leg"

[momophile]

30. what? no Springsteen?

I'm not sure that he is my pick, but shouldn't one of his be on there?

[MissMillie]

35. thunder road

:bounce:

[begin_within]

42. This damned software only allows 10 choices in a poll.

[momophile]

31. "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens, maybe...

I'm still thinking...

[HughBeaumont]

33. The Christmas Song

[sarge43]

37. There are so many

Alexander's Ragtime Band, Makin' Whoopie, Someone to Watch Over Me, My Funny Valentine, In the Still of the Night, Body and Soul, 'A' Train, The Way You Look Tonight, In The Mood, Mood Indigo, In My Reverie, A Summer Place, Fly Me to the Moon, Help, Satisfaction, Layla, Reach Out I'll Be There

[bif]

38. The trio from "Der Rosenkavelier"

[Zomby Woof]

44. Like A Rolling Stone

There is no way to accurately gauge the impact of that song.

It still floors me, 41 years later. It's influence will never wane.

[Orrex]

45. Strange Fruit takes the prize IMO

Never have I been so utterly thunderstruck upon first hearing a song, and to my shame it was only a few years ago.

All of your entries are good suggestions, though!

[AngryAmish]

47. Walk This Way by Run-DMC

[El Fuego]

48. Mmmmm-bop

ONLY JOKING!

Kind of catchy though.