as performed by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was like the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead: sometimes he was very, very good, and sometimes he was horrid (i.e., the ultimate cheesy/bombastic Vegas lounge act). But if you haven't heard the young Elvis Presley sing "Fever" and "Blue Moon," hie thee quickly to YouTube to check out the really, really good Elvis. These are songs of passionate longing sung by a truly blessed, unaffected young singer. The result is magic that will take your breath away. "Heartbreak Hotel" was Elvis's first million-selling single and his first number one hit. It also demonstrates that sometimes "less is more."
#23 — Georgia on My Mind
music by Hoagy Carmichael; lyrics by Stuart Gorrell; performed by Ray Charles
"Georgia on My Mind" is a love song to home and place. It is now the official state song of Georgia. However, the song may have been written about a woman named Georgia, not the state per se. Ray Charles, a Georgia native, recorded a blues-infused version of song, which became one of his signature songs. Willie Nelson also recorded a version of the song which became a #1 country hit.
#22 — Let's Stay Together, Tired of Being Alone and Love & Happiness
written by Al Green and various co-writers; performed by Al Green
Al Green is one of the best, most soulful male singers of all time, whether singing gospel or melancholic songs of longing like "Let's Stay Together," "Tired of Being Alone" and "Love & Happiness." If you want to make whoopee, dim the lights, pour the cabernet, and make sure the stereo is playing Al Green. "Let's Stay Together," a song Green initially didn't want to record even though he wrote the lyrics, became his only number one song in the United States. "Love and Happiness" was written initially by Mabon "Teenie" Hodges on morning after having sex, then watching wrestling on TV; Green contributed to the song later.
#22 — These Arms of Mine, Try a Little Tenderness, Respect and I've Been Loving You Too Long
written and performed by Otis Redding; the most popular version of "Respect" is the one by Aretha Franklin
Or put on any of these love songs by Otis Redding, and you can't go wrong. Redding was a wonderfully gifted, soulful singer who died just three days after recording his best-known song, "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay." That song became the first posthumous number one single on the U.S. charts.
#22 — Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, Crazy, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain and You Were Always on My Mind
written and performed by Willie Nelson
"Angel Flying too Close to the Ground" has one of the best titles and choruses of any song that ever hit the charts. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "You Were Always on My Mind" are classic, iconic love songs. "Crazy" was Patsy Cline's biggest hit, and justifiably so. But when she first heard the song and was told that its title was "Crazy," she agreed that it was. She died in a plane crash two years after recording it and making it immortal.
#21 — Taxi
written and performed by Harry Chapin
Oh, I've got something inside me
To drive a princess blind ...
There's a wild-man wizard
He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind
Harry Chapin's "Taxi" is a darkly romantic ghost story in which both ghosts are still partially alive. I once saw Chapin in concert, and he was a wonderful storyteller: both in his songs and in his interactions with the audience. This is an intensely sad song about young love that ends in loneliness and alienation.
#21 — Sunshine of Your Love and White Room
"Sunshine of Your Love" was written by Jack Bruce, Pete Brown and Eric Clapton; performed by Cream
Cream was the first hard rock supergroup, and included the rock demigod, Eric Clapton. "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room" are timeless classics, but more than that, they remain wonders. "Tears in Heaven" is another evocative love song, but of a different order, as it was written and performed by Eric Clapton after the death of his infant son.
#21 — She's Not There, Time of the Season, and Tell Her No
performed by the Zombies
These three songs by the Zombies (one of the earliest and best British "invasion" groups) sound as good today as when they were first recorded, and they give the Zombies a triad of great love songs. The Zombies were formed in 1961, making them contemporaries of the Beatles and Rolling Stones. While the Zombies didn't have as many big hits, these three songs seem far ahead of their time.
#21 — Here Comes the Sun, Something, Give Me Love, and My Sweet Lord
written by George Harrison; performed by Harrison and/or the Beatles
While John Lennon and Paul McCartney garnered the lion's share of the credit for the songwriting successes of the Beatles, George Harrison may be just as good, if not better, especially when it comes to moving love songs. "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" were written by Harrison and performed by the Beatles. "Give Me Love" and "My Sweet Lord" were written and performed by Harrison as a solo artist. Ironically, "My Sweet Lord," a tender hymn of love to God, resulted in a 10-year, multi-million dollar lawsuit over an allegedly plagiarized melody (that of "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons).
#20 — Candle in the Wind
music by Elton John; lyrics by Bernie Taupin; performed by Elton John
Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
Bernie Taupin's evocative lyrics tell a haunting story about an enchanting artist: Marilyn Monroe (the former Norma Jean Baker). The music was written and the song was originally performed by Elton John. The original song not only causes us to empathize with Marilyn Monroe, but also with the young boy who felt such affection and empathy for her. Bernie Taupin later wrote new lyrics for the song, honoring England's fairest Rose, Princess Diana, after her tragic death in an automobile accident.
#19 — Wicked Game
written and performed by Chris Isaak
"Wicked Game" is not only a killer love song, with atmospheric vocals by Chris Isaak, but its music video is sexy as hell, thanks to a tropical beach, Isaak, supermodel Helena Christensen and half a white bikini (or perhaps it's the missing half most men will thank). The song became a hit after being featured in the David Lynch film "Wild at Heart."
#18 — Criminal
written and performed by Fiona Apple
"Criminal" is another killer love song with a sexy music video, although two songs could not be more different than "Wicked Game" and "Criminal." Fiona Apple was still a teenager when "Criminal" became a hit; she was awarded a Grammy for the song at age nineteen. The song's controversial music video — which featured a waif-like, scantily-clad Apple in a '70s-era tract house — was explained by Apple (who was raped at age 12) thusly: "I decided that if I was going to be exploited, then I would do the exploiting myself."
#17 — House of the Rising Sun
original writer unknown; performed by the Animals
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun;
It's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one ...
"House of the Rising Sun" is an American folk ballad whose authorship remains unknown. The best-known version of the song was performed by a British "invasion" group, the Animals. (Hey, what were they doing, stealing our best songs?) Like several other songs on this page, it tells a dark, haunting, compelling story. In this case, love (or the lack of it) is experienced in a whorehouse call the "Rising Sun."
#17 — Until the Night, Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel) and Only the Good Die Young
written and performed by Billy Joel
Billy Joel's "Until the Night" gets my vote as the best unknown love song of all time. If you haven't heard it, you really should check it out on YouTube. The combination of the mournful sax, the crashing piano chords, and Joel's avowals of passionate longing mingled with doubt, all go wonderfully well together. If you listen to a live performance, the reaction of the audience at the end will be a clue that this song is an overlooked treasure. "Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)" is another less-well-know Joel song that should be on everyone's playlists. "Only the Good Die Young" is a carpe diem (seize the day) invitation to indulge in the pleasures of sex; it employs some of the cleverest come-on lines in the English language, making Billy Joel the rival of poets like Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick when it comes to the art of seduction. And talk about artists with range! ... could any three love songs be less alike?
#17 — All I Know
performed by Art Garfunkel
"All I Know," performed by Art Garfunkel, runs a close second to "Until The Night" as the best unknown love song of all time. Garfunkel is one of the best male singers of recent times, and while "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is probably the vocal he'll be most remembered by, this one is also unforgettable.
#16 — Born to Run, Thunder Road, Jungleland, Dancing in the Dark, Rosalita, Secret Garden and Fire
by Bruce Springsteen; performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Every day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
"Born to Run" is a rip-roaring dark anthem perhaps inspired to some degree by badass actors like James Dean, Marlon Brando and Dennis Hopper. What happens when machismo-dripping young men straddle Harleys? A song like "Born to Run" seems almost inevitable. A fundamental line may be: "And the boys try to look so hard." There's quite a discrepancy between the lyrics of songwriters like Chris Isaak and Fiona Apple, and those of "the Boss" above. But his anthem to doomed love is perhaps the sadder for all its bravura defiance. The Boss's other love songs also tend to be on the darker side, but "Rosalita" is nicely upbeat and "Secret Garden" is soft and tender. "Thunder Road" took its title from a1958 Robert Mitchum bootlegger movie that Springsteen had never actually seen.
#15 — I Want to Know What Love Is
written by Mick Jones; performed by Foreigner
"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a rock power ballad backed by a large gospel choir, "Dreamgirls" star Jennifer Holliday, and the Thompson Twins. While it seems the song was destined to be schizophrenic from the get-go, it simply works wonderfully well on all levels.
#14 — I Walk the Line and Ring of Fire
performed by Johnny Cash
I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine, I walk the line
Johnny Cash wrote "I Walk the Line" in 1956, when he was newly married, and presumably faithful. Years later he recorded "Ring of Fire," a song about the torrid love affair that caused him to leave his first wife for June Carter, who became his second wife. June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire" with Merle Kilgore. Johnny Cash had a dream in which he was singing the song with mariachi horns in the background, which was how it was recorded.
#13 — White Flag, Thank You and Here with Me
performed by Dido
It hardly seems fair that a singer like Dido is allowed to have two immaculate songs like "White Flag" and "Thank You" in a single career. "Here with Me" completes an amazing hat trick. The three songs are so good (and Dido's atmospheric voice is so wonderfully good singing them) that I've decided to settle for a three-way tie.
#12 — A Whiter Shade of Pale
written by Matthew Fisher, Gary Brooker and Keith Reid; performed by Procol Harum
And so it was that later,
As the miller told his tale,
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale.
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" has been the most-played song at venues in the United Kingdom over the last 75 years, and justly so. It's a song that tells a haunting if somewhat surrealistic tale. The song is based on a party at which Keith Reid heard the phrase "a whiter shade of pale" ... the rest, as they say, is history. The phrase "as the miller told his tale" probably refers to the Miller's Tale of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." The Miller's Tale was about a man's attempt to seduce a young woman, so we may perhaps deduce that the woman who blanched at the party turned "a whiter shade of pale" because she was being propositioned.
#11 — Leah, Crying and In Dreams
"Crying" was written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson; performed by Roy Orbison
I'll place the pearls
around the only girl
for me:
Leah
Some songs have haunting lyrics, but Roy Orbison has a haunting, almost otherworldly voice. I'm not sure if "Leah" is a truly great song in its own right (it's about a pearl diver who drowns, only to wake up and realize he was having a nightmare), but Orbison's voice makes the performance utterly magical. "Cryng" and "In Dreams" are great love songs made all the more magical when Orbison hits the high notes, which he somehow manages to do both warmly and sweetly. According to Rolling Stone magazine, after Orbison hit the highest note in "Crying," he was able to hit it again and again, until his death in 1988.
#10 — Piece of My Heart
by James Ragovoy and Bert Berns; performed by Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company
Didn't I make you feel
like you were the only man?
An' didn't I give you nearly everything
that a woman possibly can?
Rolling Stone nominated "Piece of My Heart" as the 344th greatest song of the modern era, which only illustrates the dark, murky depths to which music "experts" are capable of sinking. This may be the greatest all-out rock/blues performance by a female singer, or by any rock/blues singer, male or female. While many songs are "heart rippers," this is the only one that actually encourages the act of heartbreaking.
#10 — Angie, Wild Horses, Miss You, Shattered, (I'm Just) Waiting on a Friend, Beast of Burden, Start Me Up, Satisfaction, Under My Thumb, and Brown Sugar (just to name a few)
written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; performed by the Rolling Stones
When both quality and quantity are considered, the Rolling Stones may have good reason to claim to be the world's greatest singers of love songs, as well as the "Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band on Earth." Of course it doesn't hurt that they managed to stay together for nearly half a century, while other groups were self-destructing. "Angie" is one of the most touching love songs ever written or sung. Songs like "Wild Horses," "Miss You," "Shattered" and "(I'm Just) Waiting on a Friend" are also stellar love songs. For me, songs like "Satisfaction" and "Brown Sugar" seem a bit over-rated, but the first six songs on my list are so good, everything else is merely icing on the cake.
#9 — Because The Night
written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith; performed by the Patti Smith Group
"Because the Night" is one of the songs (if not the song) that made Patti Smith the "godmother of punk." The song was originally by Bruce Springsteen, but wasn't recorded because he wasn't happy with it. Patti Smith altered the song, which became her biggest hit and has been called one of the best songs of all time by various critics. Springsteen continued to perform the song with his original lyrics, but it is Patti Smith's version that became one of the iconic songs of the punk era.
#9 — Sweet Child O' Mine
performed by Guns 'n Roses
"Sweet Child O' Mine" began as a sort of joke, with guitarist Slash making faces at drummer Steven Adler while playing a "circus" melody riff. But Axl Rose heard the impromptu jam session from a room upstairs, didn't know the band was just horsing around, and came up with tender-but-passionate lyrics for his girlfriend at the time, Erin Everly, the daughter of Don Everly of Everly Brothers fame. The song went on to become the band's only number one hit in the United States, and a song for the ages.
#8 — Layla
written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon; performed by Derek and the Dominoes
Layla, you got me on my knees;
Layla, you got me singing darlin' please ...
"Layla" was written by Eric Clapton as a song of unrequited love for his friend George Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd ... talk about a lovers' triangle! At least this one was immortalized, as Pattie Boyd has been called the inspiration for "Layla," "Something," "Wonderful Tonight" and other songs by Harrison and Clapton. Both the original and the "unplugged" versions of "Layla" are utterly stellar. The song is a longing plea for love, with no indication that reciprocation is expected.
#8 — At Last
written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren, and performed magnificently by the great blues singer, Etta James
Etta James overcame a heroin addiction in the 1960s and 1970s to return as the opening act for the Rolling Stones in the 1980s. "At Last" is her best-known song today, and rightfully so. While the song has been covered by other singers, that seems unwise and should probably be illegal.
#7 — The Freshmen
written by Brian Vander Ark; performed by The Verve Pipe
When I was young I knew everything
and she a punk who rarely ever took advice
now I'm guilt-stricken, sobbing with my head on the floor
stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice
... I can't be held responsible
'cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
she fell in love in the first place ...
For the life of me, I cannot remember
what made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
for the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
we were merely freshmen
My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
his girl took a week's worth of valium and slept
now he's guilt-stricken, sobbing with his head on the floor
thinks about her now and how he never really wept, he says
... I can't be held responsible
'cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
she fell in love in the first place ...
For the life of me, I cannot remember
what made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
for the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
we were merely freshmen
We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
we never talk of our lacking relationships
and how we're guilt-stricken, sobbing with our heads on the floor
we fell through the ice when we tried not to slip, we'd say
... I can't be held responsible
'cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
she fell in love in the first place ...
For the life of me, I cannot remember
what made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
for the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
we were merely freshmen
When the Verve Pipe released "The Freshmen" there were debates on the Internet about just what they meant by lines like "stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice." While "stop a baby's breath" might refer to an abortion, "shoe full of rice" might refer to a wedding, in which case "baby's breath" might be a sprig of flowers. Song lyrics, like all forms of poetry, are open to interpretation.
#6 — Nothing Compares 2 U, When Doves Cry, Purple Rain, Kiss and Little Red Corvette
written and performed by Prince; "Nothing Compares 2 U" was also performed by Sinead O'Connor
"Nothing Compares 2 U" is a wonderfully tender, poignant song, sung exquisitely by Sinead O'Connor. The tear she shed in her video was real, and unscripted. She had shaved her head when she started singing because she wanted to be known for her music, not her looks (but she looked better without hair than most women with flowing manes). When the head of her record label heard the song the first time, he cried. When O'Connor heard that he had cried, she asked: "Was it that bad?" No, silly, it was that magnificent! "Little Red Corvette" is undoubtedly the best passionate love song ever written to a a car. "When Doves Cry" is a wonderfully tender love song. "Purple Rain" and "Kiss" are also classic love songs.
#6 — Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) and What's Goin' On
written and performed by Marvin Gaye; "What's Goin' On" was co-written with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Al Cleveland
"Mercy, Mercy Me" and "What's Goin' On" were love songs to the earth and humankind, and earnests plea for love, understanding and peace, written and performed by Marvin Gaye. Unfortunately, even though he wrote the lines "Father, father, there's no need to escalate," Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father. Although Gaye performed romantic love songs like "Sexual Healing" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," the love songs of his that may leave the most lasting impressions are the ones he wrote to the world: "Mercy, Mercy Me" and "What's Goin' On."
#5 — Hallelujah
written by Leonard Cohen; performed by Cohen and other artists (my favorite performers of the song include Alexandra Burke and K. D. Lang)
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift,
The baffled king composing Hallelujah ...
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah is an utterly sad song that transforms love into a cold and broken Hallelujah.
#4 — Unchained Melody
music by Alex North; lyrics by Hy Zaret; performed by the Righteous Brothers (vocals by Bobby Hatfield)
Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me
"Unchained Melody" is one of the most popular songs of all time, having been covered by more than 700 artists in various languages. But if you haven't heard the version recorded by the Righteous Brothers, please be sure to browse over to YouTube and check out Bobby Hatfield's stunning, soaring vocals, because you haven't yet truly lived. This is a haunting song of inconsolable longing that became popular again when it was appropriately featured in the movie "Ghost" starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.
#3 — Bridge Over Troubled Water
written by Paul Simon; performed by Simon & Garfunkel (vocals by Art Garfunkel)
When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" is one of the greatest love songs ever written. Paul Simon wrote this song of love and friendship specifically to be sung by Art Garfunkel, shortly before the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel, at a time the two were constantly at odds. Garfunkel's vocals make the original recording one of the best of all time; the song has also been performed by many other singers, including notably Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Josh Groban and Charlotte Church. While the song does have a bit of "light at the end of the tunnel," for the most part it is a dark masterpiece. Garfunkel contributed the "sail on silver girl" line, which Simon didn't like.
#2 — Without You
written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger; the best and most famous performance of the song was by Harry Nilsson
Paul McCartney, who knows a thing or two about songwriting, called "Without You" the "killer song of all time." While the original Badfinger version is good, the atmospheric, soaring vocals of Harry Nilsson took the song to new heavenly levels of unrequited longing. The song has since been covered admirably well by Mariah Carey and other accomplished singers, but for me the Harry Nilsson version is unique and untouchable.
#2 — The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
written and first performed by Robert Flack
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was written and first performed by Robert Flack; it has since been performed by Celine Dion, among others; one of my favorite versions is a somewhat darker version by an unknown singer, Josh Krajcik, which you can find on YouTube.
I think the two songs above go well together, and tie for my best sad, dark, haunting love songs of all time. Now here, without further ado, is my number one song of all time ... named, in an interesting synchronicity, "One." One might call it an anti-love song.
#1 — One, With or Without You, All I Want Is You, Sweetest Thing, and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
"One" was written by Bono (Paul Hewson), The Edge (David Evans), Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.; performed by U2
Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head?
In my opinion, "One" is either the greatest love song ever written, or the greatest anti-love song, or perhaps both. It was written and recorded in Berlin, on the eve of the reunification of Germany. At the time U2 was experiencing internal disharmony: the song has been credited with helping keep the band together. The Edge came up with the music first; Bono said his lyrics "just fell out of the sky, a gift." The entire song was composed in about 15 minutes. The other U2 songs on my list are utterly stellar, but "One" is the king of the hill.
Honorable Mentions
"Every Breath You Take," written by Sting and performed by the Police, is a song about obsession and perhaps the number one "stalker love song" of all time
"God Only Knows" was written by Brian Wilson and performed by the Beach Boys; Brian's brother Carl sang lead on the song
"Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone)" is a wonderful, bluesy love song by Bill Withers, a great vocalist
"As" is a tour-de-force performance by Stevie Wonder
"Fallin'" as performed by Alicia Keys is pure magic
I'm not much of a Frank Sinatra fan, but his version of "Strangers in the Night" is damn good
"Lay, Lady Lay" was written and performed by Bob Dylan, in one of his better vocal performances
"Heart of Gold" was written and performed by Neil Young; the song is so good Young's nasally, somewhat whiny vocals almost don't matter
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" was written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, and performed by George Jones, another great vocalist
"That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be" was written and performed by Carly Simon
"At Seventeen" is a song of intense loneliness and alienation written and performed by Janis Ian
"You Really Got Me" was written by Ray Davies and performed by the Kinks
"Lovesong" was the only top ten hit for the Cure in America
"If Not for You" was written by Bob Dylan, but Olivia Newton-John sang it better, and far more sweetly
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" by Gerry and the Pacemakers is a song about love of home and returning there
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" was written and performed by the Bee Gees
"Time After Time" is a touching love song, written and performed by the exotic and quixotic Cyndi Lauper
"Come On Eileen" is wonderfully catchy love song performed by the one-hit wonders Dexy and the Midnight Runners
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is another impossible-not-to-sing-along-with love song, performed by Queen
Vincent
by Don McLean
Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Starry Night"
Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land
Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now
Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand
For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could've told you, Vincent
This world was never meant
For one as beautiful as you
Starry, Starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn, the bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow
Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They're not listening still
Perhaps they never will . . .
Don McLean's "Vincent" got my vote as the best rock poem of all time, based strictly on words, because it tells a moving story and also carries us somewhere "beyond" by making us feel a strong kinship with the troubled Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gogh. The best poems and songs create a sort of spiritual "communion" between writer, subject and audience ...
Go Rest High on that Mountain
by Vince Gill
I am not normally a country music fan, but this song, a modern hymn, is wonderfully moving and exquisitely sung by Vince Gill, a former lead singer of Pure Prairie League. Gill wrote the song originally for Keith Whitley, a fellow country music singer who died in 1989, but didn't finish it until after the death of his brother Bob, who died in 1993. Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless sang the background vocals on a song that is sure to be an enduring classic.
She's Gone
by Daryl Hall and John Oates; performed by Hall and Oates
Up in the morning, look in the mirror ...
I'm as worn as the toothbrush hanging in her stand ...
My face ain't lookin' any younger ...
Now I can see love's taken her toll on me ...
She's gone ...
This is one of the best songs about love, loss, disappointment and aging alone. The song was written after Hall had divorced his wife and Oates had been stood up by a New Year's date.
Love And Affection
by Joan Armatrading
This is an absolutely wonderful song that deserves far more attention than it gets today. If you haven't heard it, please be sure to check it out on YouTube.
Kathy's Song
by Paul Simon; performed by Simon & Garfunkel
I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm, continuing,
Tapping on my roof and walls
"Kathy's Song" is a tender lament about love and loss. Paul Simon's songs tend to read well as poems because he wrote them as poems, then set them to music later.
America
by Paul Simon; performed by Simon & Garfunkel
"Let us be lovers,
We'll marry our fortunes together.
I've got some real estate
Here in my bag."
So we bought a pack of cigarettes,
And Mrs. Wagner's pies,
And walked off
To look for America.
"Kathy," I said,
As we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh,
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now.
It took me four days
To hitchhike from Saginaw.
I've come to look for America."
Laughing on the bus,
Playing games with the faces,
She said the man in the gabardine suit
Was a spy.
I said, "Be careful,
His bow tie is really a camera."
"Toss me a cigarette,
I think there's one in my raincoat."
"We smoked the last one
An hour ago."
So I looked at the scenery,
She read her magazine;
And the moon rose over an open field.
"Kathy, I'm lost," I said,
Though I knew she was sleeping.
"I'm empty and aching and
I don't know why."
Counting the cars
On the New Jersey Turnpike.
They've all come
To look for America,
All come to look for America.
All come to look for America.
"America" is a wonderfully touching song about longing: the longing for love and the longing to discover oneself and one's place in the world. Paul Simon was born in the United States to Hungarian Jewish parents, but he has always struck me as being a somewhat monkish English troubadour.
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
by Bob Dylan
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is yet another strong song by one of America's most famous singer/songwriters.
Homeward Bound
by Paul Simon; performed by Simon & Garfunkel
Ev'ry day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines.
And each town looks the same to me,
the movies and the factories
And ev'ry stranger's face I see
reminds me that I long to be
Homeward bound.
"Homeward Bound" is another strong song by one of my favorite singer/songwriters, and the one that makes him seem most like the reincarnation of an English troubadour.
Lady Midnight
by Leonard Cohen
I came by myself to a very crowded place;
I was looking for someone who had lines in her face.
I found her there but she was past all concern;
I asked her to hold me,
I said, "Lady, unfold me,"
but she scorned me and she told me
I was dead and I could never return.
"Lady Midnight" is yet another strong song by one of the premier songwriters of the modern era.
The HyperTexts