The "Top 10 Favorites" music lists recently submitted [at whose request, I do not remember, I am sorry to say--Ed.] by this year's major party putative presidential candidates surprised me. Senator Obama listed a song or two with which I am not familiar (though I recognized the artists involved), and Senator McCain listed two--count 'em, TWO!--Abba songs.
The only artist they both listed was Frank Sinatra, though they listed different favorite Sinatra songs. That's OK. My own favorite Sinatra song differs from both of theirs. I'd have listed "(One For My Baby, And) One More For The Road." Then again, after listening to Sinatra's cover of "Blues In The Night," I might have to add that to my list. On the other hand, after remembering Bugs Bunny singing "A buzzard is two-faced," I'd better go back to my original choice. Talk about [worrisome--Ed.] things you can't get out of your head!
So I got to thinking about what else I'd put on my own personal "Top 10" list. Without a doubt, I'd choose Nat King Cole's cover of "Stardust." What an extraordinary interpretation! It makes the Hoagy Carmichael song truly sublime. Not even Carmichael's own original comes close . . . though, I must admit, Willy Nelson's cover does. But Nat King Cole's version is the standard by which all other covers must be measured. They all fall short.
If instrumentals are allowed, I'd also include Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing." I've always liked raucous percussion and reeds, and this one has the most raw clarinet and drum parts ever. It's also guaranteed to make you get up and dance in the aisles, just as it did during Goodman's Carnegie Hall premiere in 1937--if memory serves. Not that I was there. But I have seen The Benny Goodman Story several times [as if that mattered!--Ed.], and I have more than one LP and CD which include that performance.
For sheer silliness, I'd include something by Weird Al Yankovic, most probably "Yoda." We all need to laugh out loud several times a day, and the brilliance of Yankovic's parody of "Lola" cannot be overstated. I guffaw with delight every time I hear it. When you know all the lyrics to a parody and find yourself singing the parody's lyrics even when the original song plays, you are far, far gone. That the parody has lodged itself that deeply in my brain proves how brilliant it is.
I must include Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water." I know Paul Simon was unhappy with his third verse. He said it has always bothered him that he couldn't repeat perfectly the parallel structure of the lyrics from verses one and two. I don't care. The recording is ethereal--Garfunkel's tenor was at its most soaring and true; Simon's melody and the pair's original performance were--and are--perfect.
Can't add anything to that.
I'd like to include Beethoven's 9th Symphony [the whole thing, not just the 4th movement--Ed.], but it's probably too long and esoteric for most folk. Too bad. Beethoven was truly original, a voice of the people, even though he's considered very, very highbrow today. The sheer power and the hope in his music can lift me out of my deepest darknesses, and I treasure his message: all odds CAN be conquered. He is profound. That he could create and conduct such beauty when he could not hear is astonishing.
Now choices get trickier. I am not listing my preferences in any particular order, but the order in which they occurred to me, thus the order in which I write about them here, accurately indicates my probable preferences. Then again, the only reason I started with the Sinatra song is because he's the only one both Obama and McCain listed, not because he's my personal favorite. The choices from here on get trickier anyway. Limiting myself to just 10 total songs is beyond challenging. It's going to be virtually impossible.
I'd also have to include something by the Beatles, but I'll be hanged if I can limit myself to one Beatles song. I have wrestled with this for the better part of the last two days, and I just can't do it. The melody of "Eleanor Rigby" moves me deeply, though the lyrics are a downer; "All You Need Is Love" is fun, but kind of silly [we all know there's nothing wrong with silly love songs, but really!--Ed.]. "A Day In The Life" is masterful in both composition and lyrics, but it wouldn't be my first choice if I must limit myself to one. "Hey, Jude," "Blackbird," "Let It Be," "Norwegian Wood," "Revolution," and on, and on, and on . . . any or all of them would do. Here's a twist: "In My Life," but the cover by Sean Connery. It works. But it seems like something one would say at a funeral.
I give up. The Beatles. Their entire catalog. It's the only option.
And now for something completely different: Garth Brooks, "Friends In Low Places." It's the fun value. This is a great song just to sing. Perfect party music.
Likewise, Talking Heads' "Burning Down The House." Not only is it a great song, it's the greatest background music for doing the housecleaning I've ever found. A survey of NPR listeners about 19 years ago confirmed it. But I said it first!
Enya's "Caribbean Blue." I love the way her music flows over my soul. "Orinoco Flow" is wonderful, too, but I think "Caribbean Blue" is less over-exposed. Besides, I remember hearing a DJ say once that "Orinoco Flow" reminded him of the soundtrack to an epic Western. I get it. I even agree with it. But I can't get it out of my head, and that song deserves more.
I'd also have to include two songs by Johnny Cash, believe it or not. His cover of "Hurt," made a year or so before he died, proves that the man was a genuine artist. It's an amazing performance. My other Cash tune? "Ring Of Fire." Talk about "portrait of the artist as a young man"--this is it. The orchestration, with the Mariachi horns and no drums, was a first. I didn't appreciate how unique this song was when I was younger. I've grown in my understanding.
I think I've already chosen more than 10. I haven't even gotten to Duke Ellington, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow (jazz-oriented only, thank you), Lyle Lovett, or Beck! Let alone Prince, The Police, and God only knows how many other artists. My CD collection is embarrassingly large. I lost count at 500, and I have broad collections in just about every genre.
OK, just one or two more so that I can assuage my ethnic pride. Tommy Makem's "Rocky Road To Dublin," and De Daanan's "Hibernian Rhapsody." The former because it's a rousing good rebellion song; the latter, because hearing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" arranged for traditional Irish instruments is simply delightfully offbeat. Even though the music is perfectly on the beat.
I shudder to think what I've left out. I'd love to know your choices. I guess my inability to limit myself just proves I don't have the self-discipline to be president. Or that I know too much about too many things.
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