A Song To Sing

[Si Hunt]

Someone started this thread ages ago and I thought it was a really good idea but I'll be damned if I can go hunting for it (so please don't you do that either).

Basically, pick a song that you think is really good or special or want to recommend to people here, and tell us why YOU think it's so good.

We want a recommendation from you!

Si.

[Matthew T]

There's so many songs I could recommend, but I'm just so absolutely terrible at saying why I like something.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Good thread Si!

So many to think of, sometimes though it's hard to justify one. Sometimes a song works "because it works".

But one song I still think is superb is Radiohead's Creep.

It's one of their earlier song, and though dark, it isn't the wierd/experimental direction Radiohead have moved towards of late.

I have had elements in my life which are quite dark, so I think I like that reflected in songs that really move me. The song has the desparate, pleading edge of a man who's obsessed with someone, holds them on a pedistal, but feels worthless themselves. There's an accustic version where that edge of desparation just becomes so much aparant.

Plus it's the Radiohead song which will bring you down, but won't have you ringing for the Samaritans.

[Rob McCow]

I liked Creep when I was 17, but to be fair I've cheered up a lot since then.

I was listening to Abbey Road by The Beatles this morning. Now, saying I like The Beatles is like saying I like breathing, or that I like sunshine, but I think I like Abbey Road best of all their albums. It's got a sense of closure, of going once more around the block before the end that gives it a fascinating mix of styles.

So the song that stood out this morning was (for some reason) Oh, Darling! In itself it's nothing special. Any band from the sixties could have done a bluesy song like this, in many ways it's a throwback to the stuff the Beatles were doing on their first few albums. But they do it so well! Everybody is really getting into it and giving it some real welly.

It isn't fancy, it isn't slick and it doesn't have loads of overdubs. Oh, Darling! is a simple song done well.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Yeah - maybe not slick, but a good song doesn't have to be complex to be good. One of John Lennons greatest songs, Imagine, was also his simplest, pretty much just him and a piano.

[Pip Madeley]

I just wrote a decent amount about the song I'm recommending and accidentally closed the window before I could post it... I'm a fool.

Anyway, 'Ripples' by Genesis - a song about the loss of youth, and wanting something that you can never get back. Try it. And if you have Spotify, take ten minutes out to sit down, get rid of all distractions and listen to this version - it's possibly Genesis' finest moment. It's certainly my favourite song of all time.

I hope you enjoy.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Ripples is indeed a very good song.

Just looked it up ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripples_(song)

So is it that 12 string guitar which gives it that unusual melody in the background? I thought it was some wierd experimentl instrument which was popular in the 70s.

[Pip Madeley]

It is indeed - you actually have Rutherford and Hackett both playing 12-string guitar.