'You love a stone, because it's dark and it's old,
and if it could start being alive, you'd stop living alone.'
One of the most beautifully crafted, and utterly heart breaking, love songs ever written.
24. Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols
'Your future dream is a shopping scheme,
because I wanna be anarchy in the city.'
The most pertinent, and angsty, example of anti-establishment punk at its finest.
23. Climbing up the Walls - Radiohead
'Do not cry out or hit the alarm,
you know we're friends 'till we die.'
The first of four from the Head. Unsettling, haunting and brilliantly deranged.
22. Starman - David Bowie
'Look out your window and you can see his light aight.'
A pop-rock classic and my favourite Bowie. Anthemic and life affirmingly hopeful.
21. Life's a Bitch - Nas
'Keepin it real, packin steal, gettin high,
cos life's a bitch and then you die.'
The best song from Hip-Hop's best album. Existentialism coming straight at you from the streets of NY.
20. Changing on the Guards - Bob Dylan
'But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination,
or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.'
Favourite Dylan. Ignoring the superb lyrics, the brass between each chorus is basic, yet perfect.
19. Stand by Me - Ben. E King
'No I won't be afraid,
just as long as you stand, stand by me.'
The most inherently likeable song ever produced.
18. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
'As the dust floats finds you,
we're moving through Kashmir.'
Stunning lyrics, flawless harmony between guitars and strings. And then that scream.
17. Super Star - The Carpenters
'Come back to me again,
and play your sad guitar.'
A tragic masterpiece from one of the most under appreciated bands of all time.
16. Motion Picture Soundtrack - Radiohead
'Red wine, and sleeping pills,
help me get back to your arms.'
The quintessential 'break up song.' More emotional than a hundred Notebooks. Pretty and traumatising.
15. I Love you Golden Blue - Sonic Youth
'Don't blush, it's just the wind outside,
don't rush to be by my side.'
From one sad love song to another. It's Kim Gordon's chain-smoked vocals which break me down.
14. I am the Resurrection - The Stone Roses
'I am the Resurrection and I am the life,
I couldn't ever bring myself to hate you as I'd like.'
Just an absolute masterclass in rock song composition. Near 8 minutes of unadulterated bliss.
13. Thousands are Sailing - The Pogues
'Did the old songs taunt or cheer you,
and did they still make you cry.'
Heroically rousing, perfectly uplifting. The post-chorus instrumental is the ultimate 'go fucking tonto' moment.
12. Decades - Joy Division
'Each ritual showed up the door for our wanderings,
open then shut, then slammed in our face.'
It's the synthesisers. That must explain why it's so extraordinarily powerful.
11. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
'I've hungered for your touch,
a long, lonely time.'
You know why this is here.
10. About Today - The National
'Tonight, you just close your eyes,
and I just watch you, slip away.'
The guitar, the violin, Tom's voice... A symphonic beauty which transcends human understanding. No hyperbole.
9. Tunic (Song for Karen) - Sonic Youth
'I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller every day,
but when I open my mouth to sing, I'm bigger, in every way.'
A wonderful, heartbreaking, harrowing tribute to Karen Carpenter. Kim Gordon's finest moment.
8. In Power we Entrust the Love Advocated - Dead Can Dance
'There can be no other means to the end,
or the keys to my heart you will never find.'
A more philosophical, profound love song, with an indescribably affecting climax.
7. Fields of Athenry - Danny Doyle/The Dubliners (best version)
'Against the famine, and the crown,
I rebelled, they cut me down.'
The most perfect balance of ferocious political condemnation and poetically moving patriotism.
6. Intergalactic - Beastie Boys
'INTERGALACTIC, PLANETARY,
PLANETARY, INTERGALACTIC.'
Deranged, insane, nonsensical, ridiculous and stupendously, limitlessly cool.
5. I Know it's Over - The Smiths
'With your triumphs and charms,
while they're in each other's arms.'
Probably my favourite song lyrically. Morrissey; the most ingenius dick to have walked the earth?
4. Hurt - Nine Inch Nails
'I wear this crown of shit,
upon my liar's chair.'
Yes, the Cash version is excellent, but it's nowhere near as raw and powerfully honest as Reznor's original.
3. Let Down - Radiohead
'Don't get sentimental, it always ends in drivel,
one day, I am gonna grow wings.'
My favourite song during my mid-teens. Aesthetically gorgeous, hugely personal and tremendously touching.
2. Reckoner - Radiohead
'Dare not speak his name,
did I cater to all of your needs?'
The most flawless fusion of vocals and (various) instruments I've ever heard. Staggeringly perfect.
1. Schizophrenia - Sonic Youth
'She keeps coming closer, saying "I can feel it in my bones,
schizophrenia, is taking me home."'
An allegory for Thurston Moore's Catholic guilt. So deliciously angsty, beautiful and poignant. The music is structured sublimely, a wonderful exhibition of guitar, bass and drums. Yet it's the lyrics which endears this song so spectacularly to me. A deep meditation on faith, existence and the constancy and inevitability of their relation with one another. The most relatable poetry, on a personal level, that I've encountered.
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