Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The Ears of the Beholder


The Beach Boy’s God Only Knows played on the radio the other day and as I always do when I hear it I thought ‘that has got to be the most beautiful song ever recorded.’  (Yes, I confess to using the word ‘beautiful’ to describe music.  I also use intense, haunting, cool-as-hell and for certain genres—country and modern-day Top420 immediately come to mind—total crap.  I heard someone say that for him ‘music died in 1983.’  I think he may be right.) 

Getting back to beautiful music…

I decided I would make a list of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.  Originally I thought I would come up with 10 or so songs, but it didn’t take long to realize I underestimated how beautiful the music of the last five decades has been.   Then again maybe I just underestimated how much of my memory I still had going for me. 

Anyway, in no particular order (other than the order in which I remembered them) here are the songs I would put on my personal soundtrack of the most beautiful songs ever recorded:   

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face – Roberta Flack

Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul McCartney

Lady/You Decorated My Life – Kenny Rogers

Missing You – John Waite

Just the Way You Are – Billy Joel

Superstar/For All We Know – Carpenters

Hello It’s Me – Todd Rundgren

Daisy Jane – America

Can’t Help Falling in Love – Elvis Presley

Careless Whisper – Wham!

Live to Tell - Madonna

Up Where We Belong – Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes

The Rain Song – Led Zeppelin

Cancer – My Chemical Romance

You Are So Beautiful – Joe Cocker

Every Woman in the World – Air Supply

More Than a Woman – Tavares/Bee Gees

Faithfully – Journey

Amanda – Boston

I’m Not in Love – 10cc

He Ain’t Heavy – Hollies

Because the Night – 10,000 Maniacs

The World I Know – Collective Soul

Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm – Crash Test Dummies

Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler

Unchained Melody – Righteous Brothers

We’re All Alone/Look What You’ve Done to Me – Boz Skaggs

Colour My World/Beginnings – Chicago

Can’t Take My Eyes off You/My Eyes Adored You – Frankie Valli

I Can’t Tell You Why – Eagles

While My Guitar Gently Weeps – Beatles

Two out of Three ain’t Bad – Meat Loaf

Love on the Rocks – Neil Diamond

November Rain – Guns N’ Roses

Everybody Hurts – REM

Candle in the Wind/Your Song – Elton John

The Crow and the Butterfly – Shinedown

Sarah – Fleetwood Mac

My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder

Elenore – Turtles

Existentialism on Prom Night – Straylight Run

My Girls – Temptations

Never Too Late – Three Days Grace

Easy to Be Hard – Three Dog Night

If You Could Only See – Tonic

Glamour Boy/These Eyes – Guess Who

Always on My Mind – Willie Nelson

Black Magic Woman – Santana

She Talks to Angels – Black Crowes

Astronomy – Blue Oyster Cult

If – Bread

Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton

Daydream Believer – Monkees

MacArthur Park – Donna Summer/Richard Harris

Black – Pearl Jam

Without You – Nillson

Harvest Moon – Neil Young

Mandy/Could this be the Magic – Barry Manilow

Cherish – Association

Bridge Over Troubled Water/The Sound of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel

You don’t have to Say you Love Me – Dusty Springfield

After the Love is Gone – Earth, Wind and Fire

Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me – Gladys Knight and the Pips

Auld Lang Syne – Dan Fogelberg

Evergreen/The Way We Were – Barbra Streisand

How Can I Be Sure – Rascals

How Deep is Your Love – Bee Gees

When I See You Smile – Bad English

Badge – Cream

One – U2

True – Spandau Ballet

In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel

Annie’s Song – John Denver

Hello – Lionel Richie

Endless Love – Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
This Guy’s in Love with You – Herb Alpert
At This Moment – Billy Vera and the Beaters

I Want to Know What Love Is – Foreigner

Against All Odds – Phil Collins

I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston

It Must Have Been Love – Roxette

Angel Eyes – Jeff Healy Band

Lovin’ You - Minnie Riperton
     
Eternal Flame – Bangles

Imagine – John Lennon

Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams

Walk Away Renee – Four Tops

Amazing/I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith

And You and I – Yes

Hurt – Johnny Cash

Yellow/Clocks – Coldplay

Brothers in Arms – Dire Straits

Home Sweet Home – Motley Crue

Adia – Sarah McLachlan

It’s Too Late – Carol King

Fire and Rain – James Taylor

Time in a Bottle – Jim Croce

Lucky Man – Emerson, Lake and Palmer
   
So, what started out as a list of 10 or so songs turned out to be over well over one-hundred.  Are there more?  Most certainly, but I can’t remember all of them at the moment.

But when I hear them I’ll know them.  My memory might be failing me, but my ears can still recognize a beautiful song.  How long that will last, however…


God only knows.