Friday, January 11, 2013

What Is Your Favorite Song?


That question is sort of a knee-slapper, isn't it?  Does anyone really have a favorite song?

I sure don't.

I have LOTS of favorite songs.  The one I like the best at any given moment depends upon the mood I'm in.  Am I feeling sentimental?  Loved?  Sad?  Like dancing?

Part of the conundrum for me is, if I really like a song, I play it to death.  Then, at some point, due to sheer repetition, it begins to lose its magic for me.  I forget what exactly it was about the song that first took my breath away.

Windows Media Player has a feature that allows one to assign "stars" to a particular track.  Tonight, I sorted my music by "star" rating.  Granted, I don't normally bother ranking my music. That might account for the fact that I only have eighteen five-star tracks on my list; and frankly, I was being overly generous when I ranked some of them.

Be that as it may, if I've known a song since, say, 1964, and it's still ranked among my favorites; forty-nine years later, that has to be a hell of a song.

I peruse a few songwriting forums regularly; and when songwriters get all misty-eyed about certain songs, it  seems to me they're just lying.  These people always wax rhapsodic about songs with "deep" lyrics, when, in fact, in the privacy of their own homes, they are most likely listening to something that has a thumping bass line and a chorus that repeats the same two lines over and over.

People don't listen to music to discover wondrous truths.  They can read Longfellow if they're really that obsessive-compulsive.  Music is supposed to be fun.  It can be serious, too, but without a good melody, and good production, a song is a song is a song (or a bad poem).

So, alas, I don't have a favorite song.  

And frankly, I don't want to have one.

My theory about favorite songs is two-fold:

1.  Your favorite song is a reflection of an important time in your life.
2.  There is something about the sound, or the singer, or the mood, that grabs you and won't let go.

So, I thought, just for fun, I would feature a few of my five-star songs in future posts (and in this one); and I will frankly tell you, without embarrassment, that they almost ALWAYS adhere to at least one of my two theories.

This one adheres to both (sorry for the long intro to this video, but I like LIVE sound, so bear with me.  Just slide that little slider, like I do, until you get to the actual performance):



And, if you have a favorite song, I would love to know what it is!











 

No comments: