Music has the unparalleled power to transport you to not only a time and a place but a precise feeling. Sure, smell and sight can accomplish this as well, but in a much less visceral and specific way. One of my favorite authors, Nick Hornby[1], once wrote book about his favorite 31 songs and what they had meant to him. He talked about the power of a song to capture his lost youth, or the birth of his child, and other seminal moments in his life. My youngest brother has a fantastic podcast (shameless plug for Twisted Lister—you can download it on iTunes or Soundcloud) in which he and his two friends from high school compose rival lists about various musical topics such as the best pop songs of the 21st century, the best albums of 1994, or the greatest TV theme songs. For them, I imagine it’s more than a shared walk down memory lane; it’s a chance to revisit the music that was and is a huge part of their lives.
As I’ve grown older (but not up), I’ve noticed that while I still love music, it doesn’t resonate as much for me. Maybe that’s because I’m more of a visual person; TV and movies are just as powerful for me now as they have always been. I am more excited for the new Star Wars than any cultural event I can remember in the last ten years. I still go to concerts, and I still love finding great new bands. It just happens with less frequency and less intensity. When I listed to the second Mumford and Sons album over and over a few years back, I remarked that it was the first time I had been so absorbed with and lost in a band for as long as I could remember. Maybe it’s just me or maybe it’s more universal, but music has more power in memory for me than in the present.
Still, when I hear these songs, I’m right back in my freshman hall at Duke or in a field at a music festival in Austin, Texas or in a bar in Brazil. I suppose I haven’t written a music post because music was my past and other pursuits my present. But these 10 songs haven’t faded and haven’t lost their power on my imagination. And I suppose they never will.
- “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel
I’ve never seen a song elicit such a strong reaction from my normally placid mother. It’s the only song she ever refused to let us listen to.[2] We were heading home from church one Sunday morning when I was in high school, and the song came on the radio. As the lyrics gradually dawned on her, she angrily turned dial off, deeming it sacrilegious and anti-Catholic. She might have had a point with lyrics like “you Catholic girls start much too late, sooner or later it comes down to fate, I might as well be the one,” but it’s still a hell of a good song. With its witty and sarcastic quips, aggressive keyboard and sax solos, and Billy Joel’s perfectly booming voice, it’s hard to beat as a quintessential pop song. This was a Taylor Swift song before we knew what the hell a Taylor Swift was. But mostly it makes me think of our beige 1986 Caprice Classic Chevrolet station wagon, and my mom’s classic response.
- “Lie in Our Graves” by The Dave Matthews Band
I know it’s popular in some circles to bash Dave these days or claim that you were never really that big of a fan. But if you’re between the ages of 30 and 40, not only have you probably been to multiple Dave shows, but it formed an important part of your collegiate musical experience. I myself have seen Dave no less than 12 times, but I couldn’t tell you the exact number. I chose “Lie in Our Graves” because it makes me think of youth and recklessness and always saying yes to the possibilities. It’s a song about skinny dipping with the girl you really liked or taking the car out past curfew or going on an impromptu road trip for no reason at all. It’s a perfect song to encapsulate the rashness and ‘fuck-it-let’s-go-for-it’ attitude of youth. “Lie in Our Graves” always brings me right back to my early 20s and makes me feel like the world is there for the conquering, if only we’re bold enough to do so. If a song ever had a Shakespearean equivalent—faint heart never won fair lady—it would be this one.
- “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” by Sugar
This is the quintessential “frustrated by the confounding actions of an unreasonable girl” song. We’ve all been there. In a relationship with a borderline irrational person we have no business being with. We try like hell to change them, knowing full well we can’t. Trying vainly to change their mind about how they feel about you, how they treat you, or how they react to reason. “How can I explain away something that I haven’t done” perfectly captures the maddening dynamic of a doomed relationship. No one can make your mistakes for you—you just have to go out there and learn for yourself. Through experience. Often painful experience. And this song is the ideal musical accompaniment for that beautiful downward spiral.
- “I’ve Just Seen a Face” by The Beatles
If Sugar was pining over endings, The Beatles were reveling in beginnings. This song is about the first time you saw her and you just knew. It’s Paul getting giddy about a girl and not being able to wait to see her again. It’s about watching a phone and willing it to ring. It feels like high school because the highs seemed so much higher then and the stakes life or death with every note passed and glance stolen. It’s a hopeless romantic kind of song that reminds you that the next chance encounter could be the most important of your life. Or just that day or that week. The head-wagging baseline and Paul’s sweet, optimistic vocals make it impossible to keep from grinning. It’s my favorite Beatles song and never fails to make me smile.
- “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” by Arcade Fire
This song immediately transports me right back to Haiti. Arcade Fire obviously wrote it with Haiti in mind, with the subtitle of the song directly referring to an old Haitian proverb (behind mountains, there are mountains). On the one hand, it reminds me of the difficulty and occasional futility of working in the developing world. It seemed like a Sisyphean task at times—pushing the boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down again. But the song also has a hopeful melody that belies the dark, brooding lyrics. Maybe there’s hope for Haiti and its ilk after all. It’d certainly like to believe that’s the case. Behind mountains, there are mountains: more obstacles to overcome, but also more possibilities.
- “Clavado en un Bar” by Maná
The only foreign language entry on the list, and it’s appropriate that it’s Maná. I love all kinds of Spanish rock from Bacilos to Shakira and Café Tacuba to Juan Luis Guerra. I also love Brazilian rock for that matter. But no other song, in English or Spanish, more perfectly captures drinking to drown your sorrows with the passion, conviction, and power that “Clavado en un Bar” (Broken/Cleaved in a Bar) does. “Estoy ahogado en un bar”—I’m drowning in a bar—is an inimitable way of describing the desperate heartbreak of romance gone sour. The driving guitar and wailing vocals only reinforce the sense of loss and pain. It’s also a great song to scream along to after a few too many sangrias at the bar in Salamanca, Spain with some of your cherished colleagues.
- “Crane Wife 3” by The Decembrists
To my mind, the most melancholy song in the list. Colin Meloy’s vocals perfectly match the poignant lyrics. “Each feather it fell from skin, while threadbare she grew thin.” I saw a play when I was a kid that this song is based on, and I love the idea of blending of music and mythology.[3] A man frees a crane from a hunter’s trap, and it flies away. Later on, a beautiful woman appears at his doorstep, and they eventually marry. The woman, who is really the crane in disguise, plucks her feathers to weave gorgeous tapestries to sell to support them, but she must remain hidden in order to do so. One day, curious to know what is going on, the man spies on her in crane form, and she flies away forever. I suppose it’s a cautionary tale to appreciate what we have and the relationships we’ve made without unnecessarily scrutinizing or dissecting them. When I saw them at The Greek earlier this year, the song was even more hauntingly beautiful in person.
- “Valley Winter Song” by Fountains of Wayne
A song about the changing of the seasons and the passage of time that I always listen to when I need to feel better. It’s comfort food in musical form. It’s also about missing someone when you’re in a long-distance relationship—a feeling most everyone has had the sweet misfortunate of becoming accustomed to. “The snow is coming down on our New England town and it’s been falling all day long; what else is new, what could I do, I wrote a valley winter song to play for you.” Fountains of Wayne bring their trademark harmonies to this simple yet melodic ode, and it never fails to get a little dusty after a few plays.
- “New Slang” by The Shins
This song will forever be associated (and perhaps rightly so) with the lovely and talented Natalie Portman’s memorable turn in Garden State: “this song will change your life,” she said. When I saw her in a Tel Aviv restaurant two years ago, I wanted to walk up to her, give her a big hug, and tell her that it had. But that would have just been weird.[4] The Shins’ ethereal, dreamy sound lulls you into thinking that it might just be another new-age ballad until the lyric “I’m looking in at the good life I might be doomed never to find” hits you in the gut and knocks you back. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more powerful rock lyric that lingers long after the line’s been sung. If music is the soundtrack to your life, then this song would occupy the all-important third position, signifying that it reveals more about the artist than any other track on the album. It’s the perfect song for the 20-something, 30-something, and now 40-something still searching for meaning in his life.
- “Optimistic Thought” by Blues Traveler
No song makes me want to bounce around a room like a whirling dervish like this one. As per usual with John Popper, there are far too many words crammed in too small a space. But the hyperactive harmonica and catchy, upbeat lyrics don’t let up for the entire three minutes of the song. It’s the best of Blues Traveler, and the song just makes me instantly happy. My lasting memory of the song is seeing Blues Traveler play a small pub in Dublin in 1995 during my semester abroad. My best friend was visiting from the States, and I dragged all my Irish friends along for the ride as well. It remains the best concert I’ve ever been to and when they played this song, my friend and I went nuts, much to the chagrin of my Irish friends. It was a close to musical ecstasy as I’ve ever come. And representative of the pure, unadulterated joy that music can provide.
If you want to check out any of these songs, I’ve created a Spotify playlist called Top 10 Favorites on my account (Bill Gelfeld). I’d love to hear your feedback on my list and, if you feel like sharing, your top 10s as well. Music, like experiences, is meant to be shared after all.
20 Honorable Mentions
“Question” by The Old 97s
“Careful” by Guster
“Forever Young” by Alphaville (though I like the Nada Surf cover better)
“Hallelujah” by Imogen Heap (I know it’s a cover as well)
“Caraluna” by Bacilos
“Boa Sorte” by Ben Harper and Vanessa da Mata
“A Crush Story” by Too Much Joy
“Ugly on the Outside” by the Judybats
“Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure
“The Blower’s Daughter” by Damien Rice
“Flashdance” by Deep Dish
“Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues
“Waltz #2” by Elliott Smith
“Veronica” by Elvis Costello
“Babydoll” by The Fratellis
“Ready for the Floor” by Hot Chip
“There She Goes” by The La’s
“Time to Pretend” by MGMT
“Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding
“Dyslexic Heart” by Paul Westerberg
[1] You’ll remember him from the classic About a Boy and High Fidelity. Less so from anything since unfortunately.
[2] When Harry Met Sally was the only movie she forbade me from seeing. Interesting choices, Mom.
[3] Japanese, in this case
[4] Especially considering that she was with her baby, her baby daddy, and her parents
Too Many Thoughts, So Little Time 