Listening to Wuthering Heights right now and it's a great track, one of my favorites I hadn't heard from your list. Young Americans is also one of my favorite Bowie's and will make my honorable mentions

If I had to guess what David's #1 will be.

Or...

I Want You is a nice pick. Definitely my favorite Elvis Costello song.

I think it will be the Crazy Frog remix of "Axel F".

Fuck! Forgot that in my list!

14. "Disorder" by Joy Division



The opening song from Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division's legendary debut album, perfectly announces the band's sound and Ian Curtis' grimly charismatic power as a lyricist and vocalist. Over a tight, staccato drum beat and subtly dance-floor-friendly lines of foreboding guitar, Curtis' often imitated baritone sings of "the pleasures of a normal man" frequently denied to him. In hindsight, eerie references to cars crashing, lights flashing, and a painful disorder becoming out of hand are presumably inspired by Curtis' epilepsy, a chief contributor his tragic suicide less than a year later.

"What means to you, what means to me
And we will meet again"

13. "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams



With its intimately heartrending lyrics and unpretentious, from-the-heartland sound, this song from his first solo album perfectly encapsulates Ryan Adams' power as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and it is no surprise it remains a set-list staple at his live shows. A song consumed with romantic misery, it describes episodes of betrayal and jealousy, presenting the disintegration of young love in an elliptical fashion, and ends with Adams' narrator expressing a desire to be at peace, to rest: "I wish I could. I wish I could." He sounds aware, however, he will continue to love fast and fierily.

"Fuck me up
Steal my records"

12. "Cemetry Gates" by the Smiths



This song from The Queen Is Dead may feature the most humorous, literary, and self-referential lyrics ever penned by Morrissey, Manchester's grandly vainglorious prince of woe and one of popular music's most enigmatic living performers. "A dreaded sunny day," the song warns. Perfect for a trip to a graveyard, of course. Morrissey goes on to place himself in the context of no less than John Keats, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats (he sees himself most in Wilde) and argue the case for plagiarism, though he warns of critics waiting with knives sharpened should one indulge in such forms of homage. Meanwhile, Johnny Marr provides crisp, melodious, and supple guitar parts; per usual, his instrumental brilliance manifests in elegant service of the song at hand, no masturbatory solos required.

"So we go inside, and we gravely read the stones
All those people, all those lives"

11. "5:15" by the Who



Quadrophenia found Who guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist Pete Townshend perfecting his vision of the album as a cinematic storytelling vehicle. "5:15," situated around halfway through the song cycle, finds the angst-ridden mod protagonist on a train to Brighton, energized to the point of near insanity by the combination of amphetamines and barbiturates. In the overarching structure of the album, the song perfectly conveys the idea of giving oneself over to cynicism and hedonism, laying the table for a climactic downfall and redemption. And simply as a song, a single, it is a powerful and propulsive piece of rock music, the type of skyscraper-sized anthem at which the Who excelled in the 1970s.

"Out of my brain on the train"

10. "Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks



Ray Davies is a character-driven songwriter and a distinctly, defiantly British one, even more than his peers in the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, etc. Set alongside the Thames during the waning part of the afternoon, the crystalline "Waterloo Sunset" finds an isolated traveler contemplating two lovers meeting near Waterloo station and then reflecting on his own modest lot in life amid the bustling crowds and taxi lights. The vivid lyrics in tandem with Dave Davies' tape-echo-accented guitar submerge the listener in the simultaneously rueful and warm atmosphere of the scene described.

"As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise"

Not including Ryan Adams, the last lot were ok songs. Probably the best one is "Disorder", most recognisable is "Waterloo Sunset".

9. "Reckoner" by Radiohead



The most arresting, cosmic, and poignant song by a band who made their name diving headfirst into the human condition whilst pushing the sonic envelope skyward. The intriguing, opaque lyrics paint an abstract and thought-provoking portrait of life's profound, yet fleeting nature. I surely feel a chill down my spine when Thom Yorke's falsetto delivers lines such as, "Dedicated to all human, all human beings." His vocals are complemented by an ocean of instrumental virtuosity, from dreamy guitars to a string section ascending and descending with enormous drama. This song's warmth also undercuts those who accuse Radiohead of becoming an overly dour or remote band at the turn of the century.

"You are not to blame for
Bittersweet distractors"

8. "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles



Released at a key point in their career, as they were transitioning from more accessible tunes such as "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Love Me Do" to the experimentation which would define Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the second half of their career in general, "Eleanor Rigby" finds the world's most beloved band at their most compassionate and mature. Chiefly a Paul McCartney composition, with an elaborate string arrangement by producer George Martin, the song tells the story of an elderly woman living alone, her unheralded death, and her funeral, attended only by the priest who buries her. "No one was saved." The decision to release a baroque-pop song concerned with the cruelty of aging and the plight of the lonesome, a song set in quiet churches and overcast graveyards, as a single at the arguable height of their fame is a testament to the Beatles' willingness to surprise and challenge their global audience.

"All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?"

Great #8, my fav. Beatles song.

Oh, "Reckoner". Awesome! I think you shared that with me once before. Easily the best song in your Top 50.

"Eleanor Rigby" is a big fat meh.

7. "Coffee & TV" by Blur



"Coffee & TV" perfectly balances Blur's earlier, more pop-oriented sound and the experimental, distortion-heavy aesthetic defining most of the album 13. Describing late-nineties disillusionment with references to chain stores, slurred speech, and the de facto opiates in the title, the song finds usual lead singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon sharing vocal duties; the latter, with his nasal, but appealing and plaintive voice, sings the verses alone, a Blur rarity. Coxon, whose bid to overcome alcoholism partly inspired the lyrics, also provides one of his best ever guitar solos around two minutes and 50 seconds into the song, a buzzing, effects-heavy instrumental interlude reportedly inspired by Yo La Tengo.

"Oh, we could start over again"

6. "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young



"Mother Nature on the run," Neil Young dolorously sings in this haunting piano-and-brass ballad, "in the 1970s." This prescient and pure musical contemplation of a threatened planet is divided into three parts: first, Young describes a pastoral medieval scene; then a post-apocalyptic scenario set in a burned-out basement; and, in the end, a surreal dream of a spaceship leaving Earth after an ecosystem-destroying cataclysm. Young's perfectly imperfect vocals are at once ardent and exhausted, an idiosyncratic combination which has always set him apart, and the imagery is incredible. And the ecological anxiety at the song's core is only more relevant almost five decades later, sadly.

"Flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun"

5. "Memory Motel" by the Rolling Stones



This is the Rolling Stones' best and most undervalued song. Sung by both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards atop an elegant, country-tinged fusion of guitars and pianos, the song's lyrics seem at least partly autobiographical, describing feelings of romantic loss and regret as experienced on the road, traveling from city to city, hotel to hotel, venue to venue. There are curious, tantalizingly specific descriptions of a prior lover ("Her eyes were hazel, and her nose was slightly curved") and several of the most vulnerable lyrics in the Stones catalog ("Every woman seemed to fade out of my mind/ I hit the bottle...and cried"). And both Jagger and Richards sound sensational, drawing every ounce of emotion from the words. It is almost assuredly the latter's finest moment as a singer.

"You're just a memory, girl"

Coffee and TV has a fantastic video too!. And of course David will be using some "- Topic" YT channels that have a couple of thousand views per video at best (or 600 something for a Rolling Stones song) instead of official channels that would probably work for most. Such a snob.

Do many YouTube channels block access to Croatia? I know stuffp finds it difficult to view them using a VPN server in the Philippines.

Out of the big channels only VEVO is blocked (though that might be because of random music licensing thing I think), but artist's VEVO channels are viewable so there's nothing lost there. I can't say I ever had any problem finding a video on YT or that there's a general feeling of unavailability of certain videos on YT in Croatia. As far as public knowledge goes - there aren't any government bans or blocks on the Internet here (Youtube or any other site). A couple of years ago they tried sending warning mails for illegal downloads, but they gave up on those. I don't think you can get much more freedom for Internet usage.

David really likes those "- Topic" channels though, but judging by the view count they are really not that wide available or/and popular. I mean look at "The Kinks - Topic" video list (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQHS0 ... kvA/videos) there are a shitload of videos with 0 views. I can see the channel and everything, just the videos won't play. But I can still find that video on other channel. So it's definitely not blocked on any license/legal ground. I think it's channel's own preference of blocking certain regions.

I think this is a USA only channel.

Algren used it too for over half of his clips I think.

@Algren/ @David, what makes this channel's vids better than others?

Algren is in China though.

This sure derailed my thread, lol. I use the "topic" videos when possible because they are automatically generated by YouTube and the record label, so the quality is guaranteed (no pitch alteration or editing to escape copyright claims, etc., and no low-quality uploads by Joe Q. Public from 2006). Plus, with certain songs, it is a way to find the studio version instead of a live video. PLUS, to be honest, I enjoy their minimalism and uniformity versus, for instance, cheesy, fan-made comic-sans lyric videos.

Besides, seriously...apologies for any geo-location-rights issues, but if a person wants to hear, say, a Rolling Stones song, I am sure it is not hard to find in the era of streaming and downloading and the rest of it.