Give me your best!
January 22, 2011 9:54 PM   Subscribe

In an impulsive moment, I purchased an 11" MacBook Air. (I'll spare you the Mac "fanoldguy" gushing about the design...) Because storage is limited, I want to maximize the music on this machine.. adding ONLY those tracks that are exceptional! I threw this out on twitter, and BitterOldPunk sent me some great suggestions... So I'm asking the rest of you....Give me your ONE song that is a must have! I know that makes it tough, but I want the very best... The ultimate play list. Yep, I'm an old guy, but open to the best of any genre...
posted by HuronBob to Pets & Animals (24 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Heya, awesome about the laptop but this is pretty much straight up chatfilter. -- cortex

 
Counting Crows - Raining in Baltimore.

No song has ever said more about longing, wanting, waiting, needing, more than this song.
posted by sanka at 9:58 PM on January 22, 2011


Do you rate your music in iTunes? This is how I pick what songs go on my iPhone (which has limited space). I just pick the 4- and 5-star rated songs and all the new ones (purchased in the last 6 months or so).

Or are you looking for new music?
posted by BradNelson at 9:59 PM on January 22, 2011


"Willing," Linda Ronstadt.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:00 PM on January 22, 2011


Response by poster: Bradnelson... both.. I've got 4000 songs on iTunes... 90% of them I love.. but there are thousands of songs that you guys can suggest that I wouldn't have thought of...
posted by HuronBob at 10:02 PM on January 22, 2011


One? ONE? Good lord.

Okay. Going Underground by the Jam. If I had to pick a favorite song of all-time, that's quite possibly it.

(And here's hoping someone will be along shortly to say "September Gurls" and "London Calling" and "Ziggy Stardust" and "What is Life" and "Cruel to Be Kind" and my 40 or 50 other favorite songs.)
posted by scody at 10:03 PM on January 22, 2011 [3 favorites]


Moanin' by Charles Mingus, off his Blues and Roots album.
posted by creasy boy at 10:06 PM on January 22, 2011


Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Sung by Jeff Buckley.
posted by xenophile at 10:07 PM on January 22, 2011 [2 favorites]


I can't pick one "best ever" song, that's impossible. So I'll go with current favourite. That would actually be a cool way of refining best ever songs, you get a list of songs from other people that are their current faves, then every month or so you cull the list and get rid of the ones that didn't hold your interest, and add fresh ones from people's current faves. Keeps it fresh too.

A Nomad's Retreat - Pantha Du Prince.
posted by Joh at 10:10 PM on January 22, 2011


Don't Close Your Eyes by Keith Whitley. Awesome country song.
posted by SuzySmith at 10:13 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]


Overture to H.M.S. Pinafore.
posted by orthogonality at 10:13 PM on January 22, 2011


God Only Knows by the Beach Boys (fave chill song)
Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears (fave pump fist and belt out, especially when in the car, song)
posted by GatorX3 at 10:14 PM on January 22, 2011


Antisocial Tendencies by Dog Trumpet.... (with Reg Mombassa of Mambo fame.... if you know that label.)
posted by taff at 10:14 PM on January 22, 2011


In My Time Of Dying, as recorded by Led Zeppelin
posted by Gorgik at 10:14 PM on January 22, 2011


Paul Simon - The Boy In The Bubble
posted by fishmasta at 10:16 PM on January 22, 2011


"Broke Down on the Brazos" by Gov't Mule.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:18 PM on January 22, 2011


Hotel California, The Eagles
posted by Joleta at 10:18 PM on January 22, 2011


I love this song but wouldn't have picked it without reading and disagreeing so hard with this comment:

No song has ever said more about longing, wanting, waiting, needing, more than this song.

Passenger Pigeons by The Handsome Family.
posted by dobbs at 10:20 PM on January 22, 2011


Do you mind profanity? If you do,
The Message by Grandmaster Flash.

If you don't, then Juicy by Notorious B.I.G.
posted by Qberting at 10:21 PM on January 22, 2011


I have almost 7500 songs in iTunes, and 193 of them are rated five stars. The song I most recently rated five stars is from 1985:

"Quisquose" by Cocteau Twins

The vocals are not perfect, but this song does wild things to my brain.
posted by germdisco at 10:23 PM on January 22, 2011


Big Sky Country by Chris Whitley
posted by smokingmonkey at 10:26 PM on January 22, 2011


Uuungh. This question hurts my brain. ONE song???? Oh, it's too hard. Impossible.

You ask an impossible question, here's your impossible answer:
Van Halen: House of Pain.

Why? Because from 2:20 on, that little bit is part of what made me want to learn to play guitar. (I eventually learned, though strangely enough, never learned that part completely, but still, that bit pushed me along, so there you have it.)

Ask a silly question...
posted by smcameron at 10:34 PM on January 22, 2011


Response by poster: THIS is why I love metafilter! This is a very diverse list of songs. There are about 4 here that I had already added/identified the rest are new to me... keep them coming!
posted by HuronBob at 10:39 PM on January 22, 2011


Benny Goodman & His Orchestra's "Sing Sing Sing", remastered version.
posted by lauranesson at 10:40 PM on January 22, 2011


Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Hot Rod Lincoln (they played at Mr. Flood's Party in Ann Arbor in the late '60's!)

Amazing Rhythm Aces - Third Rate Romance

Buddy Holly - Crying, Waiting, Hoping


I know you said one track, but I always go the extra mile for fellow old guys.
posted by motown missile at 10:42 PM on January 22, 2011


« Older [music filter] Can you help me tracking down an...   |   Help me set up a wireless-wired spoke for my home... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.