You can't put out a list of your top 100 songs without SOME explanation. People take these lists seriously. I can virtually guarantee that my list will drive someone insane. Even I have serious questions about what's on the list - and especially what's not.
In circumstances such as this, I've found the self-interview to be a particularly revealing way to explain what I've done. And why. So first some Q & A, then my list. Here goes:
Me: Well, thank you for joining me. Let's start with an easy question: What on earth possessed you to do this?
Also Me: That is not an easy question. Can't we begin with something like, "Hey man, how come you left out "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd?"
Me: That's TOO easy. OK, how about this: In creating the list, were there any rules?
Also Me: A few. I made them up as I went along. One rule is that songs from movies, plays, or TV shows aren't eligible. So, as much as I love the theme from the original "Mission Impossible" TV show, it's not on the list. Having said that, I broke my own rule when I included "The Theme from Shaft."
Me: Yes, but I - I mean, YOU - own the Shaft LP but never saw the movie itself, and the title track was a radio hit. So I think you're good there.
Also Me: I knew you'd see it my way.
Me: Exactly. Moving along, here's another softball for you: Do you own all of these songs, either in a full album or as singles?
Also Me: Yes. In fact, with some of them, such as Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark," I first bought the album, then the audio cassette tape, then the CD. Whenever a new format was introduced, I was on it.
Me: Tres bien. SO, what I want to know is: After all these years, why the list, and why now?
Also Me: I grew up listening to a lot of music, first on my Sony transistor radio, tuned to AM radio stations in the Bay Area. Rock and soul stations. Even as a kid, I listened intently to the words; it wasn't just background music for something else I was doing. So I love these songs and wanted to write about them in some way. They're personal. They're important. I could write a story about each song and why it's special.
Me: OK, now we're getting somewhere. So, why now? You first heard some of these songs over 50 years ago.
Also Me: Well, that's the point, isn't it? These songs have stood my test of time. I still want to hear them, still appreciate them.
Me: As much as the first time you heard them?
Also Me: Absolutely. With the older songs - The Beatles, James Brown, Bob Dylan - the typical first listen was on radio. And maybe you'd hear just part of the song and think "wow" and turn it up and you don't know anything about it yet but you want to hear it again. That was exciting. These songs get better with time.
Me: They get better, versus getting old.
Also Me: Right. Other songs DID get old. There are many hundreds of songs I liked, even loved, earlier in my life that I just can't listen to anymore. They haven't held up. There's no longer enough there.
Me: Enough WHAT, exactly?
Also Me: Well, that's a great question. Why does anyone love a song? How does it happen? For me it's pretty immediate. I look down the list and there isn't one that I love because it grew on me over time. It was the first or second listen that hooked me and that keen interest never faded.
Me: What was the hook?
Also Me: It's a mix. I like well-written lyrics. When I bought an album I read and re-read the liner notes, the musicians' names, then engineers and producers, all the way down to the small print and the copyright information. But it was the lyrics that got me. Many songs on the list are from singer-songwriters who wanted to make a point, or craft a story. Or sometimes offer just part of a story and it's not clear what the writer meant and you can try to figure it out, but fully explaining everything wasn't their goal. They wanted you to feel it - to fill in the blanks yourself.
Me: So you don't Google the meaning of lyrics?
Also Me: No. If the meaning isn't plain to me, I imagine my own story and hold onto that version, not what someone else thinks.
Me: Not even the songwriter?
Also Me: I've read artist interviews in which they divulge the true origin of a song or a line. I've found that can be really disappointing. I like little mysteries.
Me: Some of the songs on your list don't have words. What other elements of a song attract you?
Also Me: The overall sound of a song. The instruments that are used, the musicianship, the dynamics. Have I heard that sound before? Are the first 2-3 seconds of the song really interesting? The Beatles and George Martin were masters at that. I have a percussion sensibility, so I usually like a strong beat. Then there's the "when" factor: What was going on in my life - or even that day - when I first heard the song or when it was new and playing every hour on the radio? For many of my favorites, the associated memories and milestones are baked in, too.
Me: I know the answer to this, but: If you re-created the list tomorrow, would it be different?
Also Me: Sure. I would think of other songs I love, and add them.
Me: Well, I did notice - the list has more than 100 songs.
Also Me: I didn't think anyone would actually count them. Anyway, calling it my "Top 112 Songs of All Time" doesn't have the same ring to it.
Me: Fair enough. A related question: I see that the list isn't ranked. How are we to know which songs are your top favorites?
Also Me: Because it's too hard! How could I say that I love Aretha Franklin's incredible "Chain of Fools" more than Steely Dan's magnificent "Aja" - or vice versa? Besides, tomorrow I'll probably feel differently. And, how could I say that "She Said She Said" by the Beatles is only like, #47? Or that Aaron Copland's beautiful "Appalachian Spring" is #84? It's just not right.
Me: My thoughts exactly. Well then, how IS the list organized?
Also Me: It isn't. The songs are listed randomly. So don't read anything into the order; just roll through them as slowly as you can and engage for a few seconds. There are fabulous songs at the beginning and the very end. See what you agree with, what you don't, what you'd add. It's all food for thought, in the spirit of honoring music.
Me: Which is a good segue' into seeing the list itself. Any last comments?
Also Me: I just added four more songs.
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