hang in there for a list of top music lists at the bottom of the post!

far more significant than barney’s perfect week is the perfect 100.  no, not that!  we’re talking the best 100 songs in the english language.  period.  now, it’s tough to decide if the 100 best songs should be the best written, most influential, most popular, most spun, highest grossing, or a mix thereof.  there are a plethora of such lists online, and many have realized that 100 is just not enough.  there are 100 love songs, 100 country songs, 100 rock songs, 100 hip hop/rap songs, 100 pop songs, and so on and so forth.  it’s totally subjective, and there is not a person alive that can prove otherwise!  that being said, most lists are missing the outside of the box thinking necessary for a real top 100 songs of all times.  all time.  all freakin time!

outside the box:  first of all, how many genres of music are there?!  then there’s the fact that english language music comes from places all around the world.  there are even a few decent translations of notable foreign songs, or operas.  now, can a song from an opera count?  or a musical?  how about a song from a movie?  any movie… how about disney?  is it fair to say that one of those songs could be one of the best songs ever.  probably.  then there’s folk.  real folk.  backwoods, ozarks folk.  hymns and spirituals.  speaking of spiritual music, how about negro spirituals?  also, suppose someone deserves two.  can you really put two songs by one person or group up?  how about two from the same year even… we’re talking about spanning hundreds!

the task of compiling a list of 100 is daunting!  only 100.  really, 100 best indie songs, or americana, or something else would be more reasonable.  oh well!  the 100 bet songs of all times in the english language is in the works.  the only rule, lyrics set to a beat.  it’s unlikely the list will be 1-100,  it’ll probably be sorted in some other fashion.  for your convenience, here are a few of very popular other lists of the best songs (and albums) below and a little description (more to come):

100/200 best songs

sort of the defacto online champs of best songs of all time.  squidoo’s 100 greatest songs of all time, which expanded to the 200 greatest songs of all time has some great songs.  no doubt.  most amazingly, the author includes comments, lyrics, pics, and all sorts of other associating material.  problem – it doesn’t have the necessary breadth to support the claim.  and layla?

pitchfork 500: the greatest songs from punk to the present

this is from a book.  thank you blogspot blogger for transcribing the 500 songs.  if you’re unfamiliar with pitchfork, they’re like your friendly (read: snobby), neighborhood independent record store employees that are simultaneously helpful, overly musically analytical, and the kind of person that incites a fiery, primeval desire to reach out and punch someone (them) in the face.  that said, way smart organization by year and the book is very well put together.

rolling stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time

actually ranking them from 1-500.  ballsy rolling stone, ballsy.  almost like changing your magazine’s size.  that was a much worse idea than this though.  pretty impressively inclusive, with a clear emphasis on classic rock.  with the backing of a vast (but now ever shrinking) media empire, each song gets a proper write up.  any list with hey ya! ahead of rapper’s delight though, is fatally flawed!  hey ya! is great, but that’s like putting the car over the wheel for greatest invention.

365 top selling songs of the 20th century

this list just is.  it’s hard to argue, unless it isn’t factual.  the best selling songs of the 20th century.  period.

100 best british songs of all time

there’s subjective, and then there’s a 100 best of all time list with three oasis songs on the top.  one yes.  two, maybe.  three!  homes, you can’t be serious!  it’s refreshing that the beatles didn’t get the number one slot for just being the beatles, but they probably should have done better than 18.  there’s no accounting for taste, but this xfm london station‘s top 100 deserves 2.374 minutes of your time.

top 100 irish songs of all time

a solid list of the best songs by irish artists.  no numbers though, so it might be offputting for some.  if it really bothers you, just cut and paste it into ms word and autoformat it into list form.  oh wait, ms word doesn’t execute simple tasks.  ah digression, this list = gooood.

best australian songs

break my heart australia.  i’m talking emo style.  30 songs from the kiwis makes sense, but you too!  30.  really?  sad face.  if that’s all you can do, that’s all you can do.  at least they don’t suck.

best songs from new zealand

ah, kiwis.  sometimes you can forget that new zealand is even a country.  and its own country.  and, they sing.  fwew.  apparently, over 75 years they can only muster 30 songs.  beggars can’t be choosers.  thanks for putting this list together, top songs from new zealand/30 top kiwi songs.  check it out for something different.

love songs

from about.com.  good ol’ about.com is good for just about anything.  someone elects themselves grand poobah of a topic and writes about it. good ideas, solid songs, if you’re looking for a love song than look no further.  here are “the top 100 love songs.”  entirely passable list.

afi’s 100 songs… 100 years

the methodology for this list was pretty solid.  american film institute polled the crap out of a bunch of movie types with an initial list asking them to identify the best songs in american cinema.  afi then compiled the results and then, pardon my french, but voila. now you have the 10o best songs from films in the past 100 years.

showtunes

honestly, this is one of a kind.  it’s tough to judge it when there is really nothing else like it.  you can find a “best of” focusing on one of the prominent broadway writers on cd, or 100 best broadway songs with sheet music, but the 100 best showtunes online…  unique.  good work.  lists are subjective, but as subjective lists go, not bad dude.

top disney tunes

100 best disney songs of all times.  a blurb for each selection.  umm… hulk think disney awesome.   nuff said!

we’ll see what this quest yields.  in the meantime i’ll put up more top songs of all time and 100 best songs and whatnot to keep everyone entertained.  feel free to plug a deserving song or two…

(when google’ing for cd mosaics, i found this pretty rad one by this lady rachel leibman)

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