Your Perfect Songs

We've all got growing lists of songs that we consider to be perfect or near perfect. I'm curious what yours are.

Here's mine:

Desperado - The Eagles
Great Expectations - The Gaslight Anthem
American Girl - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
An Open Letter to Asbury Park, NJ or The Rest of My Life - Less Than Jake
Casanova, Baby! - The Gaslight Anthem
Angry Johnny and the Radio - The Gaslight Anthem
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
Simple Twist of Fate - Bob Dylan
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
Straight To Hell - The Clash
The Scientist - Coldplay
The Ballad of Me and My Friends - Frank Turner
The Trapeze Swinger - Iron and Wine
Breaking The Girl - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Story of My Life - Social Distortion
Crystal Baller - Third Eye Blind

Interesting thread.

Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
The Gaslight Anthem - Angry Johnny and the Radio
Feeder - Moonshine
The Clash - Death or Glory
Big Country - We're Not in Kansas
The Cure - Friday I'm in Love
Tom Petty - Don't Come Around Here No More
Bruce Springsteen - Sherry Darling
The Gaslight Anthem - Film Noir
The Enemy - You're Not Alone
Feeder - Insomnia
The Beatles - We Can Work it Out
The Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais
The Gaslight Anthem - Stay Lucky
Bee Gees - First of May
Simple Minds - Let There be Love
The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again

Pints of Guinness-Against Me!
Straight to Hell-The Clash ,couldn't agree with you more brother.
Walking is still Honest-Against Me!
Boatless booze cruise-The Lawrence Arms
The Raw and Searing Flesh-Lawrence Arms
Tears Don't Matter Much-Lucero
Somehow-Snuff
Trusty Chords-Hot water Music
I See a Darkness-Bonnie Prince Billy
Crying in the Chapel-Chinese Telephones
Problems with Preconceptions-Cobra Skulls
Under Your Influence-Dag Nasty
Hope-The Descendents
Solar Song-Evergreen
Jinx Removing-Jawbreaker
I Coulda Been a Contender-TGA
Going to Pasalacqua-Green Day
Alicia Quays-Jamie T


Not the biggest amount of variety, but I could honestly listen to a compilation of those songs all day for weeks upon end.

The Clash - I Fought The Law
The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail
Elvis Costello - Blame It On Cain
The Gaslight Anthem - High Lonesome
The Lawrence Arms - Intransit
The Riot Before - Words Written Over Coffee
Sayvinyl - That's Entertainment
Spoon - Don't Make Me A Target

Obviously there are a lot of other songs that I really dig, but I think these are the only ones that I can always listen to, regardless of my mood.

are we talking about just lyrics or song structure wise. or the whole package?

This is just a short unordered list (one per artist) of songs I think are all around perfect.

The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue
Ted Leo/RX - Bottle of Buckie
Ramones - My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down
Iggy Pop - The Passenger
Joe Strummer & Mescaleros - Long Shadow
Bob Marley - Redemption Song
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
M. Ward - Lullaby + Exile
Neil Young - Thrasher

The Gaslight Anthem - Casanova, Baby!
Say Anything - Alive with the Glory of Love
Hot Water Music - Trusty Chords
Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg
The Gaslight Anthem - Boxer (Too soon? Maybe. Don't care.)
Saves the Day - Firefly
Say Anything - All Choked Up

One per artist...

The Gaslight Anthem - Casanova, Baby!
Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
The Beatles - In My Life
Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland
Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy!
Jason Isbell - Dress Blues
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
John Lennon - Imagine
The Libertines - Time For Heroes
Lucero - Tears Don't Matter Much
Mando Diao - God Knows
Oasis - Boy With The Blues
Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up
The Strokes - Someday
Wilco - Jesus, Etc.

First two songs that came to mind were both Bruce Springsteen's Thunder Road and Jungleland. I might make a list later.

Life Like Weeds - Modest Mouse
Carry The Zero - Built to Spill
Debaser - Pixies
Da Mystery of Chessboxin' - Wu-Tang Clan
I Will Sing You Songs - My Morning Jacket
Pray for Rain - The Ergs!
Angry Johnny & The Radio - The Gaslight Anthem
Stevie Nix - The Hold Steady
Essaywhuman?!???!! - The Roots
'Cross the Breeze - Sonic Youth
Jet Black - Jawbreaker
Darnel - End of a Year
So Long to the Circus - World/Inferno
I Want a Lot Now (So Come On) - Murder City Devils

Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson
Jesus Walks - Kanye West
Dream On - Aerosmith
Heart of Gold - Neil Young
One - U2
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Rachmaninoff's Variations on a theme from Paganini
In The Sun - Joseph Arthur
Voodoo Child Slight Return - Jimi Heandrix
Masterplan - Oasis
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles

And already mentioned but I second them:
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
Imagine - John Lennon

tdawg wrote:

Masterplan - Oasis

Definitely. They get a bad rep, but I think there are 10-20 Oasis songs that qualify as perfect or near perfect, with another 30-40 that are flat out excellent. The quality of the songs they just threw away to be used as B-Sides is staggering.

Still blows my mind that they made Masterplan a B-side. But that's Oasis for ya I guess; so much talent, yet so many issues.

Songs that my unqualified me considers to be perfect, because there are ones i can never get enough from, even after thousand times of listening

Biffy Clyro - Toys, toys, toys, choke, toys, toys, toys
Biffy Clyro - The kids from kibble and the fist of light
Biffy Clyro - Diary of always
Biffy Clyro - Mountains
Brian Fallon - The blues, Mary
Dredg - Matrohka the ornament
Dredg - Jamais vu
Dredg - Of the room
Explosions in the sky - The only moment we were alone
The Gaslight Anthem - Meet me by the river's edge
Incubus - New skin
Incubus - Dig
Karnivool - Umbra
Kate Nash - The Nicest Thing
Lauryn Hill - Ex-Factor
The Mayan Factor - Gosia
Rishloo - Zdzislaw
Streetlight Manifesto - Down, down, down to Mephistos Cafe
Tool - Lateralus
Toto - Africa
Tracy Chapman - Talkin bout a revolution
Clueso - Chicago
God is an astronaut - Forever lost
Caspian - The raven
STS - I hob di lebn gsehn
Reinhard Fendrich - Weusd a herz host wia a bergwerk
Wolfgang Ambros - Langsam wachs ma zam
Bedrich Smetana - Vltava

The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
Alberta Cross - Broken Side Of Time
Bob Marley - Waiting In Vain
Bob Dylan - Nobody Cept You
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Cat Stevens - Miles From Knowhere
The Clash - Police & Thieves
Conor Oberst - Gentlemans Pact
David Bowie - Drive In Saturday
Dinosaur JR - Said The People
Gaslight Anthem - Red At Night
Gaslight Anthem - Patient Ferris Wheel
Hold Steady - Sketchy Metal
The Jam - Town Called Malice
Nazareth - Love Hurts

This thread is awesome!!

Will get thinking.

Hard to remember all of them but here's a selection:

Brian Fallon - Italian Lightning, The Blues, Mary
TGA - Great Expectations, 1930
Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom, Little Motel
The National - Daughters of the Soho Riots
Tom Waits - Hold On, Christmas Card from a hooker in Minneapolis
Bob Dylan - Too many to mention
Neil Young - Old Laughing Lady, The Needle and the Damage Done
Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire, New York City Serenade
Fionn Regan - Hey Rabbit, Be Good or Be Gone
Joanna Newsom - Sadie, Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cawrie
Patti Smith - Pissing in A River, Free Money
Joni Mitchell - The Last Time I Saw Richard
The Shins - New Slang
Bright Eyes - A Perfect Sonnet, Poison Oak, Lua

That's enough for now I think, i'm sure there's loads more I can't think of.

Edit: Glaring Omissions on my part:
Leonard Cohen - Traitor, Anthem, If It Be Your Will
Antony & The Johnsons - Hope There's Someone

New Slang, FTW.

Ha, yeah it's a beautiful song, though probably overplayed at this stage. Love that band though.

Im gonna need a few minutes. Or weeks to think of this.

Also, anyone putting Jungleland, with or without Meeting Across the River.

Disarm- Smashing Pumpkins
Flim Noir- The Gaslight Anthem
Hurt- Nine Inch Nails
Everlong (Live Version Only)- Foo Fighters
Maggot Brain- Funkadelic
Trailer Trash- Modest Mouse
Just Like Heaven- The Cure
Blackjaw- Hot Water Music
To Love and loathe- Yellow Red Sparks
Innocence- The Airborne Toxic Event
Heroin-The Velvet Underground
Harsh Realms-Tom Gabel
Venice Queen- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Femme Fatale- The Velvet Underground
Nothingman- Pearl Jam

I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead-Mogwai
Well maybe just all post-rock music...

bad brains - re-ignition
ben nichols - toadvine
billy bragg - levi stubbs tears
brian fallon - tin pan alley
bruce springstten - racing in the streets
clash - lost in the supermarket
the cure - plainsong
cut off your hands - happy as can be
descendents - clean sheets
eddie vedder -rise
fugazi - suggestion
gaslight anthem - angry johnny and the radio, 98% of everything else...
hot water music - trusty chords
jesse malin - broken radio
lucero - bikeridres
neil young - old man
pearl jam - i got id
rem - daysleeper
radiohead - fake plastic trees
replacements - left of the dial
ryan bingham - the weary kind
social d - sick boys
verve - the drugs dont work

so many others, but the list was long enough.

Daisy- Switchfoot
Dear Death- Emery
Problems- Against Me!
Within Without You- The Beatles
Blue Jeans and White T-shirts- The Gaslight Anthem
Colly Strings- Manchester Orchestra
War in My Blood- Fiction Family
Ground Control to Major Tom- David Bowie
Get it Faster- Jimmy Eat World
The Pig- Showbread
More Than a Feeling- Boston
Dismantle. Repair.- Anberlin
Hurt (Johnny Cash's Cover)- Nine Inch Nails
The Times Are Changing- Bob Dylan