I randomly reached out to Todd Beaupré a few years back when I was at Yahoo. I was being a good corporate citizen and trying my hand at blogging by dogfooding Yahoo 360°. I did a search for people with similar musical tastes to mine, and ended up finding Todd. Serendipitously, he not only worked at Yahoo, but he was also Director of PM for Yahoo Music.
Fast forward to now. Todd pinged me about my Messenger status, and as we were chatting, the conversation drifted over to music. And now we just can't shut up about it. He's given me a ton of recommendations to check out. (I've only just scratched the surface, but Faber Drive and Mêlée sound really promising so far.) And I've done the same with him.
But it got me thinking more consciously about the music I like and why. I decided to try to put together a list of my favorite songs of all time. It's tough to do, but these are the songs that just stick with me, never passing out of favor for the next musical fad. I'm sure I've missed some, but it's a good start.
There are bunch that didn't make the list, sadly. But with only 10 spots, competition is high. And there are a lot of great songs out there. But these are simply phenomenal.
Honorable Mention
Fast forward to now. Todd pinged me about my Messenger status, and as we were chatting, the conversation drifted over to music. And now we just can't shut up about it. He's given me a ton of recommendations to check out. (I've only just scratched the surface, but Faber Drive and Mêlée sound really promising so far.) And I've done the same with him.
But it got me thinking more consciously about the music I like and why. I decided to try to put together a list of my favorite songs of all time. It's tough to do, but these are the songs that just stick with me, never passing out of favor for the next musical fad. I'm sure I've missed some, but it's a good start.
- Family Snapshot - Peter Gabriel
- Why Should I Cry for You? - Sting
- I Go Astray - Jason Falkner
- Rings - Toad the Wet Sprocket
- Don't Change Your Plans - Ben Folds Five
- Transylvania - McFly
- Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
- Anna Begins - Counting Crows
- What You Wish For - Guster
- Take It Outside - Barenaked Ladies
There are bunch that didn't make the list, sadly. But with only 10 spots, competition is high. And there are a lot of great songs out there. But these are simply phenomenal.
Honorable Mention
- O Holy Night - Various Artists
- Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
- All in All - Toad the Wet Sprocket
- Missing the War - Ben Folds
- Hotline - Fountains of Wayne
- Everybody's Changing - Keane
- Camera One - Josh Joplin Group
- Tired of Being Sorry - Ringside
- Winter - Josh Radin
- The Flag - Barenaked Ladies
- A Murder of One - Counting Crows
- The Background - Third Eye Blind
- Smog Moon - Matthew Sweet
- Uncertain Weather - Genesis
- Taking It All Too Hard - Genesis
- Amity Gardens - Fountains of Wayne
- Leave the Biker - Fountains of Wayne
- Boys of Summer - Don Henley
- September - Earth Wind & Fire
- Take It Easy - The Eagles
- Save a Prayer - Duran Duran
- The Promise - When in Rome
- Losing My Religion - REM
- Stagefright - Def Leppard
- Last Beautiful Girl - Matchbox 20
- Not the Same - Ben Folds
- Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls
- The District Sleeps Tonight - Postal Service
- Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses? - U2
- Your New Twin Sized Bed - Death Cab for Cutie
- Winner Takes It All - Abba
- Telephone Line - ELO
- More Than a Feeling - Boston
- Walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn
- Getting to the Point - ELO
- Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
- Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
- Mary's Prayer - Danny Wilson
- Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik
- Ants Marching - Dave Matthews
- The Way - Fastball
- The Good Headmaster - Chuck Coleman
It's not often that a song from Calling All Stations makes even the honorable mentions of a list of top songs of all time. I'm surprised that something a bit more classical like "Ode to Joy" or "Nessum Dorma" is nowhere to be found.