Matt M's Top 5 Songs and the bonus.

Matt M submitted a great list with great reasons why for The Singles Project.

This assignment was SO difficult! So difficult in fact that I'm going
to list 15, but only really discuss my Top 5. Any of the ones listed
from #15 to #6 (and likely several others that are not listed here)
could probably replace #5 or even #4 at any given moment depending on my
mood.

15) Suzanne Vega - "Luka": She made a happy sounding pop tune about a
very serious and unhappy subject. Brilliant!

14) Mr. Mister - "Kyrie": Did you know that the phrase "Kýrie, eléison"
from the chorus of this song is Greek and means "Lord, have mercy"?
Love this song!

13) Queensrÿche - "Jet City Woman": Great rock song and Geoff Tate's
voice is amazing.

12) Stone Temple Pilots - "Interstate Love Song": Scott Weiland kept
his shit together just long enough (just over 3 minutes) to deliver a
perfect pop-rock song.

11) Tracey Ullman - "They Don't Know": An early 80s tune that sounds
like it could've been from the 60s...I just love it.

10) Madonna - "Live To Tell": So many great songs, but this is a
masterpiece.

9) John Denver - "Rocky Mountain High": One of the records in our
collection of 45s when I was little...loved it then and still love John
Denver today.

8) Tesla - "Love Song": Tesla rocked without doubt and this is a
perfectly realized rock ballad.

7) The Ray Conniff Singers - "Ring Christmas Bells": I could listen
to this Christmas song a million times and never get tired of
it...another memory of childhood.

6) Vertical Horizon - "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)": A
brilliant song that had special meaning for me after a
breakup...should've been a bigger hit than it was.

#5) The Seekers - "Georgy Girl b/w Morningtown Ride": Another one from
the childhood 45 collection. I have a thing for vocal harmonies
involving both men and women. "Georgy Girl" was the title song from the
1966 British film of the same name and it's harmonies along with the
catchy "whistle-riff" made it really appealing to me as a child. The
B-side was "Morningtown Ride", a child's lullaby that was a big hit in
the UK...again very kid-oriented. I have fond memories of sitting in
front of that record player in the dining room watching the orange and
yellow yin-yang label on the record spin as I listened. When I listen
to these songs today, I am taken right back there.

#4) Rob Thomas - "Little Wonders": From the movie Meet the Robinsons, I
first heard this song on VH-1. It became a minor hit around the time my
Dad was dying from pancreatic cancer. It was also around this time that
I asked my family to start contributing stories and photos for a family
memory book that I had intended to complete before Dad passed away, but
unfortunately that didn't happen. After his death, I had a renewed
vigor to complete the book as a Christmas present for my siblings. I
decided that for the final section of the book, I wanted to include
several pages of photos interspersed with the lyrics of a song and,
somehow, I decided on this one. The book was titled "The Magin Family:
Small Hours and Little Wonders". Before ordering the books from the
online service I used to create it, I sat at the computer watching a
slideshow of the pages while listening to the song, bawling my eyes out.
I included a copy of the song on CD inside each of the books I gave my
siblings...I've heard it had the same effect on several of them. It's
almost like it's been adopted as the Magin theme song. I still get
misty when I hear it.

#3) Gordon Lightfoot - "Rainy Day People": It's just a simple
county/folkie song from the 1970s and, again part of my c
hildhood record
collection. (When I talk about my childhood record collection, they
were actually my parents' records.) There's something I have always
loved about Lightfoot's recorded voice. It's really a sad, moody
acoustic ballad...it really takes me away. Another song I remember
sitting in the dining room listening to and looking at that heavy
Spanish/Mediterranean painting on the wall over the record player
imagining myself in the dark, lonely place depicted. The string
arrangement that comes in at the end of the instrumental always kills me
in this song. "Rainy day lovers don't hide love inside, they just pass
it on..."

#2) The Mamas & The Papas - "California Dreamin'": Another one of those
girl/guy harmony tunes I love so much...I don't know that I've ever
listened to another song that made feel like I was experiencing what
they're singing...like I'm the one who went for a walk on a winter's
day, like I'm the one who stopped into a church and got down on my knees
to pray...literally like I'm living the song. I dig the dark and somber
tone to the song and that flute solo...holy crap! There has NEVER been
a better use of a flute solo in rock history! This is the classic of
all classics. The other thing I like about The Mamas & The Papas is
that they always have so much more going on in their songs than it
seems. If you don't believe me, take this song or "I Saw Her Again" for
example, and change the balance on your speakers so it only comes out of
the left one. Then listen to the song again through only the right
speaker. It's like listening to 2 totally different songs...they were
very intricate with their stereo sound for a group of the 1960s and I
think it only added to the fantastic male/female dynamic of the group.

#1) Def Leppard - "Hysteria": I have to admit, I wasn't the biggest fan
of this song when it first came out in 1988. Over the years, I have
grown to appreciate it immensely. I understand the production on this
(and the entire album) is insane, but there is so much going on in this
song, it's astounding. Take a listen to it sometime and really try to
listen for all the different guitar parts to this song, especially at
the end. I think I count at least six. The overall result is amazing.
The song, lyrically, ("magical mysteria" aside) is great for me, too.
And the video for it is quite beautiful. The entire execution
surrounding this song is pristine! I recall listening to the cassette
version on my walkman one day on the porch outside my parents' house...I
think I was about 14. I had the volume cranked as high as it would go
and I was standing with my eyes closed. When the song got to about the
4:33 mark, with all the instruments whirring in my head and the vocals
soaring at the highest point of the song, I literally felt like I was
about to pass out...I got dizzy and had to pull the headphones off.
Awesome! I can totally understand this not being people's cup of tea,
but there are so many great things about the recorded version of this
song, I think this will always be my #1 of all time.


Thank you!

This is the best annotated list so far and I am impressed with the effort and the time that it took to do this. For this one, I feel that embedding the videos will take away from the words.