Will of the People

Yesterday at the Southside Coffee Tree, they were playing another contender for worst song in the world (right up with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door") -- Michael Boulton's "When a Man Loves a Woman". They're both terrible songs for much the same reason - extreme repetitiveness combined with a complete lack of any musical merit whatsoever. Boulton also sounds unfortunately like a dog reaping the consequences of having eaten too much peanut butter. I am utterly mystified that this song has won awards (Rolling Stone called it the 54th greatest song of all time - wtf?)

Here are 30 songs that I think are part of the best of music. They're not particularly ordered, nor is omission of something an indicator that I don't think it fits.

1. Claude Debussy - Images Oubliees III - I believe this song in particular was the primary inspiration for Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
2. Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah - Has a lot of personal meaning to me, but also very musically worthwhile
3. Vivaldi - Spring concerto
4. J.S. Bach - Concerto for Two Violins in D minor
5. Amir - Romantic Flamenco - From his album of the same name
6. (traditional klezmer) - Lena from Palesteena
7. Florian Hermann/Yevhen Hrebinka - Ochi Cherniye
8. Naftali Imber/Samuel Cohen - HaTikvah - Israeli national anthem. Understanding the lyrics while hearing them would ruin this song for me though.
9. Gilbert and Sullivan - When I was a Lad - From their opera HMS Pinafore
10. (traditional british) - Scarborough Fair
11. Flogging Molly - If I Ever Leave This World Alive
12. Oscar Lopez - Fiesta Latino
13. (traditional american) - House of the Rising Sun
14. Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer
15. Pet Shop Boys - I'm With Stupid
16. Celtas Cortos - 20 de Abril
17. Scott Joplin - Bethena - An underplayed, complex rag
18. Richard Wagner - Der Engel - From the opera Wesendonck
19. Gary Jules - Mad World
20. Billy Joel - Pianoman
21. Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues - Dylan is a fantastic composer, but many of his songs are ruined by his unusual voice (except when covered by other musicians). This song is one of the few well-suited for his voice
22. Frank Zappa - Brown Shoes Don't Make It
23. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
24. Weird Al Yankovic - Bohemian Polka - Almost as musically interesting as the original
25. Mozart - zu Hilfe - From the opera "die Zauberflöte"
26. Ravi Shankar and Phillip Glass - Channels and Winds - Part of a very interesting collaboration CD. The album as a whole has much more influence by Phillip Glass
27. Ary Barasso - Aquarela do Brasil
28. Radiohead - Karma Police
29. John Williams - Chava Ballet - From Fiddler on the Roof
30. Oingo Boingo - Insanity - One of their most complex songs, with a very nice mix of instruments.

Today seems like a good day for programming. Somehow I can't stop thinking about crêpes, indian food, and fondue though. Recently, I had people over, and fondue was made - the taste was perfect (for classical fondue), but it ended up a bit watery. Next time I'll use less a bit less wine (and add some garlic, as per some advice from a rather good source - the same source confirmed my intuition that corn starch is a bad idea). After I become the Master of (classical) Fondue, I wonder what I shall next add to my domain. I am inclined to learn about use of cremes in cooking - as of present, I know nothing about their proper preparation/use/mixing/recipes, but the recent spaghetti adventures were fantastic enough to make learning them a high priority.