The Quest

So several months ago, I was introduced to a most fascinating challenge. To make a CD with the 20 best songs you have ever heard. The scope of this challenge was staggering. I consider myself somewhat of a musical connoisseur. Being an artist myself and a sound recording tech major, as well as having an iTunes library topping out at 400gigs of music, I hear music differently. I'm not being a music snob or anything, I don't blindly download billlions of songs off limewire and say "Hey ladies, want so see how full my hard drive is?" I just genuinely love music.

So what makes a good song, a good song? Is it the melody? Lyrics? Rhythm? Do good memories associated with a song make it great? And so begins my adventure to find the 20 greatest songs I've ever heard.

I wanted to be careful with this project. I was worried that I might run through a phase, and accidently put a polka-shuffle hop song on my list because I was in the mood for it one day. These songs need to be able to stand the test of time.

First, I wanted to explore lyrics. I think I've come to the conclusion that while they undoubtedly contribute to a songs appeal, they are not necessary for a song to be great. Some musical styles, like Jazz, techno, and industrial metal do not rely on lyrics to complete a song. Alternately, some songs rely entirely on they're lyrics. For example most punk-rock, modern-rock, classic-rock, post-modern-grunge-rock, and any other kind of rock, can be played with about 4 chords. The only thing that really separates one rock song from another is the lyrics. (even then sometimes the difference is marginal.) Then there are the bands that sing... but you can't really tell that's what they're doing. Like Killswitch Engage.
And sometimes, you find a song that you listen to a hundred times before you realize what the song is actually about. A pristine example of this is the song Widow's Peak written by Chris Carrabba, frontman for Dashboard Confessional. At first it sounds like another love song about a couple breaking up and getting back together again. On a closer listen though, I realized he was not singing about broken love, but rather Hurricane Katrina. As soon as I realized this, the lyrics became infinitely more meaningful and powerful.