The Facebook Top 25 songs meme: it’s not quite a top ten, but it’ll do

This came across Facebook in a note entitled “25 Songs You Can’t Live Without”, and I figured there was no point in writing it up when there was a perfect opportunity to score a free blog post out of it.  So, here it it:

Once you have been tagged, you are supposed to write down the top 25 songs you cannot live without. The ones you can listen to over and over and never get tired of. They don’t have to be in any particular order. These are the songs that make you laugh, cry, think of an old friend, whatever the reason. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If you were tagged, it’s because I’d like to see what you’d put in your list. To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 songs, tag 25 people, then click publish.

1. The Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin :: It’s by Led Zeppelin, and it’s about vikings. What could possibly be more awesome?  And it was kind of our Rover Crew official theme song.
2. Spybreak! – Propellerheads :: I first discovered this song as a result of it being the soundtrack to the lobby gunfight scene in The Matrix, but it’s just generally one of my favourite tunes. Almost impossible not to groove along to.
3. Do  Your Thing – Basement Jaxx :: It’s bouncy and a bit stupid, but it’s one of my all time best “happy” songs.
4. Oh Yeah – Yello :: Nobody who grew up through the 80’s can resist a smile if they hear “Chicka-chickaaaaa….”.  Some even let a deep-voiced “Bom bom” escape. And of course it’s virtually the anthem for Ferris Bueller.
5. She Caught The Katy – The Blues Brothers :: Straightforward 8-bar blues, opening song to one of the best film soundtracks ever.
6. Jean Pierre – Marcus Miller :: Proof that the most basic riffs can be the best. Effortless, understated, and totally cool.
7. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – The Beatles :: I kind of fell in love with this song at the age of 15 whilst watching the Beatles’ film “Help!”. It has a slightly melancholy feel without being downbeat, and I liked the tune. Then, irritatingly, some pillock went & said that it was about Brian Epstein trying to pretend he wasn’t gay.
8. Better – The Screaming Jets :: Aussie 80’s pub rock; for me synonymous with my first year in Adelaide Gang Show. They played this at the aftershow cast party in the theatre foyer/canteen, and I remember having a great time with that crowd & never wanting to leave to go home.
9. Boom! Shake The Room! – DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince :: I’ll concede 100% that the initial reason I liked this song was that Emma from Glenroy Venturers liked it and I thought she was really cute.  However since then I’ve grown to like it just because, well, cos I do. I also like the fact that it was huge in the UK when it came out, but not in the US, and Will Smith was worried that the invitation to do a promo tour was some sort of practical joke.
10. Operation Go – Instill :: Instill are a bunch of lads from the New Forest who I saw supporting Hayseed Dixie once. I’ve no idea what it was about them which grabbed my attention, but I can’t stop listening to their stuff. If pressed to describe them I usually go for “bullshit rock” – it’s not really comedy, just that their topic matter’s a bit leftfield (not as leftfield as Elliot Mason).
11. Kong Foo Sing – Regurgitator :: Actually it’s not even the whole song – just the introductory chords. G’DANG-DANG! (Dv-dvvv-dv-dvvvv-dv-dvvvv-dv-dv) G’DANG-DANG! Etc.
12. Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealers Wheel :: We had this song on the jukebox every Monday night at The Sussex after rehearsal. Love it.
13. Dies Irae – Karl Jenkins (Requiem) :: The single most “Batman” sounding bit of classical music I’ve ever heard.
14. Crucifixus – Antonio Lotti :: Great memories of singing this on choir camp. Not sure if I even ever did it in a performance – just one of those great moments where a group of people who can sing are sitting in a room singing to themselves because they love singing it.
15. Nowhere With Love – Harry Connick Jr. :: Harry’s a total dude. I love his style, and his work. What’s not to like about a song with the lyrics “It’s better to be happy in a cardboard shack / than to be alone in a castle / All you get for your money is a heart attack / I’d just as soon alleviate the hassle”.
16. Monday Don’t Mean Anything – Alabama 3 :: Personally I could ascribe significance to the literal meaning of the chorus, as Monday don’t really mean anything to me, along with any other day of the week or time, really, however the reasoning here is really just that I really like the tune. Probably not so relevant is the whole MDMA component.
17. Big Bottom – Spinal Tap :: “My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo / I’d like to sink her with my pink torpedo”. Spinal Tap are awesome.
18. Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd :: Pink Floyd are one of my favourite bands ever, and were I to give a less representative Top 25 list you’d find that 9 of the slots were taken (in order) by the track listing of Dark Side Of The Moon. Shine On, however, for me sums up Gilmour’s understated & elegant guitar style, and there’s a lot of memories tied up in this song of Spiro & I doing night hikes up to Woodhouse. And eating frozen cheesecakes.
19. Target – Baterz :: Taken from us sadly all too early in 2002, Baterz was one of my favourite Adelaidean singer/songwriters, who had a penchant for the ridiculous. This is a great little tune about something quintessentially Adelaidean – pretending you’re buying something at Target in the City so you can stand under their huge air conditioner on a hot day.
20. Albuquerque – Weird Al Yankovic :: This list is erring away from the artful, isn’t it?  Weird Al is the world’s finest musical parody artiste, and Albuquerque is his awesome Frank Zappa tribute.
21. US Forces – Midnight Oil :: Probably the first Midnight Oil song I remember being able to recognise.  I don’t even know why I like it so much, because I’m not a particularly political person. Great tune though, and I guess I feel it important to have one of their songs in my list.
22. Weapon Of Choice – Fatboy Slim :: Yes, the video was excellent, but more than that – along with most of Fatboy Slim’s other songs – it’s just a frigging groovy tune.
23. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – They Might Be Giants :: What a cool song!
24. Run – Spiderbait :: It seems that at least half of Australia’s Generation X were into The Goodies, so when alt-rockers Spiderbait covered it in their characteristic frenetic style there seemed little doubt it would be awesome.  And it is.
25. White Wine In The Sun – Tim Minchin :: Beautiful rationalist Christmas song, which ain’t too silly and ain’t too soppy, and leaves me feeling happily wistful every time I hears it.

Dawwwww, that’s nice, isn’t it.

Chances are if you asked me tomorrow it’d be an entirely different list, too.