Pretty Pretty Music

Mike Caldwell posted a list of his 10 best songs...asshole, ripping off my list thing... and has hounded me off and on to do the same, so fine. After much much much thought, and relistening to songs to make sure they were still good, I've come up with this. It was really hard because I fall for songs because of lyrics and now I'm forced to choose based on the entire song. This is NOT a list of my favorite songs, that'll be later. So, here it is....

10. Patience by Guns N Roses. A solid ballad with strong descriptive lyrics. Musically it flows smoothly with an ease that reminds you of why GNR were so great. They were comfortable with themselves and their music and it shows.

9. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. A beautiful melody underneath longing lyrics that just kind of floats along on your ears and infiltrates your brain, usually before you're even aware of it.

8. Magic Man by Heart. A story of youth gone wild without the ugliness that usually accompanies it. It's a love song, based on a true story and everything just fits together so well.

7. Dying by Hole. Heartbreaking and overwhelming. Raw and ugly. Sugar coated and tearful. It's the best breakup song.

6. Only Women Bleed by Alice Cooper. This is the song I always wished I would have written. Everything about it is so eloquent and honest that every single part of it, the music, the lyrics, everything, stands alone in a very elegant way.

5. Make The Dirt Stick by Chris Whitley. Stark, stripped down and gorgeous. It paints a picture in your mind that actually lasts.

4. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me by Culture Club. Say what you want about Boy George but this song is classic beauty. It's almost flawless in every single way and it's just a beautiful lush song.

3. Burden In My Hand by Soundgarden. This song is just haunting and I fall into it every time I hear it.

2. Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground by The White Stripes. A simple easy love song that just blends all the elements of love and loneliness in to music as well as the words.

1. Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns by Mother Love Bone. A song of hope, pain, despair, love, drugs, and emptiness which is actually two songs in one. Behind Andy Wood's heartbreaking lyrics is some of the most forlorn music that suddenly becomes hopeful at the end.