Song of the century

peapod

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2004
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pumpkin pie bungalow
CBC is having a write in contest regarding what you think is the best song of the century, or what song you feel defined a generation. What do you think was the best song of the century or what defined your generation? Before I post my picks, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Myself I am heading out to one of those great BC waterways to paddle amongst the marine life :D

My pick for song of the song of the century that defined a generation would have to be Bob Dylan's the times they are a changin.

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
 

Haggis McBagpipe

Walks on Forum Water
Jun 11, 2004
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Oh! I love this thread!

Have a great holiday, by the way.

I think I would choose 'For What It's Worth' for a song that defined a generation. It's a quick off-the-cuff answer, but still:

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
 

researchok

Council Member
Jun 12, 2004
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Don Mclains American Pie


A long, long time ago
I remember how the music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
that I could make those people dance
and maybe they'd be happy for awhile
But February made me shiver
with every paper I'd deliver
bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
And I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

So Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love,
and do you have faith in God above,
Because the Bible tells you so?
And do you believe in Rock and Roll,
can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
And I know that you're in love with him,
'cause I saw you dancing in the gym,
you both kicked off you shoes
and I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenaged broncin' buck
with a pink carnation and a pick-up truck
but I knew that I was out of luck
the day the music died

I started singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die.

For 10 years we were on our own
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone
but that's not how it used to be
The jester danced for the king and queen
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
and a voice that came from you and me
And as the king was looking down
the jester stole his thorny crown
the court room was adjourned
no verdict was returned
as Lenin(*) read a book on Marx
the quartet practiced in the park
and we sang dirges in the dark
the day the music died

And we were singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die.

Helter skelter in the summer swelter
Birds flew off with the fallout shelter
8 miles high and falling fast
and it fell on the grass
the players tried for a forward pass
with the Jester on the sidelines in a cast
the half-time air was sweet perfume
the sergeants played a marching tune
and we all got up to dance
but we never got the chance
The players tried to take the field
the marching band refused to yield
do you recall what was revealed
the day the music died?

And we were all in one place
a generation lost in space
with no time left to start again
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candle stick
Cause the fire is the devil's only friend
And as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
to light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

I met a girl who sang the blues
and I asked her for some happy news
she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
where I heard the music years before
but the Man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed,
the lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
the Church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most
the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
they caught the last train for the coast
the day the music died.

And we were singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
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A couple of more modern ones:

Steve Earle's Christmas Time in Washington.

Sid Vicious' version of My Way.

Some older ones:

Everything that Woody Guthrie ever wrote.

I could track down the lyrics, but I'd prefer you bought the CDs and listened for yourself. If you can find the live version of Sid doing "My Way" where it seems he, "...forgot the fucking words," please do. A truly great moment in rock.
 

Haggis McBagpipe

Walks on Forum Water
Jun 11, 2004
5,085
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Victoria, B.C.
Diamond Sun said:
I'm partial to imagine by John Lennon (yes, most likely you are all thinking "oh, that's so cliche"), but I've loved that song since I was a child. Maybe that's why I'm such a peaceful person.

That ain't cliche! That song is unbelievably moving, I still listen to it a lot.
 

Haggis McBagpipe

Walks on Forum Water
Jun 11, 2004
5,085
7
38
Victoria, B.C.
researchok said:
Yup, its a winner.

Of course, Lennon was a Republican.....

Pfft, he was not. Okay, that does it. I'm telling ma what you said.

He had overwhelming admiration for Trudeau, by the way, who officially received them in Ottawa. Lennon said if all leaders were like Trudeau there would be no war in the world.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
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It's only cliche if you stop to think about all the people who play it and never actually listen to it.

One of Dylan's greatest assets is that he is so jarring that you'd better listen to (and think about) the words to enjoy the song. One of Lennon's greatest failings is that he's so melodic that you don't have to listen to (or think about) the words to enjoy the song. Lennon was just too good musically. I have trouble blaming him for that.
 

researchok

Council Member
Jun 12, 2004
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Haggis McBagpipe said:
researchok said:
Yup, its a winner.

Of course, Lennon was a Republican.....

Pfft, he was not. Okay, that does it. I'm telling ma what you said.

He had overwhelming admiration for Trudeau, by the way, who officially received them in Ottawa. Lennon said if all leaders were like Trudeau there would be no war in the world.

Hey, I know!

I remember (I was a kid) when John and Yoko had their love in at the Queen E hotel in Montreal.

I thought my dad would throw an embolism!
 

researchok

Council Member
Jun 12, 2004
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My favorite Trudeau story-- besides the infamous 'fuddy duddy'-- ws his throwing snowballs at a statue of Lenin when he was in Moscow, as a student-- in Red Square, no less!

Almost got arrested..
 

Haggis McBagpipe

Walks on Forum Water
Jun 11, 2004
5,085
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Victoria, B.C.
My favourite Trudeau story involves me, I was a Trudeau Action Girl, one of an elite group of Girls Who Were Totally Nuts About Trudeau. At the time, little of it had to do with politics and a lot had to do with Trudeau having more charisma and sex appeal than anything alive.

We teenaged and excitable Trudeau Action Girls wore our Liberal orange mini-jumpers, white blouses and go-go boots and met Trudeau at the Vancouver Airport... and I GOT TO KISS HIM!!!!!!

Trust me, that is THE best Trudeau story of all. I haven't washed my lips since. (kidding)

Oh, and I gave him my McDonald's apple pie. I think everybody did that, but I was the only one who got a kiss.