Songs For Your Ipod: The List

1. A Day in the Life - The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) - 5:33

The most ambitious Beatles song (that gives the listener both Lennon and McCartney vocals), "A Day in the Life" is mainly a dream sequence sung by Lennon broken in the middle by McCartney's back to reality interlude. Lennon's references are mostly personal and therefore obscure to the listener, but it is the psychedelic feel to the music which makes this song great. Orchestral sounds, piano, acoustic guitar, and drums add to a structure that is first smooth, then dramatic, ending in a return to the dreamy with piano accent. Other people may like a different song, but we think this is the Beatles' best.

2. Alice's Restaurant Massacree - Arlo Gunthrie Alice's Restaurant (1967) - 18:20

The song that made Arlo a household name, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is a folk story about the weird and comic situations Arlo gets into when he dumps some garbage from a local church off the side of a road. An anti-establishment piece that makes fun of the draft-board and other things, it made Gunthrie famous across the world.

3. Common People - Pulp Different Class (1995) - 5:50

The greatest song to come out of the Brit-pop scene of the '90s, "Common People" tells the story of a rich upper-class female student who wishes to see what the other side of the tracks looks like. Jarvis Cocker, with great vehemence, tells the girl she is both ignorant and naive. But what makes this song great is its ability to hit the nail on the head concerning the emotional world of the poorer classes of society. Add in all the flash and catchiness of the Brit-pop sound and you have an incredible listening experience.

4. Dear God - XTC Skylarking (1986) - 3:36

The greatest atheistic song ever put to vinyl, "Dear God" first appeared as a B-side for the song "Grass" before Virgin removed "Mermaid Smile" to put it on later issues of Skylarking. The song is a tirade against the indifference of God to the pains of humanity. The band uses the voice of a child on the opening and closing lyrics which, along with the music, adds to the impact of the words.

5. Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire Barry McGuire featuring Eve of Destruction (1965) - 3:38

One of the greatest protest songs, if not the greatest, "Eve of Destruction" is actually a P.F. Sloan song (he does his version on Songs of Our Times (1965)) covered by McGuire. But McGuire, with his Joe Cocker-esque scratchy voice, made the song famous. The song warns that the world is on the verge of annihilation through acts in the Middle East, China, and at home with nuclear weapons, racial hatred, and an overall atmosphere of intolerance.

6. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet (1968) - 6:18

The greatest Rolling Stones song, "Sympathy for the Devil" takes the listener through many of history's tragedies (Jesus' Crucifixion, the two Kennedy Assassinations, the 1917 Russian Revolution, the WWII Blitzkrieg, and more) and states that it was the singer who caused these events to transpire with the help of everyone hearing the song. Jagger doesn't identify who he is until the latter part of the song. It questions whether anyone is really good and decides that at heart we are all evil and therefore need to give the king and originator of evil some respect.

7. The Universal Soldier - Buffy Sainte-Marie It's My Way! (1964) - 2:17

Sainte-Marie is one of Canada's greatest songwriters with artists from around the world covering her songs. "Universal Soldier" is Sainte-Marie's most biting song. An anti-war song that places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the person who actually does the killing, "The Universal Soldier" removes politics from the equation and states bluntly that if the world's soldiers would decide not to fight, war would end, so they are the ones who deserve our most vigorous condemnation.

8. Be a Guy - Spirit of the West Star Trails (2004) - 4:36

John Mann and company struck a chord (pardon the pun) with this sweet sounding polemic on the condition of the modern male twenty-something. From drunk driving, swimming stoned, doing a train on drunken women, and verbally attacking homosexuals; to jerking off with girlie mags and committing public vandalism, Mann brings home the results of modern's societies raising of its male children.

9. New Rose - The Damned Damned, Damned, Damned (1977) - 2:44

The first punk single in the UK didn't come from the Sex Pistols or The Clash, it came from London quartet and punk pioneers The Damned in 1976. "New Rose" made it onto their first album Damned, Damned, Damned in '77 and with it the first punk album was born. The song is an angry love song of the first order with great repeated riffage from Brian James and pounding drums from Rat Scabies.

10. Luka - Suzanne Vega Solitiude Standing (1987) - 3:53

Vega made the popularity of women singer/songwriters a chic thing in the late '80s. Foreshadowing the success of great female musicians of the '90s like Tracey Chapman and Sinead O'Connor, the catalyst of this revival was the song "Luka.". A mellow but upbeat arrangement with Vega bringing child abuse to the fore through the voice of one of its victims. It was Vega's only major hit single.

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