Songs For Your Ipod: The List

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71. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat - Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde (1966) - 3:58

Everyone has heard Dylan's most famous songs from this double album. From "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" to "Just Like a Woman" Dylan's songs have become staples on rock radio for over 40 years now. But everyone forgets Dylan had a humourous and fun side to him. This trait is best realized in his frolicking song about a cheating woman and her really hip chapeau. "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" will bring a wry smile to the listeners face every time!

72. Wild World - Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman (1971) - 3:20

Is there any other song that describes perfectly the sentiments of a man at the ending of a relationship with the woman he loves? He has tried to keep her and failed. He lets her go but warns her that the world away from him is not an optimistic place as a last ditch effort to try to change her mind. Cat Stevens never reaches this type of insight again even with his impressive catalogue of songs.

73. Walking on the Moon - The Police Reggatta de Blanc (1979) - 5:02

This simple song owes it greatness to how utterly beautifully it describes that adolescent feeling of an infatuation for a girl. The music compliments perfectly to the out-worldly feeling of joy one feels when the crush on a beautiful girl bears fruit. The Police are famous for a catalogue of great songs, but this one supercedes their better known songs just for its charm.

74. The View from the Afternoon - The Artic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006) - 3:38

The Artic Monkeys are one of the few bands, like the White Stripes, that have garnered both popular and critical acclaim for their music. With their Britpop sensibilities mixing with a harder rock 'n roll edge it's no wonder the band has taken the world by storm. It is well deserved. "The View from the Afternoon" is a perfect example of what they are all about. Raunchy and sweet, with pace changing, guitar driven insanity, and a gifted vocalist that keeps his British accent while singing, all mesh together to make a song that is electricity-filled and damn unforgettable.

75. Mouth for War - Pantera Vulgar Display of Power (1992) - 3:56

Pantera moved metal out of the 80s to a whole new realm of headbanging glory. With this song (as one of many) and this album, it made Pantera metal's greatest band of the 90s. "Mouth of War" is a blistering, pounding and power drenched song about the band's - take no prisoners - attitude. They will not be stopped on their climb to the top of metal stardom and when finishing listening to this song you can understand why.

76. American Pie - Don Mclean American Pie (1971) - 8:48

A lament on the loss of the music of the 60s, Mclean's "American Pie" is a classic of the early 70s that remains as popular today as it was then. It is difficult to find anyone who hasn't sung the chorus of this song in a bar anywhere in North America. Its scope and length rivals the story-telling power of the greats of the genre; even Woody Guthrie should be jealous.

77. Fuck You - The Headstones Nickels for Your Nightmares (2000) - 2:40

Most songs with the F-word as its center are usually moronic and childish. But somehow the Headstones have pulled it off. It is still relatively stupid but the Headstones have a sound and a bad boy crazy charm that has been quietly building an audience in Canada and elsewhere since the 80s. If they can make you enjoy a song that says FU over and over again you know they have the right stuff.

78. Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong What a Wonderful World (1971) - 2:20

Although Armstrong is liked by many as a trumpeter who changed the way Jazz was understood back during his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings in the 20s, he is loved for his more pop oriented work in his later years. "Wonderful World" is the perfect example of this love. The song reached the top ten when it was released in 1968, both for his unique vocals and good feelings brought out in his audience from the message in the lyrics. You can't help being in a good mood after listening to this classic.

79. Beat on the Brat - The Ramones The Ramones (1976) - 2:31

Punk began with the Ramones and their first album was a landmark in music. Although songs like "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" are better known gems off this album, it's "Beat on the Brat" that shows the inner core of their music. Part violent and part stupid, "Beat on the Brat" tells everyone the band are the bad asses of Rock 'n Roll but not without a tongue and cheek sense of humour.

80. Fruit Tree - Nick Drake Five Leaves Left (1970) - 4:49

Nick Drake is a singer/songwriter who, during his brief musical career in the 70s, was criminally underappreciated. The fame he craved eluded him all of his short life. "Fruit Tree" is his ideas on the subject put to a beautiful melody and sung with a heart wrenchingly haunting voice. It is too bad that the fame he has gained after his death did not catch hold of him before his apparent suicide.

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