5 things i love: favorite songs of all time edition

1. the kinks - "waterloo sunset"



i can distinctly remember the first time i heard this song. i was sitting at my desk in my dorm room during my freshman year at marist college, listening to former LA radio station indie 103.1 on the interwebs, as i was wont to do back then. i happened to catch it right from the beginning, and my god, it hit me like a ton of bricks—in the best way. it was beautiful and sweet and sad all at once, in a way i didn't know a song could be. i listened to every single lyric, and was transported to another time and place i'd never experienced, but i FELT like i had. and i still get that same feeling every time i hear it. when i went to london a couple years ago and we rode by waterloo station, it was as cool as seeing a damn celebrity, as far as i was concerned. don't think i'll ever find a tune i love more.


2. george michael - "freedom '90"








much like "waterloo sunset," i also remember the first time i heard this masterpiece from the late, great george michael. i must have been about five or six, and i was over at my classmate andrea's massive, ugly, museum-like contemporary house in syracuse, and it was playing on the massive, ugly TV. sidenote: for some reason, our parents just let us watch MTV all damn day back then and did not give a fuuuuck, and i very much credit this to why i am the way i am today. anyway, the video. i was straight-up captivated by the fact that female supermodels appeared to be singing, but it was a man's voice. the song just stuck with me from that day on. it's poppy (but not cheesy),  it's sexy (but subtly so), it's got soul (sooo much), and i can always count on it to zap me right out of a bad mood. perfection.

3. guided by voices - "game of pricks"




i don't know if i've met a GBV fan who has a DIFFERENT favorite song by GBV. which, considering that the band has approximately 2489354958490 songs, is pretty crazy. granted, i love "as we go up, we go down" aaaalmost as much, but this one always hits the spot. i swear to god, that melody was just floating around in the universe and we all somehow already knew it, and robert pollard just plucked it out and was like, "oh, you mean this one?" that is my reaction every time i listen. pre-ordained in the ethos, this one.

4.  the rolling stones - "gimme shelter"




the stones are fantastic in general, but this tune is just light years beyond any of their other tracks for me. haunting, melancholic, soulful, yearning, and all of that good stuff. also, one of the coolest experiences i've had in my 32 years on this earth: when i interned for the florida film festival back in 2013 and we were screening 20 feet from stardom, I MET MERRY CLAYTON, the iconic woman who sings on it!!! hell, i not only met her, but i got to see her sing in a room with like, five other people as she sound-checked for the evening's performance. total diva, but i'd probably be one too if i were her.


5. blind melon - "no rain"



it's possible to have a spirit animal, but can you have a spirit song? if so, this is my spirit song. yup, if i were a song, this would be me. kinda upbeat, but go-with-the-flow, sunny, frolicking, bee girl dancin' in a field while long-haired stoner hippie dudes play me on in 1992. happiest guitar solo of all time!