Instant Classics

suzzer99 · #1 02-13-2007, 12:41 AM

I'm thinking of songs that are so good they transcend their genre, like the kind that come along once a decade or so. For the most part, these songs will click with everyone who hears them, immediately. IE - you could play one for a bushman in New Guinea, and he'd immediately start humming along or dancing or whatever was appropriate to the song.

I have 3 that I feel pretty confident belong on this list, and a few maybes. Please put some thought into it and explain what universal quality or experience you think makes this song an instant classic.

Get Up (Like a Sex Machine) - James Brown
I remember being in a bar, in a little room upstairs with a pool table, hanging out with a friend and 4 or 5 total strangers. This song came on and everyone, pretty much spontaneously, started boogie-ing around the pool table. Like we were little kids with zero self-consciousness. It was a magical moment.

Wonderwall - Oasis
My friend pretty much hates everything Oasis stands for. But he loves this song. There's something about the melody and vocals that just cut right to the bone. I don't see how you can listen to it and not be transported.

Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees
I can't explain why this song never ever ever seems to get old. It's like it hit some kind of mother lode of all melodies. Some might disagree. But seriously I think if you appreciate music for whether or not it moves your butt off the chair, and screw all the other ancilliary stuff, you have to give this song mad props.

I have some other *maybes* in mind, but I'll see if anyone else mentions them first.

daryn · #2 02-13-2007, 12:44 AM

sir duke - stevie wonder. that song is just hot. i think it has a lot to do with a great beat. disco in general might suck by most people's standards but the disco beat is my absolute favorite.

suzzer99 · #3 02-13-2007, 12:46 AM

... downloading right now ...

Edit: legally from iTunes of course.

Edit Edit: duh, oh yeah, how did I have 5 or 6 Stevie Wonder songs and not that one???

Howard Treesong · #4 02-13-2007, 01:04 AM

Stayin' Alive totally does it for me as well. I'll nominate Come On Eileen, by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Redd · #5 02-13-2007, 01:23 AM

I second Wonderwall.

The other one that comes to mind for me is RHCP's under the bridge. The song is unique, with a great melody and harmony between each of the instruments and the vocals.

But what really makes it transcend to 'instant classic' status to me is the progression of the song as a whole. It slowly builds up, getting busier, more frantic. By the time the choir has joined in the song has progressed to basically be one continuous, blasphemous wall of sound. And just when it breaks out into panic, just when it becomes overwhelming, the song plummets to the outtro. And all that's left is the harmony of one guitar and one bass dancing in perfect unison. And all is at peace.

I know many people who crank up the volume on the radio when that choir is wailing, even though it's almost white noise, because they know what's coming next. Def one of my favorites.

THAY3R · #6 02-13-2007, 01:29 AM

ABBA

suzzer99 · #7 02-13-2007, 01:53 AM

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But what really makes it transcend to 'instant classic' status to me is the progression of the song as a whole. It slowly builds up, getting busier, more frantic. By the time the choir has joined in the song has progressed to basically be one continuous, blasphemous wall of sound. And just when it breaks out into panic, just when it becomes overwhelming, the song plummets to the outtro. And all that's left is the harmony of one guitar and one bass dancing in perfect unison. And all is at peace.

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Blasphemous wall of sound? SWEET. I would offer Fake Plastic Trees and Deep Inside You by Third Eye Blind as flawless examples of this concept. Both songs give me massive goosebumps everytime I hear them. I just worry they might be a little too obscure for the idea I have for instant classic. But screw it, I just expanded the definition.

daryn · #8 02-13-2007, 01:59 AM

wow, yeah fake plastic trees was the first one i thought of after reading that description

gumpzilla · #9 02-13-2007, 02:04 AM

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The other one that comes to mind for me is RHCP's under the bridge.

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I love that song.

How about Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson? (Billie Jean might be a better choice, but I prefer this one.) Hey Ya seems like another prime choice here. Also Hey Jude. But not Hey Paula. The power of the word only extends so far.

suzzer99 · #10 02-13-2007, 02:07 AM

Yeah Fake Plastic Trees has been pretty much my favorite song since for a long time, since it replaced Where is My Mind probably. Seriously though, if you like that go back and listen to Deep Inside You sometime, loud. I just listened to it for the first time in a few years and I started tearing up it was such a cathartic release.

Another maybe I had is Ooh Child by the Five Stairsteps. Goosebumps everytime.