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The 20 best songs of the 1960s
Here is a list from Pitchfork; the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" takes first place. The selections are excellent (head to iTunes), but I would have opted for the Beatles' "Rain" and the Byrds' "Eight Miles High." You'll find links to their top 200 picks as well.
Daniel Levitin's This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession -- is a new book on how music affects our brains. Here is an introduction to the book.
Addendum: Here is an interview with Levitin.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 23, 2006 at 02:14 PM in Music | Permalink
Comments
For me, better than music of the 1960s is the music the 1960s inspired.
For example:
Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Warlocks
Dead Meadow
The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Kills
The Out Crowd
Posted by: Michael Giesbrecht at Aug 23, 2006 3:02:18 PM
3 songs by the Beach Boys... puhleeze
Posted by: Martin at Aug 23, 2006 3:03:28 PM
Ranking songs is like ranking foods. It seems like it's all tastes. What's the "measuring stick" for the "best" songs?
If I said I liked Abbey Road better than Sgt. Pepper, we could all bicker until we're blue in the face, we won't get anywhere. I don't mean to discourage discussion, but it's kind of silly.
Posted by: Scott W at Aug 24, 2006 12:41:46 AM
I sense that many people are going to hate on the list, so here's a defense:
WHAT THE LIST IS NOT
The Pitchfork list is not supposed to be the musical equivalent of a sabermetric ranking of the top baseball players ever. It's obviously biased towards a grouping of particular tastes (namely, those of the Pitchfork editors). Nor is the list saying that there's a true objective difference in musical value between #20 and #200 (I prefer The Kinks). That would be silly, and everyone knows it. It's quite possible that no two Pitchfork writers actually agreed on the top song. (And this may be why each song description has its own byline.)
The point is NOT to argue the relative merit of two Beatles songs. That's why there are 200 of them, from a wide range of bands.
So why a ranking?
WHAT THE LIST IS
Ranked lists are the adopted genre of rock music criticism. Economists are celebrated by the Nobel Prize and the Clark Medal. Rock songs are celebrated by Top 25 lists. It's how you talk about rock songs; that's how it's always been and -- love it or hate it -- that's how it'll always be. Rather than creating a new kind of conversation (e.g., "200 Songs We Really Really Like From the 1960s"), the Pitchfork writers just settled into a familiar form and started writing. This is the whole point of genres. They are handy vehicles to drive creativity.
As with all of their lists, this Top 200 list celebrates and educates. It's for spurring conversation about these songs (and ideally others), and it exposes the music to those who aren't familiar with it. Unless you are already familiar with all 200 songs, you're going to get something out of going through the list.
Personally speaking, the list is going to provide me with several hours of good music listening (along with a dent in my checking account balance).
Posted by: Trieu Truong at Aug 24, 2006 2:22:28 AM
"If I said I liked Abbey Road better than Sgt. Pepper, we could all bicker until we're blue in the face, we won't get anywhere."
This is plain false! Arguing about music is precisely how you get somewhere. An articulate and passionate friend with different tastes can help you appreciate bands and songs you never fully "got" before. Also, there quite often a fact of the matter about which of two albums or songs is better. Sometimes it is obvious. Sometimes it is obvious only after you lose an argument about it.
Posted by: Will Wilkinson at Aug 24, 2006 8:55:18 AM
I think you misread the list. "God Only Knows" is not given the Number 1 spot; what is visible on the link is only 20 of the songs from the top 200. "God Only Knows" just happens to be ranked first among those 20.
Posted by: Peter K. at Aug 24, 2006 10:05:03 AM
What I would like to see is a "History of the Greatest Songs of the 1960s". It would be a longitudinal study of Greatest-Songs-of-the-1960s lists, generated over the years.
It would start with the actual 1960s (ranked by sales and playtime), then compile Greatest of the 1960s lists, compiled in the 1970s, 1980s, etc.
I would imagine that 1970s and 1980s lists would be more Beatles/Stones/Who dominated, with more Motown sneaking in from the 1980s to the present, more Country Music (Johnny Cash) in the 1990s and 2000s lists, and more "Other" (reggae, religious, etc.) in more modern lists.
Posted by: Richard Bellamy at Aug 24, 2006 10:58:19 AM
The top 20 includes 3 songs from the Beach Boys and 0 from James Brown? Absurd.
Posted by: Thelonious_Nick at Aug 24, 2006 11:53:16 AM
1. Stand By Me - This is as beautiful a song as you can imagine, song by Ben
E King.
2. Sounds of Silence - 1964 version. I don't know why this is considered
overrated. The lyrics from the S and G are assume.
3. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - Chicago's first album rocks.
4. I Am A Walrus - This is my favorite Beatles song. It is brilliant.
5. Song, Sung, Blue - This Neil Diamond song is very catchy.
6. For What's It Worth - Buffalo Springfield.
7. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
8. My Girl - The Temptations.
9. You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones
10. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? - David Rifkin (Temptations)
Posted by: jim at Aug 26, 2006 8:15:46 PM
I'm with Jim. I suspect that he, unlike Tyler or the Pitchfork writers, actually listened to this music when it was first played.
And the contrast between his highly individualized, and I think fine, selections, and the absolutely bizarre Pitchfork list (see Trieu Thong's defense above) makes a great teaching point - out just how mediocre group efforts can turn out to be.
Posted by: Martin at Aug 28, 2006 10:58:16 AM
Perhaps economists are more like rock songs than I thought.
Posted by: Trieu Truong at Aug 29, 2006 4:46:20 AM
Best song ever relating to the 1960's:
Turtle in My Sope
Posted by: at May 8, 2008 12:37:35 PM
March round selma
negro spirituals.com/news-song/
nonsensical sandwich party
Posted by: Jalapeno Herbert at May 8, 2008 12:40:59 PM
