--Here’s a quick list of artists you won’t find in this post: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Def Leopard, Genesis or Phil Collins.
--Our heavy-hitting headbangers will be pissed because Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, The Scorpions, Lordi, and The Ting-Tings are all disqualified.
I regret to inform you that the man, the myth, the legend, Rockin’ Rod Stewart is ineligible along with U2, Elton John, Coldplay and The Who.
--I rejoice to tell you that there’s no chance of ABBA, David Bowie, The Eurythmics, or Madonna making the list, either. “Madonna is American,” you may retort. True, but her music sucks. And as far as I’m concerned she’s a Frenchy, Canadian, or North Korean in disguise.
--For a second, that list may make you wonder if America actually has any good music for itself. Well don’t worry patriots. America’s got plenty. Of course.
To the countdown!
10. “Paradise City”-Guns N’ Roses (1988)
--“Paradise City.” Yes. Party time. We all like to party, or at least we should. This song was made for partying. When people use the term “party like a rock star” I immediately think of Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses. Rose, the primary writer of the song’s lyrics was unclear about the place referred to as “Paradise City.” Was it Los Angeles? Panama City? Fayetteville, North Carolina? We’re really not sure. We are sure that partying is American and therefore, so is this song. Top-Ten American? Yeah, I think so.
9. “Don’t Stop Believing”-Journey (1981)
--The title itself reflects an absolutely American theme. To achieve the American dream, you’ve got to do what? You gotta keep believing, baby. We’ve all be in situations where this song was especially pertinent; that’s why it was a no doubter on the list.
--Anthem. That’s the best way to describe this song. Sports, business, love life, The Sopranos; this song is has been a theme song for them all. It’s especially awesome for me because it was the undisputed anthem of the UNC Club Baseball team that finally made the lyrics come to fruition with a 2007 national championship…Somewhere Michael Schuit and Brad Shinn are smiling.
--Parties, bars, weddings, graduations, you name it. This song fits them all. And everybody loves shouting the words at the top of their lungs to a greater extent than any other song I know.
8. “Changes”-Tupac (1998)
--Have you noticed that being dead certainly doesn’t hurt an artist’s chances of getting some recognition?
--Tupac Shakur talked about change way before Barak Obama did, but Shakur never saw a black man become president, as mentioned in the lyrics of this song. Really an incredible song that helped Shakur’s public image after his death. Shakur died in ’96 but this song didn’t get released until ’98 after lots of remixing and shuffling of verses. The song uses heavy samples from Bruce Hornsby’s ‘The Way It Is,’ but Shakur’s rapping is clearly the focal point. Powerful lyrics from a self-proclaimed “thug” trying to get by. To date, this is the only posthumously released song to be nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Rap Solo Performance” category-it lost to Eminem’s ‘My Name Is’.
--Racism, drugs, police brutality; this song has them all, and unfortunately they’re all a part of America.
7. “Smells Like Teen Spirit”-Nirvana (1991)
--The dead are piling up quick on this list. Quite a celebrity skeleton slumber party we’ve got going on here.
--Anyway, Simple four-chord riff, no earth-shattering lyrics, in fact no understandable lyrics, and not perceived by the band to be a hit. Some things just happen.
--Many reviews say it was representative of the new teen culture that was emerging in the early 90s. If you remember, that was the time of the so-called ‘Generation-X.’ I still resent that name. Anyway, this was a big part of a cultural shift in my opinion. Teens started to feel empowered for better or for worse (for worse in my opinion), and they’ve never looked back.
--Further adding to the song’s significance, it was considered by some to be one of the first songs of the genre entitled “alternative rock” (Rolling Stone). Rolling stone, in fact, named it the 9th greatest song of all time (the highest Rolling Stone rank of any song in the MM Top-Ten American Countdown).
6. “In the Ghetto”-Elvis Presley (1969) Note: The music video I have selected in no way represents the meaning of the song. Instead, it honors the great and mighty honey badger which is another blog altogether. Enjoy.
--Some of you will probably be offended that Elvis has only 1 song in the top ten. You could easily argue that he deserves more than 1 song on the list. One could also argue that if just one of Elvis’ songs were going to make the list, this shouldn’t be it. Well, counting down the greatest American songs isn’t easy, so back off.
--Elvis was and is an American icon. This song is about as relevant to the history and culture of America as any other you’ll find. The culture of “the ghetto” is usually ignored, forgotten, or shunned. For better or worse though, many, MANY ghettos exist. In this song Elvis sings about the plight of the poor inner-city mother who is blessed and cursed with a child. America, like Elvis, has shown a propensity towards sympathy for the poor, homeless, and hopeless. However, a proper solution has not been found; it probably never will be. The great American tragedy continues.
5-1 coming soon. Tell me if you disagree so far.
