My 100 Favorite Tracks of All Time (30-21)

Once again, no pithy snark for you.

Recapitulation:
100. Stuck in America - Sugarcult
099. History Lesson - Part II - Minutemen
098. To Clean (Acoustic) - Woods
097. Furr - Blitzen Trapper
096. At the Chime of a City Clock - Nick Drake
095. Search and Destroy - The Stooges
094. Scott Farcas Takes It On The Chin - Less Than Jake
093. Ruby Soho - Rancid
092. B.O.B. - Outkast
091. Monk Time - The Monks
090. Waiting Room - Fugazi
089. Ain't That Peculiar - Marvin Gaye
088. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone - Minor Threat
087. Daylight - Aesop Rock
086. In the New Year - The Walkmen
085. Judy is a Punk - Ramones
084. I'm the Man Who Loves You - Wilco
083. My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg) - Ramones
082. White Riot - The Clash
081. Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff
080. Lived In Bars - Cat Power
079. Venus - Television
078. In The Neighborhood - Tom Waits
077. Losing My Edge - LCD Soundsystem
076. Vitamin C - Can
075. International Player's Anthem - UGK (feat. Outkast)
074. Someday - The Strokes
073. These Days - Nico
072. All Falls Down - Kanye West
071. Debaser - Pixies
070. Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
069. Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp
068. For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder
067. Leaves That Are Green - Simon & Garfunkel
066. Mr. Pitiful - Otis Redding
065. Four Winds - Bright Eyes
064. Forks and Knives (La Fete) - Beirut
063. If Looks Could Kill - Camera Obscura
062. People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case
061. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb - Spoon
060. Newsflash - Windmill
059. Rose Parade - Elliott Smith
058. Into the Mystic - Van Morrison
057. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
056. Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
055. Losing Out - Black Milk (feat. Royce Da 5'9")
054. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side - The Smiths
053. Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)? - Buzzcocks
052. All I Need - The Temptations
051. God Only Knows - Beach Boys
050. Elephant Gun - Beirut
049. Skating Away - Jethro Tull
048. Man Out Of Time - Elvis Costello
047. Brother Run Them Down - Constantines
046. M79 - Vampire Weekend
045. The Wind - Cat Stevens
044. Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady
043. Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over - Fall Out Boy
042. I'll Be Your Man - The Black Keys
041. A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
040. Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins
039. Here Should Be My Home - No Age
038. Metal Firecracker - Lucinda Williams
037. So Far Around the Bend - The National
036. Shakey Dog - Ghostface Killah
035. I Only Want to Be With You - Dusty Springfield
034. July, July! - The Decemberists
033. I Want You - Bob Dylan
032. No Rain - Blind Melon
031. Answering Machine - The Replacements

030. Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and Be Loved) - Bright Eyes (http://is.gd/a5Gee)
This song is Bright Eyes in 9:00. The crash course. It breaks up pretty much all of his themes and distills them verse by verse: human commentary, political ire, personal tragedy and tied all together with love. The scene of him and his father in the hospital is some of the most moving words put to music. This is also probably as close to a Bob Dylan song that's ever been produced. Musically, just a solid rebel country song. But the centerpiece here are the lyrics. The fact that they can take a riff, run with it for 9 minutes and keep me completely enthralled is a testament to how great the words are.

029. Throwing It All Away - Genesis (http://is.gd/a5LJK)
Phil Collins: the fucking melody man. There's a definite schism in the history of Genesis, from prog to pop. And for me, I favor the latter incarnation, mostly because of Phil Collins. The melody on this song is remarkable; and it never gets old for me.

028. Street Fighting Man - Rolling Stones (http://is.gd/a5M6v)
This song is just pure rock and roll. Whenever I hear the guitar riff I get wild-eyed like Zack Attack. I can't really say much more. Rock and roll, man.

027. Disney Girls (1957) - Beach Boys (http://is.gd/a5Mzr)
"All my life I've spent the night with dreams of you." This is just a gorgeous love song with a fantastic melody. This is the kind of love I think everyone aspires to find one day. Even if you don't realize it now, growing old with someone is something to revere and covet.

026. Incident On 57th Street - Bruce Springsteen (http://is.gd/a5MUG)
This is the first cut on my favorite record side of all time (Side 2 of The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle). This song is everything I love about the Boss: great lyrics, tight and deceptively complex instrumentation, and a great narrative. Bruce just captures the sights, sounds and mood of his place and time so well.

025. This Will Be Our Year - The Zombies (http://is.gd/a5N84)
Oddessey and Oracle is a brilliant album on par with Sgt. Pepper's and Pet Sounds, and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. This is pretty much a flawless pop song, and one of the best love songs ever written. This block of tracks has been pretty stacked with awesome melodies, and this song is no different.

024. Life on Mars? - David Bowie (http://is.gd/a5Nks)
Looking back, I think "Queen Bitch" would have been on this list. My bad. But "Life On Mars?" is my favorite Bowie song. If you've ever partied in Madison you can relate to the lyrics, and the chorus is just a monster. I love this song.

023. Don't Mug Yourself - The Streets (http://is.gd/a5NAS)
What up Mike Skinner?! The Streets is one of, if not the, most original thing to come out in hip-hop in the 2000s. This song is the only straight-up funny track on this list, and it doesn't disppoint. Probably my favorite song to throw on at a party. "Oi oi oi oi!"

022. I'm A Cuckoo - Belle & Sebastian (http://is.gd/a5O9k)
Just like "July, July!" and The Decemberists, there are a dozen Belle & Sebastian songs that could be on this list. But I always come back to "I'm A Cuckoo." How can you hear this song and not fall in love with it? I'm finding my descriptions getting less and less expository as we get closer to #1, but it makes sense; it's hard to explain why we specifically love something that we feel strong connection to.

021. Mama's Pearl - Jackson 5 (http://is.gd/a5OuT)
If you haven't noticed, I'm a sucker for great pop songs. And, really, there was no better time and place than 60s/70s Motown for pop music. I look at this song and "I Want You Back" as long-lost twins born two years apart. Once again, no great explanation for this track: I just always love to hear it. Funny story, the demo version of this song was hilariously called "Guess Who's Making Whoopie (With Your Girlfriend)" but was changed to keep with Michael's child-like image. OK, now I know Michael had a lot in his life to screw him up; but has anyone thought he had messed up sexual issues because he was singing about nailing girls since he was born, basically? Think about it.

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Woah we're close!
Erik