Morrissey-solo
Archive

"William,..." #425 and "How Soon Is Now?" #486 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

posted by davidt on Monday November 22 2004, @09:00AM
Johan de Witt writes:

The Smiths have 2 entries in Rolling Stone magazine's Greatest 500 Songs Of All Time. The chart was apparently compiled from the votes of a panel of music industry luminaries, artists, producers, songwriters, executives and critics, including the Motown founder Berry Gordy, the singer Art Garfunkel, the songwriter Joni Mitchell, the celebrity father Ozzy Osbourne.

William, It Was Really Nothing was surprisingly included as the highest placed Smiths-song at 425: link
When asked in 1984 who was the last person to see him naked, Morrissey replied, "Almost certainly the doctor who brought me into this cruel world." But like many of the Smiths' early singles, "William" is a tale of traumatic teen sex, in this case a tragic love triangle in a humdrum town. Surprisingly, OutKast's Andre 3000 is a huge Smiths fan; he recently named "William" as his absolute favorite.

How Soon Is Now is at 486: link
Morrissey cribbed the line "The heir to nothing in particular" from George Eliot's Middlemarch. But guitarist Marr had another reference in mind: Derek and the Dominos. "I wanted an intro that was almost as potent as 'Layla,' " he said. "When [it] plays in a club or a pub, everyone knows what it is." Mission accomplished.

Bob Dylan's 'Like A Rolling Stone'(surprise, surprise) tops the list: link

The top 10:
1. Bob Dylan "Like a Rolling Stone" 1965
2. Rolling Stones "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" 1965
3. John Lennon "Imagine" 1971
4. Marvin Gaye "What's Going On" 1971
5. Aretha Franklin "Respect" 1967
6. Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" 1966
7. Check Berry "Johnny B. Goode" 1958
8. Beatles "The Hey Jude" 1968
9. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 1991
10. Ray Charles "What'd I Say" 1959
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
"William,..." #425 and "How Soon Is Now?" #486 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | Top | 23 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough:
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • i think that they should have had at least one song place in the top 100, and there are definitely more worthy candidates than william and how soon is now. also, there should be at least one moz solo song in there too.
    jp.5.22 -- Monday November 22 2004, @09:29AM (#139028)
    (User #12669 Info)
  • Rolling Stone is run by out of touch musos who still think Bob Dylan is cool. He isn't now and he never was. Another meaningless poll. We should have a poll filter here so I don't have to read this drivel.
    Quentin <[email protected]> -- Monday November 22 2004, @09:34AM (#139031)
    (User #12258 Info)
  • If Brother Ray didn't buy it this year he'd never have figured that high...
    Ramon -- Monday November 22 2004, @09:36AM (#139032)
    (User #2577 Info)
    "I'm all over you...like a vulture, like impending death"
  • Overrated
    People really belive this song is so fucking good.
    Nirvana has better songs than that one. Even Kurt said it. Just another poll to Put them on again.
    tenderliz -- Monday November 22 2004, @12:47PM (#139083)
    (User #11301 Info)
  • Out of Rolling Stones List only "Hey Jude" and "Good Vibrations" deserve to be on the list. If they are going classic rock, how about "Purple Haze" or "Paint It Black".
    Dagenham Dave -- Monday November 22 2004, @02:00PM (#139103)
    (User #953 Info | http://randumbs.blogspot.com/)
  • There's good and bad in this. For the Smiths to be noted twice in this list of aging rockers shows that despite never having commercial recognition, the Smiths even impacted the old "classic rock" world with their songs. Still...they could have included a lot more representative songs than William...Bigmouth? This Chariming Man? Meat is Murder? The Queen Is Dead? There is a Light? Girlfriend in a Coma? Panic? Shoplifters? Probably the worst thing - namechecking Andre 3000 as a Smiths fan sounds like a lame attempt to get credibility for this pick with the mainstream.
    hectorisdead -- Monday November 22 2004, @08:55PM (#139199)
    (User #6425 Info)
  • shows the demographic they're aiming at.
    hectorisdead -- Monday November 22 2004, @09:07PM (#139200)
    (User #6425 Info)
  • i was nearly at the end of the list until i finally found it-morrissey recognition. and i have mixed feelings towards it. i think that 'how soon is now' should've placed in, at the very least, the top fifty. but if you look at the panel of voters, it's not really very stimulating. it's just a group of people arguing over their favourite songs.
    but i find it ridiculous that they'd place eminem's 'lose yourself' higher than the smiths.
    sickening commercial rolling stone!!!!!!
    foolish_idealist <[email protected]> -- Tuesday November 23 2004, @08:29AM (#139336)
    (User #12385 Info | http://www.livejournal.com/users/depressed_disco)
    by friday, life has killed me... everyday is like friday
  • cuz i got a free subscription to rolling stone recently -- thank god its free because now i remember why i never paid for that crap. it really is useless. this list of the top 500 is just ridiculous. 'like a rolling stone' is a TERRIBLE SONG.
    Anonymous -- Tuesday November 23 2004, @09:02AM (#139342)

  • Always keen to see Braian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, and Al with some Good Vibrations on this list.

    Hmm. Imagine should've been either #1 or 2.

    The Beatles 'A Day In The Life' is aome of the finest piece of music ever recorded, and I was shocked to see it was not in the top ten, but instead to see Hey 'Jude' ---Paul McCartney's song for John Lennon's son Jullian---in it's place! (ADITL is #26)

    Oh well. The rest of the list is pretty fab, good for them.

    At least 'Imagine' will always be #1 for me ;)
    Davy_Havok -- Wednesday November 24 2004, @02:59AM (#139470)
    (User #3893 Info | http://blogawayla.com/)

[ home | terms of service ]