What are your top three favorite songs and why?

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

I'll start it off.

As many know, I'm a Country music fan. I like Country songs because they tell a story. Here are my three favorites:

First up, maybe the saddest song ever sung:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2birg

Next, at the far opposite end of the spectrum, one of the most uplifting songs ever sung:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCn5ofh9PlE

Finally, for this guy who bleeds red, white and blue -- and at the risk of sounds a bit ethnocentric -- a great song about America:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox4IRQVGsBU

And because I'm the creator of this thread and I'm allowed to cheat a little, here's a tie for Number 3. Have a box of Kleenex nearby. You're gonna need it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-vZlrBYLSU

Okay, how about all of you? Your top three picks...and why you love them.

[H.A.L.9000]

Weeper on the shore- Amorphis ----- just a great rocking tune to get me going if i have some work to do, also reminds me of my college years and going to lots of metal shows in church basements

Protect ya neck- Wu Tang Clan- love pretty much everything thing by these guys.. but this is a classic..

When you grow up, your heat dies- Gunship- Just really feeling these guys at the moment and give me that 80s nostalgia feel with the sounds and lyrics


Honorable mention

Bright lit blue skies-Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti I LOVE surf music and this happens to be a 60ies cover from a local (for me) band from Plymouth Mass...

[IceyCat]

So hard to only pick three songs!

My all time favorite is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8OJAOMbPg I do not have a reason except the song is perfection to me. I remember the first time I heard it on the radio I just thought it was brilliant. I was really young and I just stopped what I was doing and listened. It gave me goosebumps.

ANYTHING by Prince, so it is really hard to choose one, but this would be a close tie with Purple Rain. He was just an amazing performer and a musical genius: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG3VcCAlUgE

THIS is my jam. I do not know how you can listen to the guitar opening and not just be mesmerized. Love ACDC! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA

Honorable mention: ALWAYS loved this song because I am a brown eyed girl <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqXSBe-qMGo

OK, one more. Favorite song to dance to in college with my girls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsGIDFTURaY

[wyldman11]

I'm sorry but I got to interrupt this whole this whole joke of a topic and say one simple thing.

You all are leaving off the your lists because it's simply the greatest song every put down on track and you probably just assumed everyone already knew it was the top and didn't need to be mentioned but the fact noone has mentioned it.

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I mean you just started singing the some part of the lyrics when I mentioned it.

That out of the way.

Blind guardians - Nightfall, combines metal and lore from middle earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyof447Au6o

Hard to pick one from them but

Nightwish - Ghost love score, The range of emotions evoked wish Marco had more vocals on it but Flor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYjIlHWBAVo

and last

Weezer - in the garage, doesn't need much explanation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0rV88Ev-og

[The Timeless One]

I agree it is difficult to pick only three songs, ha.

All three of these, while highly significant to me for each their own reasons, are also among the tracks I use to tune my sound system -- for the definition of a system "sounds good" is, in large part, whether these songs sound good in playback through it. (Yes, seriously)

#1 Unchallenged for all of space and time:


It was 1986 in a local movie theater. A young boy was awakened as a metalhead within seconds of hearing this for the first time -- and to this day, still gets a mix of chills and urge to \m/ upon listening. To say this song (nevermind the movie it is from) was highly influential on my life is a gross understatement.

#2 Would be the main song to the soundtrack of my life:


Suffice it to say, this one resonates on several different levels of my lifepath and worldview. The lyrics, the instrumentation, the synesthetic experience of listening to it -- everything. This is another one that moves me every time I listen to it. Seriously, if there was ever a biopic of my life, I would demand this be licensed as the main anthem song of the soundtrack.

#3 Would be on the soundtrack of my life, as well


Perhaps trite, but it is resonant with the formation of my life-long ever-evolving paracosm (imaginary world). Apart from that, this is an absolutely and uniquely amazing synesthetic experience to listen to.

---

Honorable mention: Another lyrically, thematically and synesthically significant track for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5htNJsh1IQ

---

And a final cheat of a track, by the unparalleled virtue of how absolutely moving on every level it is to listen to, for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V_eoR6r1Tw

[ZootyCutie]

Ooh boy, top 3, that's a tricky one, but let me see how heavy I can truly narrow down to, in no particular order:

"Broken & Beautiful by Kelly Clarkson" - I was expecting to enjoy this song when it was announced, purely because of how hyped I was for the Uglydolls movie. I didn't expect it to impact me like it did. The song's about admitting to imperfections, and, instead of shying away from them, being strong thanks to them. Also, it's so obvious that P!nk wrote this song, and I'm already a fan of both her and Kelly Clarkson, so it was a good fit.

"Grace Kelly" by Mika - Mika's one of those "not enough people know this artist!" kind of artists to me. I found him through pure chance, and quickly picked up the album later. While not the first song I heard from him, there's something about the poppiness of this song that really hits strong to me, along with how heavy Mika's voice can stretch.

"Fashion Zombies! by The Aquabats!" - This is a case of "favorite song by my favorite band". I can unironically say that The Aquabats! are my favorite band out of all of them. I know their gimmick is goofy, and they certainly have strayed far from their ska roots, but there's just something so enthusiastic about their music, that you can tell they're just here to have fun. Plus, their show on The Hub was hilarious.

An honorable mention goes out to:

"Experimental Film" by They Might Be Giants - I was already familiar with this band in passing thanks to other songs, but didn't pay much mind for the longest time. It was only after I got into Homestar Runner and hearing this song (this is actually the official music video for the song, made with Homestar characters!) that I really started to get into them. There's something about the beat of this song that got me into the song, which drove me to their other songs.

So, I'd say that's a pretty good list I've got, even though it's missing tons of other faves of mine. Fun fact, three of those four mentioned artists (Kelly Clarkson is the sole exception) were discovered by me because I got into Homestar Runner! Two were because of actually working with the H*R crew, the other thanks to a fan AMV.

[The.Idea.of.Evil]

I'm loving listening to everyone else's choices =) Been a long while since I've heard a few of them, lol


I guess for me the easiest way to do this would be to choose my top favorite three bands and then choose my most favorite song by each of them...


Korn - Make Me Bad
I've always been a rock fan, and I grew up with half of my family always playing 80's metal around me. Korn was the next evolution of the rock sound for me in the 90's, and so their style of hard riffs and "ugly noises" that blended into beautiful music just hooked me. Plus, Issues (their fourth album and what this song comes off of) was the first album of theirs that I heard. Once I went back into their library of previous albums to hear their amazing music, I knew that their early quality was never going to be matched in my eyes.


Depeche Mode - Useless
The other half of my family loved 80's new wave music, and Depeche Mode was the ultimate band for me. They had their pop songs that rivaled anything Duran Duran or INXS or Tears for Fears had in their own library, but the b-sides and the filler songs Depeche Mode created was a cut above the rest. Over time, I had to realize and admit that Depeche Mode never released an album that didn't have at least one truly amazing song on it, and so they became my favorite band of quantity.


Orgy - Fiend
If Korn represents my love of hard rock sounds and Depeche Mode represents my love of dance music and electronica, then Orgy is the perfect blend of the two styles. They represent an update to the 80's synth music I grew up with and loved combined with the 90's hard rock riffs and ugly noises into one cohesive style.

[Mer-Man's Minion]

Wow, I'm surprised several people are responding---I mean, I myself just can't pick THREE top favorite songs out of all of music. There's country, there's pop, there's Disney, there's Muppets, there's Christmas, there's soundtracks, there's classical choral works...

I'll start it off.First up, maybe the saddest song ever sung

I would have to say that title goes to Reba McEntire's "She Thinks His Name Was John".

[OwenMorton]

Wow, I'm surprised several people are responding---I mean, I myself just can't pick THREE top favorite songs out of all of music. There's country, there's pop, there's Disney, there's Muppets, there's Christmas, there's soundtracks, there's classical choral works...

Fair point... it's less than 12 hours later and I'm already reconsidering my choices......

[IceyCat]

Fair point... it's less than 12 hours later and I'm already reconsidering my choices......

Yeah, my hubby was like 'How can you pick THREE songs?!?' Music is so important. I have memories that are more vivid if they are tied to a song or music.

[The All American]

I only have one: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

And I'm sorry.

[IceyCat]

I only have one: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

And I'm sorry.

I knew what it was even before I clicked - LOL!

[Midwinter]

Yeah, my hubby was like 'How can you pick THREE songs?!?' Music is so important. I have memories that are more vivid if they are tied to a song or music.

Agree with your husband. Not even sure how to narrow it down to 100 songs much less 3.

I used to agonize over what to listen to so now I’ve leaned to love the shuffle and surprise myself. Probably doesn’t help I’m in the autistic spectrum and I struggle with being able to objectively rank intangible things like music.

[Dcr4]

Wow, I'm surprised several people are responding---I mean, I myself just can't pick THREE top favorite songs out of all of music. There's country, there's pop, there's Disney, there's Muppets, there's Christmas, there's soundtracks, there's classical choral works

Yeah, man, I'd be hard pressed to come up with my top 3 Zeppelin or Rush songs let alone top 3 out of everything.

[Mer-Man's Minion]

Yeah, man, I'd be hard pressed to come up with my top 3 Zeppelin or Rush songs let alone top 3 out of everything.

Yes, great point. Yeah, I too would be quite hard-pressed to come up with my 3 favorite songs by 1 artist alone, let alone the entire concept of music in the history of mankind.

(Mr. Jack, please don't take this as sarcastic or criticism---I'm just utterly amazed anyone can narrow music all the way down to 3 songs! lol :-) )

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Hard work and difficult choices are the point of this thread. But for all of us there were critical moments when a song touched us in a unique way that few ever have. All of my choices rip like a buzz saw to my heart and soul for reasons I won't share. But it's that visceral feeling that I think separates songs we love from songs that are an important and lasting part of our very essence.

Yes, great point. Yeah, I too would be quite hard-pressed to come up with my 3 favorite songs by 1 artist alone, let alone the entire concept of music in the history of mankind.

(Mr. Jack, please don't take this as sarcastic or criticism---I'm just utterly amazed anyone can narrow music all the way down to 3 songs! lol :-) )

[Leviathan]

My top three favorite songs are...

Number one is, 1981's In The Air Tonight: Phil Collins (I love how it starts of mellow... "I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord"... and gradually increases in intensity... "Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you and me"... then BOOM! Those drums and the song just fills me with something... "I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord.")... but I digress.

Number two is, 1980's Can You Feel It: The Jacksons (Just a bad as song from the Jackson's Triumph album about unity, human and racial harmony etc. Great song and the video was awesome for the time especially looking back. It was after/during the success of Michael's solo Off The Wall album and before the mega success of Thriller.)

Number three is, 1984's Erotic City: Prince and Sheila E (A good old fun song full of sexually charged lyrics, I love it.)

An honorable mention to 1986's, The Touch: Stan Bush (Ever since I first heard it in Transformers The Movie, it stuck with me ever since. This song just gets in your blood and if you know the words it really makes you feel as if the song is about you at that moment. You feel like you can do anything.... anything legal that is.)

[Neophron]

Many choices, but I would certainly pick:
Metallica - Disposable Heroes
Gunnar Nelson - Team Chaotix (Theme of Team Chaotix)
Loudness - Black Star Oblivion