JCC 100 Most Iconic Songs Of All Time

Okay, how about this? Since a song is supposed to be a short piece that is sung, how about leaving it at that and not limiting any particular style?

Must have vocals, must be one contained piece(no movements).

 

Edit: Never mind.

 

Why is classical always so maligned? My entire library is basically classical and movie soundtracks. I'm a lost little man in this thread.

Edit: although, tbh, I'm currently listening to Sound of Silence.

 

Why must it have vocals? Funkadelic's Maggot Brain is one of the most iconic songs ever, and it's an instrumental.

 

Like I said, my personal preference is for a more modern list, but if people vote to include classical that's fine by me.

 

Uh, because we have to draw up a barrier by which classical cannot be admitted, duh.

 

Also, I feel like perhaps one of the most seminal* records of all time, DJ Shadow's "Entroducing" is excluded. As is any ambient.

* Yes, dp will make a cringe-worthy joke about this.

 

"Maggot Brain" is an instrumental, yes, not a song. Unless you consider the spoken words at the beginning to count as "sung."

 

If people want no restrictions, that would be fine.

 

NotSoMusicallyInclined, what everyone here is trying to say is that dictionary definitions for genres of music don't work and your categories are ill-defined and highly restrictive. You need to really be reading up on the history of music before trying to so this thread.

 

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I think I covered the biggest hits, based on that rock definition. BTW it doesn't let you link more than 5 so I just stopped there.

 

I like ragging on this list thing (what the hell does "iconic" mean?), but I think limiting it to songs (lyrics sung usually over backing instruments or other vocals) is fair.

 

I'm not claiming to be an expert. I have some music ability and knowledge. No one is perfect, last time I checked.

 

The problem with this argument is it seems like you're making a stronger case for a strict technical definition than the OP was made with in mind.

 

Well, sure, I was just taking issue with defining instrumental music, no matter the genre, as "songs."

 

No, the vernacular term is basically compositions now. Metallica didn't interrupt the first 6 songs of "Master of Puppets" for an "instrumental composition" called Orion; it's regarded as both instrumental and song.

I appreciate the technical accuracy and adherence to etymological detail but by your definition anyone screaming or growling can't be included either.

EDIT: And conversely, through the use of samples, you're compelled to accept "Midnight in a Perfect World" as a song.

 

I should've said "sung/rapped/growled/whatever." I couldn't think of an all-encompassing word.

 

It's probably easier to delimit scope to mean "song" in the commonly used sense, so it doesn't have to exclude instrumentals. Since the most iconic jazz is, you know, without vocals...

 

"Vocal performance"? Although then you have to let in spoken word.

 

You're right, we should put 40-minute, multiple-movement symphonies and "Louie Louie" under the same category. Drumlines perform songs!

Yeah, sure. I'd have no problem with including spoken word under the umbrella. It's just that with "Maggot Brain" in particular, people don't listen to it for (and the main attraction is not)... whatever he says at the very beginning.

 

Well, I mean, "Thick as a Brick" and "Louie Louie" fall into the same category using your metric anyway, despite the former being a 40 minute piece with movements.

 

Difference being that "Thick as a Brick" is an actual song, albeit a very unusually long song.

 

You two are the most boring trolls.

 

The issue I have with classical songs on the list is most of them have been "iconic" for centuries, so they have an advantage over newer songs(newer meaning after 1900). I would like the list to be balanced with many different types of genres. My personal opinion is that modern music is more diverse than classical, which is why I prefer it on the list.

 

I'm not a troll. I have ****head spectrum disorder.