My 50 Favorite Songs of All Time
So here it is, the definitive list of my 50 favorite songs of all time. I suspect that anyone who’s been reading Opus for any significant amount of time — or has known me since, say, the 11th grade — won’t be too surprised by many of my selections here, and that’s OK. Although I’ve long been attracted to music that exists on the fringes, music’s value has no relationship whatsoever to its obscurity (or lack thereof). Sometimes good songs remain on the fringes, sometimes they find a place within the zeitgeist, and good luck to anyone who tries to determine which songs end up where.
So what determines whether a song is a favorite of mine or not? It has nothing to do with genre — though my genre preferences will become quite apparent even part-way through this list — or any other usual criteria. Ultimately, it comes down to this: my favorite songs are those that, even after the umpteenth listen, still contain new insights and reveal new delights. No matter how many times I hear them, these songs still strike a chord in some hidden place deep within me. They communicate timeless beauty and truth, impose a bit of order onto the universe’s chaos, and make life matter just a little bit more than it did before I pressed “Play.”
That said, I did place a few restrictions on my selections, lest I be tempted to allow a handful of artists — and I think you know who those might be — to dominate my picks. That would be unfair and inaccurate. The following is my best attempt to accurately reflect the music that has shaped and inspired me. Obviously, this list might look different in ten years, but for now, I feel pretty good with how it ended up. And I hope these songs bless you like they’ve blessed me over the years and decades.
“What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye (1971)
A deeply human plea for love and brotherhood in the midst of a turbulent world.
“Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division (1980)
In 2002, NME called it the greatest single of all time.
“All Cats Are Grey” by The Cure (1981)
Many of The Cure’s songs express lament, but none more clearly and powerfully than “All Cats Are Grey.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto (1983)
Every time I listen to Sakamoto’s delicate song, I’m overcome with an acute sense of mono no aware.
“This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” by Talking Heads (1983)
This one’s our song, the song that we walked out of our wedding to, and into a new life together.
“New Year’s Day” by U2 (1983)
Reveals U2 at the heights of their youthful powers.
“Reflections in Suspension” by Steve Roach (1984)
An ambient masterpiece that evokes vast cosmic structures that exist beyond human comprehension.
“Plastic Love” by Mariya Takeuchi (1984)
Makes me nostalgic for an era that I was never a part of.
“Appetite” by Prefab Sprout (1985)
A deeply sensitive ballad about human flaws and desires that still sounds absolutely fantastic even after 40 years.
“West End Girls” by Pet Shop Boys (1986)
The Pet Shop Boys do their best to make sense of a “dead end world” gone increasingly mad.
“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths (1986)
The Smiths’ most endearing, and enduring, ode to heartache and unrequited love.
“Holocaust” by This Mortal Coil (1987)
A faithful cover of Big Star’s song that’s elevated into mopey, moody transcendence.
“Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” by Kate Bush (1989)
Kate Bush’s best-known song entered the modern zeitgeist thanks to Stranger Things.
“Last Dance” by The Cure (1989)
Robert Smith has rarely sounded so forlorn or heartbroken as he does in this wintry tale of age and faded love.
“Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires” by Cocteau Twins (1990)
An absolute jewel of a song that perfectly captures the sorrow and joy that surrounded the album’s production.
“Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode (1990)
Dave Gahan’s rich, sultry baritone is my ideal male voice.
“Tragedy (For You)” by Front 242 (1991)
The soundtrack to my earliest excursions into the world of cyberpunk.
“When You Sleep” by My Bloody Valentine (1991)
A pure sonic rush of delirium that remains as fresh and groundbreaking — and gorgeous — today as it did back in 1991.
“Nostalgia” by Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus (1991)
The Army’s music always feels like it’s being transmitted from an otherworldly place, and that’s doubly so on “Nostalgia.”
“Catch the Breeze” by Slowdive (1991)
The sort of sound one wraps themselves in, content to bliss out to the windswept gloominess.
“New Grass” by Talk Talk (1991)
Talk Talk keep going further up and further in, sweeping the listener along to a gorgeous new country.
“This Twilight Garden” by The Cure (1992)
The dreamiest song in The Cure’s catalog finds Robert Smith at his most unabashedly romantic.
“Mytho-X” by Mortal (1992)
A brooding techno number about maintaining one’s faith in the midst of a broken and troubled world.
“Join Our Club” by Saint Etienne (1992)
Though intended as something cheesy, this is as euphoric and celebratory as dance pop gets.
“As I Am” by The Violet Burning (1992)
Vital listening for a high school Christian (i.e., yours truly) drowning in angst, loneliness, and spiritual struggles.
“Hole In the World” by Daniel Amos (1993)
This song helped form my notion of what heaven could be like after you strip away all of the popular iconography.
“The Carnival Is Over” by Dead Can Dance (1993)
A tale of childhood innocence that’s more personal and less enigmatic than the band’s usual fare, but still just as magical.
“Souvlaki Space Station” by Slowdive (1993)
This shoegaze epic makes you feel like you’re soaring through the cosmos.
“Landed” by Soulwhirlingsomewhere (1993)
Lush atmospherics, rich vocals, and deeply intimate lyrics that were a balm for the soul.
“Absent Friend” by Bark Psychosis (1994)
A gorgeous eight-minute sprawl of jazz drumming, reverb-laden guitars, breathy vocals, and cryptic lyrics.
“Words” by Low (1994)
The very ideal of a Low song: haunting, mysterious, beautiful, and timeless.
“Indiana” by Starflyer 59 (1995)
If I made a mixtape for a crush at some point in the mid-to-late ’90s, this was probably somewhere on the track list.
“Building Steam with a Grain of Salt” by DJ Shadow (1996)
A landmark in the world of hip-hop, with beats that play with your sense of space and time.
“Good Cop Bad Cop” by Everything But the Girl (1996)
Melancholy has rarely sounded so slick or soulful.
“Lot Like Me” by For Stars (1998)
The loveliest ballad for losers and slackers that you could possibly imagine.
“Risingson” by Massive Attack (1998)
Utterly gripping thanks to the eerie atmospherics, serpentine arrangements, and dense production.
“Secret of the Easy Yoke” by Pedro The Lion (1998)
A comforting reminder that I was not alone in my doubts and struggles.
“September Brings the Autumn Dawn” by Hood (1999)
Feels like I’m entering a “thin place,” and experiencing a world that lies just beyond the senses.
“Frontier Psychiatrist” by The Avalanches (2000)
A bottomless mashup of samples that gets more and more delirious — and delightful — with each passing second.
“Bicycles” by The Clientele (2000)
The Clientele’s reverb-drenched ballad evokes ’60s pop and folk from an alternate universe where it’s forever grey and overcast.
“Into the Storm” by Lift To Experience (2000)
A Texas-sized promise of salvation to come that’s just about as uplifting as rock n’ roll gets.
“13 Angels Standing Guard ‘Round the Side of Your Bed” by A Silver Mt. Zion (2000)
Arguably the most beautiful and moving piece of music to emerge from the Godspeed camp.
“The Black Cassette” by My Favorite (2001)
Return to those awkward years when life felt way more miserable and way more important.
“Popplagið” by Sigur Rós (2002)
No song better conveys the vast emotional landscapes that can be found in Sigur Rós’ ethereal post-rock.
“Israel and Palestine - A Solution” by Nanook of the North (2004)
A cry for peace and understanding delivered via breezy indie folk/pop.
“Casimir Pulaski Day” by Sufjan Stevens (2005)
Sufjan’s gentle yet searing story about maintaining faith in the midst of death is full of striking details and imagery.
“Silent Shout” by The Knife (2006)
Precisely how I like my electronic music: sleek, sharp, and with no small hint of menace lurking behind it all.
“Slow” by The Mary Onettes (2007)
The Mary Onettes make it seem like they’re the very first band to ever make music this majestically mopey.
“The Rip” by Portishead (2008)
The trip-hop legends transform sorrow and world-weariness into something arresting and sublime.
“An Infinite Horizon” by Makeup and Vanity Set (2013)
Evokes bleak, Blade Runner-esque environs and cosmic graveyards fill with the hulls of alien lightships.
You can listen to (most of) these songs via these Apple Music and Spotify playlists.