Most Influential Songs

[Mexican Geek]

Well, right now i'm listening my phone (yes, I dont have an Ipod...) and last week i loaded some tunes from Beatles, Oakenfold, Foo Fighters and some other shit.
And I listened "Revolution" by The Beatles, and I thought "this song has to be one of the msot influential songs ever". The term itself was strong in the 60's, and the band, well, nobody can't deny The Beatle's heritage on Rock n Roll...They "revolutionized" the music and they became one of the biggest Pop Icons. Lennon's lyrics are, IMO, object of desire for many musicians nowdays. Definitely the perfect song for the 60's movement.

So, which song(s) do you think are the most influential in the history of Music? (Well, you can start from the 50's or later if you want...) and please:

DO NOT MAKE FREAKIN PLAYLISTS!!!! If you want to name a song(or several), EXPLAIN WHY do you think is (are) influential. ("Because It fucking rocks" and "because that song rocks my world.." is not sufficient, so try a little harder )

 

[Memory Horizon]

Depends on what is influenced by the song. The song We Will Rock You or We Are The Champions is obviously good for Sports, it became a song that you wanted to sing in the middle of a game, or something you sung after your team won.

I would also say Ironman by Black Sabbath. That song in my opinion was what really started the genre known as Metal, it wasn't happy, it wasn't pop, it wasn't the Beach Boys or the Stones, it was something completely different.............and we LIKED it!

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana was also another one. It brought about the Grunge genre and inspired many many many bands thereafter, so many bands would not be around or would not have been around if it wasn't for that song OR that band.

Ozzy's Crazy Train and pretty much everything else from Blizzard of Oz (Randy Rhoads) and later on in No Rest For the Wicked albums (Zakk Wylde) was a huge inspiration for the aspiring young guitarists that sit home and say, HOLY SHIT I WANT TO PLAY LIKE THAT!

That, and without Ozzy, Zakk Wylde would have never done shit. Zakk and Randy Rhoads both are heroes and huge inspiration to me, part of which I picked up the guitar because of.

There are more, of course, but those are the songs that I believe inspired groups, and in particular myself. Songs are difficult to think of, I found myself thinking more of bands than the songs.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

John Lennon's "Instant Karma" was a meaningful (all Lennon's work was) and spoke to an entire generation. Lennon showed a lot of people that it was possible to speak to a culture and have an influence. Now, I am not saying there was a direct influence on all culturally or socially impactful bands, but Lennon helped invent what bands like Bad Religion and NWA helped perfect.

Van Halen's Eruption. Kasey said it best - "Eruption is Dogma." Simple fact, this helped CREATE the intro guitar riff solo movement.

Elvis Pressley's "Heartbreak Hotel." Why? It proved to the world that white people could steal anything from black people. That is a controversial FACT. Pressley took historically black styles of music, watered them down, and made the white crap. And thanks to Elvis, the Rolling Stones came along and said "we can steal music from black people, but with more guitars."

Queen's "We Will Rock You." This established the fact that mainstream music fans are raving idiots to allow a crap arena rock song to become the most recognizable tune of the world's all-time greatest band.

Van Halen's "Poundcake." I said it before in these forums, I will say it again. Proved the guitar could be played WITH A DAMN DRILL!

Anything off of The Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds." No, I cannot explain why, so don't ask. It just is.

Creedence Clearwater Revivals "Fortunate Son." At a time when social turmoil WAS what was happening, the challenge to the draft process in Vietnam remains an anthem for social unrest.

Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus." A scathing indemnification of the religious right if you dig deep enough.

Hanson's "MmmBop." Yes, kidding.

 

[Shadowmancer]

I would disagree with you on the John Lennon thing. His solo stuff is incredibly overrated, the only reason that he has his stuff considered as great is because a deranged fan shot him. Same thing with Kurt Cobain, they are both incredibly overrated. Nirvana isn't really that original with the sound, if you look back at their influences and the other stuff that was being produced around the same clubs they played when they were starting out.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Great point on the Lennon thing, Shadow. It's like Cypress Hill said in Rock Superstar- "...thinks he's gonna make a 'mill but never will 'til he crosses over still..."

Sometimes death is the best Marketing tool of them all...

 

[Memory Horizon]

I would agree with you Cobain being entirely overrated, though he is an amazing writer. But as a guitarist or a musician, I'd say overrated. But not with Nirvana. Most of the influences that I've read them having I haven't even heard of. That and I don't think Grunge would have been the same without Nirvana, and even if it was, not as popular as it was/is. Yeah, Cobain WAS Nirvana, but by himself, he was nothing.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I felt Nirvana was over-rated. I though the music of Alice in Chains was more introspective, more painful, more vivid than Nirvana's. I'd also take Jerry Cantrell or Lane Staley over Kurt Cobain anyday.

 

[Memory Horizon]

Absolutely Irish with Alice In Chains. Alice in Chains is phenomenal. I never said Nirvana was a good band, just that they played a huge part and put a lot of influence into future bands...if only for Cobain's suicide. But that aside, Nirvana would not be looked at as one of the greatest bands of all time (Not just my opinion) if they didn't play a large part in the genre.

 

[daddybrash]

If we are talking about song writers from the grunge era then how in the hell is anyone gonna leave out Eddie Vedder or Chris Cornell? Eddie Vedder has some of the most impressive and true lyrics in a lot of the songs he wrote.....ie: Nothing Man, Off He goes, BetterMan, Yellow Ledbetter, etc. As far as Chris Cornell and Soundgarden go, if it weren't for them and two little bands by the name of the Pixies and Mother Love Bone you would have never had Kurt Cobain or Lane Staley or Eddie Vedder. All 5 of these bands rose from the same place, along with many other great bands. However, when it comes to most influential song, you must break it down to era and in this era, the grunge era, in my opinion the bands who had the most influence over it far and away, not just one song but many, are Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Just like most people on this thread have said, Kurt Cobain gets way to much credit for something he didn't do. I can play 5 or 6 chords on a guitar, that's more than him, I guess I should start my own band now. Later guys, I gotta go find someone to bang on a trash can for me.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

No doubt, daddybrash, a lot of credit goes out to Cornell and Vetter. I am also thrilled how many people realize how over rated Nirvana / Cobain were.

I would also like to nominate John Cena and Tha Trademark's "Chain Gang is the Click" for paving the way for...stuff...

 

[daddybrash]

Ha ha ha, Tha Trademark. That's freaking great. I gotta say though, I did enjoy the video to Bad Bad Man. That whole A-Team thing was good. And we all know that You Can't See Me was an instant rap anthem. One for all ages. It stands right up there with Dr. Dre Nuthin But a G thang for paving the way for todays gangsta rappers.

 

[hbk&triple h]

Cobain is nowhere near being overrated.The man single handedly with his band created grunge and changed the way rock music is forever.He is a musical fucking mastermind and his songs were all amazing.Smells Like Teen Spirit is without a doubt one of the most influential rock songs ever.

 

[Shadowmancer]

Listen to stuff that was being Made concordedly with Nirvana, like Mother Love Bone. Mother Love Bone is perhaps more influential for Grunge than Nirvana. Because he killed Himself he is accorded greatness status that if you look at his music was not actually warranted. Ill give you Smells Like Teen Spirit but where else is there a really original Song that Nirvana came out with. Controversial in Rape Me but that is just the Smells Like Teen Spirit Riff Backwards. Whereas you look at songs like Riders on the Storm and other such songs from The Doors you have real influence on the music world as a Whole. Grunge was going to occur with or without Nirvana, the Psychedelic Rock that The Doors were apart with would be nothing with out The Doors and a few other bands.

 

[Mad Metal]

I felt Tainted Love by Soft Cell was a very influential song. It set a record as a top song for quite some time. IMO it's not the "bad ass" type of song or anything, it's pure and simple; it was a very well made song overall. The beats were perfectly done throughout the entire song, the lyrics were good (even though the original version of the song was by Gloria Jones in 1964), Marc Almond did an excellent job singing and Dave Ball did a great job as well.

If you never heard the song check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy87Wd2rISg

 

[X]

Listen to stuff that was being Made concordedly with Nirvana, like Mother Love Bone. Mother Love Bone is perhaps more influential for Grunge than Nirvana. Because he killed Himself he is accorded greatness status that if you look at his music was not actually warranted. Ill give you Smells Like Teen Spirit but where else is there a really original Song that Nirvana came out with. Controversial in Rape Me but that is just the Smells Like Teen Spirit Riff Backwards. Whereas you look at songs like Riders on the Storm and other such songs from The Doors you have real influence on the music world as a Whole. Grunge was going to occur with or without Nirvana, the Psychedelic Rock that The Doors were apart with would be nothing with out The Doors and a few other bands.

I'd definately have to disagree with you STRONGLY on this statement Shadow m'boy.

I love Mother Love Bone first off. Chloe Dancer is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. I used to be huge into grunge a long time ago, so I know all about that scene. MLB were hugely influential to a certain type of alternative rock music, I wouldn't necessarily say they were a grunge band. People tend to think of Grunge as any alternative rock loosely assosciated with Seattle in the early 90s and thats just not so. MLB were much more of a fusion of glam and arena rock mixed with heavier hooks. The real godfathers of grunge were a band called Green River, perhaps you heard of them? Original band for some of the guys from Mudhoney. Fantastic band, and I'd definately call them the originators of grunge over MLB any day considering MLB were only around from like 88-90 and Green River were already around by 86.

But to say Nirvana were not an influential band is just absurd my friend. If the only "original" song you can find by them is Smells like Teen Spirit (which isn't even one of their top 10 best songs) then you must not be looking hard enough. Heres a quick list of highly original and amazing songs by Nirvana besides the two hits you mentioned.

Love Buzz
About a Girl
Lithium
Come As You Are
In Bloom
Lounge Act
Something in the Way
Heart Shaped Box
All Apologies
Polly
Drain You
The Entire Unplugged Album

Look at all of that I just listed. Thats just breaking the surface. You should hear some of the solo acoustic stuff Kurt recorded before he died that they released, its fucking amazing. Nirvana were a mixture of Sabbath heaviness, punk riffs, Dark and Angry William Burroughs-style poetry and melodies worthy of the Beatles. Any and all bands playing any form of alternative rock these days could claim influence from Nirvana. Theres a reason Cobain is so glorified, and its not because he killed himself (if all you had to do was kill yourself, wouldn't there be some huge following of INXS who claim Michael Hutchene was an icon?) it's because his music was really that damn influential and amazing. It changed millions of lives.

As for the Doors and psychedelic rock, I agree to an extent, but psychedelic rock was around well before the Doors even got together. The Beatles, Moby Grape, The Byrds, and most of all the 13th Floor Elevators were tooling around with psychedlia before the Doors came together. The Doors did perfect the music though, I will agree with that. And this is coming from someone who considers Jim Morrison one of the three greatest poets of the 20th century (along with Kerouac and Ginsburg, possibly Sylvia Plath & James Joyce as well) and has heard every piece of music by him more times then I could even dare to count.

You should check out the 13th Floor Elevators, they were the first real perfect psychedlic band and nobody did it better then them except for the Doors. They had a friggin ELECTRIC JUG FOR GOD'S SAKE! Thats all you should need to know to want to go out and buy one of their albums!

Long live Roky Erickson. And being a music geek.

 

[Gus]

The most influencial song that i know of is "Back in Black" by AC/DC, it has the most recognized guitar riffs in the history of music, not just rock either, the lyrics are very inspirational to me, at least. ... also, i think Back in Black became the anthem for rock and roll music, can anyone else think of a song that sums up rock music? i think it'll be kind of hard to do...