98. Breakfast After 10 by Blue October

"Breakfast After 10" by Blue October

Written by Justin Furstenfeld
Produced by Nick Launay
Released on Consent to Treatment (May 15,  2000)
Released as a single in 2000
Warning: Explicit Lyrics
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"Breakfast After 10" is a breakup song. Despite the fact that I hadn't had very much experience with breakups when I first heard the song, I felt a strong connection to it. Justin Furstenfeld is so plaintive and angry and passionate in his delivery, it seemed hard to ignore. I don't always pay close attention to lyrics in songs, but if the vocalist sounds like they are putting every ounce of energy into each word, it almost doesn't matter to me what they're singing about. I feed off of their passion and vitriol and spit. "Breakfast After 10" certainly has its share of those things.

I first heard "Breakfast After 10" on 93X (KNSX 93.3), a radio station based out of Steeleville, MO (a town that's about 80 miles outside St. Louis). At that time I was attending Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO (which is about 20 miles outside St. Louis). They broadcasted 24/7 without live DJs, which was a new thing at the time. Everything was digital and run by a computer. I'm not even sure if they had a full-time employee. Every once in a while they played a prerecorded tag promoting the radio station or introducing the next song or back-selling the previous one. It was just music, with very few commercials. Because the tower was pretty far outside St. Louis, the signal wasn't always perfect, but the music was mostly good. They played alternative music without getting into the Nu-Metal stuff that was starting to take over the other alternative radio station in St. Louis (105.7 the Point).

They played "Breakfast After 10" pretty frequently for about a year. They never played their prerecorded tag for this song, so for most of that year, I had no idea what the song was or who played it. Eventually I emailed the station to find out who it was. Have you ever tried to describe a song to someone in writing, when you don't know the name of it? It's not easy. Luckily I was able to explain enough, and someone wrote me back with the name and artist.

93X no longer exists. Maybe they were ahead of their time, or maybe their demise was inevitable since no one listens to the radio anymore. I am grateful that I found them, and they played some cool music. They even hired a friend of mine from school who was getting into broadcasting to record some of their tags. It was fun to hear a voice I recognized on the radio every once in a while.

Right now "Breakfast After 10" by Blue October is (probably) my 98th favorite song.

99. Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads

"Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads

Lyrics by David Byrne
Music by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth
Produced by Brian Eno
Released on Remain in the Light (October 8, 1980)
Released as a single on February 2, 1981
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What is cool? Are Talking Heads cool? Is David Byrne cool? Is it cool to put a Talking Heads song on my list? Am I cool?

Don't answer that.

Putting the Talking Heads on my list might be perceived as me trying to seem cool. People who were into New Wave bands always seemed cool, or maybe they were just trying to seem cool. Were New Wave fans hipsters?

To be honest, as much as I like this song, I'm probably just putting this song here to seem cooler than I am. That's part of the history of pop music: People sharing the music they think is cool with others in an attempt to appear cool. Some people try to be cool by liking the most popular music that everyone else likes. Others try to be cool by liking the most obscure music they can find. Putting the second most recognizable song by the second most popular New Wave band at #99 on my list is me trying to live somewhere in between those two extremes, which is definitely not cool.

Bands like Talking Heads are not quite accessible enough to be universally liked, but also not quite so inaccessible to be super obscure. They are the perfect band for a try-hard like me.

Being cool has always been some mythical state that I've never quite been able to achieve. There might be some people who think I'm cool, but they are almost certainly incorrect. I have always floated somewhere between knowing I am uncool and trying hard to appear cool, or steering way to hard into my uncoolness that it actually makes me even more uncool. I'm one of those people that thinks too much and tries too hard to ever actually pull off any kind of consistent level of cool.

I never got too deep into New Wave music. I really like the Cars (despite no Cars song appearing on this list). I never really tried to get into Elvis Costello, and other than the Talking Heads, I'm not too sure who else fits into the New Wave category. My lack of knowledge of New Wave music is yet another strike against my coolness.

I think it's safe to say that "Once in a Lifetime" is a cool song that was written and performed by a cool band, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that it is a great song. I'm sure Talking Heads made other good songs too, but this is the only one that broke through to me.

The verses of "Once in a Lifetime" are kind of weird. I read that David Byrne was trying to imitate early rap, but it sounds more like he's trying to preach to us. The guitar/synth/keyboard riff underneath is hypnotic; the bass is pulsing; and then the chorus hits.

The chorus of "Once in a Lifetime" is unadulterated euphoria. A good sing-along chorus is a beautiful thing. My list is full of great songs with transcendent hooks. The simplest way to record a song that I will fall in love with, is to multi-track the vocals during the chorus so it sounds like a giant choir or even a whole stadium is singing along. I love that stuff.

"Once in a Lifetime" is the song on my list that was released closest to the day I was born. It is also the only song on the list that was released during my birth year. The 1980's did produce some great songs and great bands, but not many of my favorites. The 1990's is when I really fell in love with music, and the music of the 1970's seemed to resonate more with my tastes.

Talking Heads recorded at least one great song, so that make them cool in my book (which probably doesn't mean too much).

Right now "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads is (probably) my 99th favorite song of all time.

100. Patience by Guns n' Roses

"Patience" by Guns n' Roses

Written by Guns n' Roses
Produced by Guns n' Roses and Mike Clink
Released on G N' R Lies (November 29, 1988)
Released as single April 1989
Peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
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I was a good kid. I followed the rules. I listened to my parents. I liked Bon Jovi. Then Appetite for Destruction was released.

Nothing changed. I was still a good kid. I was told that Guns n' Roses were bad boys. They did drugs. They looked scary. Their album came with a parental advisory sticker. I knew that I was not supposed to like this band. So I ignored them. I continued listening to Bon Jovi and Aerosmith and Poison and David Lee Roth doing silly covers and making silly music videos.

Later in 1990 or 1991 while hanging with a couple guys who were a little bit older than me, one of them had a radio with a tape deck that was playing something that rocked. I really liked what I was hearing. So I asked him about it.

Me: "What song is that?"
Him: "'Night Train' by Guns n' Roses." (It might have been that. I'm not sure. I just know that it wasn't something I had heard on the radio or seen on MTV.)
Me: "Oh, I don't like that song."
Him: "You would like it if it wasn't Guns n' Roses."

That comment really offended me. It offended me because even though I knew that he was right, I wasn't going to admit it. Then as I wrestled with that, I realized that I was actively avoiding listening to music that I genuinely enjoyed. That frustrated me even more!

As that year continued, my brother, who was two years older than me, dove deep into his heavy metal phase. I started to follow along, but still clung on to the hair bands that I loved. Guns n' Roses fit as a nice middle ground between the safe, pretty hair bands that I still loved and the heavier metal bands my brother was starting to listen to.

During the summer of 1991 we moved to St. Louis. During that summer, Axl Rose helped incite a riot at Riverport Amphitheater. KSHE 95, St. Louis' iconic rock station, stopped playing Guns n' Roses. Despite that, I still listened. I started listening more. I bought a couple albums. I thought their rhythm guitarist, Izzy Stradlin, was the coolest dude alive.

Guns n' Roses were a big deal. I will argue that for a window of time somewhere between 1988 and 1992, Guns n' Roses were both the most popular musical act in the country and the most culturally important. Very few acts can claim to hold both mantles at the same time. Elvis did it. The Beatles did it. Michael Jackson did it. Garth Brooks probably did it. Kanye West certainly thinks he did it. Maybe Drake did it, but I don't know because I don't listen to new music nearly as much as I used to.

I remember when I first heard "Patience" on Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown as a long-distance dedication. I was actually surprised that I hadn't heard it when it had first climbed the charts.

"Patience" is the only Guns n' Roses song that made my Top 100. There are other songs of theirs that I thought about including ("Civil War," "Don't Cry," "Welcome to the Jungle"), but ultimately "Patience" just fits closer to the type of song I enjoy most today. If I was making a list of my 100 favorite albums, Appetite for Destruction would definitely be in my top 5.

"Patience" is an all time great ballad. It has everything, acoustic guitars, lyrics that are just vague enough and just specific enough to be relatable, whistling, and a great coda.

However, "Patience" is a terrible karaoke song. One night when I was in college, I joined a few friends for some karaoke. I'm pretty sure I sang "Long Haired Country Boy" by the Charlie Daniels Band because it is super easy and kind of funny. That's not important. What is important is that some guy got up and started singing "Patience." At the start I thought it was cool, and the singer was doing a decent job because the first part of the song is pretty easy.

Everyone in the bar is starting to relax. It's a very chill song. The whole bar was starting to vibe. Then the coda comes. Oh no. Axl goes up an octave for the coda. The singer was not capable of pulling that off. The singer butchers the high notes and his voice cracks. The chill vibe that had been building for the last four minutes is destroyed.

Do not sing "Patience" on karaoke night. Seriously. Maybe 1% of the population can actually sing it well. Some songs are lively and fun, so when the karaoke singer screws it up and can't hit the high notes, no one cares because it just adds to the fun. Everyone is already smiling and upbeat. A song like "Patience" gets everyone introspective and chill. That is not the time to ruin the mood because you have not practiced your falsetto. People forget that Axl Rose was actually an incredibly talented singer. Peak Axl is a top 5 all-time hard rock vocalist. That's a big reason that "Patience" is such a great song.

Right now "Patience" by Guns n' Roses is (probably) my 100th favorite song of all time.

What am I doing?

I love music.

I don't love all music, but the music I like, I love.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine celebrated his 40th birthday by posting his top 100 songs of all time to his Facebook page. I thought this was pretty cool, and I immediately started to think about what songs would end up on my list for my 40th birthday

I went deep. I listened to literally every song in my collection. I scoured Spotify. I listened to other people's lists. I wanted to make sure that I had not missed or forgotten something. I had fun listening to music because listening to music is fun. I did not have nearly as much fun making the list. It is nearly impossible to rank songs. It is also really hard to limit it to just 100. There are about 35 more songs I really wanted to include on the list.

I have not yet completed my 40th trip around the sun, but my list is done. Well, that's a lie. No rational person could possibly say "this is my absolute, definitive list of my 100 favorite songs." Tastes change. New songs are discovered or produced. I will never be totally sure if this list is really my top 100. There are multiple songs that will not be on this list that were at one time in my life my favorite song: "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown; "Fight for Your Right" by Beastie Boys; "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi; "Life Goes On" by Poison; "Highway Chile" by Jimi Hendrix; "Alive" by Pearl Jam, for instance. I still like those songs, but there was a time and a place for them. Tastes do change.

So between now and July 23, 2020, I will be writing about the songs on my list. I do not know whether I will write about each song. I do not know what I will write about each song. I imagine most of these will actually be about me and less about the song itself. I am using this as an opportunity to share with anyone who wants to read, some stories about my favorite music and about my life. Stay for as much as you would like, or come back this summer to see the whole list.

Before I get to the list, here are a few fun facts about the top 100:

All the songs on my list were released between 1963 and 2009. Apparently I have not listened to music for the last 10 years.

Eight songs released in 1970 are on my list making it the most represented year. 35 songs were released in the 1970's making it my favorite decade. Clearly I listen to too much KSHE 95.

45 of the songs were released before I was born.

I will probably cheat and include a 101st song.

Led Zeppelin has three songs on the list. Nine other bands made it on the list twice.

Ten of the songs are covers or songs written entirely by someone other than the recording artist.

Three songs are over ten minutes in length. The longest song on the list clocks in at 11:04. The shortest song on the list is only 1 minute and 25 seconds long. The median song length is 4:23, while the longer songs push the mean length up to 4:42.

One song was originally released on a movie soundtrack.

Only two albums have multiple songs on my list.

Five of the songs are live versions.

Four of the songs were released posthumously.

Nine songs are labeled explicit by Spotify. (I would label a few other songs explicit too, but I guess standards have changed.)

Anyway, let's get this started!

Here is a link to the list (which will be updated with each song as I write about them).

My Top 100 Songs