75. Hey Ya! by OutKast

"Hey Ya!" by OutKast

Written by Andre Benjamin
Produced by Andre 3000
Released on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (September 23, 2003)
Released as single on September 9, 2003
Peaked at #1 on Billboard Hot 100
amazon spotify music video


This is the only OutKast song on my list. True OutKast fans should probably be offended by this. Heck, I'm a little mad at myself over this. They're an incredible duo. They were fun, introspective, and made some unbelievably great music. So many of their songs are probably on many people's imagined top 100 lists.

While OutKast will always be synonymous with Southern Rap, "Hey Ya!," and The Love Below half of the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double album, didn't really fit into that categorization. "Hey Ya!" is a pop song. (It might just be a perfect pop song.)

"Hey Ya!" was literally everywhere in 2003-2004. It was played on almost every radio station. It was the #1 song on Billboard's Hot 100 for 9 straight weeks. Maybe it wasn't quite as big as "Old Town Road," but to help put it and OutKast into perspective, its reign at #1 was halted by another OutKast song: "I Like the Way You Move." That was the winter of OutKast. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below even managed to become the first hip hop album to win the Grammy for album of the year. Not that the Grammys mean anything. If you look back at the history of that award sometime, you'll find that they missed hard on that award throughout the 90s and 00s, but in 2004, the voters probably got it right. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a cultural touchstone, and "Hey Ya!" plays a huge role in its enduring legacy.

"Hey Ya!" is still a great song, but now it's also a time machine. It will always take me back to that time in my life, just out of college, having fun, and trying to figure out life, the universe, and everything. I'm not sure any particular song defines a time so clearly for me. It was so present and tangible then, that I can't help but feel those years in its rhythms and hear those memories in its lyrics.

That time was right around when I did something that just about every man tries to do at least once in their life: try to learn the guitar. In 2003, I bought a guitar, learned a few chords, downloaded tabs, and put in a minimal effort into becoming a guitar player for about 3 years. I still have that guitar, but it mostly gathers dust now.

So of course it made sense to learn the chords for "Hey Ya!" It was a surprisingly simple song to learn. Apparently Andre 3000 was learning to play the guitar as they were producing Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and he wrote "Hey Ya!" based on the first 4 chords he learned to play. It's a little tricky to play and sing because of the 2/4 bar that's inserted towards the end of the verse and some of the vocal rhythms in the second verse, but the chords and the lyrics were pretty easy. And ultimately it didn't matter if you screwed up the rhythm a little bit because the song was fun.

One of the best weddings I ever attended was right around this time. It was for one of my best friends from high school on the beach in beautiful northern Michigan. The groom was a musician, so the music at the reception was basically a jam session with a bunch of his musician friends from college. At one point I was prodded into grabbing the acoustic guitar and playing "Hey Ya!" for everyone. It was awesome. Everyone danced and sang along.

Afterwards, my friend's step-mom told me how much she enjoyed the song and how everyone seemed to be into it, even though she had never heard it before. What? How had she not heard "Hey Ya!?" Who could have possibly been alive at that point and not heard it somewhere? That was when I started to really see just how fractious and specialized tastes in music have become. Even a song that had turned into a seemingly unavoidable cultural phenomenon could be completely foreign to some not insignificant percentage of the population. (Also, for those wondering, I did play it at that wedding reception before the Scrubs episode existed, and I played it as a fun song, not as a sappy ballad like they did on the show.)

As I said, "Hey Ya!" is a time machine. I have so many memories tied up in those four minutes of pure pop brilliance. I'm grateful they're good memories and that it's a good song.

Right now, "Hey Ya!" by OutKast is (probably) my 75th favorite song of all time.

76. Sober by Tool

"Sober" by Tool

Music by Adam Jones, Dana Carey, Paul D'Amour
Lyrics by Maynard James Keenan
Released on Undertow (April 6, 1993)
Released as single in May 1993
amazon spotify music video
Warning: Explicit Lyrics

I have a funny story about this song. I used to live and work at a camp in Michigan. In between seasons, I had to live in a little room upstairs in the camp's farmhouse (which also served as the camp office). To say that this was an awkward living situation would be an understatement. See, they forced me to live there during the parts of the year when I had essentially no work responsibilities, and this was not a large office. The offices were all downstairs, but I'm sure it wasn't hard for my colleagues to figure out when I got up each day. I enjoyed my time off between seasons and sleeping in is something I have always enjoyed doing during time off. But it was a job I loved, the rent was cheap, so I made it work. Living where others are working is simply not an ideal situation.

One Sunday morning, I got up and took a shower as I got ready for church. Because it was Sunday, I assumed no one was in the office. When people ask me if I sing, I usually tell them that I do, but only in the shower, the car, and at church. So I was in the shower singing. For some reason "Sober" was in my head, so I was singing the chorus (the only part of the song I know the words to). I was really going for it. When I want, I can sing LOUD. I'm not entirely sure where or how I developed this skill, but I can really project my voice when I want to. My sister used to be an opera singer. I don't know whether I could have trained my ear and my voice to sing nearly as well as her, but I'm pretty darn sure that I could sing as loud as her, if I really wanted to.

So there I was, in the upstairs shower in an empty office, singing like a madman.

After church, I was talking with a couple people from the camp. My boss mentioned that he had stopped by the office on his way to church and heard some singing. This was getting awkward, and not just because he had heard me singing at full volume. What really made it awkward was when he asked me what I had been singing. Because of my boss's age and what I knew about him, I couldn't really figure out how to explain who Tool was. So when he asked what I was singing, I lied and said that I didn't know.

I don't sing as much in the shower anymore.

Tool is great. They rock hard. "Sober" was their first song that got played anywhere, and it was accompanied by a fantastically strange and cool claymation music video. I have enjoyed other Tool songs, but none as much as this "Sober." Tool is a cool band because in addition to rocking hard, they also do cool things like mess with time signatures and song structures. In the end though, as interesting as their music is, sometimes I just want to rock, and "Sober" isn't particularly interesting or complicated; it just rocks. Interesting music is interesting, but sometimes it's OK to just want to rock, hard.

Right now, "Sober" by Tool is (probably) my 76th favorite song of all time.

77. Say It Ain't So by Weezer

"Say It Ain't So" by Weezer

Written by Rivers Cuomo
Produced by Ric Ocasek
Released on Weezer (Blue Album) (May 10, 1994)
Released as single on July 13, 1995
amazon spotify music video

If you don't know anything about the band Weezer (or even if you do), here's what you need to know:

1. Their first album, Weezer (aka the Blue album) is their best album.
2. A vocal subset of Weezer fans and music critics will try to convince you that Pinkerton is Weezer's best album. They are just trying to sound cool, and they are not very convincing.
3. Others will try to say that Weezer (aka the Green album) is Weezer's best self-titled album and therefore their best album. This serves as a reminder that some opinions are simply wrong.
4. Weezer has produced six self-titled albums. (They are differentiated by the colors of their covers.)
5. Yes, Weezer is a pretentious band. Weezer fans can also be pretentious, especially when they want to share their incorrect opinions about Weezer's music.
6. People's opinions about Weezer can never be taken at face value. There's a very good chance that anyone sharing any kind of opinion about Weezer, whether positive or negative, is just trying to seem cool.

During my freshman year in high school Weezer was everywhere. I should be more specific. They were on the radio and they were on MTV, which for a freshman in high school in the fall of 1994 might as well as been everywhere.

Their first single, "Undone - The Sweater Song," was catchy enough and gimmicky enough to fit right into the burgeoning alternative music scene. They produced a campy and nostalgic video for the song "Buddy Holly" that was a super fun. I unashamedly loved that music video. I'm not sure that was true of everyone who liked it though. There were probably people who only liked it ironically. I was probably still too young to really be aware of how liking something ironically worked, but there's a lot about the 90's alternative music scene that was all about irony. Ironically this did not include Alanis Morrissette's song "Ironic." There was really nothing ironic about that song.

This, of course, speaks to the real problem about Weezer (and alternative music in general). At some point some of my friends made it very clear to me that liking Weezer was not cool. Now looking back, it's obvious that my friends who said this were definitely not cool, but I thought they had cool taste in music. The only real reason to listen to music in high school was to seem cool, right? I desperately wanted to be cool in high school. I knew I wasn't cool, but I was looking for any kind of incremental advantage that could help me become cooler. Maybe having cool taste in music could fool a couple of people into thinking I was cool.

So when I was told that Weezer wasn't cool, I didn't try to protest or disagree. I was like, "Duh, of course they aren't cool."

Man, I was an idiot.

I love music. That's the reason I started writing this blog. That being said, I still listen to music and write about music because I am trying to seem cool, but now instead of trying to make sure I'm listening to music only because other people think it's cool, I'm trying to seem cool by not caring about what people think of my taste in music. For example, I used to have a handful of "guilty pleasure" songs that I liked, but wouldn't openly admit to liking. I don't anymore. I like what I like, and I choose not to hide it or feel guilty about it. That's apparently what cool people do: they don't care about whether or not they are cool. They certainly don't care about whether their taste in music is cool.

Of course, I'm still not cool because I'm still trying too hard. The mere existence of this blog is clear evidence of my continued efforts to seem cool. Despite my efforts, I am still very much obsessed with coolness. It's becoming the theme of this entire blog.

I'm hopeless, aren't I?

"Say It Ain't So" is a great song, and I don't care what you think about that.

Did you believe me?

Right now, "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer is (probably) my 77th favorite song of all time.

78. Samba Pa Ti by Santana

"Samba Pa Ti" by Santana

Written by Carlos Santana
Produced by Fred Catero, Carlos Santana
Released on Abraxas (September 23, 1970)
Released as single in 1973
amazon spotify

Saying that Carlos Santana plays the guitar seems inadequate. Carlos Santana speaks through his guitar; he emotes through six strings and an amp; he coaxes peace, love, and fire out of his pickups. The sound he creates is unique, golden, and emotive. The reason I love "Samba Pa Ti" is simple: During the nearly five minutes that make up this ode to life and everything beautiful, Carlos Santana makes his guitar cry. There is no other way to describe the way his guitar sounds during the first section of "Samba Pa Ti." It is beautiful and glorious and sad.

I sometimes like to read about how musicians create and produce their music. I'll read articles and books describing of equipment that artists use on particular recordings. It's an interesting exercise for me: Seeing how different artists put the puzzle pieces together to generate a sound, and it is a puzzle. Do you go Fender or Gibson? Standard or custom pickups? What kind of amp? What kind of cable? Which pedals do you use?

Even with all of that, there is still the guitarist themselves to consider. It's fascinating how others can try to replicate a guitar god's setup only to generate a sound that's not quite right. It's a reminder that creating great music, even rock music, is an art more than a science. It takes skill and patience and practice. The sound is as much in the fingers of the artist as it is in their setup.

Santana apparently uses a PRS guitar. When I was trying to explain to a friend of mine how much I loved the tone of Santana's guitar on "Samba Pa Ti," he in turn mentioned to me how much he disliked PRS guitars. He felt like instead of creating a unique sound, PRS tried to split the difference between a Gibson sound and a Fender sound. I felt like he wasn't listening to the song, he was just thinking about how much he disliked PRS guitars. He got so lost in the science of the music, that he wasn't hearing the art.

Ultimately, however Carlos Santana created the sound he did doesn't matter. Whatever the magic is, and whatever equipment he used, the only thing that really matters is that he made his freaking guitar cry! How do you do that? That is what separates the guitar gods from the imitators and pretenders. Only Santana can actually coax literal tears from the strings on his guitar. And that is why I love this song (the first of two Santana instrumentals on my top 100 list).

Right now, "Samba Pa Ti" by Santana is (probably) my 78th favorite song of all time.

79. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic

"Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic

Written by Eddie Hazel, George Clinton
Produced by George Clinton
Released on Maggot Brain (July 12, 1971)
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Warning: Explicit Lyrics

I'm not sure what it says about me that out of everything in George Clinton's extensive P-Funk catalog, I decided to put his least funky song on my top 100 list. It certainly can't be anything good, but I'm a sucker for good guitar instrumentals, and funky or not, "Maggot Brain" is a great guitar instrumental. There's something about a true master of the guitar putting it all out there, and letting their guitar do the talking for them. Eddie Hazel's guitar is certainly speaking here, and I can't claim to know what it's saying, but what it is saying is powerful and beautiful.

Apparently the version of "Maggot Brain" that made it on to the album of the same name, was recorded as one brilliant 10 minute take of guitar god magic. It's not perfect, and an argument could be made that they would have been better off splicing tape together or running through more takes or rehearsals. What is here, though, is full of magic and moments of sheer genius. Whatever it could have been or should have been or would have been doesn't matter. This guitar solo has enough moments of spine tingling euphoria to make up for its less blissful and less perfect sections.

"Maggot Brain" is by the George Clinton led band Funkadelic, one of a small collection of bands he led. All his bands seemed to record and play together, and their personnel and album releases overlapped. They all sound different in some ways and the same in others, and I'm not sure I totally understand their differences or their similarities. The best I can tell is that Funkadelic is the cool band, Parliament is the fun band, P-Funk All-Stars is the touring band, and Bootsy's Rubber Band is the awesomely weird side-project. (Bootsy's Rubber Band actually shows up later on in the list, and of course, I chose another not-so-funky song by one of the greatest funk artists of all time. What is wrong with me?)

"Maggot Brain" is a fascinating song to come out of George Clinton's catalog. It's a deadly serious song. It eschews any of the typical themes that permeated George Clinton's more iconic and commercially successful work. Unlike much of his music, it's not fun and bouncy, but instead is somewhat contemplative and spiritual.

While thinking about what I love about "Maggot Brain," I was reminded of the Sunday Schools I attended as a youth where I first fell in love with music. The hymns we sang were serious, powerful, and sincere. I think a lot of my musical sensibilities are still rooted in that time and in those hymns. The songs I enjoy the most and would rate as "best" are usually more serious in nature and more emotive in execution. This is not the last time a "serious" song from a "fun" band will find its way onto my top 100. Even outside of a church setting, listening to music has always been, at least in part, a religious experience for me. (I do like fun music, and fun songs are included in my heavy listening rotation and are sprinkled throughout my top 100, but ultimately when I rate the songs in my arbitrarily subjective way, serious usually beats fun unless some serious nostalgia is involved.)

"Maggot Brain" is by no means a religious song, but the way that Eddie Hazel spoke and emoted through his guitar on this track speaks to a religious experience. Great music, even when it's not explicitly religious, is inherently spiritual. Frankly, some of the least moving and least spiritual music I hear is the "Christian Rock" that is spewed forth from more and more churches around the country. I genuinely feel closer to God listening to Eddie Hazel's plaintive guitar solo than I would listening to something on a Christian radio station.

Church, religion, and music have always been comforting to me, sometimes individually, and sometimes together. Many of the hymns I sang as a six year old in Sunday School still move me when I sing them in church as an adult. Those hymns will often come to mind when I am searching for answers to life's many great questions. I don't think it is a coincidence that Eddie Hazel's guitar speaks to me in a similar way.

Right now, "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic is (probably) my 79th favorite song of all time.

80. Mean Street by Van Halen

"Mean Street" by Van Halen

Written by Van Halen (Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen)
Produced by Ted Templeman
Released on Fair Warning (April 29, 1981)
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Van Halen is one of my favorite bands. More specifically, Van Halen featuring David Lee Roth is one of my favorite bands. I own every album Van Halen released with David Lee Roth but none from their Sammy Hagar era. I have nothing against Sammy Hagar; Van Halen made some excellent music with Sammy Hagar. Sammy Hagar made some excellent music both as a solo artist and as a member of Montrose. Van Halen, however, at their best, were a fun band, and they were at their most fun when David Lee Roth was leading the way. They made fun music, put on fun shows, and made fun music videos.

That being said, I also love Van Halen at their best (fun or not), and despite Fair Warning being their least fun album ("Unchained" being the notable exception), and "Mean Street" being possibly their heaviest David Lee Roth song, it still manages to be my favorite Van Halen song. Ultimately "Mean Street" is Van Halen's best song, and that is enough.

As good as Van Halen was with David Lee Roth, I feel the need to say a few words about Sammy Hagar. There are a seemingly infinite number of comparisons that can be made between Sammy and DLR because of their respective times singing and writing lyrics for Van Halen. While some of those comparisons and arguments can be fun, ultimately both of their legacies have already been established.

DLR helped Van Halen rise to stardom and ultimately influenced everything that the hair metal era became in the 1980s. Every hair band's lead singer claimed they wanted to be Robert Plant, but they really wanted to be David Lee Roth. Every hair band's lead guitarist of that era claimed they wanted to be Jimmy Page, when really they just wanted to be Eddie Van Halen.

Sammy Hagar helped make one of the all time great rock records as the lead singer of the band Montrose. Montrose's self-titled debut album is spectacular. It has no bad tracks, and is highlighted by two exceptional Hagar compositions: "Bad Motor Scooter" and "Make it Last." His solo career was much more successful than DLR's. He is also another artist who sees a disproportionate amount of love in St. Louis. I'm not entirely sure why. It's possible that some St. Louisans thought his song "Red" was actually about the St. Louis Cardinals. Once again, I'm not trying to downgrade anything about Sammy Hagar, I'm just saying that I don't really know why St. Louis and KSHE 95 love Sammy Hagar as much as they do.

Regardless, both DLR and Sammy made significant contributions to the hard rock/heavy metal canon. I just happen to prefer Van Halen with David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar without Van Halen.

Van Halen will always remind me of growing up watching MTV. Van Halen and David Lee Roth were on all the time. There are quite a few videos that stuck with me through the years that I saw during the late 1980's. I don't really remember any band in that era having more than one iconic video except Van Halen, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Sure, the Beastie Boys wanted us to "Fight For Your Right," Paula Abdul and a cartoon cat were reminding us that "Opposite's Attract," ZZ Top was obsessed with "Legs," George Michael had "Faith" (featuring some legs), Prince crawled around naked on the floor singing about "When Doves Cry," and Aerosmith were going down singing about "Love in an Elevator," but Van Halen and David Lee Roth were crushing all of them (with the possible exception of the aforementioned Michael and Madonna). Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher," "Panama," and "Jump," and DLR's "California Girls," "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody," and "Just Like Paradise" were all iconic and memorable, and defined what MTV was all about. They also were super fun.

At that time, I'm pretty sure I didn't actually understand the difference between Van Halen and David Lee Roth. If you had asked me when I was 8 or 9 years old what my favorite Van Halen song was, I probably would have told you "Just Like Paradise." In fact, for years I thought the sequence featuring David Lee Roth riding a floating surfboard over the audience at a show was from the video for "Panama." When I went searching for it recently, I was shocked to learn that I had those videos mixed up.

The other confusing thing about that era was that people claimed that David Lee Roth wasn't in Van Halen anymore, and I had no idea who Sammy Hagar was because I hadn't seen any of his videos or  any videos of Van Halen featuring Sammy Hagar. It really was a confusing time. Van Halen finally broke through with Sammy Hagar on MTV when they released their video for "Right Now." That video was on all the time in 1991 and 1992, but up until that point it was all about David Lee Roth even though he hadn't been in the band since 1985.

On the last post, I mentioned how simple guitar riffs can be great. There is nothing simple about the opening guitar riff for "Mean Street." It is great because of its complexity. Eddie Van Halen is a master, and his mastery of the electric guitar is on full display throughout "Mean Street." The intro features classic Eddie Van Halen finger-tapping, but he takes them to another level with his deft use of harmonics and feedback. He also plays a blazing solo, and the main driving riff carries the song. This song is really owned by Eddie. DLR's lyrics are good and fit the tone of the music, but his lyrics really shine when he gets to have fun. All of this together, though, leads to one thing, this song is great, and I love it.

Right now, "Mean Street" by Van Halen is (probably) my 80th favorite song of all time.

81. Golden Country by REO Speedwagon

"Golden Country" by REO Speedwagon

Written by Gary Richrath
Produced by Paul Leka and Billy Rose II
Released on R.E.O./T.W.O (December 1972)
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You have to understand, I've spent most of my life living in St. Louis listening to KSHE 95. Liking REO Speedwagon wasn't a choice. It was forced upon me. It could not be helped. I will not apologize, but I felt like this needed to be said.

The weird thing about being from St. Louis is that based upon what gets played on the radio here, one would assume that REO had their greatest success in the 1970's. It turns out that they actually only really took off once Kevin Cronin took control of the band, shoved aside their arena rock roots, and transformed REO into a 80's era balladeers. I will change the radio station if they start playing "Can't Fight This Feeling" or "Keep On Loving You," but I will crank it up if they play "Golden Country" or "Like You Do" or "Keep Pushin'" or "Ridin' the Storm Out (live)." So basically if a radio station outside St. Louis plays them, I'm done, but here in St. Louis, I'm singing along.

I love REO Speedwagon in much the same way that I love St. Louis. I love REO because of their early music from the 1970's that rocks a little bit harder than their later work; the good stuff that others often ignore or never see. St. Louis is the same. People outside St. Louis often see crime and murder statistics, baseball fandom, midwestern stereotypes, and, in more recent years, images of riots and protests. St. Louis is those things, but it is not only those things. REO Speedwagon is bland ballads, but it's not only bland ballads.

My view of REO is defined by my exposure to them and how many memories are tied to their music. My view of St. Louis is defined less by the city itself and more by the connections I have made with the people. I have close family here. My best friend is here. I love my job because of the incredible people who work with me. I have friends who aren't really family, but really are family even though they aren't technically family. I have other great friends, good friends, fraternity brothers, and plenty of people I'm happy to see when our paths cross. St. Louis sometimes feels like a small town because of the number of times I'm out and happen to randomly run into someone I know.

St. Louis is a sprawling metropolis that wants to act like a big city, but feels a lot like a small town. I love it, maybe more than it deserves. I almost certainly love REO Speedwagon more than they deserve.

"Golden Country" is REO at their hardest and rocking-est. It's probably also the only political song they wrote. Its lyrics speak of the inequalities apparent in the world in 1972 and of those who live in power who have the freedom to ignore those problems and the lives destroyed as a result. "Golden Country" like most of the REO songs that I love was written by their lead guitarist, the late Gary Richrath. In "Golden Country" Richrath wrote a rocker starting with the chunky guitar riff that opens the track. Riffs don't need much to be great, as Richrath illustrates on "Golden Country." Sometimes they just need the right sound and the right execution. "Golden Country" follows a typical loud-quiet-loud format, complete with epic chorus and dynamic guitar solo. Like REO's midwestern roots, it's not flashy or innovative, but it is awesome.

Right now, "Golden Country" by REO Speedwagon is, probably, my 81st favorite song of all time.