Ok, here we go … 100 of my favorite songs. There are many, many, many more but you have to stop somewhere and since Mrs. Chili stopped at 100, I will too. Well, there actually more than 100 because I cheated and added some more songs in some of the descriptions but I did the best I could to limit it. I’ll add links later once I have the time to figure out how to do them. Any lyrics I quote are in green. Here they are in alphabetical order:

 1. “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” (Paul Simon) Just a fun song that reminds me of a period in my childhood and my uncle. I love Paul Simon and really had to work to pick one song. 

 2. “Afternoon Delight”(Starland Vocal Band) As sexually repressed as our society is, it amazes me that this song was broadcast on the radio several times a day in the ’70’s! It’s nostalgic for me and is just a fun song about sex in the afternoon – nothing wrong with that.

 3. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell) I love singing this song.

 4. “Ain’t No Sunshine” (Bill Withers) A bluesy, soulful song that I never seem to get sick of no matter how many times I’ve heard it.

 5. “All Four Seasons” (Sting) Sting is going to pop up quite a bit on this list and it probably would be easier to name the few songs by Sting that I don’t care for. I like this one because it’s about a man loving a woman who has a tendency to be moody. The best thing about is that he doesn’t love her in spite of her moodiness, but embraces her moodiness because it’s one of the things that makes her who she is. I, too, ride a roller coaster of moods and this song makes me hopeful that people will see that as merely one of my attributes rather than a liability that must be eradicated at all costs. I’ve worked to be on a little bit more of an even keel, but I will always have my peaks and valleys. “She can be all four seasons in one day.”

 6. “All That You Have is Your Soul” (Tracy Chapman) I’m not a big fan of her but I absolutely love this soulful song.

 7. “Always on Your Side” (Sting and Sheryl Crow) Just a pretty love song. Not a big fan of Sheryl Crow but I like this song and their voices are well-suited for a duet.

 8. “American Pie” (Don McLean) Very overplayed but I still love it. I especially loved it when I was a radio DJ because it’s so long!

 9. “And So It Goes”(Billy Joel) I’m a HUGE BJ fan (Hmmm, that didn’t come out quite right). I had a very difficult time deciding which songs I like the best. This is a very quiet, beautiful song but I also love “Goodnight Saigon” (a Vietnam War protest song), “Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)”, and many more.

10. “And When I Die” (Blood, Sweat, and Tears) A pop song about reincarnation – go figure! I also really like “Spinning Wheel” by them.

11. “At Last” (Etta James) One of the most beautiful songs ever and I never get tired of it. If I ever lose my mind and get married, I would want this played at the ceremony.

12. “Aubrey” (Bread) I really like Bread and my other favorite song of theirs is “Everything I Own.”

13. “Beautiful”(Christina Aguilera) I hate it when people lump her in with poplets like Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan because Christina actually has an amazing voice. The other two are horrendous and can barely carry a tune in a bucket. Christina has an amazing range with good control. I like a lot of her music.

14. “Beyond the Sea” (Bobby Darin) No, I’m not 80. Something about this song just makes me happy. I’m not sure what it is because it’s a very simple song, but I like it.

15. “Black Betty” (Ram Jam) I have no idea what this song is about but it’s one of the best songs to play very loudly.

16. “Blackbird” (Beatles) I love almost every song by the Beatles. This one always comes to mind because it’s pretty and lilting and it makes me happy.

17. “Blinded by the Light” (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) This is another one that reminds me of my childhood and my uncle.

18. “Come On Eileen”(Dexy’s Midnight Runners) Very catchy and has a good rhythm. Very ’80’s and reminds me of my early teens.

19. “Come Rain or Come Shine” (Ray Charles) Another song I can never hear too many times and would want played at my wedding if I had one.

20. “Complainte De La Butte” (Rufus Wainwright) This is from the movie Moulin Rouge and is one of my favorites from it. Rufus Wainwright is kind of an odd dude but I really love his voice. I also like his songs “Hallelujah” and “The Maker Makes.”

21. “Creeque Alley” (The Mamas and the Papas) I should have been born earlier and should have been a member of The Mamas and the Papas. I am amazed by the harmonies and love so much of their music. I chose this one because it tells the story of the short-lived but drama filled band.

22. “Damn, Sam (I Love a Woman That Rains)” (Ryan Adams) Note that this is by Ryan not Bryan Adams. I had a co-worker turn me on to him a few years ago and I’m grateful because he’s a great singer/songwriter. I like this song because it’s about loving a melancholy woman.

23. “Die Motherfucker Die” (Get Set Go) This is a somewhat tongue in cheek song about having a bad day and I love singing it very loudly in my car (with the windows up) when things aren’t going so well. “I, I’m having a bad day/So get out of my way/Or you will pay and you’ll pay with your life … My day sucks ass … Die motherfucker, die.”

24. “El Tango de Roxanne”(Ewan McGregor, Jacek Koman, and Jose Feliciano) This is another one of my favorite songs from Moulin Rouge. And what a coincidence! It’s the The Police song “Roxanne” put to a tango beat and sung by a guy with a wonderful deep voice.

25. “Enter Sandman”(Metallica) I’m not a big metal fan but I like a few Metallica songs. This one is best through headphones with the sound up loud.

26. “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” (The Police) Before I loved solo Sting, I loved The Police. There are only a couple of their songs I don’t care for and this is one of my favorites. It reminds me of a good friend from junior high who I had a crush on. Unfortunately so did every guy we met. I was the friend that got to hear all the guys drool over her and was always asked to act as a go-between for them with her. She’s the one who introduced me to The Police.

27. “Everybody Hurts” (REM) Oddly enough I hate REM. But I love this song and I love the video, also.

28. “Feeling Good” (Nina Simone) I recently discovered this singer and I really dig her voice. This song feels like honey and has a very sensual rhythm.

29. “Folsom Prison Blues” (Johnny Cash) I had heard some Johnny Cash when I was little but didn’t really get to know his music until he released “American IV” and I saw the movie about him. This is one of his older songs that I like. I’m a sucker for a nice bass voice and he’s got one.

30. “Fragile” (Sting) “Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could.” Great lyrics.

31. “Free Bird”(Lynyrd Skynyrd) There are only a couple of their songs I like and this is my favorite. It’s a classic and kind of sad.

32. “Galileo” (Indigo Girls) I like almost all their songs and I love their harmony.

33. “Go To Sleep”(DMX, Obie Trice, Eminem) This is not a typical song for me but I have to admit that I love to crank it! It’s violent but very catchy. It has a very creepy opening with an organ and the sounds of diffing a grave. “Go to sleep, bitch/Die motherfucker die/Time’s up bitch, close your eyes.”

34. “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”(Green Day) I like Green Day and this is my favorite song of theirs. It’s acoustic and has a great melody.

35. “Goodbye Girl” (David Gates) I loved the movie with Richard Dreyfus and Marsha Mason, and I love this song. A quiet, sweet love song.

36. “High Hopes”(Frank Sinatra) Ok, this one is weird but I can’t help it. I’ve always liked it and it makes me smile. “Just what makes that little old ant/Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant?/He’s got high hopes…”

37. “Hooked on a Feeling” (Blue Swede) How can you not love a song that starts with a bunch of men chanting “Ooga chucka, ooga ooga ooga chucka”?

38. “Hotel California”(The Eagles) Ok, another really tough choice because I LOVE The Eagles. Once reason this song made the list is its lyrics: “Her mind is Tiffany twisted/She got the Mercedes Benz.”

39. “Hungry for You (J’Aurais Toujours Faim de Toil)” (The Police) A pop song mostly in French – fantastic!

40. “I Can Let Go Now” (Michael McDonald) I can listen to his voice all day – it’s smooth with a hint of some gravel and sounds very Motown. This is a beautiful sad song.

41. “I Hate Everyone” (Get Set Go) Here’s another one that helps me vent when I’ve been out in the world too long. “Some stupid chick in the checkout line/Was paying for beers with nickels and dimes/And some old man who clipped coupons/And argued whenever they wouldn’t take one … I hate everyone, I hate everyone.”

42. “I Have Seen the Rain”(Pink) This is an anti-Vietnam War song that was written by her father who served in Vietnam. She and her dad sing it as an acoustic duet and I like the harmonies.

43. “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” (Randy Newman) I kind of stumbled onto Randy Newman a few years ago and realized he wrote a lot of music scores for movies that I’d seen. I went out and bought his greatest hits CD and I completely love every song on it. He’s very witty and wry.

44. “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor) Just a disco song but I love it and I love to sing it – it feels very empowering! “Alright now go/Walk out the door/Just turn around now/Because you’re not welcome anymore/Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye?/Did you think I’d crumble?/Did you think I’d lay down and die?/Oh no not I!/I will survive!”

45. “Invisible Sun” (The Police) At this point, Sting was not a big fan of organized religion but he still believed in some sort of power out there. “There has to be an invisible sun/That gives its heat to everyone/There has to be an invisible sun/That gives us hope when the whole day’s done.”

46. “It’s Alright for You” (The Police) A great beat and fast lyrics that remind me of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” or “Subterranean Homesick Blues” or “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

47. “Just the Two of Us” (Grover Washington) Love his voice and the lyrics. “I see the crystal raindrops fall/And the beauty of it all/When the sun comes shining through/To make those rainbows in my mind/When I think of you sometime/And I want to spend some time with you.”

48. “Keeping the Dream Alive”(Freiheit) I first heard this in the movie Say Anything and had to have it. I never, ever get sick of it. It’s unique and lush and very few people are familiar with it. But there was this guy I met and we were driving somewhere late at night in his car. It was a beautiful summer night; not too hot with a cool light breeze. He was playing some CD’s he had made and we were singing. Then this song came on and I couldn’t believe it. He was surprised I knew the lyrics and he asked me how I was familiar with this band from Germany. It was just one of those moments when you know you were supposed to meet this person. We got back to my place at about 3am and I offered to let him stay over so he didn’t have to drive home so late. It was our first date and we hadn’t even kissed but it was a friendly offer and I told him he should just share my big bed rather than scrunch up in the recliner. Well, we laid in bed and talked the rest of the night. As the conversation continued, I noticed our faces were getting closer and closer until we were sharing the same pillow. It was crazy – we were both sexually experienced adults and there we were acting like two nervous teens. I enjoyed the conversation but I kept wondering if he was going to kiss me as we inched closer. I actually had butterflies! It was so sweet and wonderful and as the sun started coming up he finally moved the last inch and kissed me. So, that’s not really about the song but if I hadn’t have completely loved it before that night, I certainly would have after that!

49. “Leaving on a Jet Plane” (Me First and the Gimme Gimmes) I am semi-obsessed with this kind of punk music. All of their music are remakes of songs that they perform to a fast punk beat. It’s probably meant to be subversive and to mock the original songs, but I just love their stuff and the beat is contagious. There’s nothing like a sweet love song sped up to twice the original speed.

50. “Life in the Fast Lane” (The Eagles) Here, again, is another one of their songs with great lyrics: “He was a hard headed man/He was brutally handsome/She was terminally pretty … There lines on the mirror/Lines on her face/She pretended not to notice/She was caught up in the race.”

51. “Life’s Been Good” (Joe Walsh) A fun, humorous jab at some rich and famous people.

52. “Little Boxes”(Pete Seeger) This sounds like a goofy little kid’s song but it’s actually a subversive jab at upper middle class society. “Little boxes on the hill side/Little boxes made of ticky tacky/Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same./ There’s a green one and a pink one/And a blue one and a yellow one/And they’re all made out of ticky tacky/And they all look just the same./ … And the people in the houses/All went to the university/Where they all were put in little boxes, little boxes all the same.”

53. “Live and Let Die” (Wings) A great dramatic song that was used in a James Bond movie. Best played very loudly!

54. “Love is Free” (Sheryl Crow) A new song from her that sounds like summer to me. It has a Caribbean feel to it and it’s very catchy.

55. “Me and Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin) I’m kind of surprised I like Janis Joplin because she doesn’t have a great voice but it has so much mileage on it that I find it kind of captivating. My mom likes this song so I’m sure that has something to do with my affection for it, too.

56. “Miami 2017 (I’ve Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” (Billy Joel) A soaring song that is probably my favorite of his if I had to pick just one.

57. “My Sharona” (The Knack) I used to roller skate at the rink to this song and I still love to hear it.

58. “Nature Boy” (David Bowie) This is another song from Moulin Rouge. It’s very haunting and shows up a few times in the movie in different versions. “The greatest thing/You’ll ever know/Is just to love/And be loved in return.:

59. “No One Knows But You” (Beth Nielsen Chapman) This is from her CD “Sand and Water” and I love the whole thing. It’s beautiful music at any time, but it’s also wonderful if someone is going through a loss. She wrote these songs while she was dealing with the diagnosis of her husband’s cancer, his treatment, and finally his death. Some of the songs are sad and are about loss, but there are also songs that she wrote while trying to move past this loss and they are very hopeful and empowering. “I can almost feel you smiling/From beyond those silver stars/As you watch me finding my way/Here without you in my life … I’ve come so close to believing/All the echoes of the wind/Brushing my hair off my shoulders/I feel you there once again.”

60. “On Any Other Day” (The Police) This is one of their few recorded songs that was written by someone other than Sting. Stewart Copeland wrote this humorous song about having a bad day. Sting even let him sing lead on it!

61. “Our House” (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) I like this song but when I really think about it, it’s kind of an odd song for 4 men in a rock band to sing! “Our house is a very, very, very fine house/With two cats in the yard/Life used to be so hard/Now everything is easy ’cause of you.”

62. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (Meat Loaf) This song is hilarious! “I swore I’d love you ’til the end of time/So now I’m praying for the end of time/To hurry up and arrive/Because if I got to spend another minute with you/I don’t think that I could really survive…Praying for the end of time/So I can end my time with you.”  

63. “Peekaboo!” (Devo) In junior high I was a huge fan of Devo and this is one of my favorites.

64. “Penis Envy” (Uncle Bonsai) Funny, funny, funny!! These two women go through the song singing about all the things they’d do if they had a penis and then it ends with: “If I had a penis/I’d still be a girl/But I’d make much more money/And conquer the world.”

65. “Please Come Home for Christmas” (The Eagles) There are a lot of Christmas songs I like but I decided to leave them off my list. I had to put this one on, however, because I listen to it all year and it’s fun to sing because it’s bluesy.

66. “Poems, Prayers, and Promises” (John Denver) Oh yeah, I used to get made fun of because I like John Denver but I don’t care. My uncle gave me a double ALBUM set of a live concert when I was little. I dreamed of being a singer so I used to spend hours in my room pretending I was on tour with JD. I knew all four sides by heart (even the spoken parts between songs!) and I’m surprised I didn’t wear holes in the records.

67. “Que Sera Sera” (Pink Martini) This is a very haunting version of this song. After hearing it I searched for other Pink Martini songs and they have some interesting music.

68. “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35″ (Bob Dylan) I had no idea how much I liked Bob Dylan until I tried to pick one of his songs. I also really like “The Time They are a Changin’,” “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” “They’ll stone you and then they’ll say good luck/But I would not feel so all alone/Everybody must get stoned.”

69. “Rainbow Connection”(Kermit the Frog) Childhood memories again – and I dig banjos.

70. “Ramalama (Bang Bang)”(Roisin Murphy) Very unique artist. I heard this on a TV show and just had to track it down. It’s very funky.

71. “Rhapsody in Blue” (Gershwin) I can’t get enough of this piece. I liked it when an airline used to use it a lot in their commercials because I’d get to hear it more often.

72. “Roadhouse Blues” (The Doors) The funny thing about The Doors is that I used to absolutely hate them. Then, all of a sudden, I started liking them. Go figure. This is one of my favorites of theirs because it has a touch of the blues.

73. “Rock Lobster” (The B-52’s) When I was a kid a friend got me interested in the B-52’s. I like their old stuff though – I can’t stand “The Love Shack.”

74. “Rock of Ages”(Def Leppard) I can remember riding my moped in junior high and listening to this song on my Walkman. Yikes, I’m old.

75. “Rocky Raccoon”(The Beatles) Only The Beatles could get away with a song about a boy named Rocky Raccoon and his girl McGill, who called herself Lil, but who everyone knew as Nancy.

76. “Ruby’s Shoes”(Lori McKenna) This is the first song I heard by her and I promptly looked for all her other music. This song is about Ruby Bridges, the girl of color who was forced to attend a white school. Lori McKenna ties her together with Dorothy and the ruby shoes in The Wizard of Oz. Not only is it clever, it’s a beautiful song. “But Ruby’s will was stronger/Than the bigots with the signs could ever know/She stopped every morning on the corner/And prayed that someday the pain would go … Now Ruby knew about Dorothy/And the ruby shoes that she wore/She wondered about Oz sometimes/Well, well no other child ever walked her shoes before.”

77. “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” (Billy Joel) I think I love story songs. This is a great one about kids who grew up, got married, had kids, then got divorced.

78. “Secret Garden” (Bruce Springsteen) I used to hate Bruce Springsteen (and I still do hate everything on the “Born to Run” CD) but then I heard some of his older music that I enjoyed like his version of “Pink Cadillac.” This song was in Jerry McGuire and I think it’s lovely. “If you pay the price/She’ll let you deep inside/But there’s a secret garden she hides.”

79. “Snowblind” (Styx) Another hard choice but this is one of their best.

80. “Someone to Watch Over Me” (Sting) What a combo! A great classic song and Sting! He sounds great on it, too.

81. “Son of a Preacher Man” (Dusty Springfield) Didn’t they realize that it’s the preachers’ kids you have to really watch?

82. “Song for You Far Away” (James Taylor) I always feel like I should like James Taylor more than I do. But there are a few of his songs that I like and this is one of them.

83. “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (Elton John) The BEST song to wallow in self-pity about unrequited love. One time I recorded this song over and over again on a tape so I could lay in bed and listen to it many times in a row for the optimal level of angst. “What am I gonna do to make you love me?/What am I gonna do to make you care?/What I do when lightning strikes me/And I wake to find that you’re not there?”

84. “Still the One” (Orleans) A catchy, upbeat, honest love song. “We’ve been together since way back when/Sometimes I never want to see you again/But I want you to know/After all these years/You’re still the one/I want whispering in my ears.”

85. “Strange Fruit” (Billie Holiday or Nina Simone) Wow. What a powerful and tragic song. It was written for Billie Holiday and contains some of the most amazing imagery. It’s about lynchings in the South and I’m going to give all the lyrics because it’s so amazing:

     Southern trees bear strange fruit

     Blood on the leaves

     Blood at the root

     Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze

     Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

     Pastoral scene of the gallant South

     The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

     The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh

     Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

     Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck

     For the rain to gather

     For the wind to suck

     For the sun to rot

     For the tree to drop

     Here is a strange and bitter  crop                                                                                                                  

86. “Subterranean Homesick Blues”(Bob Dylan) This is the song for which they made the iconic video of Bob Dylan standing in an alley with posterboards. Love the video and the song.

87. “Take the Money and Run” (Steve Miller Band) There are many of their songs I like including this one and “Fly Like an Eagle.”

88. “Tempted” (Squeeze) I remember hearing this song when I was a teenager and loving the beat and the singer. I still love it and even though Sting did a version of it, I prefer the original. Sorry Gordon!

89. “The Eagle and the Hawk” (John Denver) Another song from that record set my uncle gave me. This is one of my all time favorite JD songs.

90. “The Gambler” (Kenny Rogers) I know, I know. I wasn’t going to put it on the list but then I realized that I actually really like the song! I’m a geek.

91. “The Last Resort” (The Eagles) Sad and gorgeous.

92. “The Man Comes Around” (Johnny Cash) This is one of his more recent songs and I love the gravel that age has deposited in his voice. I absolutely love the CD, too.

93. “The Rose”(Bette Midler) The movie is sad and this song is haunting. I remember singing it with a friend of mine. She came to visit me on the West coast when I was in college and we were alone in the church on campus. The acoustics were amazing so we started singing this song in harmony. Still gives me chills.

94. “The Scotsman”(Bryan Bowers) I heard this song on Dr. Demento and laughed my ass off. It’s about a Scotsman who has too much to drink, passes out in a ditch, and is found by two young ladies who wonder what’s under his kilt. They take a peek then decide to leave something so he knows they were there. One girls takes the blue ribbon out of her hair and ties it around his … package. The Scotsman wakes up and has to pee but sees the ribbon when he lifts his kilt. He then says to his … package, “Lad, I don’t know where ya been, but I see ya won first prize.”

95. “The Wall (entire album)” (Pink Floyd) I can’t pick just one song and you can’t make me. The songs all blend into each other on the album so I take it as one piece of music. And it’s so full of angst and anger that I love it.

96. “Tramp the Dirt Down” (Elvis Costello) This song is his rather angry message to Margaret Thatcher. Basically it says that she’s a cold bitch and when she dies he’s going to enjoy tramping the dirt on her grave. “Well I hope I don’t die too soon/I pray the Lord my soul to save/Yes, I’ll be a good boy/And trying so hard to behave/Because there’s one thing I know/I’d like to live long enough to savor/That’s when they finally put you in the ground/I’ll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down.” 

97. “Vincent”(Don McLean) This song about Vincent Van Gogh breaks my heart every time I hear it.

98. “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”(Pete Seeger) His anti-war song about the people in power ordering the soldiers to keep marching on even though they’re sinking deeper and deeper into the muddy river.

99. “Waiting on the World to Change” (John Mayer) I’m not a big John Mayer fan but I really love this song.

100. “Waters of Tyne” (Sting) A beautiful Gaelic-style song.