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February 07, 2008

Top 200 Songs of All Time

On the heels of the detailed look at my top 40 records of all-time, I wanted to give honorable mentions to the songs that came close but didn't quite make the list.  Instead, I just kept adding songs until the honorable mention list got longer than the original list and this post is the ridiculously lengthy result.  So below is my entire top 200 songs of all-time.  Click on the links for details and mp3s of the Top 40.  And for the next 160, simply enjoy.

Top 200 Artist Count:

  1. The Smiths (11 songs)
  2. Pavement (10)
    Modest Mouse (10)
  3. Bright Eyes (9)
  4. Mogwai (6)
    Superchunk (6)
    Sufjan Stevens (6)
    New Order (6)
  5. The Arcade Fire (5)
    Sunset Rubdown (5)
    Grandaddy (5)
    Okkervil River (5)
    Neutral Milk Hotel (5)
  6. Built to Spill (4)
    The Cure (4)
    Explosions in the Sky (4)
    Sebadoh (4)
    Sigur Ros (4)
    Pedro the Lion (4)
    The Jesus and Mary Chain (4)
  7. Yo La Tengo (3)
    Death Cab for Cutie (3)
    Wolf Parade (3)
    Dinosaur Jr. (3)
    Radiohead (3)
    Belle and Sebastian (3)
    The Microphones (3)
  1. "Trailer Trash" Modest Mouse
  2. "Two Headed Boy" Neutral Milk Hotel
  3. "Here" Pavement
  4. "The Queen is Dead" The Smiths
  5. "Teen Age Riot" Sonic Youth
  6. "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to the Heavens" Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  7. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" Joy Division
  8. "AT&T" Pavement
  9. "Whenever You See Fit" Modest Mouse & 764-Hero
  10. "Mogwai Fear Satan" Mogwai
  11. "Summer Babe (Winter Version)" Pavement
  12. "The Wagon" Dinosaur Jr.
  13. "How Soon is Now?" The Smiths
  14. "The Official Ironmen Rally Song" Guided by Voices
  15. "Anything, Anything" DramaRama
  16. "Edit the Sad Parts" Modest Mouse
  17. "The Headmaster Ritual" The Smiths
  18. "The Plan" Built to Spill
  19. "Driveway to Driveway" Superchunk
  20. "Web in Front" Archers of Loaf
  21. "A Perfect Sonnet" Bright Eyes
  22. "I'll Believe in Anything" Wolf Parade
  23. "Seven" Sunny Day Real Estate
  24. "San Andreas" Portastatic
  25. "Age of Consent" New Order
  26. "Summer Here Kids" Grandaddy
  27. "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" The Smiths
  28. "Bankrupt on Selling" Modest Mouse
  29. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" Arcade Fire
  30. "The Moon" The Microphones
  31. "Bad Blood" Bright Eyes & Album Leaf
  32. "Gardenhead - Leave Me Alone" Neutral Milk Hotel
  33. "Hyper Enough" Superchunk
  34. "For Real" Okkervil River
  35. "Samskeyti" Sigur Ros
  36. "Gold Soundz" Pavement
  37. "The Shy Retirer" Arab Strap
  38. "Ceremony" New Order
  39. "Cody" Mogwai
  40. "Carry the Zero" Built to Spill
  41. "Two-Headed Boy Part 2"  Neutral Milk Hotel
    • In the Aeroplane over the Sea, 1998
    • "And when we break, we will wait for our miracle, God is a place where some holy spectacle lies.  And when we break, we will wait for our miracle, God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life."
  42. "True Love Waits"  Radiohead
  43. "The Mending of the Gown"  Sunset Rubdown
    • Random Spirit Lover, 2007
    • "It's an act, I think she's just pretending.  It's an act, I think she's just pretending.  If you burn the virgin flags, then I will shake (shake!) as the heat waves in the sand.  This one's for Maggie (this one's for Maggie), this one's for Sam (this one's for Sam)."
  44. "Friend of the Night"  Mogwai
  45. "Night on the Sun"  Modest Mouse
  46. "Sweet and Tender Hooligan"  The Smiths
  47. "Lullabye for Christie"  Dirty Three
  48. "Take Me Somewhere Nice"  Mogwai
  49. "The Only Moment We Were Alone"  Explosions in the Sky
  50. "The Story of Yo La Tango"  Yo La Tengo
  51. "Chicago"  Sufjan Stevens
  52. "Holland, 1945"  Neutral Milk Hotel
    • In the Aeroplane over the Sea, 1998
    • "The only girl I ever loved was born with roses in her eyes.  But then they buried her alive, one evening 1945, with just her sister at her side, and only weeks before the guns all came and rained on everyone."
  53. "Frontwards"  Pavement
  54. "Leave Me Alone"  New Order
  55. "Vidrar vel til Loftarasa"  Sigur Ros
  56. "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot"  Grandaddy
  57. "Bastards of Young"  The Replacements
  58. "July, July!"  The Decemberists
    • Castaways and Cutouts, 2002
    • "And I say your uncle was a crooked French Canadian, and he was gut-shut running gin.  And how his guts were all suspended in his fingers, and how he held them in."
  59. "Another Radio Song"  Okkervil River
  60. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"  The Smiths
  61. "Apistat Commander (Xiu Xiu)"  Sunset Rubdown
  62. "The Kidnapper Bell"  Mono
  63. "It's All Gonna Break"  Broken Social Scene
  64. "Yasmin the Light"  Explosions in the Sky
  65. "The Freed Pig"  Sebadoh
    • III, 1991
    • "Right, I was obsessed to bring you down, watching your every move, playing a little-boy game, always with something to prove.  Waiting to cut you down, making it hard to live, with only one thing to do, cut me first, make it easy.
      Now you will be free, now that nothing depends on me, tapping 'til I drive you insane
      Now you will be free, with no sick people tugging on your sleeve
      Your big head has that "more room to grow"
      A glory I will never know
      A glory I will never know." 
    • (Note: song written about J. Mascis, by his former bandmate Lou Barlow, originally of Dinosaur Jr... a band that appears at #12 and other places on this list... Nice.  They've made up now, 20 years later, still a great fucking song).
  66. "Gouge Away"  Pixies
  67. "Kiss Off"  Violent Femmes
    • Violent Femmes, 1982
    • "You can all just kiss off into the air, behind my back I can hear them stare, they'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind.  They'll hurt me bad, they do it all the time."
  68. "I'm a Believer"  The Sheila Divine
  69. "Photobooth"  Death Cab for Cutie
    • The Forbidden Love EP, 2000
    • "Cup you mouth to compress the sound, skinny-dipping with the kids from a nearby town.  And everything that I said was true, as the flashes blinded us in the photobooth."
  70. "Njsnavlin (Untitled 4)" Sigur Ros
  71. "Let Down"  Radiohead
    • OK Computer, 1997
    • "Floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back, and one day, I am gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction, hysterical and useless, hysterical and... let down and hanging around.  Crushed like a bug in the ground.  Let down and hanging around."
  72. "Zurich is Stained"  Pavement
  73. "If Winter Ends"  Bright Eyes
  74. "He Woke Me Up Again"  Sufjan Stevens
  75. "The Stars of Track and Field"  Belle and Sebastian
  76. "No Surprises"  Radiohead
    • OK Computer, 1997
    • "Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden.  No alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises please."
  77. "Rebellion (Lies)"  The Arcade Fire
    • Funeral, 2004
    • "Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is.  Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids.  People say that you'll die faster than without water.  But we know it's just a lie, scare your son, scare your daughter."
  78. "A King and Queen"  Okkervil River
    • Black Sheep Boy, 2005
    • "If you want to see and be seen, then be seen.  Your dress is dark red and your opening eyes are bright green.  Make a scene, but don't lie on the bed, laid out like you're dead, because honey, you're murdering me."
  79. "I Felt Your Shape"  The Microphones
    • The Glow, Part 2, 2001
    • "I thought I felt your shape but I was wrong.  Really all I felt was falsely strong.  I held on tight and closed my eyes.  It was dumb, I had no sense of your size.  It was dumb to hold so tight, but last night..."
  80. "Head On"  The Jesus & Mary Chain
  81. "That's Entertainment (The Jam)"  Morrissey
    • Suedehead:  The Best of Morrissey, 1997
    • "Smash a glass and a rumble of boots, electric train and a ripped up phone booth, a hot day and a sticky black tarmac, a hot day and I'm wishing I was far away.  That's entertainment."
  82. "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us"  Sufjan Stevens
  83. "New #1"  Bob Mould
    • The Last Dog and Pony Show, 1998
    • "Sometimes I try too hard to separate the good times from sadness that we had together.  Embarrassing, I need to keep it all in some perspective.  Hold me down, I need you more than you will ever comprehend." 
  84. "Just Like Honey"  The Jesus & Mary Chain
  85. "Let Down (Radiohead)"  Pedro the Lion
  86. "Atmosphere"  Joy Division
    • Atmosphere/She's Lost Control, 1980
    • "People like you find it easy.  Naked to see, walking on air.  Hunting by the rivers, through the streets, every corner abandoned too soon, set down with due care.  Don't walk away, in silence.  Don't walk away."
  87. "Up On Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days"  Sunset Rubdown
    • Random Spirit Lover, 2007
    • "I'm the one who sat at your capture and let the snow fall on this whispering rapture.  You're the one who's kissing your captor's hands.  WELL SHIT, I know, we're all growing old, but where there's a will, that is the way, so way to go.  Say goodbye to your feral days.  Say goodbye to your feral days."
  88. "Glosoli" Sigur Ros
    • Takk..., 2005
  89. "Black (Live)" Okkervil River
    • Black Sheep Boy, 1995
    • "I'd call, some black midnight, fuck up his new life where they don't know what he did.  Tell his brand-new wife and second kid.  Though I tell you like before, you should wreck his life the way that he wrecked yours, if you want no part of his life anymore."
  90. "Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings" Sunset Rubdown
    • Shut Up I Am Dreaming, 2006
    • "You're on a distant shore.  I stamp my feet, down down, do you hear knuckles on your door?  Do you understand what I'm pining for???  Oh, oceans never listen to us anyway."
  91. "Fillmore Jive" Pavement
    • Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, 1994
    • "Passed out on your couch, you left me there, thank you.  Let me sleep it off.  I need to sleep it off.  Why don't you let me?  I need to sleep.  I need to sleep.  I need to sleep.  Why won't you let me sleep?"
  92. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" The Cure
    • Boys Don't Cry, 1980
    • "It's the latest wave that you've been craving for.  The old ideal was getting such a bore.  Now you're back in line, going not quite as far, but in half the time.  Everyone's happy, they're finally all the same.  'Cause everyone's jumping everyone else's train."
  93. "Procession" New Order
    • Procession/Everything's Gone Green, 1981
    • "There is no end to this.  I have seen your face.  But I don't recognize all these things you must have left behind.  It's a problem I know.  And it's been there all your life."
  94. "Criticism as Inspiration" Pedro the Lion
  95. "Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before" The Smiths
  96. "Cadmium" Superchunk
  97. "Mr. November" The National
  98. "Breakthrough" Modest Mouse
    • This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996
    • "Open the curtain and let in the sky.  It's almost half past 2 a.m., you can tell by the light.  Open your window, and let in the atmosphere!  Let it breakthrough, oh let it breakthrough."
  99. "If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart" Beulah
    • When Your Heartstrings Break, 1999
    • "If you want to sing, tell me what you want to sing and I'll play, yeah, I'll play."
  100. "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti"  Sufjan Stevens
  101. "Burn Girl Prom Queen" Mogwai
  102. "Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean"  Explosions in the Sky
  103. "If You're Feeling Sinister"  Belle and Sebastian
  104. "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie"  Joanna Newsom
  105. "Grace Cathedral Hill"  The Decemberists
  106. "Shallow End"  Superchunk
  107. "Reel Around the Fountain" The Smiths
  108. "Your Ex-Lover is Dead"  Stars
  109. "Between Planets"  The Jesus & Mary Chain
  110. "Homeboy"  Adorable
  111. "Sometimes"  James
  112. "Kim, You Bore Me to Death" Grandaddy
  113. "All My Little Words"  The Magnetic Fields
  114. "Like a Friend"  Pulp
  115. "All the People Who Died"  Jim Carroll Band
  116. "Head On (The Jesus & Mary Chain)"  Pixies
  117. "Secret of the Easy Yoke"  Pedro the Lion
  118. "I See a Darkness"  Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
  119. "We Dance"  Pavement
  120. "Paper Thin Walls"  Modest Mouse
  121. "This Heart's on Fire" Wolf Parade
  122. "Still Flat"  Built to Spill
  123. "Raining in Darling"  Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
  124. "Company Calls Epilogue" Death Cab for Cutie
  125. "Obstacle 1"  Interpol
  126. "Slack Motherfucker" Superchunk
  127. "The Trees Get Wheeled Away"  Bright Eyes
  128. "No Cars Go" The Arcade Fire
  129. "Only Skin"  Joanna Newsom
  130. "House"  Psychedelic Furs
  131. "Alone Down There"  Modest Mouse
  132. "Date with IKEA"  Pavement
  133. "A Sort of Homecoming" U2
  134. "Hardly Getting Over It"  Husker Du
  135. "Never Leave a Job Half Done"  Pedro the Lion
  136. "Live Forever"  Oasis
  137. "Regret"  New Order
  138. "Charlotte Sometimes (Live)"  The Cure
  139. "Light Pollution"  Bright Eyes
  140. "Heavy Lifting"  Ambulance LTD
  141. "Headache"  Frank Black
  142. "All is Full of Love (Bjork)"  Death Cab for Cutie
  143. "Your Hand in Mine"  Explosions in the Sky
  144. "Us Ones in Between"  Sunset Rubdown
  145. "Perfect Circle"  R.E.M.
  146. "Silence Kit"  Pavement
  147. "Willing to Wait"  Sebadoh
  148. "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine"  Modest Mouse
  149. "What Jail is Like"  Afghan Whigs
  150. "Purr"  Sonic Youth
  151. "Freak Scene"  Dinosaur Jr.
  152. "Why Would I Want to Die"  Grandaddy
  153. "No Children"  The Mountain Goats
  154. "Face Up"  New Order
  155. "The Ledge"  The Replacememts
  156. "I'm Waking Up to Us"  Belle and Sebastian
  157. "Broke"  Modest Mouse
  158. "Rode My Bike to My Stepsister's Wedding"  Grandaddy
  159. "Can't Fight It"  Bob Mould
  160. "Lover I Don't Have to Love"  Bright Eyes
  161. "Hand in Glove"  The Smiths
  162. "Like a Forest"  Low
  163. "Romulus"  Sufjan Stevens
  164. "Autumn Sweater"  Yo La Tengo
  165. "Lucky You"  The National
  166. "Half a Person"  The Smiths
  167. "April Skies"  The Jesus & Mary Chain
  168. "Season of the Shark"  Yo La Tengo
  169. "Great Ghosts"  The Microphones
  170. "The Center of the World"  Bright Eyes
  171. "Detroit Has a Skyline"  Superchunk
  172. "I Believe"  R.E.M.
  173. "The Unforgettable Fire"  U2
  174. "Boys Don't Cry"  The Cure
  175. "The Mistress Witch from McClure"  Sufjan Stevens
  176. "Stop Coming to My House"  Mogwai
  177. "Op Beach"  Mono
  178. "Wake Up"  The Arcade Fire
  179. "Little Fury Things"  Dinosaur Jr.
  180. "Pretty in Pink"  Psychedelic Furs
  181. "Common People"  Pulp
  182. "Velvet Waltz"  Built to Spill
  183. "Too Pure"  Sebadoh
  184. "Farewell Transmission"  Songs: Ohia
  185. "Fucked Up Kid"  Kevin Drew
  186. "Happy Birthday to Me"  Bright Eyes
  187. "Independence Day" Ani DiFranco
  188. "Unless It's Kicks"  Okkervil River
  189. "All My Friends"  LCD Soundsystem
  190. "Up the Junction"  Squeeze
  191. "Exploding Boy"  The Cure
  192. "Oh, You Are the Roots that Sleep Beneath My Feet and Hold the Earth in Place" Bright Eyes
  193. "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts"  Wolf Parade
  194. "Intervention"  The Arcade Fire
  195. "The Outer Banks"  The Album Leaf
  196. "Cemetry Gates"  The Smiths
  197. "The National Front Disco"  Morrissey
  198. "Ghost"  Neutral Milk Hotel
  199. "Soul and Fire"  Sebadoh
  200. "Honey, Watch Your Ass" Jason Molina

The smoke tastes like gray lead
It’s killing her head
She finally let him have it
Here practice yelling at yourself instead
She nearly burned the town again
With the look that she gave him
She covers her heart with her hands and says
A little useless praying never hurts anything
It’s like nothing’s got a pulse (x2)
In this whole damn place
Right down to the clocks
Nothing’s got a pulse
Remember darling how quiet it got
Leave her alone, let her go home (x2)
So she don’t have to see you
How pathetic you can be
So she won’t hate herself to death
Know what i mean

She’s covering her heart with her hands and says
A little useless praying never hurts anything
That must be her up there
Perfume and cigarette smoke in her wild hair
She smells a little like a train
Hauling lilacs through the rain
I can’t tell that she’s crying
I’ll pretend again
But she sees them total destruction
As she goes running to them
I’m finally showing her the switch
How i learned to hold it
In my teeth
How she’s got to keep
One razor sharp bloody piece
Of her old broken heart
How she’s got to use that edge to carve
Across her new heart
Something deep enough to hurt
So it always reminds her
Deep enough to last
Darlin’ honey, watch your ass

Posted at 12:15 AM in Indie Rock, Indie Rock, MP3 DOWNLOADS, MP3 DOWNLOADS |

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Comments

I don't know what you were drinking when you made this list. Clearly "Like a Forest" should easily be #160.

Posted by: LegFuJohnson | February 06, 2008 at 10:36 PM

Black, like a forest, and still like a lion. My knees are bended. We used to speak a different language. I wasted my breath on words soon forgotten. Left unattended, they're moving their feet, but nobody's dancing.

Posted by: Bill | February 06, 2008 at 11:10 PM

Only the T-1000 can save you.

Posted by: LegFuJohnson | February 07, 2008 at 08:04 AM

Dude, where's Tool?
Simply ridiculous

Posted by: bubba joe | February 07, 2008 at 11:00 AM

Are you going to have mp3s for 101-200?

Posted by: Emily | February 07, 2008 at 07:27 PM

Sadly, no, I wasn't planning on mp3s for the rest. It took me way too long to upload the rest of them.

Posted by: Bill | February 07, 2008 at 10:40 PM

That's not right man. Build us up with this hope of some good mp3s, give us a great list and then don't provide the goods??? That's just not right.

Posted by: Sid | February 08, 2008 at 11:21 AM

Fantastic effort. Some great tunes. Must have taken you ages, but thanks for a bunch of decent tunes picked up.

Posted by: Brad | February 08, 2008 at 04:37 PM

Go to a legitimate site and buy the music you cheap little punks. I've got 7 kids to feed. I'll bring this site down before I'm finished.

Posted by: Record Executive | February 08, 2008 at 05:06 PM

7 kids? I never knew there are record executives that are Hasidic

Posted by: Jewey Jew | February 08, 2008 at 08:57 PM

Where are all the R&B tunes?

Posted by: Barack | February 09, 2008 at 12:21 PM

Excellent list! I have been following Vague Space for a while now and I find that we have very similar tastes, so I will surely pay attention to the songs that I am unfamiliar with. Thanks for your great work!

Posted by: Kelly | February 09, 2008 at 07:14 PM

haha i only have 3 of these songs:
Romulus - Sufjan Stevens
All My frineds - LCD Soundsystem
For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti - Sufjan Stevens

Posted by: LAk | February 09, 2008 at 09:36 PM

I love your taste, man. You've got me hooked on Pavement.

Posted by: itachi | February 10, 2008 at 03:07 PM

Very hard to believe in your top-200 favorite songs of all-time there is not one single song by a successful, commercial popular artist. Not one song by Billy Joel, The Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, Springsteen, Madonna, David Bowie, Sinatra, Green Day, Stevie Wonder, Sting, etc...? Is this really your 200 favorite songs or your 200 favorite Indie Songs? I hope it's the latter or I don't believe this list.

Posted by: Wii Javelin | February 11, 2008 at 12:37 PM

Stevie Wonder, now that's funny.

Radiohead is a very successful, commercial, popular artist. As are U2 and R.E.M., who both appear in the second 100. The Smiths, New Order, and The Cure were huge international stars in the '80s, and even bigger in their native Britain. Try going beyond the mainstream, Mr. Javelin, and you might find some good music out there that you don't know about.

Posted by: Bill | February 11, 2008 at 01:27 PM

Where's the Bee Gees and Barry Manilow?

Posted by: Jan | February 11, 2008 at 07:49 PM

I love your list! My only criticism is that you need some Beirut on there. I couldn't make a top 200 with out at least half of beirut's songs haha

Posted by: Jade | February 21, 2008 at 12:19 AM

Just for your own enjoyment, you might want to delve into a few other genres. And as hard as it is to imagine, there really was some great music recorded before 1982. You might like this band called the Clash.

Posted by: Jake | March 27, 2008 at 07:52 AM

Bill,
here's a list I can absolutely agree with. Thanks for the all hard work you've done...

manual trackback, because otherwise it's not working for me: http://itstoolong.com/wp/2008/03/28/mal-ganz-subjektiv-die-200-besten-lieder-aller-zeiten/

Posted by: Oliver | March 28, 2008 at 02:08 PM

This list is awful. First of all, it is compiled of one genre and one genre only.

Posted by: Jay | April 06, 2008 at 05:45 PM

Pretty nice list, original at least. Not sure about putting a modest mouse song at number one, but i may have to listen to it then judge. Awesome to see The National appearing in the list too. But no "I know it's over"? Perhaps the greatest Smiths song. With the nature of alot of these bands I'm assuming that you've heard Jeff Buckley and just don't like his work that much? Otherwise that would be a major oversight.

Posted by: Ben | April 07, 2008 at 07:15 AM

Not at all a fan of the Clash, Jake. Sorry. And I've heard other genres, Jay. This is a personal list, you don't have to agree. Please do not think you know more about music than me. It doesn't make you look good.

Ben, I certainly do like "I Know It's Over" (and just about every song by the Smiths). It just didn't make the cut. I'm sort of indifferent about Jeff Buckley. I don't dislike him but he didn't come close to making the cut. Tragic death though.

Posted by: Bill | April 09, 2008 at 10:14 PM

Wow, this is a very extensive list. You have good music taste. Thanks for providing a sampling of these lovely bands...I've heard a lot of them. I just haven't gotten around to listening them. But maybe now I will.

I must comment, though, it's not very diverse genre-wise (rock, indie, alternative). But it's still cool.

Posted by: Kid A | May 25, 2008 at 08:01 PM

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