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This is Part IX of oLahav's Top 100 Songs List: songs 20-11

Part 9! Just this and one more to go…

This is the ninth part of my very own 100 favorite songs list. This is by no means a conclusive or significant list, so feel free to make your own competitive list. But just because I'd like to share my musical taste, I'm putting this right up on LearnHub. Cool!
if you didn't catch the first few parts, here's:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII

We're almost done! This is the last part of the list that was decided upon while the list was being written, as part X was up before anything happened. This is also the last part of the list that isn't ordered, so song 15 is by no means 50 times better than song 65. However, note that we have 1 exception- song 11 is in order! Song 11 is better (in my view) than all previous songs in the list, though not as great as songs in Part X. The reason for this is that the song was part of the original top 10, but had to be pushed over because I forgot about one song, so there you go…

Anyway, let's start with this week's songs!

Song 20: Bittersweet Symphony, by The Verve. This song is in simply because life is a bittersweet symphony… The lyrics are very easy to relate to, just because they make so much sense. Plus the beat is extremely addictive. It's the simple rhythms that make for the best songs, and this song really proves it. And it's got a great video, which you should definitely check out right over here.

Song 19: Losing My Religion, by R.E.M. It was either this or Orange Crush (as suggested by BassPlayer), but in spite of orange being my favourite colour, Losing my Religion takes the cake. Ever heard a song on the radio but didn't catch the name or artist, so you had to google what lyrics you could remember and hope you hit the right song? That's how I found Losing my Religion. It's powerful, all about obsession, which I'm familiar with, but it's got a nice melodic tune to it too. Listen, here.

Song 18: Something Got Me Started, by Simply Red. I had to push one Simply Red in there somewhere, and this led to another battle, but this song beats Stars in my opinion. It's just really funky. They may not be the best band ever, but this song has more soul than any other one they've got, which is why it's in the list. You can listen to it here.

Song 17: Under Pressure, by Queen and David Bowie. BassPlayer takes it again! But seriously, how can you get any better than Mercury and Bowie together? It's a song about people under pressure and on the streets, and we're all that way at times, it has an amazing bass line, and the vocals combine incredibly well. It's been played by both Queen alone and Bowie (with some help), but the original is way better than any of those versions. Sadly, there's no clip of them together really, so here's Queen, and here are the band members with Bowie and Annie Lennox at the Mercury Tribute concert.

Song 16: 10538 Overture, ELO. Their very first hit, this song really shows what the Electric Light Orchestra is all about- making rock and classical music come together in ways that are hard to imagine. The cello really works wonders here, I have to say. 10538 has the entire concept of calling somebody by a number rather than a name, which gives rise to a lot of interpretations. Nonetheless, it's a good song. Here is a fairly recent version.

Song 15: So Far Away, by the Dire Straits. This is a real masterpiece by Knopfler, from the great Brothers in Arms album. If you've ever been far from somebody special, this song just grabs that feeling and amplifies it. It's simple, but it's emotional in that non-emotional sort of way knopfler's vocals work. It's just a great song, that's all. Here it is.

Song 14: Young Folks, by Peter Bjorn and John (featuring Victoria Bergsman). Moving on the a much more recent song on the list, we find this one. The whistling portion is just so fun and addictive, I enjoy whistling a lot because it's much harder to mess up than singing. Young Folks is sort of a happy, funky song that doesn't try to take things too heavily or seriously, and that's what makes it good. Here comes the whistle!

Song 13: My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion. It's a hard thing to do, admitting you like a Celine Dion song, especially if you're Canadian. In my defence, I never watched the entire Titanic movie. But as far as powerful love songs go, this one is in that list. I'm sorry, really, but I do like listening to it from time to time. So there, I said it, Celine Dion isn't all that bad! Here she is, singing. You've been warned.

Song 12: Heaven, by the Talking Heads. If you've read some of my discussion posts you would've known it's coming. This song is really about how we're always looking for something- the perfect party, perfect place, perfect person. But there's no such thing, nothing's perfect, and thus "Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens". For a pessimistic like myself, this song sort of reads my mind- with anything good, there's a bad part in there somewhere. It's deep, sure, but it's also a great song. You should check it out here.

Song 11: Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie. This is song 11, in order. I regret to announce there are no Bowie songs in the top 10, but this one came as close as possible. The Ziggy album is what rock and roll is really about- trying to send the world a message of love and peace. Sadly, most of it gets lost in all the drugs, fame, and everything else. This is Ziggy's story, and this song tells it perfectly. This is rock, period. You can find Ziggy's message here.

Before Part X:
Just something I'd like to explain. Several songs were omitted from my list for an important reason- obviousness. You don't need me to write anything down about certain songs, because it's obvious I'd like them and that they're among the top songs ever. Songs like Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, The Eagles' Hotel California, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, The Beatles' A Day in The Life or Come Together, Pink Floyd's Another Brick Part 2 and Comfortably Numb, and even RHCP's Under The Bridge all fall into that category, as do many many others. So if you feel I've missed any major songs, that would be the reason (or else I may not like that song).
Now you may ask why are songs like Layla or Purple Haze or even Free Bird in the list then, they're just as obvious? I don't think so, they're not obvious to me, and I like them. So, you know, that's just the way I made the list, it's nothing really concrete. Don't worry about it.

And also: want to place your calls on my top 10? Please do so, I'd like to see what you think! This discussion already started, so join in!

Thanks a lot for reading! Don't forget, the final part will soon be up, check it out when it comes.