The 100 Best Songs…EVER?
A great song makes you feel something. The feeling is what really makes a song timeless. The groove, the vocal, the lyrics and the harmony have to blend together perfectly to create the foundation for an all-time classic tune.
As for my new show, The Best 100 Songs EVER, I’m a working musician and professional singer with an evolving playlist of my favorite songs across the genres and through music history — from traditional folk to the latest pop hits.
I’m going to highlight the writer and the performer — these are the best songs, not necessarily the best songwriter or band of musicians. It’s the mix of elements that make the real magic.
So this is really about the songs, not necessarily the artists. I have a lot of non-super mega all-time artists on my list, on purpose. A great song is a great song, no matter who wrote it.
Could I do a set of only The Beatles? Yes. Only Bob Marley? Yes. I love Bob Marley. But that’s not the point. I could do my Beatles top 10, and your favorite Beatles song might not even be on the list!
It’s not exactly 10 songs from each decade either, though that’s what I had in mind when I was thinking 100 songs over 100 years. And I wanted to cover every genre at least once. So yes, you can request some country, or some heavy metal, or something from the 1930s or 2021— but let’s not get too carried away!
Being a father of a young lady I also want to acknowledge and celebrate women artists. I wanted to make sure the best female acts, singers and songwriters of all time had a very prominent role in my show. So I have spent a lot of time on my female vocal arrangements.
It’s hard to separate an iconic artist from iconic songs. So it’s also the Best 100 Artists, but I’m very mindful of the distinction between the writer or lyricist and the performer that is attached to it. I’ll point it out when I can.
I know this is all subjective, I can hear music critics start to scream from the rooftops. ‘Why not James Brown or non-English language tunes or more hip hop? Why ‘My Friend’ by Jimi instead of one his big hits?’ Well, I can’t please everyone, and that’s ok. We can just call this whole thing, “Songs I Enjoy” for those people.
The criteria of a perfect song for me starts with a good groove, a catchy melody, a great singer and lyrics that tell a story.
So what criteria did I use in my song selection? It can get tricky — it has to retain its emotional weight and rhythmic feel with just a dude singing and playing guitar.
It needs to be easy to listen to, no one-trick pony songs. It might be a great song, but if it only has one idea going on, 8 choruses in a row can get pretty annoying after 2 minutes. I pick songs that don’t use magic tricks, over the top production, atmospheric overload, guitar shredding, etc.
I do have a bit of a bias against sad and depressing songs, we want to have a good time, not turn this into an intellectual exercise. There are plenty of love songs, but I usually pick ones that are redemptive or uplifting.
I try to keep the love songs to a minimum though, they can cloud music judgement because the memory or feeling associated with a piece of music can become more important than the song itself. Good or bad, right?
So what are the actual best songs ever? Like I said, it’s subjective and only my opinion. If there’s one thing Rolling Stone’s infamous list of the 500 best songs ever proved, it’s that it may be impossible to come up with a definitive list that includes every major genre or era over the last 100+ years.
If you come to my show, I hope I play one of YOUR all-time favorites. Maybe one that you haven’t heard in awhile that takes you back to a happy memory or good time. It’s why adults always have a sweet spot for the music of their youth.
Lastly, I hope you hear a song you are not familiar with or you have never heard before that inspires you to always be searching for some new music to appreciate.
Check out more at https://www.victorkerr.com more information!
