Music

Five Songs That We (Well, I) Take Granted

Let’s never forget the greatness of “Like a Rolling Stone”

by Josh Kurp   |   Aug 31, 2010

Five Songs That We (Well, I) Take Granted

Play it again, big man. (Photo: morethings.com)

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I’m ashamed to admit that Encore didn’t properly recognize an important milestone that occurred last Wednesday, the 25th. And by “properly recognize,” I mean that I completely forgot about it until yesterday. So let’s try again:

On August 25, 1975, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band released their third and finest album, Born to Run. It’s a nearly perfect record, with its only slight blemish being “Meeting Across the River,” but to complain about that song on this album would be like saying a small pimple on Michelle Williams’ face reduces her attractiveness.

Famously, it took Springsteen 14 months to record the album, including six months just for “Born to Run.” Springsteen couldn’t translate what he heard in his head into the studio (you and me both, Bruce), which is why he tried 11 different guitar tracks for that one song alone. It wasn’t until former-Rolling Stone writer Jon Landau came in as producer that the song—and album—were finalized. As always, journalists know best.

But now, 35 years later, we’ve heard “Born to Run” 17,000 times, and it has lost a bit of its original power. Which is a shame too, because it’s an amazing song that deserves to be listened to with fresh ears every time you play the album or hear it on the radio. So, next time you hear “Born to Run,” try to pretend you’ve never heard it before. Instead of simply singing along and not really paying attention, try to focus in on the drumming or Clarence’s sax. It’ll sound new all over again.

Here are five other songs from 1965-1980 whose initial impact have been lessened over time (1981-present soon).

#1. “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan

It’s the greatest rock ‘n’ roll song of all-time…but then Michael Bolton covered it. When that happened, it went from being a vicious attack on a girl who got everything handed to her to a sentimental ballad. Let’s try to remember the song’s initial truthful cruelty and forget Bolton’s cover ever happened. Actually, can we just forget Michael Bolton ever existed, too?

#2. “It’s a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong

Here’s an unofficial list of the movies and TV shows that have used this song: The Simpsons, House, 20 to 1, Life on Mars, Madagascar, Behind Bars, Bowling for Columbine, Dawson’s Creek, Madeline, Wrestling with Alligators, 12 Monkeys, Cybill, Florida Lady, Twin Peaks, Moonlighting, Good Morning Vietnam, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Swing Girls, The Runner, Family Matters (theme song for the pilot only). So, yeah, it’s used a lot. Too much. But look past it being the go-to pop culture song for how great the world is (whether literally or ironically) and remember that it can make you cry with every listen. As long as you don’t think of Cybill.

#3. “Refugee” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

I saw Gainesville’s finest this past weekend, and even though they’re getting up there in age (relative to music, at least), Petty and the Heartbreakers still give it all they’ve got, without resorting to over-the-top theatrics like U2 (although the bouncing eyeball graphic needs to go). My only criticism of the show: “Refugee.” Usually a live performance sounds more, well, alive, but when I saw them, Petty’s rock radio staple from 1979′s Damn the Torpedoes lost some of its force. Instead of demanding that she doesn’t need to live like a refugee, it now sounds like Petty’s politely asking her if she doesn’t want to, y’know, live like a, um, refugee, if that’s cool with you, of course. Sometimes even the artists who originally played the song need to be reminded of the greatness of their work—unless it’s David Crosby. Never give that guy a compliment.

#4. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding

It’s tough to talk about this song without thinking of Otis’ untimely death. It was recorded on November 22, 1967 and Redding’s plane crashed into Lake Monona on December 10. On January 8, “Dock of the Bay” was released as a single and immediately hit #1, becoming the first posthumous song to do so. (Side Note: There’s a piece of metal from the plane on display at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame…that’s, pardon the expression, fucked up.) But next time you listen to the song, probably on some obnoxious soft rock radio station, do your best to separate it from the plane crash and from the station it’s being played. It’s one of Otis’ greatest songs in a great career and deserves more respect than to be wedged inbetween Hall & Oates and Huey Lewis and the News on the radio. It’s fascinating/depressing to think of what he may have done next. Plus, he made whistling cool.

#5. “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones

I once had the pleasure of taking a class with Greil Marcus, author of Mystery Train and The Old, Weird America, and I also got to interview him for my college newspaper, on which I was a lowly reporter. Don’t remember how it came up, but at one point, I asked Marcus what some of his favorite songs of all-time are. In no particular order, he answered “Career Opportunities” by the Clash, “Lose Yourself” by Eminem and “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones. Clearly, he still feels the same way because in a recent interview with Seattle PI, Marcus, when talking about nostalgia, said:

When I hear something that’s really powered by its own engine [and not] by whatever associations I might bring to it—say, “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, which I hear on the radio every few days and I feel like I have heard it on the radio every few days since it came out—it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time.

For someone my age—23—it’s impossible to feel the same way. I obviously wasn’t alive when Let It Bleed was released in 1969 and can’t truly relate with the song’s Vietnam Era-theme. Although it’s one of my favorite Stones tracks, I have a hard time separating this garbage with this brilliance, even though it’s the same song. I guess at this point I have to look past the shamelessness that is Mick and Keith now and try to fantasize about how terrifying “Gimme Shelter” must have sounded 41 years ago.