The Times They Are A-Changin'?

In the year 2004, Rolling Stone published a list of what they called the 500 greatest songs of all time. Now, with the help of more than 250 artists, journalists, and music industry professionals, the list has been revisited. While there have been mixed reactions to what is included and what is not, at the end the day one must realise that it is only a list and will always be subjective. I always look at such lists as an opportunity to discover good music that I normally wouldn’t have come across otherwise.

That said, when a magazine like Rolling Stone lists out songs and ranks them, it also probably reflects the changing trends and preferences among the current generation, about what according to them is good music. I made a few observations which I’m sure others like me who grew up listening to classic rock will find interesting. Here goes:

1. Bob Dylan’s ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ moves down 3 places from #1 to #4 making way for Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’ (#5 in 2004), Public Enemy’s ‘Fight the Power’ (#330 in 2004) and Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ (#12 in 2004) at the top 3 positions. I must admit I’d never heard of ‘Fight the Power’ before I saw this list.

2. Dylan however continues to be a popular artist with as many as 7 songs on the list, second only to The Beatles who have 12. Other artists with 4 or more songs are The Rolling Stones (7), David Bowie (7), Prince (6), Bruce Springsteen (5), Arertha Franklin, Bob Marley, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye and Steve Wonder (all 4).

3. Sure, when a list is revisited after 17 years, a lot of old will get replaced with the new, but there are a few songs that would never leave my list of greatest songs. Songs like ‘Times They Are A-Changin’’ (Dylan), For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield), ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ (Roy Orbison), Highway To Hell (AC/DC), The End (The Doors) and Piano Man (Billy Joel) have been replaced this time. In fact, half of the original list has been replaced with new ones.

4. Plus, there have been some surprising inclusions; Daddy Yankee’s ‘Gasolina’ at #50 and ‘Dynamite’ by BTS at #346. Dynamite is just over an year old.

5. On the other hand, some songs that were strangely missing in the original list have been included this time, thankfully; Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’, Louis Armstrong’s ‘What A Wonderful World’, Van Halen’s ‘Jump’, David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ and Cat Stevens’ ‘Father and Son’, to name a few.

6. The number of Elvis Presley songs on the list has come down from 11 to 3. ‘Hound Dog’ by Elvis which made the list in 2004 has been excluded this time. Big Mama Thornton’s version of the same song finds a place though. Similarly, Led Zeppelin had 6 songs earlier, but now only has 3 on the list.

7. Missy Elliott makes the biggest jump. The song ‘Get Ur Freak On’ which was at #466 in 2004 is now at #8. Dr. Dre’s ‘Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang’ and Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Juicy’ take similar leaps, going from #427 to #29 and from #424 to #32 respectively.

8. ‘Help!’ by The Beatles moves down from #29 to #447 while Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’ moves from #69 to #461

9. Some songs appear twice on the list: ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’ by Roberta Flack at #273 and by The Fugees at #359; ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ by Bob Dylan at #164 and by The Byrds at #230; ‘Walk on by’ by Dionne Warwick at #51 and by Isaac Hayes at #312

10. New songs that have been added are not just the ones that are released after 2004, but there are quite a few old songs that have gained virality in recent times thanks to many short-format video apps. ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac at #9, ‘Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday at #21, and ‘Once In A Lifetime’ by Talking Heads at #28 are some examples.

Would recommend that you browse through the list and watch/listen to all the 500 songs on this YouTube playlist: https://tinyurl.com/rstheboat. You will either find your favourites there or, like me, might discover and like something that you’ve never heard before.

The playlist currently features only the first 60 songs from the 2021 list and will be regularly updated.

To read the article published in Rolling Stone, copy-paste the below mentioned link:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/green-day-basket-case-1225188/?fbclid=IwAR0jImpLlF2Dk1BEzIY5Bte---8bkufuCWH18n1XZa4vE0EomB3KRiwnISI