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April 18, 2008
Out Here In The Fields
I‘ve long dreamed of putting together a rock and roll club night. The idea of the night would be pretty simple: Stage it in a downtown nightclub. Everyone gets wasted and flops around and sings along together to rock anthems. The obvious ones. The biggies – not the ones you name check to make yourself sound cool or indie. There would be a web page and posters. The set list would be published ahead of time so that everybody knew the dope, and knew when to get really stupid. You show up, you buy beer, you scream along to Baba O’Reily whilst in the arms of your countrymen and then you go home and make sweet love to your wife or significant other.
Of course, the set list would be a source of contention. 80 songs, and there would have to be room for requests. Here are twenty of my must haves, in rough order:
- Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin
- Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve
- We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions – Queen
- American Pie – Don McLean
- Blitzkreig Bop – Ramones
- I Fought The Law – The Clash
- Highway To Hell – AC/DC
- Runnin’ With The Devil – Van Halen
- Sister Christian – Night Ranger
- Intervention – Arcade Fire
- Cum On Feel The Noize – Slade (or Quiet Riot)
- Rock N Roll All Nite – KISS
- Cowboy Song – Thin Lizzy
- Rockin’ In The Free World – Neil Young
- Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen
- Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
- Baba O’Reily – The Who
- Where the Streets Have No Name – U2
- Hey Jude – The Beatles
And to end the night…
- Tom Traubert’s Blues – Tom Waits
There are many more, and 80 songs doesn’t really cover it, but that would be the beauty of such a night. There is only so much room on the list, and one must search one’s soul for the songs that truly matter. I don’t know if such a night would really appeal to anyone, and hell, maybe this happens every weekend on Whyte Avenue (haven’t been to a bar on Saturday night in years). But I don’t think so. It would be about coming together and screaming the words we all know and love.
Of course the real question is which songs would YOU have on your list? I’m telling you right now, if anyone mentions any song by Justin Timberlake, even in jest, I’m banning your ass from this site.
5 Comments (Closed)
I love Hey Jude, but more for the sound, not so much the lyrics… but not every song has to blow your mind, right?
Forgive me, because maybe it’s just in my own head that this sounds like it would fit…. but where are Guns N Roses and Bon Jovi on your list? I know it’s redneck rock, but still…. who doesn’t love drunkenly singing (or slurring) along to “Paradise City”?
On the subject to what I affectionately refer to as “dumb rock”, how about some Nickelback? Ha!
I doubt a club night like this would ever happen, but you never know. It sure would be fun, and if a decent buck could be made, it might be worth it.
RE: Hey Jude. It really is a DUMB song lyrically. It’s the pointless sing-along coda that makes it so damn beautiful. Certainly not the best from the Beatles, but perhaps the most “anthem-like”. Maybe not.
RE: G N’ R and Bon Jovi. Yeah, for sure they’d be in there. “Paradise City” for sure, “Lay Your Hands On Me” for sure. My list was just my 20 “must haves”. I’d love to craft a full set list – 80 songs or so. We’ll see.
Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
Norwegian Wood – The Beetles
Low Rider – War
America/ Mrs. Robinson – Simon and Garfunkle
Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
“Fight For Your Right (To Party)” – The Beastie Boys
“Thunderstruck” – AC/DC
“Time To Pretend” – MGMT
“Sympathy For The Devil” – Rolling Stones
“Daughter” – Pearl Jam
“Black Betty” – Ram Jam
“Crazy” – Gnarls Barkley
“Walk This Way” – Aerosmith and Run DMC
“Closer” -Nine Inch Nails
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Adam Snider
This could be a pretty cool night, were it ever to come to fruition. Your list is good, but I have to quibble on “Hey Jude” a bit. Not that it’s a bad song, per se, but it’s not really a rock anthem in the same way that most of the others are. I guess it could be the (relatively) mellow track where everyone pauses to get another drink from the bar?
Then again, I personally think that “Hey Jude” is one of the weaker Beatles songs (which is blasphemy, I guess, but it’s the way I feel). I’m not sure what I’d replace it with, though. “Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da,” while not a particularly great song, would work, because it’d be something people could sing along to really easily. I mean, I guess “Hey Jude” would work, since it’s a popular song that everyone knows, I just don’t think it’d be my choice.
As for what would be on my list…I’ll get back to you after I’ve had some time to think about it. I’ll try and come up with a list of 20 that doesn’t overlap with your list, and post it to my blog sometime soon.
Apr 18 2008 • 14:40