Rolling Stone 500 | Take It Easy

For today’s theme, Jim is inviting us to play a song which is included in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the top 500 songs of all time. You can read about it in his post, Definitive List. Naturally, this meant that a degree of research was required – who could possibly reel off the full list unaided? It transpired that they have done this three times, in 2004, 2010 and again in 2021. Going to their website of course you get the most recent version, which reflects more current musical tastes: i.e. there is a lot of stuff in there that I wouldn’t go anywhere near, and which for my taste is nowhere near as good as some of the songs which have been lost from the two earlier iterations. But 500 is still a pretty good base to find some that I like and I was really spoilt for choice. There was no way that I could get this down to just one song, though. I decided not to include some of my favourite artists – Beatles, Stones, Springsteen, Petty etc – as I play them often and thought others might choose them, but I have still come up with a playlist of three songs from those who count among my usual suspects.

My lead off track is the one which was lowest placed of the three, coming in at #287:

That was, of course, AC/DC with You Shook Me All Night Long. There is an official video for the song but I went with this one, from the 2009 DVD of their shows in River Plate, because it gives all the feels of a live show, by a band at the top of its game, playing to a huge audience getting swept up in the moment. It is simply amazing. I have the DVD and it is as great as you would expect from this. And this song had the ultimate accolade: for several years it was the ringtone on my mobile. Before I forget, the lyrics:

She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean
She was the best damn woman that I ever seen
She had the sightless eyes, telling me no lies
Knocking me out with those American thighs

Taking more than her share, had me fighting for air
She told me to come, but I was already there
‘Cause the walls start shaking, the Earth was quaking
My mind was aching and we were making it

And you shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me all night long

Working double time on the seduction line
She’s one of a kind, she’s just mine, all mine
Wanted no applause, it’s just another course
Made a meal outta me, and come back for more

Had to cool me down to take another round
Now I’m back in the ring to take another swing
That the walls were shaking, the Earth was quaking
My mind was aching and we were making it

And you shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me all night long
And knocked me out, I said you shook me all night long
You had me shaking and you shook me all night long
Yeah, you shook me
Well, you took me

You really took me and you shook me all night long
Ooh, you shook me all night long
Yeah, yeah, you shook me all night long
You really got me and you shook me all night long

Yeah, you shook me
Yeah, you shook me all night long

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Brian Johnson / Angus Young / Malcolm Young

This was released as a single in August 1980, peaking at #35 in the US and #38 in the UK. Surprisingly, it only made #88 in their homeland of Australia, but it has nevertheless amassed total sales of more than 5m. It had already been included on the band’s Back In Black album the previous month – the first to feature Brian Johnson as vocalist, after the death of Bon Scott. This was a massive hit worldwide, making #1 in Australia, Canada, France and the UK, and #4 in the US, and has sold more than 50m copies – half of those in the US. It is a fantastic album and one which I still play fairly often. I don’t understand how the song only came in at #287 on the Rolling Stone list, though, when you look at some of the dross that placed higher. All a matter of taste, I guess.

My second choice for today is the one that came in at #69. Taylor Swift is still thought of by some as a pop diva, but I think she has a whole catalogue of great songs to her credit, and this is one of them:

All Too Well was originally a track on her Red album, released in October 2012 and topping the charts in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and China, amongst others, and has to date sold around 10m copies. Following a dispute with her previous manager and record company Taylor is currently engaged in a process of re-recording her first six albums, and Red (Taylor’s Version) came out in November 2021. The version of the song I’m playing today comes from that later record, which also made #1 in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and several others, and it includes the extended 10 minute version of this track, for which there is a specially made mini-movie video. Sales figures these days are complicated by the way streaming figures are counted, but the physical sales total more than 1m in the US alone so far, and the album broke all records for streaming when it first came out. This track hasn’t been a single, in either version, but it is still for me one of the most intelligent break up songs I know.

For a bit of a change, and to show off how wide my tastes are (!) I’m also giving you the song that came in at #222 on the most recent list:

An absolutely superb version of an epic song. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes was the opening track on the trio’s first album, simply entitled Crosby Stills & Nash, which was released in May 1969, peaking at #6 in the US and #25 in the UK. This one was also released as a single, making #21 in the US. I got the album as a birthday present that year: my Mum liked The Hollies, and Graham Nash was her favourite, so she was quite keen to hear what his new band were like. We listened to it together, and at the end of this track her response was, simply, “Wow.” I think she summed it up rather well. The title Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (a play on words for “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes”) refers to Stephen Stills’ former girlfriend, singer/songwriter Judy Collins, and the lyrics are his thoughts about her and their imminent breakup.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the three songs I’ve picked out from the 500. As I said earlier, many of them aren’t to my taste, but there are still loads there that I like and it hasn’t been easy even to get this down to just three tracks! Enjoy the rest of your day and the music others will be playing, and I’ll see you again for Tuesday Tunes.