# The Perfect Pop Song



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You know those pop songs that are just...flawless? The ones that when you listen to them, you think "I don't know how anything could be more beautiful. I don't know how I could feel negative about anything at this moment. I don't know how I could have anything BUT faith in humankind." The ones that make you feel like you're 12 years old and there couldn't possibly be anything wrong with the world.

The *perfect* pop song. Lifts you right up like you've just mainlined something immaculate and sends you straight to heaven in maybe 3 minutes, sometimes a little more. Generally major chords, lots of sweet harmonies, medium fast tempo, and the hook of all hooks. A lot of them seem to have 12-string guitar, now that I think of it, and boy do a lot of them sound amazing on a Tele bridge pickup.

A few of my contenders:

Perfect - Danny Michel
Shine - Andy Stochansky
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
A Beautiful Day - U2
Look Through Any Window - The Hollies
I Can't Let Go - Linda Ronstadt (or The Hollies...or Evie Sands)
Sail on Sailor - Beach Boys
The Waiting - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
As Far As I know - Paul Westerberg
The Land of Hope and Dreams - Bruce Springsteen

So what are yours?


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

Mark, never would have taken you for a Sufjan Stevens fan. You surprise me at every turn. I love that track but it's always felt like a reprise of The Transfiguration from Seven Swans -- he uses the same melody at the end and builds it in an even more spectacular way IMO. Seven Swans is definitely my favourite SS album. Heck I'll start with that...

Sufjan Stevens - The Transfiguration
Elbow - Forget Myself (the live version off Radio 1's Live Lounge, Vol 2 disc)
Big Country - Fields of Fire
The Watchmen - All Uncovered
The Box - Closer Together
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
Johnny Clegg - Scatterlings of Africa
Collective Soul - Shine
Oasis - She Is Love
Spacehog - In The Meantime

Is that 10 already...darn. I could go on, and on, and on.


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## Stevo (Apr 3, 2008)

Okay, I'll take a shot at this too....

In no particular order, these ones do it for me:

1) You Were Right- Badly Drawn Boy
2) There She Goes- The La's
3) The Authority Song- Jimmy Eat World (not the Mellencamp one, it's good too though)
4) Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da- Beatles (take your pick really though)
5) Starlight- Muse
6) Can't Hardly Wait- Replacements
7) Dakota- Stereophonics
8) I'm Always in Love- Wilco (though all of Summerteeth is amazing)
9) No One's Gonna Love You- Band of Horses
10) Walk of Life- Dire Straits


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

very interesting topic. a lot of these bands on my list tend to do more dark stuff, but these songs make me warm and fuzzy.

Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runner
Close to Me - The Cure
Beautiful World - Colin Hay
Mayonaise - Smashing Pumpkins ("Today" is a good choice, too)
Dance the Night Away - Van Halen
Always with you, Always with me - Joe Satriani (instumental, but makes me happy)
Live with me - Twilight Singers (Massive Attack cover)
A New England - Billy Bragg
Beautiful Girl - INXS (or "Shine Like It Does")
Come Anytime - Hoodoo Gurus (tough call over "like Wow, Wipeout")


/jeez - hard to stop at 10, even with a couple of cheater doubles. well, I'm off to make a mix tape :smile:


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

*Ok I'll play*

Give a little bit - Supertramp
1979 - smashing pumpkins
Wonderwall - Oasis
Karma Police - Radiohead
We can Work it out- Beatles
Take a Picture - Filter
One- U2
Losing My Religion - REM
No Excuses - Alice in Chains
Ain't that a Shame - Whomever sings it, great song


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...the perfect pop song was stevie wonder's "i just called to say i love you".

does not a thing for me, but i cannot think of a more perfect piece of pop confection. the very first time i heard i realized that it was a ditty that will be played at every white trash wedding from now until the end of time.

-dh


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

What's wrong with me? out of 50 songs posted above I know 6 ? Living in the bush too long ?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

mhammer said:


> Look Through Any Window - The Hollies


...those early hollies songs still move me.

bus stop
i'm alive - just phenomenal

-dh


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

david henman said:


> ...the perfect pop song was stevie wonder's "i just called to say i love you".
> 
> does not a thing for me, but i cannot think of a more perfect piece of pop confection. the very first time i heard i realized that it was a ditty that will be played at every white trash wedding from now until the end of time.
> 
> -dh


It's a little on the fluffy-n-sappy side, but I'm glad you reminded me of Stevie. Both "Sir Duke" and "Isn't She Lovely" are terrific lasting pieces of pure pop that puts a spring in one's step. The album version of "Isn't..." does go on for a bit, incorporating giving his little daughter a bath, but the radio version is nicely self-contained.

Glad someone mentioned The Replacements.:smile: "Alex Chilton" is about as perfect and self-contained as a pop song can be. Goes from 0-60 in about 4 seconds.

And also glad people included instrumentals. Though it tends to drag on a bit about 3/4 of the way through, the first half of "If I Could Fly" by Joe Satriani is a great piece of wordless-yet-lyrical pop.

There's a whole whack of Laura Nyro songs I could mention too.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

shoretyus said:


> What's wrong with me? out of 50 songs posted above I know 6 ? Living in the bush too long ?


Same here ..... I know I'm over 50 but I thought "Pop" was short for "Popular" - selections that both my parents and my kids would know. With that in mind, I'd suggest:

Walkin' On Sunshine
My Sharona
Sweet Caroline
Yesterday
Help Me Rhonda
Hotel California
Colour My World
American Woman
Maggie May
We Will Rock You

I didn't say I liked them ....... only that their popularity is not in doubt.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*You did say*

Pop song right. well only one really comes to mind and it took him some time to record and have put on a album.
Brian's In My Room.Of course my very Favorite song is like my handle, but it doesn't qualify as POP.Ship of Fools


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Whatever you think of Wacko Jacko now, there are at least six perfect pop songs on Thriller.

(Hoo-hoo)


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> Whatever you think of Wacko Jacko now, there are at least six perfect pop songs on Thriller.
> 
> (Hoo-hoo)


....which is, of course, why his weirdness gets our attention. It's the contrast between his emergent character, and how we thought of him from those gems on those earlier albums. "Wanna be Startin Something", and its doppelganger from Off the Wall "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough", are both great tunes that I imagine could turn the dreariest greasiest factory into a place of joy. The sort of thing that makes you VERY confused when you see the person.

Speaking of Phil Spector....how about "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes? Does it get more perfect than that? or "Gimme Some Lovin" by the Spencer Davis Group?

Marshall Crenshaw, for me and many others, is a great source of perfect pop tunes. "You're My Favourite Waste of Time", "Monday Morning Rock" or "What Do You Dream Of?" are all flawless little gems....and great exercises in how to play rhythm guitar well.

Several other old contenders dressed up for more contemporary tastes here are the Four Seasons' "Rag Doll", Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale". These are some Youtube videos I stumbled onto recorded in an LA club where apparently guitar-slinger-to-the-stars Waddy Wachtel (Warren Zevon, James Taylor, Keith Richard, Linda Ronstadt) has a steady pickup gig doing covers. Here, legendary singer Terry Reid sits in and sings both these nuggets exquisitely. Reid was supposed to be the lead singer for Zeppelin but turned the gig down and recommended Plant. Forty years later his pipes are still in pretty good shape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XySNLg6wSS4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dRL1AnYglA&feature=related
And seeing another Reid video reminded me how much I liked the Beach Boys "Don't Worry Baby" and what a perfect pop song that was too.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

I woke up this morning thinking of this thread, with the Turtles' "So Happy Together" running though my head.

can't think of a better one than that :smile:


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Turtles and Beach Boys. Both excellent choices. "God Only Knows" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" are both the sorts of sonds where you can't think of a single thing you might add to them.

When I was but a young lad, the Beach Boys came to Ottawa, and my cousin and I snuck in to the Civic Centre to see them set up and do sound test (we saw the show, and I tink it was Three's A Crowd, with Bruce Cockburn on lead guitar, and The Box Tops, with Alex Chilton, that opened for them). We got to briefly play Frisbee with them, and I got a close-up look at the device Mike Love was using for "Good Vibrations" on tour. Many years later, I exchanged notes with the inventor/builder of that device, a guy named Tom Polk. It was essentially a ribbon controller with the notes marked off using white out or something similar. Love would slide the wiper of what was essentially a very long slider pot to the white indicator marks. Probably a good idea to sub that for a theremin when one is touring and sleep deprived.

One of the regulars at the DIY Stompbox forum has been the guitarist for the Turtles for something like 20 years, and gets to play "Happy Together" quite frequently.



> Nice choices there, mhammer. Have you ever seen Danny do "Perfect" when he plays it solo and creates the rhythm part entirely by looping sounds he makes on his Tele? Very cool.


Why, thank you! And yes, at least I've seen a youtube recording of him doing it. He's one very clever musician.


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## fretboard (May 31, 2006)

Hey mhammer - nice call on Marshall Crenshaw. 

Some day, some way
There she goes again
Whenever you're on my mind

Good stuff.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

fretboard said:


> Hey mhammer - nice call on Marshall Crenshaw.
> 
> Some day, some way
> There she goes again
> ...


Great songwriter and fabulous rhythm player (a guy who knows a good chord change/inversin when he sees one) whose first real claim to fame was probably playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway production of Beatlemania, and later appearing as Buddy Holly in the movie "la Bamba" and also in "Peggy Sue Got Married". I hadn't realized until I did a quick wikipedia search that he also wrote the theme from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story". *And* he's a nice guy too. I got to interview him back in '82. He had more hair then. I brought him a present of the P-90 from my "batwing" Coronet, for which he was very appreciative. If you have a chance, check out his book "Hollywood Rock", an encyclopedia of rock/pop in the movies. http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Rock-Marshall-Crenshaw/dp/0062732420


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

anything Elton John in the yellow brick road era

i.e.
Yellow Brick road
Rocket Man
Levon


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## Guest (Mar 27, 2009)

These three sad souls oh me oh my..


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Roll with it - Steve Winwood


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Ever since I heard it, I though Queens of the Stone Age's _No One Knows_ is the perfect song. It's catchy, full of awesome hooks, great dynamics, nice and short, lots of parts that contrast one another really well. It's just awesome! 

And I'm not even all that much of a fan of theirs!


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Here are the 10 "Perfect Pop" songs I've chosen for today and the reason why I say today is because I could easily have a whole new list tomorrow. These aren't in any particular order BTW, they're just what popped smile into my head at the time. I left out any Beatles songs because you could take pretty much any 10 songs from their catalogue and they'd be perfect. I've also included my own notes on these songs.

Modern Love - David Bowie I've never been a huge David Bowie fan but this song was huge in the early 80's and when you hear it it's not hard to understand why. A very positive, uplifting well written pop song.

My Girl - The Temptations Man, what can I say about this song? It's been called "Motowns national anthem". I'm pretty sure this song could lift the spirits of almost anybody.

I Don't Wanna Know - Phil Collins This song practically bounces out of the speakers. Phil more or less owned the mid to late 80's and this song is a good example of why. 

Magic - The Cars These guys were, and still are, a massive influence on me. Second only to The Beatles actually. I could have chosen lots of other Cars songs but when I hear this one it immediately takes me back to the summer of 1984. Very sunny, optimistic song. Ric Ocaseks songs are deceptively simple.

What Is Life? - George Harrison This song is my candidate for one of my favourite songs of all time along with another on this list. George has always been my main guitar influence and I think the way he integrated a serious philosophical question along with an upbeat pop song is ingenious. Great stuff.

Stop In The Name Of Love - The Supremes Once again there are so many Supremes songs to choose from but this is another one where everything falls into place. Great arrangements and vocals and extremely catchy.

This Time - Bryan Adams The first Canadian on the list. Here's a guy who knows how to write a song with lots of hooks. I think this song is a great blend of pop and rock. It moves along nicely and you can't help but find yourself singing along. 

I Got A Name - Jim Croce This is my second candidate for one of my all time favourites. Not as upbeat as the others but a very heartfelt and well written pop/folk song. It never fails to lift my spirits.

Carefree Highway - Gordon Lightfoot The second Canadian on the list. A breezy folk/pop song that makes you want to sing along. I personally think Gordon Lightfoot may just be the best songwriter this country has produced.

Band On The Run - Paul McCartney One of my all time favourite songs. I like the way it has three distinctive parts. Very uplifting and it's a song that I'll never get tired of hearing. Paul as a singer and songwriter is another huge influence on me. BTW just for a laugh I was thinking of putting in Silly Love Songs just to get Robert1950 going. :smile: Truthfully though, I prefer this song over Silly Love Songs.

Thanks for starting this thread Mark.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Funny, I never intended it to be a list of 10. I just started writing down songs, and got to a point where I said to myself "That's probably enough examples for them to know what I'm talking about". Never counted them until just now, and realized I had put down 10. Kinda wondered whyeveryone felt compelled to write down 10. Funny.

That's a nice list, kenmac :bow:

There's a bunch of tunes from the golden era of Motown that are frothy light things that can grab you and just not let go. They're not necessarily funky or soulful; they just *work*. Try on "*Dancing in the Street*" by Martha and the Vandellas or "*Monkey Time*" by Major Lance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMRLrf4pNn4 and tell me you don't feel like a million bucks. Of course, when I put on Laura Nyro singing a medley of BOTH those tunes, I've simply died and gone to heaven http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxRU...CD3EA66A2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=7.

What about Sly Stone? "*Everybody is a Star*" is a wonderful self-contained tune. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aKVpxR4rUc

The Harrison tune IS a real keeper. I could clean the house and cut the grass in 10 minutes with that thing in the background.:smile:

And, while I'm reminded:
"*Veronica*" and "*Everyday I write the book*" by Elvis Costello are also both great pop tunes, as is "*Shake it up*" by The Cars, and "*Summer of 69*" by Brian Adams.

or how about "Victoria" by the Kinks? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2GHlcwlT1Y


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## Apostrophe (') (Dec 30, 2007)

Care Of Cell 44 - Zombies (the entire album is one of the great pop albums of all-time IMHO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afrdo2qneoI

Tears of a Clown
Waterloo Sunset
Penny Lane
Sitting/Dock/Bay


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