Tricky Question

Posted on 2002/11/20 20:34:31 (November 2002) by john.

What's you favourite single of all time?

Frustratingly, I had to wait about an hour for a train last night, having missed the previous one by about a minute. The station was cold and unfriendly, so I thought I'd find a pub to while away some of the time in. I'm not usually that fond of being in pubs by myself, but anything seemed reasonable to escape the boredom of waiting for that train. I wandered into my pub of choice, sat at the bar and ordered a drink. I was quite content to sit there and mind my own business, stare at the posters, drink my drink, then leave. In an act of generosity though, a couple of the blokes also sitting at the bar attempted to involve me in their conversation. They were talking amongst themselves about their favourite music, and so the opening line to include me was "So what's your favourite single of all time then?". What a loaded question! It's difficult enough at the best of times, but when asked so off guard like that, from a complete stranger, it's very tough indeed. It comes with the added unspoken message of "and I'm going to base every opinion I will have of you around your answer". You might say this makes me shallow, that I would try and answer in a way that would give people the best impression of me, rather than just simply saying what my favourite song is. The trouble is, I don't have one clear favourite, like most people I would assume. So, from a pool of viable extremely-well-loved songs, it seems reasonable to try and optimise your selection to satisfy two important criteria. Firstly, to identify something in common with the person asking, and secondly to try and say something about yourself.

I stumbled to begin with, muttering a couple of random bands I liked, then mentioned that I really liked the song that was playing at the moment, which I guess sounds a bit contrived (but I actually did - it was the excellent Turin Brakes). Eventually I settled for "Imagine" by John Lennon. Sounds a bit standard, but it's the "of all time" bit of the question that prompted me to give that answer. I've loved it since I was very young when my Mum used to play it, and I assume I'll continue to love it. Although perhaps currently I am enjoying other newer songs more, they're a bit faddish in the grand scheme of things, and I wonder if I'd still be listening to these bands when I'm in my fifties. Imagine, on the other hand, is over 30 years old and still sounds great. It's interesting though isn't it? In a way, a person's answer to that sort of question really can tell you a huge amount about them in a very short space of time. The more I think about it, the more I think Imagine is the perfect song to immediately say something about who I am. Anyway... something for you all to think about?! If any of you are ever in the same situation, you may be able to react a bit better than I did, having now given it some forethought!

Well, John. Recently, I received an email from Rob, asking me what about my favorite song and faced a similar problem. I wonder if there's a distinction between song and single...as I have never purchased a single in my life nor could I tell you, even with my favorite bands, which songs were released AS SINGLES.

That said, my fave song is either "It's Late" by Queen or something by Depeche Mode, such as "Some Day" or "Enjoy the Silence"

Still, just as you do, I think that my liking Depeche Mode and Queen in general says a lot about my personality. I like songs that are 'girlie' (that is, 'okay for sensitive males') but have powerful music and excellent singers...and strangely, I think British accents sound so much better on a singer than the American sound.

Fine article :)

Posted by Travis at 2002/11/21 12:27:22.

Hmmm yea it ought to be song rather than single I suppose - I guess most of us hardly own any singles. It just happened that the guy at the bar that asked me originally said single, although he looked far more like an album buying type...

Posted by John at 2002/11/21 08:57:20.

Fine post, mate. For me, it's easy:
Know Your Enemy by Rage Against the Machine.

Posted by Rob Lang at 2002/11/21 09:18:40.

I love the song too Rob, as I'm sure you well know. Hmmmm although trying to think of my favourite RATM song is a difficult enough question by itself... Does it say a lot about you do you think?

Posted by John at 2002/11/21 09:49:58.

Now *that* is a tricky question, I'll agree with you there!

I think the debate gets more difficult when you say "of all time". I have a favourite song "of the month", but of all time.. hmm... big brother will get back to you.

Posted by rowanboy at 2002/11/21 09:57:48.

I am not going to answer that question, as a song may come out in a few months that leaves my current fave standing.

Ask me again at the end of all time.

Mnnnmphff!!

ps. It is impossible to have sexual relations with a non-entity such as off.

Posted by dsp at 2002/11/21 13:27:17.

OK then, to make it a bit easier how about naming one of your top ten favourite songs of all time so far...?

Posted by John at 2002/11/21 13:58:09.

"Don't Falter" by Mint Royale (featuring Lauren Laverne). It is the perfect single. I am now sitting in darkness because I've just unplugged the lamp to plug in the speakers to listen to it. In my mind Single==dispsoable pop, album==something more serious, and less disposable. "Don't falter" is the epitome of pop. It is the bestest single ever. According to me anyway.

Posted by Graf at 2002/11/21 23:47:21.

I actually do own Imagine in single form... Although it's not one of the original run. At least I'm assuming that to be the case, being as the song was released a number of years before CDs were invented.

Posted by John at 2002/11/22 24:49:52.

Ok. We may be getting somewhere with "Fast car by Tracy Chapman". But it's a toss up between that and "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty. Damn.

Posted by rowanboy at 2002/11/22 18:47:54.

'Little Wing' - Stevie Ray Vaughan, was my first choice but his version has no vocal, so... Just Like Paradise - 'A'

Posted by Karl at 2002/12/06 02:26:21.

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