by Matt Barr

Greatest songs ever

There's been a little buzz about Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs Ever. I dig lists. I look forward to TIME's Person of the Year. I laughed harder than you probably did at the John Cusack move High Fidelity.

I agree with James Lileks (seventh item down) that Like a Rolling Stone probably isn't the greatest song of all time; it's not even the greatest of Dylan song of all time (Most of the Time is). And I agree with the reason: It's not rock. Bruce Springsteen, whom I admire even considering his poor choice of political causes to advocate, once won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance or something for Streets of Philadelphia, which is indeed a fine, award-worthy song, but he commented afterwards possibly a little impolitically that it wasn't a rock performance. He's right.

Born to Run is, though, and I think it's the Greatest Rock Song of All Time (and Lileks mentions, Rolling Stone doesn't say it's listing the greatest "rock" songs of all time, but it's Rolling Stone, so you're not expecting Always by Irving Berlin, maybe the best love song ever, which I used to sing to both my son and daughter when they were babies -- Dead Like Me fans will recognize it as the song Rube, Mandy Patinkin, sings to his daughter in the second season finale as she dies).

Born To Run might not even be Bruce Springsteen's best song, in my opinion. That might be Human Touch, which does an extraordinary job of capturing its subject matter: Two lonely people, one trying to convince the other they ought to get together. And if I could only see Bruce and the band play one song, it would probably be My Love Will Not Let You Down, the song that they played to begin their set during world tour before (I think) The Rising came out. Just because it rocks.

But Born To Run is a rock song. It hasn't got universal, deep philosophical truths, its lyrics are unique and quirky. I "imagine" Rolling Stone chose its number three song because of the poetry of its lyrics (with a dash of agreeing with its politics), but rock isn't about poetry, it's about storytelling. An elaborate story doesn't make something the best song ever, or Scenes From an Italian Restaurant would have made the list. But it's impossible not to feel an adrenaline rush when Born To Run begins, and the feat of getting stadium upon stadium full of people to be able to sing "The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive/Everybody's out on the run tonight but there's no place left to hide" is something worthy of recognition.

It's not easy to coherently explain what makes one song, or one book, or one movie better than another, which is why discussions (and arguments) about it are so much fun. Good for discussion, bad for blogging. I'll leave the topic therefore with bemusement at how Paradise City by Guns 'N Roses made the list but Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf didn't.

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