You can add commentary, explanation, or just post a link......

I'll go first:
Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song

Just gorgeous playing by Page, the mellotron, the crescendo....EVERYTHING.
Drunk, buzzed or sober, I can hardly ever hear this song without feeling a lump in my throat.
Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4v-_p5dU34

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

Foo Fighters- Times Like These

I listen to this song anytime I feel down or dealing with stressful situations...helps me out a lot.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1nfilmSI3E

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

U2, Bad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zIW8qDPhos

Silver Jews, Random Rules

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKl4Wpu75W0

Built to Spill, Carry the Zero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-f7zsW7EV4

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Arthur Russell, "A Little Lost".

For anyone who has ever had a broken heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO2F48JKIlo

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

All these choices are excellent, and the only song I hadn't heard before was the Silver J Ews tune.
I really liked it.

Here's my Built To Spill choice.
Kicked It in The Sun.
Like the first 4 minutes weren't great enough, the last 3 are fucking awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2DnJbloY14

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

after seeing built to spill live, meeting doug martsch, and engulfing myself into their entire discography over the years...i still think the most consuming of their songs is this (and yes, they played this at the show i was at, and it was absolutely beautiful):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57muiovrSMk

so there's this band? called train? and this song? called drops of jupiter?

just kidding.

we got a 7 song super set comin' atcha, and a concert giveaway comin' up but let's start things off in the am hour...

all you sailors, this one's for you...

shudder to think - hot one.

keeping with the glam rock motif, fast and furious it's super furry animals...

DIM BENDITH! Translate that! It's Welsh.

and you can't ROCK OUT until you've got a little ENYA...

oh yeah it's Watermark!

Taking us to the dawn...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiFTXckh0zU

then it's time to KICK IT...with some cherry poppin' daddies...back in their punk ska form. grab some irish whiskey!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfkG-ZhfZA0

Yep - I may have told this story before here, but honestly, the only time
I've ever been fucking stoned (and drunk) off my ass was seeing BTS open
For J Mascis & The Fog at Experience Music Project in Seattle about 14 years or so ago.
I never saw BTS in Chicago.
Velvet Waltz holds a dear place in a lot of their fans, judging by the YT comments.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

the show i saw built to spill at was in washington DC, 4 days after 9/11. the smoke was still clearing at the pentagon.

The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, which is not only their best song but one of the best songs ever written.

Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place, which is not only their best song but one of the best songs ever written.

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"road to nowhere" is miles ahead of "this must be the place".

Mott The Hoople, "One Of The Boys"

When Mick Ralphs started Bad Company he retooled it as "Can't Get Enough".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f34dLvx69ug

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I have to disagree with that. Listen to it stripped down like the Shawn Colvin version and you can really hear what a great song it is.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Both of these statements ring true to me.

Favorite doesn't always equate "best", in terms of lyrics/composition/recording...
Jus' sayin'.
My favorite Morrissey (solo) song is probably Speedway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38x5GYAS6xY
His best song is probably still Everyday Is Like Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhdOQ5BnBys

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

well the shawn colvin version makes it into a completely different song, first of all. because it's no longer a new wave 80's pop song. it becomes a singer/songwriter folk tune.

the lyrics are still too simple to call it one of the greatest songs of all time.

Yeah, "Everyday Is Like Sunday" is beautiful. Best solo Moz for sure, but to be honest, he really falls off as a solo artist. Hope he doesn't die of cancer, though!

And "Road to Nowhere"? Come on, the albums after Speaking in Tongues are barely worth considering.

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oh yeah i guess they must be annoyingly precious...

The melody is still there though.

And come on! Many of the greatest songs ever have simple- even idiotic- lyrics.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

they're sung and presented completely differently. you would not be able to tell that it was the same song if you heard both versions without knowing the title.

if you're going to have bare bones lyrics, you gotta support it...and colvin makes more with them than byrne did.

Bruce Springsteen
Candy's Room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-wAUhIsbuU
Just has a special place in my mind since about 1990 when I first heard it.
It's my "favorite" Bruce tune.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

i love this instrumental piece...only the instrumental piece really stirs anything for me. the original has vocals and feels like a disney song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4_pEtRxz_Q

Chantal Krevi-somthing.
She's drop dead gorgeous, and she's married to the singer of Our Lady Peace.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

I'm not sure what my favorite Weakerthans song is. It's hard when they're such a favorite band of mine. I don't think anyone else here even cares about them, but hey, chime in if you're out there.

"One Great City!" is the obvious one because it's kind of the band's whole thesis statement about hating and loving the place that makes you who you are. "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. It's sung from the perspective of a cat who, in a previous song, tried to cheer up a depressed owner but eventually ran away from home. "Utilities" has great lyrics. "Left and Leaving" is up there too. I can't decide. I just really, really like the Weakerthans.

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I've never heard the Weakerthans.

I'll look into them.

My next choice is Fiona Apple.
She has plenty of songs that feel like a gut-punch
but this is, IMO, her most devasting song.
Note: this is the Jon Brion version, not the re-do
that came out on the official Extraordinary Machine record.
Though both are great, I prefer Jon Brion's....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ng9Oel5DXY

Fiona Apple is really under-appreciated.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

Minutemen, "The Anchor"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hkDZvsewlM

Five beautiful girls around me
I was so damn bad
I was so damn bad!

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I don't know why I can't get enough of this song. I didn't even watch Ed.

Clem Snide, Moment in the Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okpio6koDPU

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I just watched Rudderless last night. William H. Macy's directorial debut. Eef Barzelay did the score for the film. It's an interesting movie. Certainly not perfect, but definitely worth seeing.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!