NationStates Jolt Archive

What do you think is the greatest rock song ever. I'm not talking about your personal faverite, try to see around that please. Just what song do you think should be greatest song of all time.

My friends and I have narrowed our picks to a tie between Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," and Queen's "Bohemian Rapsody."

Let me know who you think should be number 1.

o0o0o0o0o tough one, there are soooo many.

I'm going to have to go with Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"

Oh, okay, I misunderstood you.. I picked my fav.

Hmm, greatest of all time..

Well I guess you would have to pick a song that changed some thing in Rock'n'Roll history I would think then.

Certainly not my fav by no means.. but I would have to say some thing like Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" or some thing like Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" you'd have to go back to the roots I think. It's certainly not Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven"...lol Where did rock start? That's where you will find the answer to this question.

Pfft, Stairway has it pants down. Though I think you should strongly consider Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". Classic that one.

Having lived through the 70's when Stairway was played as the last song of every dance everywhere.... if I never again hear that maudlin piece of musical tripe which doesn't deserve to be considered in Led Zeppelin's top 10 let alone in the best rock song ever category - I'll be happy!

Pfft, Stairway has it pants down. Though I think you should strongly consider Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". Classic that one.


I agree, Stairway is the greatest.

Having lived through the 70's when Stairway was played as the last song of every dance everywhere.... if I never hear that maudlin piece of musical tripe which doesn't deserve to be considered in Led Zeppelin's top 10 let alone in the best rock song ever category - I'll be happy!

Amen to that baby! :fluffle:

I agree, Stairway is the greatest.


i think summer of 69 makes good chance?

well everyone always go wild and starts to sing if you turn in on in parties...

that song of meatloaf
lights the dashboard orso
is also pretty good

i think summer of 69 makes good chance?

well everyone always go wild and starts to sing if you turn in on in parties...

that song of meatloaf
lights the dashboard orso
is also pretty good


Bryan Adams?

:headbang:


Argggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. NO!

i think summer of 69 makes good chance?

well everyone always go wild and starts to sing if you turn in on in parties...

that song of meatloaf
lights the dashboard orso
is also pretty good

OMG, you're banned from ever answering a rock and roll question EVERAH again.. lmao! :gundge:

i have the freedom to speak
you can't ban me for that

i have the freedom to speak
you can't ban me for that


Hahaha, I wasn't saying that as a moderator, sorry if I left that impression.. I was saying it as a music lover.. I mean c'mon, Byran Adams? Are you for real? lol :confused:

I personally don't like stairway all that much. I like REM's It's the End of the World as We Know it. Then again that is my personal favourite which you didn't ask for.

I got my first real 6-string
bought it at the 5-and-dime
played it til my fingers bled
it was the summer of '69...

I got my first real 6-string
bought it at the 5-and-dime
played it til my fingers bled
it was the summer of '69...

You will pay for that! LOL :eek: :sniper:

What do you think is the greatest rock song ever. I'm not talking about your personal faverite, try to see around that please. Just what song do you think should be greatest song of all time.

My friends and I have narrowed our picks to a tie between Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," and Queen's "Bohemian Rapsody."

Let me know who you think should be number 1.
I was just about to say Stairway to Heaven.

What about other classic's like:

-Rock and Roll all Nite-Kiss
-Livin' after Midnight-Judas Priest
-Crazy Train-Osbourne/Rhoads
-Any Jimi Hendrix Song! (For the sake of argument, let's pick "Little Wing")
-I can't believe no one has said "Freebird" nor "Sweet Home Alabama" by Skynyrd...
-Carry On My Wayward Son-Kansas
-Layla-Eric Clapton
-Comfortably Numb-Pink Floyd
-Any Led Zepplin song, as well (and again for the sake of argument, let's say "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You")


The list goes on and on...the point being that there is no "best"...just a lot of really really good ones!

I think I'll have to go with "Imagine".

i think summer of 69 makes good chance?

well everyone always go wild and starts to sing if you turn in on in parties...

that song of meatloaf
lights the dashboard orso
is also pretty goodUh, would that be Paradise by the Dashboard Lights your refering to? Yes it's a good song but not worthy of being called the best (unless your talking about Meatloaf's best).

Better choices would be

The Rolling Stones - Can't You Hear Me Knockin'
or
Satisfaction
or
Sympathy for the Devil
or any of a dozen others

Santana - Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen

Steve Miller Band - Livin' in the USA

The Beatles - Let it Be
or
Hey, Jude
or... well you get the picture

I could go on and on. I have to agree, there is no definitive Best, only many Great rock songs.

Uh, would that be Paradise by the Dashboard Lights your refering to? Yes it's a good song but not worthy of being called the best (unless your talking about Meatloaf's best).

Better choices would be

The Rolling Stones - Can't You Hear Me Knockin'
or
Satisfaction
or
Sympathy for the Devil
or any of a dozen others

Santana - Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen

Steve Miller Band - Livin' in the USA

The Beatles - Let it Be
or
Hey, Jude
or... well you get the picture

I could go on and on. I have to agree, there is no definitive Best, only many Great rock songs.

Whoo hoo, good picks!!! :)

Steve Miller Band- Joker
Skynyrd- Freebird
Styx- Blue Collar Man
... think of more later

Whoo hoo, good picks!!! :)

Those are so not that great of picks. My god.

Let it Be is way better than Hey Jude, which shouldn't even be on there.

And Honky Tonk Women is the best Rolling Stones song.

I would know, I play all this stuff.

Lessee. Way the hell out of left field:

Carry On; Woodstock (Crosby Stills and Nash)
Mysterious Ways; Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2)
Spirit of Radio; Subdivisions (Rush - and yes, I know, I need to listen to YYZ and 2112 again, and I'm a heretic for not mentioning Tom Sawyer - STOP WHINING.)
Won't Get Fooled Again; My Generation; Baba O'Reilly (The Who)
Are You Experienced; Voodoo Child; All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix - yeah, I know the last one's a Dylan song originally, and I like that version too, but it just doesn't ... do it for me.)
<Edit> Ah yeah, forgot: Pink Floyd's "Time".</Edit>

And of course the obligatory Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir stuff from Led Zeppelin which comes as a response from every single human being in the western world, though I'm more a fan of stuff like Over the Hills and Far Away or Fool in the Rain or Black Dog.

Well, if we're talking the Stones, then I'd suggest "Satisfaction." It's the rock and roll equivalent of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. If we're talking the Beatles doing straight-ahead rock and roll, then you've gotta pick "Revolution."

For good intros (not necessarily the entire song) I'd throw out Golden Earring's "Radar Love" and the Eagles "Hotel California." I've retained my adolescent fascination with Rush, but I'll stop short of nominating any of their work for this category as I really do know better. But let me throw out a few more ideas for your consideration.

Metallica: Enter Sandman
Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love
Primus: Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
Nine Inch Nails: Head Like A Hole
Isaac Hayes: Shaft
Who: Baba O'Reilly
Clash: London Calling
Nirvana: All Apologies


(P.S. Mad props to anyone who has an mp3 of Pimp Daddy Welfare: Elmo Ain't Yo Average N***a.)

Clash: London Calling

Aww man, I knew I was forgetting something.

Those are so not that great of picks. My god.

Let it Be is way better than Hey Jude, which shouldn't even be on there.

And Honky Tonk Women is the best Rolling Stones song.

I would know, I play all this stuff.Puhleeez, I didn't even scratch the surface and you're already dissing my choices. It's all subjective and thats the point I was making anyways.

As for the Beatles choices it depends on your criteria for greatest.

And Honky Tonk Woman is sooo overrated. Do do do do do (Heartbreaker) is better, as is You can't Always Get What You Want.

But since it's all a matter of opinion we could argue this all night.

But since it's all a matter of opinion we could argue this all night.

Well, that and the fact the genre offers us some two hundred thousand choices, a disproportionately large number of which are actually good.

Lessee. Way the hell out of left field:

Carry On; Woodstock (Crosby Stills and Nash)
Mysterious Ways; Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2)
Spirit of Radio; Subdivisions (Rush - and yes, I know, I need to listen to YYZ and 2112 again, and I'm a heretic for not mentioning Tom Sawyer - STOP WHINING.)
Won't Get Fooled Again; My Generation; Baba O'Reilly (The Who)
Are You Experienced; Voodoo Child; All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix - yeah, I know the last one's a Dylan song originally, and I like that version too, but it just doesn't ... do it for me.)

And of course the obligatory Stairway to Heaven and Black Dog and Kashmir stuff from Led Zeppelin which comes as a response from every single human being in the western world, though I'm more a fan of stuff like Over the Hills and Far Away or Fool in the Rain or Black Dog.Oh ya, and you could add probably a dozen songs to the lists by CSN, the Who and Hendrix. Another song by Zep thats often overlooked and deserves mention is No Quarter.

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
that's my personal favorite, anyway, and I could also argue that it changed the face of rock 'n roll...lol.
But as far as a song that was influential but not my favorite by its band, I'd have to say

The Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
the birth of punk.

Oh, and "Stairway To Heaven" isn't even the best Led Zeppelin song from that album, "Rock and Roll" is.

How about Wild Thing by the Troggs? Catchy tune, primal rhythm, lyrics about sex, what more could we want from rock. The fact that it only has three chords (that's one less than the other prime example of moron rock Blitzkrieg Bop) and can be played all the way through by anyone within a half hour of the first time they pick up a guitar or bass is also something else in its favour. And as the icing on the cake the original has a solo on that much underused weapon in the rock armoury - the occarina. The fact that Reg Presley was still working as a brickie on a building site when he heard on the radio that they had got to number one with it is another point in its favour (that and the fact that it is played slightly out of time just like all the Troggs recordings). The fact that the band are named after cave-dwelling primitives also gets them points.


However, once again over-exposure has taken the edge off it, I'm much happier listening to The Troggs' psychedelic songs like the mighty Night Of The Long Grass.

that maudlin piece of musical tripe which doesn't deserve to be considered in Led Zeppelin's top 10 let alone in the best rock song ever category

Definitely. It's way overrated and they have much better songs.

Just like...

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
that's my personal favorite, anyway, and I could also argue that it changed the face of rock 'n roll...lol.

Same story.

-Any Led Zepplin song, as well (and again for the sake of argument, let's say "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You")

YES. Definitely. That song is awesome.