Top 200 Favorite Songs, Part 6

(If you're just tuning in, I'm doing a rundown of my Top 200 Favorite Songs-see the bottom of the page for previous entries and welcome!)

Welcome back from the weekend!  I wrote all of these write-ups quite a bit ahead of time so this is me speaking from the past-I wonder what has happened (Bennifer still split up?).  Hopefully nothing too drastic, and in particular hopefully you've been enjoying this lineup of my favorite songs of all-time.  We continue on the list with ten more tunes, including one by the one-and-only Patsy Cline.  Patsy Cline is always a bit of a mystery to me-it seems impossible that a woman who was the genius behind so many hit country songs died when she was only thirty years ago.  One wonders what would have happened had she continued living-would she have faded out of glory soon enough, as so many singers did during the era, or would she eventually have become the female Elvis, so iconic and so full of hit records that she is impossible to deny her place in music history?  Whichever it was, my first impression of Patsy Cline was awe.  I was probably nine or ten years old and my mother was describing one of her friends, and how she could sing better than anyone she knew, and I asked did she sing like Whitney Houston, my touchpoint for the world's greatest singer at the time, my mom responded, no, she sings like Patsy Cline, and then played some Patsy Cline songs for me when we got home.  Ever since Patsy Cline has meant "great singer" in my book, and lives on as a legend on every playlist I've ever made.

150. "Daydream Believer," The Monkees (1969)

Marcia Brady had the right idea.  Davy Jones was a wonderfully fun performer, and I always thought that this song had a little more depth than its boy band roots allowed for.  A daydream believer, someone who can be sad even if they are the homecoming queen-I liked that idea of emotions striking even the luckiest of individuals.  Plus, that chorus is catchy as hell.

149. "Fare Thee Well," Oscar Isaac (2013)

Two years later, I feel more than ever that we saw a Brando in Streetcar style turn by Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis-brilliant, beautiful, and wonderfully soulful, his performance of this classic "Dink's Song" has been done by everyone from Bob Dylan to Jeff Buckley, but here is where someone, an artist with everything to gain and nothing yet to lose, finds his voice.

148. "It's a Heartache," Bonnie Tyler (1978)

2010-2011 was probably the loneliest time of my twenties-I was going through a really odd period in my life, really finding things that I had counted on had disappeared, and to try and find some sort of reprieve, I would take long walks near a lake by my apartment.  I would start out every walk with my headphones blaring Bonnie Tyler's song about "loving til your arms break," as it somehow encapsulates everything that I was feeling, and could start to let go as a result.  Years later, whenever I'm sad I'll go and take a walk and Bonnie Tyler will be there, feeling my ennui.

147. "Crazy," Patsy Cline (1961)

Written by Willie Nelson, sung by Patsy Cline, "Crazy" is simplicity done to perfection.  There's a reason they call it a classic-a woman trying to convince herself that her feelings are foolish, and yet she keeps on feeling the silly "what in the world did I do?" style questions.  "Crazy" is universal, and it's easy to think Patsy's singing specifically to every person that's listening.

146. "Piece of My Heart," Janis Joplin (1968)

Ravaged by heroin and personal demons, it's almost hard to watch Joplin in hindsight, knowing her tragic death at the age of 27 would happen so soon.  Still, though, her voice, unlike anything heard before or since, sounded like gravel shredding glass in the best possible way.  "You know you got it if it makes you feel good"-Janis Joplin had it.

145. "Leather and Lace," Stevie Nicks & Don Henley (1981)

Originally written for Waylon Jennings and Jessie Colter, this song found its soul when it went back to its original writer (Nicks), who sang the song with her then boyfriend Don Henley, about the weird computability of two materials that somehow can't live without each other.  Nicks and Henley have such well-worn voices that make the lyrics sort of ageless, even if their love itself wasn't eternal.

144. "True Grit," Glen Campbell (1969)

True story-I've never seen the film that won John Wayne his Oscar.  And in order to love this movie, I don't need to-Glen Campbell's song about finding a man with "true grit" is timeless and universal in a way that makes it completely unnecessary to have context behind it to find love.  I have always admired the way that Campbell's songs just feel like a wave, full guitar and full voice until they crest.

143. "The Air That I Breathe," The Hollies (1974)

I used to listen to an oldies station when I was driving home from my job in high school.  I would occasionally take the longer way home, in hopes of a great song coming on the radio.  When it happened to be something perfect, moody, and romantic like "The Air That I Breathe," I would take a drive out of town, cruise through the fields, and roll the windows up, letting The Hollies emotional ballad just wash over me and the Minnesota countryside.

142. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Cliff Edwards (1940)

Depending on the day of the week, Pinocchio is my favorite Disney film of all-time.  When I think of the movie, bitter but artsy, heartfelt but full of great personal risk, I cannot help but become giddy with joy when I hear Cliff Edwards high-pitched plea for finding your wishes in the night sky.  After all, that's how your dreams come true.

141. "That's Entertainment," The Jam (1981)

Deeply observational, personal, and seemingly run-a-day, the music of The Jam isn't something I always feel is easy to understand, but songs like "That's Entertainment" don't need background in order to be wonderfully-loved.  Paul Weller's dreamy hair doesn't distract (too badly) from his sharp vocals and recounting of what makes up the entertainment in the world around him.

And there you have it folks-we'll continue on tomorrow but until then did I hit one of your favorites?  Is there a different Patsy Cline you're hoping it makes it further than "Crazy?"  And what's your favorite Disney ballad?  The comments are there for the typing!

If you've missed any of the past installments, go ahead and click: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5