Melodically Perfect: 10 songs that are impossible to hate
Music has always been the most subjective art form known to man. For every great song that seems to put a smile on everyone’s face, there are just as many that are known to divide a room the minute they come on, with one side arguing it’s trash and the other thinking it’s God’s gift to our eardrums. There’s no real right answer, but artists like The Beatles have made songs that no one could feasibly say they hate.
Then again, that doesn’t mean that every one of these songs has to be a complete masterpiece from back to front. In fact, some songs on here are pretty straightforward, but that might be the point. While you can’t really say anything in their favour, they’re also not bad enough to warrant getting too upset about.
Every now and again, though, a song strikes that perfect balance where everything is firing on all cylinders. Whether it was the right vibe in the room or some God mode kicked in when they hit record, these records are still some of the most infectious songs in the world for a reason, either getting people to dance, cry, or raise their fists in the air whenever they hear them.
They may not be the most intense songs in the world, but every song on this list is an example of what people say about music being able to lift people’s spirits in any situation. It might not get the same reaction out of you, but if someone hates any song here with every fibre of their being, check to ensure they aren’t legally dead.
10 songs that are impossible to hate:
10. ‘Landslide’ – Fleetwood Mac
When songwriters hit the big time, they almost don’t feel human after a while. As much as they might sing about being one of the common people, it’s a little hard to take them at their word when they’re singing from their private jet as they make their way to the seaside. But everyone knows what it’s like to grow older, and hearing Stevie Nicks talk about the passage of time is enough to leave anyone a little misty-eyed.
For someone who just joined one of the biggest bands in the world, Nicks is still just as unsure about her fate in the world as anyone else, talking about building her persona around different people and then having to see them go as they move on to other points in their lives. Since this is meant to be just one woman’s story, it’s hard not to think of this as being played on just one guitar as Nicks tries to make sense of where her life will take her next.
The studio version works like a charm, but the live version that she did with Fleetwood Mac years later is really the showstopper, showing the song coming full circle as she finally makes it to her twilight years. Many people don’t end up there, and given how long she has sung the tune, ‘Landslide’ is a story of survival whenever Nicks sings it today.
9. ‘Fast Car’ – Tracy Chapman
Most of us will normally have to go through some sort of financial struggle before our time on this Earth ends. No one is immune from the odd bout of bad luck, and sometimes, it’s better just to try to bury yourself in a bottle to escape it all. So, in the case of ‘Fast Car’, maybe the reason why no one can hate it is because we know the story all too well before Tracy Chapman even opens her mouth.
While Chapman doesn’t do anything flashy throughout the song, the story behind it, about a woman trying to make ends meet and protect her family, is heartbreaking and commendable at the same time. She may want to have that happy-ever-after ending, but given the tone of her voice, seeing the other side of her 40s might not even be in the question at this point.
Even when she finds her way out of poverty and begins living in the suburbs, it’s not exactly the best ending, almost like she tried to put a pretty face on a bad situation. ‘Fast Car’ might be a song that reminds you that life is hard, but it’s not here to remind you that you shouldn’t keep fighting. But who knows…there might be that perfect Hollywood ending around the corner, and you don’t even know it.
8. ‘Piano Man’ – Billy Joel
No one will get cool points from claiming to like Billy Joel. He’s practically on the same level as dad rock to most people, so to say that Billy Joel’s songs still resonate today is like saying that classical music might actually make a dent in the pop charts one of these days. If there’s one thing Joel does know, it’s how to write a good melody, and ‘Piano Man’ is a song that is a testament to why we love music in the first place.
Because what better song is immune from hatred than a song celebrating music? There are many celebration songs that are sure to get on people’s nerves every time they’re played at a wedding, birthday, or any social function, but hearing about a humble pianist playing at a local dive bar is the kind of slice-of-life song that we rarely hear nowadays, as Joel sings about everyone coming up and putting bread in his jar.
Joel himself might be sick of playing the song now due to how much he’s had to hear it everywhere he goes, but overplay doesn’t play a factor in a list like this. It’s all about the quality of the song, and considering how amazing he painted this picture in the first place, ‘Piano Man’ is one of the few songs that might earn being played into the ground a few more times.
7. ‘Mr Blue Sky’ – ELO
It’s usually hard for anyone to find themselves on the bad side of ELO. Sure, they may have worn their Beatles influence a little bit too hard on their sleeve sometimes, but the fact that they could turn simple rock and roll songs into progressive orchestral epics is a feat in and of itself. You have to appreciate the craft when you see it, but chances are no one needs to be won over when talking about ‘Mr Blue Sky’.
Just like his fellow Wilbury George Harrison, Jeff Lynne came up with the idea for the song after a huge storm blew through his studio and a brilliant sunrise appeared overhead. Looking to capture the moment, ‘Mr Blue Sky’ is a ray of sunshine from the moment it starts playing, cramming in as many Beatles references as possible and almost interpolating the chords from ‘Yesterday’ during one section.
Maybe you can have a prejudice if you’re not a big Beatles nut, but since ELO has started to infiltrate the world of Marvel after being featured in Guardians of the Galaxy, it won’t be going away any time soon. The music might already be timeless, but if you had this as your alarm clock in the morning, going to work might not be as hard to do anymore.
6. ‘Purple Rain’ – Prince
When talking about songs that have no flaws, you could put over half of Prince’s discography in this list. With almost a decade removed from his death, ‘The Purple One’ was a literal genius for the time he was on this Earth, and his way of blending different genres is part of why the music scene is free to expand its creative palette right now. He’s had songs that left you heartbroken and songs that made you want to dance, but there’s nothing more soul-destroying than ‘Purple Rain’.
The amount of superlatives for a song like this doesn’t really do justice to just hearing it. From those haunting opening chords to what is arguably one of the most guitar solos of all time, Prince soaks up every bit of the spotlight on this breakup song, lamenting about losing the love of his life and using his guitar as his emotional translator half the time.
Also, if you decide to take the radio edit version as the default, you’re doing yourself a disservice, as the outro keeps going and ends up sounding like those final minutes at a party where you finally begin to reach musical nirvana. ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ may have started everything off right, but this isn’t just a great album closer. This song is for the end credits of the greatest story ever told.
5. ‘Friday I’m In Love’ – The Cure
The Cure have never been known for making sunny music. Just take a look at any of the band’s stage apparel, and you’ll know that they’re not designed to make songs that are supposed to be a blast from back to front. For a group that was supposedly one of the originators of the goth aesthetic, Robert Smith figured he’d throw caution to the wind and write one of the most romantic songs ever made.
Since 90% of The Cure’s material is centred around love, ‘Friday I’m In Love’ is the one song where Smith finally gets the girl in the end. ‘Just Like Heaven’ may have hinted at the one he loves being out of reach, and ‘Lovesong’ saw them separate, but this is just pure romantic ecstasy, as Smith sings about loving his other half every day of the week.
For all the music nerds reading, the fact that the song falls between different keys gives it a world of its own half the time. No one can play this track on a standard-tuned guitar, but considering how well everything works in the context of the song, it almost feels like you’re listening to one of the greatest songs in your dreams that you’ll never remember once you wake up.
4. ‘Hey Ya’ – Outkast
One of the favourite tricks of any songwriter is taking a happy song and making it dark. Screw Paul McCartney’s logic about taking a sad song and making it better…why do that when you can put something disturbing into a track that’s meant to be played on the radio? Andre 3000 certainly warmed up to the idea while in Outkast, but that didn’t stop ‘Hey Ya’ from getting people onto the dancefloor.
Because when you look at the lyrics, ‘Hey Ya’ is kind of…insanely depressing. The entire concept of the song is centred around how love is dead, and no one is really happy at the end of the day, but 3000 just delivers it with such gusto that you don’t really care. From the music video doing a piss-take on Ed Sullivan to the amazing groove, the track leaps out of the speakers and may be one of the finest dance songs with lyrics about having an existential nightmare.
Even for people who know what the song is about, it’s hard to really care when everything sounds so good, especially towards the end when the breakdown starts. It’s always about how to sell the song to the audience, and given his way of writing, Andre may be one of the best salesmen in the business if he could pull this off.
3. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – Queen
Sometimes, we all need to be given a Queen song to remind us how great they really were. Outside of Freddie Mercury’s amazing stage presence, their work in the studio was the stuff of legend in the 1970s, managing to take the sounds of progressive rock, pop, and over-the-top camp and put them into a collage that made everything sound perfect. It didn’t come without hard work, though, and after nearly half a century, no one has managed to touch what Mercury created on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
In fact, the whole reason why this song works is because of how much it shouldn’t work. The track was originally supposed to be three different songs, but since Mercury wanted to get rid of all the tunes in one go, he ended up slapping all of them together into one operatic odyssey, featuring an a cappella intro, a ballad as the verse, an opera middle section and then one of the greatest riffs known to man to close everything out.
As much as this song might be a wild ride from back to front, it might not be the best idea to try to break out this one at karaoke. This is not a song that’s meant to be equalled by anyone. It’s supposed to be taken in as a whole and for the rest of the world to marvel at just how much of a technical marvel it is.
2. ‘Mr Brightside’ – The Killers
Songwriters are always trying to write something that will outlive them. Being in the charts might be nice, but it should always be about writing a track that will still be relevant in 20 years rather than making a cheap piece of trash that was made to keep up with the times. With that in mind, if you would all rise up with me and pay attention to what has officially become the pop-rock national anthem.
Whereas most songs tend to become kitschy and dated as the years go on, ‘Mr Brightside’ might be the one song that has improved with age. Throughout its reign on the charts and having one of the best choruses ever made, never once has the song been beaten to death, made into a meme, or been cast into the hellscape known as “cringe” territory.
The pop world will probably never run short on love songs, but hearing Brandon Flowers singing about his old lover and what he imagines his successor is doing behind closed doors is enough to drive anyone insane. I mean, it’s right there in the middle of the chorus. This is a tale of jealousy, and judging by how well the song’s shelf life has been, we can admit to ourselves that we’ve felt jealous more than a few times, haven’t we?
1. ‘Here Comes the Sun’ – The Beatles
It’s impossible to measure how much joy The Beatles brought to people’s lives. You have to remember that America was still reeling after President Kennedy’s death in 1963, and seeing the Fab Four on The Ed Sullivan Show gave everyone a sense that things were going to be alright. And yet, with all the great tunes John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote together, George Harrison managed to come through with the sunniest track of all time.
While Harrison was supposed to be in business meetings, he decided to hang out in Eric Clapton’s garden in the morning and put together the pieces of ‘Here Comes the Sun’. Serving as the perfect complement to his other Abbey Road ‘Something’, this is one of the most airtight pieces of pop music ever conceived, taking the most natural thing in the world and making it seem like all of the bullshit is slowly melting off of you.
The best part was Harrison was only getting started, eventually giving his fans more brilliance when he came out with his debut triple album, All Things Must Pass. Lennon and McCartney may have pinpointed the mathematical equation for making perfect pop songs, but this isn’t just a normal pop song. This is the kind of magical piece of music that feels like a precious diamond within the rock community.