My Top 3 Songs of All Time

A final throw-back article from the old DUI.com. A little look back into the nostaglia of a young man's life and how music played its part.

1. You Shook Me All Night Long
AC/DC

There is a time in every young mans life when the exhilaration of freedom is bestowed upon him. A day where nothing in the world matters more than the independence one feels when the officer of the state awards him the single most important document in the history of civilized society: the drivers license. Everyone has their own special memory of that time in their life. Mine is inextricably intertwined with the greatest AC/DC song of all time. There are few things that capture the youthful exuberance of being sixteen and behind the wheel of your first car. Flying down the highway, doing twice the legal speed limit, with the windows down, and the radio up, listening to your favorite song. The song that made being behind the wheel more than just a drive. For me that song was You Shook Me All Night Long. Between the sledgehammer poetry of the lyrics and the sheer artistry of the electric guitar, nobody can ever come close to capturing the raw energy of AC/DC’s greatest hit. The notable predictability of the drums is even forgiven when listening to this all time great. Every man has felt the thrill that only his favorite driving song has to offer. Every man longs to capture the spirit of that moment again. All I have to do is pull out the Who Made Who album and hit track number two.


2. What It Takes
Aerosmith

When ranking the greatest songs of all time it is inevitable that I return to my high school years in the search. There is no other time when music matters more. It ranks at the very top of every man’s list along with cars, women, and sports. Okay, so these things remain pretty important throughout a man’s life but never again is so much time dedicated to these four endeavors. How many times did I spend with the guys cruising around town after the football game looking for that elusive girl in the mustang convertible on a Friday night? Far too many to remember. The score of the game, the name of the girl, the make of my best friends car all escape me now. But I do remember the songs. The songs that we listened to over and over again are the ones that stick. The songs that, to this day, I stop whatever I’m doing and sing along at the top of my lungs. There are few albums that have received as much play on my stereo as Aerosmith’s Pump album and the best song on the album is What It Takes. It is a powerful ballad that showcases the talents of the entire band. The pitched singing of Steven Tyler, the confidence of Joe Perry, all are at their best in this all time classic. It captures the spirit of angst in a relationship gone awry. It speaks to the very hart of unrequited love and epitomizes the best of rock and roll. So next time as you flip through the CD racks and all you can remember from the late 80’s is bad hair band metal. I encourage you to pick up a copy of Aerosmith’s song What It Takes and reintroduce yourself to the best that rock and roll has to offer.

3. Ants Marching
Dave Mathews Band

Everyone has a story about being a fan of a band’s music before that band hit the big time. Most of those people are lying through their teeth. There are very few who can claim that they listened to The Dave Mathews Band when they were playing college campuses across the east coast. Unfortunately I am not one of those lucky few. Fortunately, a good friend of mine was and he put me on to The Dave Mathews Band during the summer after our first year in college. So I am proud to say that I was on the cusp of The Dave Mathews Band mega fan base. I was lucky enough to see them live at a “standing room only” concert in Dallas, Texas. It was their first major tour for their album Under the Table and Dreaming. They performed my favorite song that night, Ants Marching. It had been revised from my first hearing of it that summer prior to the concert. My friend owned the hard to find Remember Two Things album. Back then you were lucky to find Dave Mathews on the shelves at all. Hunting for the original version of Ants Marching was for me the Holy Grail of song searches. I eventually found the album in a Los Angeles record store the following summer, a few months before the album could be found in every Wal-Mart across the country. Ants Marching from Remember Two Things was and still is worth going half way across the United States to find. The Dave Mathews Band is the modern day bard, commenting on society through a masterful performance by every player. Carter Beauford’s performance is a kaleidoscope of dizzying percussion. Leroi Moore handles the Saxophone with smooth style only matched on the streets of New Orleans. Stefan Lessard hammers away on the bass like the big band musicians of the twenties did on the cello. If you haven’t seen the violin played like an electric guitar than you haven’t seen the talent that is Boyd Tinsley. Last but not least the guitar and vocal talents of Dave Mathews himself round out the excellence and uniqueness of their single best song. If you haven’t heard Ants Marching from Remember Two Things then you haven’t heard Ants Marching.