“A couple of songs from your old scrapbook”
Hot on the heels of their top 500 albums poll, the latest issue of NME (February 8th) has a cover feature titled: The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.
David Bowie has a long list of compositions in the poll, with a half page devoted to “Heroes” alone. Here’s the opening paragraph of that particular article:
“The list of things that are wrong with “Heroes” is a short one. In summary: those quotation marks. They seem to provide a song of such unrestrained emotion with a get-out-of-jail-free disclaimer of irony. Beyond that, however, there’s nothing you would want to change about the song. If listening to “Heroes” doesn’t move you, doesn’t make you want to punch the air in exultation, doesn’t have the hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention…then you’re quite clearly bereft of some vital component or other. Assuming you have ears, let’s for argument’s sake call it a soul.”
Bowie’s contribution to songwriting is represented by an impressive list of fourteen familiar Bowie classics, more songs than any other single composer in the poll.
SPOILER ALERT: Here’s the poll with positions.
500 Five Years (Bowie)
485 Starman (Bowie)
480 Ziggy Stardust (Bowie)
459 Lust For Life (Bowie/Pop) (recorded by Iggy Pop)
428 Golden Years (Bowie)
295 Fashion (Bowie)
250 Space Oddity (Bowie)
184 Under Pressure (Bowie/Queen) (recorded by Queen and David Bowie)
162 Changes (Bowie)
149 All The Young Dudes (Bowie) (recorded by Mott The Hoople)
62 Young Americans (Bowie)
51 Ashes To Ashes (Bowie)
34 Life On Mars? (Bowie)
15 “Heroes” (Bowie/Eno)
There are comments throughout the feature regarding the majority of the songs therein, but if you want to read those observations you’ll be pleased to know that the latest edition of NME is available now in printed and digital formats.