This list needs more cowbell
Something called Obit Magazine, which apparently “provides comprehensive coverage on how the loss of a person, a place, an object or an idea presents an opportunity for examination and discussion” but is “NOT solely about death,” sent me today a news release hyping its list of the top 10 pop/rock songs about death.
I’m not sure how Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” managed to not be on this list, but you will find the list has no cowbell.
The story over at www.obit-mag.com does mention the top death-related hit for history nerds, Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” but apparently it was not considered because the Obit folks considered it a folk crossover song rather than a pop song. I didn’t realize you could get this picky over death song classifications, but I also didn’t realize there is an entire magazine providing comprehensive coverage about loss but not solely covering death. So, I guess I don’t know much.
Anyway, here is the list, and you can read Obit’s full commentary for each song by clicking here.
1. “American Pie,” Don McLean, 1971. (This one is pretty obvious, especially since the list is titled “The Day the Music Died.”)
2. Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen, 1975.
3. “Top of the World,” Dixie Chicks, 2002.
4. “Tears in Heaven,” Eric Clapton, 1993.
5. “Candle in the Wind,” Elton John, 1973/1997.
6. “Streets of Philadelphia,” Bruce Springsteen, 1993.
7. “Green Green Grass of Home,” Porter Wagoner, 1964.
8. “42,” Coldplay, 2008.
9. “We’ll Meet Again,” Johnny Cash, 2002.
10. “Harps and Angels,” Randy Newman, 2008.
-BAM
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Okay, I’m with you BAM. I would like to hear their justification for why BOC’s EXCELLENT song has been left off this list. It seems like it should be number one because most of the other entries are about the deaths of specific people; whereas, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” is about Death itself. That type of song is way harder to do well.