Saturday

THE 100 SINGLES YOU MUST OWN

60. CARLY SIMON: You're So Vain/ His Friends Are More Than Fond Of Robin (1972)
Tough and atmospheric to the point of being scary, You're So Vain deserves to be feminist anthem number 1 rather than Gloria Gaynor's flouncy I Will Survive. Almost every line sounds like one you'd only think up five minutes after you wanted to say it-- "some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend"-- eek! And who doesn't think, "clouds in my coffe" every time they slip on a latte? The flip is a sweet, vaguely Todd Rundgren-esque ballad that, in the shadow of the A-side, it's hard not to think of as sarcastic.
Availability: The Very Best Of Carly Simon Global TV CD
59. OASIS: Live Forever/ Up In The Sky (1994)
A childhood spent with Ma Gallagher's country records subtly reveals itself in the sentimental chord sequence and guitar solo at the heart of Live Forever. It's Liam's singing, though, that makes the difference between a good pop tune and one that lures the goose pimples out, taking baffling non-sequiturs like, "Maybe I don't really want to know how your garden grows/I just want to fly" and turning them into poetry. It was Van Morrison who came up with the term, "inarticulate speech of the heart," but it fits few artists as well as Oasis here.
Availability: Definitely Maybe Big Brother CD

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