December 9th, 2005

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Music
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Walk the Line and the Worst Top 50 Song List Ever

This afternoon I watched Walk the Line. I’m no great fan of bio pics, but this one was well-reviewed and I knew little of Mr. Cash’s life. Don’t get me wrong, there are more promising movies opening today, but this one fit into my schedule.

Walk the Line is everything I’ve come to expect from a bio pic. As Roger Ebert puts it, “Hard times, obscurity, success, stardom, too much money, romantic adventures, drugs or booze, and then (if they survive) beating the addiction, finding love and reaching a more lasting stardom”. It also features excellent acting. Joaquin Phoenix has grown in to a really nuanced actor, and Reese Witherspoon makes us forget Legally Blonde. Both deserve Oscar consideration.

Incidentally, the movie poster for Walk the Line is a real rarity these days: it’s illustrated, and it’s beautiful.

I only know a half dozen Johnny Cash songs, so I figured I’d visit my favourite copyright infringement site and download some more. In doing so, I happened upon this torrent, which purports to be the “50 Best Songs Ever”. The poster goes on to say:

I’m terribly sorry if you disagree, but these are in fact the best fifty songs ever made. Your opinions cannot match up to fact.

I couldn’t resist posting the top ten here:

10 Bob Marley - Redemption Song
09 Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
08 Primus - Frizzle Fry (Suck On This)
07 The Beatles - A Day In The Life
06 King Crimson - Starless
05 Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
04 Miles Davis - Blue In Green
03 Rush - YYZ
02 Tool - Lateralus
01 Beethoven - Op. 132 in A Minor: II. Allegro ma non tanto

No list is complete, of course, without Rush and King Crimson.

Comments: 7 Responses so far

alexis
December 10th, 2005
6:35 am

I haven’t seen the movie, but according to you, it’s done what a good bio-pic should do, which is make you more interested in the person depicted. I generally find that a good bio pic makes me want to know more and I use it as a stepping stone for reading/learning more about the person.

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alexis
December 10th, 2005
6:36 am

Oh, also, if you see Syriana, please post about it.

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Chris
December 11th, 2005
12:14 am

That’ s a funny top 10. I quite like most of the songs in it (I’m a huge fan of Tool. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Primus), but a lot of the songs up there aren’t even what I would consider those artists bests, let alone the best of all time. I also wouldn’t claim that my idea of the best song ever is even remotely “accurate”, if that term has any meaning in something so subjective.

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Claire
December 15th, 2005
2:43 pm

ur an AIRHEAD!! Walk the Line is the BEST movie i have EVER seen! u just don’t know what’s good! a**hole!!

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Shaun
January 29th, 2006
4:14 pm

Claire, I think the user comments section of Metacritic is calling your name.

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Alex Cordasco
January 27th, 2007
10:46 am

Good list of songs….everyones would be different but u managed to stuff rush, tool, and the beatles on there which pretty much are the three best bands EVER.

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Jon Irwin
June 12th, 2007
1:38 pm

Haha fantastic…I posted that list about 2 years ago and it’s still floating around the web (After I accidentally deleted it off TPB with 1 horrendous misclick.). Revamped version of that list (Which was completely accurate at the time) coming soon.

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