I guess you mean stuff that makes me reflect on my position in the universe. These do the job, those rare times I still hear them. Truth is, thereās loads of stuff though and these are off the top of my head.
I only listen to music that reinforces my snobbery!
polyrhythms give me diaper rash
Ah, so guilty (cheesy) music pleasures. I think thereās already a big thread for that
My badā¦ just found it. Better be some Buffet and Cross in there.
What if you donāt feel guilty? I think this thread is justified as well!
Wowā¦ that has an even longer intro than most Dire Straits tracks!
And good point Daniel. I went to Catholic school until 5th grade and this is one of the few things I donāt feel guilty about.
Letās do away with guilt. Itās all pleasure!
If I would feel guilt it would be about stuff that I sing along to while knowing it really is crap, like Scooter, Die Antwoord or Rammstein.
If I understand your OP right, you mean songs with big heart not that much thought about style.
Like Peter Gabrielās āDonāt Give Upā. So many bands in the late seventies and early eighties sung about unemployment and the plight of the British working class. Bands like the Jam did it brilliantly while at the same time being extremely self conscious about their place within British pop culture. Same with for example the Specials or the Clash.
In my opinion Gabriel and Kate Bush, usually a couple of artists very far from this kind of āunfilteredā expression, nails it in this song. Obviously not from lived experience, both coming from upper middle class backgrounds with their music careers starting while they still were teenagers, but it still feels like they mean it.
Itās such a wonderful song. I played it over and over when Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
For me Peter Gabrielās Us is a very healing album but not without trauma. Itās like ripping off a band-aide to put aloe vera on a wound.
Sheesh, a huge percentage of the music I listen to falls into that category because I believe that pop is supreme, but OK, Iāll play with a recent finding:
And a classic (goddamn that chorus)
Thereās a lot of such music that springs to mind, but Suddenly really epitomises it for me: an unashamed power ballad, full-on cheese, and 80s to the max - the kind of stuff I generally do not listen to. But this is a fucking great song.
No guilty pleasure designation here. I really like the feel of this. I aspire to this level of smooth, liquid production even though my raw materials are pretty different. Hugh Padgham and Phil/Genesis were a great match (though Phil did Easy Lover on his own and thatās GOAT material for sure).
Saw this live video on Japanese satellite TV years ago, and have loved this tune ever since. I recently saw a used copy of the album on vinyl at the record store for like $3, but was too embarrassed to buy it. Iāve come to appreciate a lot of 70s pop now that Iām older. Still not a fan of his other stuff, but this tune is a masterpiece.