Best Song of the 1970s Bracket - Born to Run wins!

kitakule · Post by **kitakule** » Wed May 13, 2020 12:04 am

Oop, maybe I can sneak in a late vote here.

Born to Run vs. Cars
I Will Survive vs. Surrender
Life on Mars? vs. American Woman
Fire and Rain vs. Ramblin’ Man
Tangled up in Blue vs. We Are Family
Boys Don’t Cry vs. Mississippi Queen
Layla vs. Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City
Rock and Roll vs. Brass in Pocket

Victor Prieto · Post by **Victor Prieto** » Wed May 13, 2020 12:43 am

Cars
I Will Survive
American Woman
Ramblin' Man
Tangled Up in Blue
Mississippi Queen
Layla
Brass in Pocket

Amusingly, this almost entirely nullifies Moses's last minute ballot except I Will Survive and Ramblin' Man... except that he apparently voted for both Layla and Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City?

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Wed May 13, 2020 4:44 pm

Voting is closed.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Wed May 13, 2020 4:51 pm

We've got a few upsets and another shutout. Ain't no love in the heart of the forums.

Born to Run 20, Cars 2.5
Surrender 12.5, I Will Survive 11
Life on Mars? 16.5, American Woman 7
Ramblin’ Man 18, Fire and Rain 6
Tangled up in Blue 20.5, We Are Family 3.5
Mississippi Queen 14.5, Boys Don’t Cry 9
Layla 22, Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City 0
Brass in Pocket 14, Rock and Roll 9.5

kitakule · Post by **kitakule** » Wed May 13, 2020 7:38 pm

Victor Prieto wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2020 12:43 am Amusingly, this almost entirely nullifies Moses's last minute ballot except I Will Survive and Ramblin' Man... except that he apparently voted for both Layla and Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City?

That was an accident; it was a vote for Layla. I'll edit my original ballot.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Thu May 14, 2020 5:25 pm

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Y5Iv ... UOC78_5WMw

Your matchups:

#43 Black Magic Woman – Santana
Album: Abraxas
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF1gbewg6Y4

#94 Pink Moon – Nick Drake
Album: Pink Moon
Year: 1972
Charts: non-single
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irq959oNVww

#22 Me and Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin
Album: Pearl
Year: 1971
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfjon-ZTqzU

#126 Wild World – Yusuf / Cat Stevens
Album: Tea for the Tillerman
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #11
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iC6K8fZDik

#54 Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
Album: Out of the Blue
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #35, UK #6
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7dTBoW5H9k

#78 I'll Be Around – The Spinners
Album: Spinners
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOgfQoEUNHI

#11 Beast of Burden – The Rolling Stones
Album: Some Girls
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #8
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlV-ZFyVH3c

#152 Rapper's Delight – The Sugarhill Gang
Album: Sugarhill Gang
Year: 1979
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #36, UK #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s5-l4F5W7w

#38 Zombie – Fela Kuti
Album: Zombie
Year: 1976
Charts: did not chart in US or UK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj5x6pbJMyU

#99 Coal Miner's Daughter – Loretta Lynn
Album: Coal Miner’s Daughter
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #83, US Country #1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iy5SRi45QE

#9 Ain't No Sunshine – Bill Withers
Album: Just As I Am
Year: 1971
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PeyzXvvdmw

#114 Lawyers, Guns and Money – Warren Zevon
Album: Excitable Boy
Year: 1978
Charts: did not chart
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM

#59 Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
Album: Ladies of the Canyon
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #67, UK #11
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2595abcvh2M

#71 Highway to Hell – AC/DC
Album: Highway to Hell
Year: 1979
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #47, UK #56
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKggnBh2Mdw

#6 What's Going On – Marvin Gaye
Album: 1971
Year: What’s Going On
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhC_iLBrSUY

#173 The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott-Heron
Album: Pieces of a Man
Year: 1971
Charts: did not chart
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnJFhuOWgXg

Your ballot:

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Voting will close Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Thu May 14, 2020 5:32 pm

I've also tried updating the bracket. You can find it here.

ryanrosenberg · Post by **ryanrosenberg** » Thu May 14, 2020 6:40 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon -- Not that Black Magic Woman's a bad song, I expect it to go through and would vote for it against more than a few other songs here. But Pink Moon is a perfect incantation of a particular feeling of loneliness.
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World -- "Wild World" is really good but this isn't close.
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around -- A reasonable song with a good chorus, but would that I could vote for some of the other losers here.
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight -- Protest vote on behalf of Wild Horses, Sway, Rocks Off, Happy, and a bunch of other songs on Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St.
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter -- RIP Tony Allen.
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money -- good song, meh song
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell -- probably would have lodged a protest vote were Big Yellow Taxi's opponent something less annoying than Highway to Hell.
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised -- to quote a video intro to Marvin Gaye singing the Star-Spangled Banner: "Marvin didn't try to be magic, or charismatic or all that, he just was. Even when he sung the national anthem, I mean...it was Marvin Gaye."

Stained Diviner · Post by **Stained Diviner** » Thu May 14, 2020 8:14 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
The best Santana song is "Put Your Lights On", though that's way after the 70s. I'm partial to "Oye Como Va", though this choice is a good one.

Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
These are my two favorite songs in this round. To quote Gary Hart, "It's like the Kris Kristofferson song, 'Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.' '' (The song actually was written by Kris Kristofferson.) As a matter of fact, while we discovered on the train, tomorrow never happens, man.

Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Smooth

Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Picking a Rolling Stones song is tough. You've got Brown Sugar, White Horses, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Angie, It's Only Rock and Roll, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, and Shattered. I don't think Fred made the right choice, but I'm not going to complain, because I might make the wrong choice too.

Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Here are two examples of not my thing, though Zombie is kind of interesting.

Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
I'm confused as to why we are seeing this song again and seeing others for the first time, but that's OK because I am often confused and may just be missing something.

Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
These are both good.

What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
I like both of these, but one of them is better than the other.

kammajos000 · Post by **kammajos000** » Thu May 14, 2020 8:25 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

dwd500 · Post by **dwd500** » Thu May 14, 2020 8:38 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
- It's pretty common to hear Black Magic Woman with Gypsy Queen attached, and they were released that way on Abraxas. Do you just want us to vote on Black Magic's strength or should we consider the whole thing, as that's when Carlos gets to shine?

Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World

Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
- Evil Woman or Living Thing would fare much better than this. I'll Be Around is just too smooth.

Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
- Beast is the better song here, but maybe the 10th best Stones song from the 70's.

Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter

Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
- Coin flip, really. Zevon just hit me the right way today.

Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell

What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
- #6 out of 192, and I think it may still be underseeded.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Thu May 14, 2020 9:55 pm

Stained Diviner wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:14 pm
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
I'm confused as to why we are seeing this song again and seeing others for the first time, but that's OK because I am often confused and may just be missing something.

Whoops, I did screw this up. We'll have to vote on the proper match-up for this one ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough" vs. "Lawyers, Guns, and Money") in the next go round. Don't worry about this for now, though.

A Dim-Witted Saboteur · Thu May 14, 2020 10:07 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Fela Kuti is not my favorite Afrobeat artist, but Loretta Lynn is very close to my favorite 70s country artist.
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

ValenciaQBowl · Post by **ValenciaQBowl** » Fri May 15, 2020 9:52 am

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
--Santana's guitar is so crisp on 'BMW,' but "Pink Moon" is a melancholy delight.

Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
--Early Cat Stevens is awfully good.

Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
--Not a huge fan of either of these, but I never got ELO. No rough edges, tupperware music.

Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
--I love the Stones' laconic, slow songs, including this one and "Waiting on a Friend" and "Wild Horses." They do good ennui.

Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
--So some of you probably already knew this, but I just learned from a cool PBS show (https://worldchannel.org/episode/afropo ... -afrobeat/) that this song led Sani Abacha to order an assault of soldiers on Fela's compound, with his people being beaten and raped and his mother tossed from a high window, leading to her death. Loretta went through a lot, but damn.

Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
--Doesn't matter for me what goes against Zevon. I'll reiterate that I appreciate Fred picking this song over "Werewolves."

Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
--I'm going to be deeply disappointed to see "Highway to Hell" go down this way.

What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
--I like both, but it's hard to vote against Marvin Gaye. Unasked-for-old-guy-anecdote: the morning after his death, I rode on a bus with other kids from my school to the state Latin competition, and as the radio station played some of his songs as a memorial, I had to listen to some popular senior girls (I was a wee sophomore) talk trash about them and him. Pretty gross.

ScoBo · Post by **ScoBo** » Fri May 15, 2020 8:03 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money - not going to vote the incorrect matchup
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

MiltonPlayer47 · Post by **MiltonPlayer47** » Fri May 15, 2020 9:43 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon

Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Also my 2 favorite songs of this round. This was a very difficult choice.

Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around

Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight

Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter

Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell

What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Sat May 16, 2020 12:29 am

You have 18.5 hours to vote, which I encourage you to do.

BenWeiner27 · Post by **BenWeiner27** » Sat May 16, 2020 11:32 am

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

mrtyrmystry · Post by **mrtyrmystry** » Sat May 16, 2020 4:08 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon

Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World

Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around

Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
something about exile or sticky fingers

Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter

Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
we cast improper votes

Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell

What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
might deny a shutout, but

i wasn't going to finish the sentence, but i think i first heard both these songs freshman year of high school, theyre both loosely protest and strictly very powerful music from very close to the same time, and ive always been more receptive to rants than pleas

Krasznahorkai did nothing wrong · Sat May 16, 2020 4:34 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Santana is always good for a groove.
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
I'd never heard I'll Be Around before but man it's good.
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
I like Rapper's Delight but it is kinda corny and really long.
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Won't vote for the wrong matchup
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Not even close.

rylltraka · Post by **rylltraka** » Sat May 16, 2020 4:43 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
I'm not the hugest fan of "Black Magic Woman"; it's fine and slippery and does well to set a mood, plus has an excellent guitar solo. Still, not sure what I'm supposed to get out of "Pink Moon" and the annoying affectation of its vocals.

Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
This Joplin piece is pretty much the pinnacle of 1960s-era soul-inspired rock and roll. Although you should also check out the Roger Miller country version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZvsxe1CD-c), which has its own kind of pathos. It's hard to get behind something as inherently gentle as "Wild World" in a competitive format, although I would never deny that it's quite pleasant.

Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
I don't recall hearing "Mr. Blue Sky" ever before; what a quirky song, and with what appears to be a faint dusting of cocaine. I have no idea what to make of it. But it has more uniqueness than "I'll be Around", which sounds very much like the soul equivalent of elevator music.

Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
I've always liked the Rolling Stones, but not as much as the people who really love the Rolling Stones. There's an air of sameness to about 70% of their material where if you like that air, it's sublime. The good parts of "Rapper's Delight" are really exceptional, but also there are some passages which are just there. Tough call. Guess I'll go with the moments of brilliance.

Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
I don't know what to make of "Zombie". I also don't know why all the Afrobeat songs are, like, a quarter of an hour long. Don't radio stations in Africa need time to run ads? Anyway, for my Nashville sound poverty bildungsroman, I much prefer "Coat of Many Colors".

Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
"Ain't No Sunshine" is sublime (here's that word again); "Lawyers, Guns, and Money" is merely good.

Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
I know this song, and it's fine, but I don't get much from the cutesy vocals or the backing vocals. It's actually a song I prefer in the cover versions I've heard. At least her husband in the song had the good sense to leave her the car? In another song sort of about cars, "Highway to Hell" kicks ass. Not just the awesome riff, but the tongue-in-cheek sneer behind the vocals and lyrics.

What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
It's been a really long time since I'd heard "What's Going On", and it seems to be dithering with quite a bit of its time. Obviously the vocals are great, but I was surprised that about 25% of it seems to be basically studio noise and improv scatting. The second song has no downtime and its hypnotism I find more appealing than the vagueness of the first song's message.

Victor Prieto · Post by **Victor Prieto** » Sat May 16, 2020 5:09 pm

Black Magic Woman
Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky
Beast of Burden
no vote
Ain't No Sunshine
Highway to Hell
What's Going On

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Sat May 16, 2020 5:12 pm

A couple of hours to vote, and I'm in the final stages of prepping the next ballot, so that deadline will be held pretty closely.

Whiter Hydra · Post by **Whiter Hydra** » Sat May 16, 2020 5:25 pm

Black Magic Woman — It took me a while to learn to appreciate Santana's music, but now that I've had an adult prospective on it, I've come to enjoy Santana's guitar work.
Pink Moon — Once again, the song doesn't really evoke the emotions that it's aiming for.

Me and Bobby McGee — Janis Joplin was such a great singer. It's such a shame she wasn't around for longer.
Wild World — Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam had some great songs, and I feel bad for voting against him this early. I feel like Wild World hasn't aged as well as some of his other songs, though, even if they aren't as famous.

Mr. Blue Sky — Mr. Blue Sky is my favorite song of all time. It's upbeat, cheery, but doesn't come across as cheesy. I'm convinced that it's impossible for me to be in a bad mood while listening to this song. Actually, the whole Concerto for a Rainy Day side of the Out of the Blue album is a great listen
I'll Be Around — It's a good song, and I'll vote for it in many matchups, but there's no way I'm ever going to vote against Mr. Blue Sky.

Beast of Burden — I've never been a fan of the Rolling Stones' style. This song is no exception.
Rapper's Delight — I'm not that sold on this song either, but I respect its cultural impact. I'd probably vote against both these songs if they were against any other song in this bracket, but oh well.

Zombie — It was an entertaining song, but then it kept going on about three minutes longer than it should have gone, in my opinion.
Coal Miner's Daughter — I'm not as much of a fan of this song in its second listen, but I still respect it.

Big Yellow Taxi — It gets a little too preachy at times, but the chorus is very memorable. It does help that the song has a message that's relevant today, though with global warming instead of DDT.
Highway to Hell — Once upon a time, I heard a version of this song edited such that someone saying "heck" would replace every mention of "hell". High-school me thought it was absolutely hilarious. The song itself is a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I'm not really a fan of AC/DC in general.

What's Going On — It's a battle of the protest songs. I like it, but not nearly as much as other people to think it deserves a top-10 seed.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised — I'm really starting to enjoy the unconventional style of this one. I'm sad that it has a difficult matchup, so this is more of a protest vote than anything.

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Blackboard Monitor Vimes · Sat May 16, 2020 5:34 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Ethnic history of the Vilnius region · Sat May 16, 2020 6:51 pm

Black Magic Woman vs. Pink Moon
Me and Bobby McGee vs. Wild World
Mr. Blue Sky vs. I’ll Be Around
Beast of Burden vs. Rapper’s Delight
Zombie vs. Coal Miner’s Daughter
Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Big Yellow Taxi vs. Highway to Hell
What’s Going On vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Sat May 16, 2020 7:47 pm

Voting is closed.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Sat May 16, 2020 7:56 pm

Black Magic Woman 15.5, Pink Moon 6
Me and Bobby McGee 14, Wild World 7
Mr. Blue Sky 11, I’ll Be Around 10.5
Beast of Burden 14, Rapper’s Delight 8
Zombie 11.5, Coal Miner’s Daughter 8.5
~~Ain’t No Sunshine vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money~~ - The proper match up will be in the next batch.
Highway to Hell 11, Big Yellow Taxi 9.5
What’s Going On 16, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 5.5

Only one upset this time, unless you count that I almost made it through the second round without making a single mistake. Ah well.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Sat May 16, 2020 7:56 pm

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0OX0N ... CBsD-ZJSCQ

Your matchups:

#27 Ain't No Mountain High Enough – Diana Ross
Album: Diana Ross
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #6
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4szjSq3uxQI

#114 Lawyers, Guns and Money – Warren Zevon
Album: Excitable Boy
Year: 1978
Charts: did not chart
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM

#46 Killing Me Softly with His Song – Roberta Flack
Album: Killing Me Softly
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #6
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEbi_YjpA-Y

#90 Move On Up – Curtis Mayfield
Album: Curtis
Year: 1971
Charts: UK #12
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9RMr9KuVZo

#19 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
Album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #2, UK #6
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWX67i_KDXw

#132 If You Could Read My Mind – Gordon Lightfoot
Album: Sit Down Young Stranger
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #5, UK #30
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT_J-LNqVvw

#51 December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Album: Who Loves You
Year: 1975
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhc13WNMNpg

#81 Doctor, My Eyes – Jackson Browne
Album: Jackson Browne
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #8
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGTaplzmV4

#14 Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight & The Pips
Album: Imagination
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #10
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0F9lh8TiSM

#139 Back Stabbers – The O'Jays
Album: Back Stabbers
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #3, UK #14
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzTeLePbB08

#35 Jolene – Dolly Parton
Album: Jolene
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #60, US Country #1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixrje2rXLMA

#103 Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
Album: In the Heat of the Night
Year: 1979
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #23
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsSx6nXpBMg

#30 Moondance – Van Morrison
Album: Moondance
Year: 1970 (as single, 1977)
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #92
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kfYOGndVfU

#111 You're so Vain – Carly Simon
Album: No Secrets
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cleCtBP0o5Y

#62 Reelin’ In The Years – Steely Dan
Album: Can’t Buy a Thrill
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #11
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaH25Sghoqc

#68 Roxanne – The Police
Album: Outlandos d’Amour
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #32, UK #12
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ

#3 Superstition – Stevie Wonder
Album: Talking Book
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, US R&B #1, UK #11
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqv1mtos6A

#183 Closer to the Heart – Rush
Album: A Farewell to Kings
Year: 1977
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #76, UK #36
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBCjo2rUZg

Your ballot:

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

Voting will close Monday, May 18 around 7 p.m. Eastern.

dwd500 · Post by **dwd500** » Sat May 16, 2020 10:03 pm

Wow, what a stacked bracket!

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
- Not a lot of songs can stand up to that bridge's payoff.

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
- We're really going to see a Steve Wonder/Elton John matchup before the final four?

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
- Possibly the best outro and fade ever.

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
- Thank goodness 9 to 5 was in 1980, because we get Dolly's best bluegrass tune instead.

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
- I got to play this in college jazz band, and have loved it ever since. Almost every live version van Morrison does of this song is terrible, except for this gem, with George Benson, Dr. John, Santana, Tom Scott, and the strangest Etta James scat solo.

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
- Aja is damn close to a perfect album, but there's not a single on there that's as radio-friendly as this, I guess. It's just sad that one of my favorite bands of all time has to match up against Stevie next round.

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart
- This had to be the hardest artist to pick the one song for. There's about, what, 10 or so that would be a top 20 seed?

MiltonPlayer47 · Post by **MiltonPlayer47** » Sun May 17, 2020 12:42 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

Stained Diviner · Post by **Stained Diviner** » Sun May 17, 2020 7:40 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Lawyers, Guns, and Money is pretty good, but not good enough to beat this song.

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Roberta Flack can sing. This song probably is better than The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, but not by much.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
Elton John is the 70s in human form.

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Oh What a Night is OK, but that's about the best thing I can say about it.

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
I like both of these songs, but I like Midnight Train more.

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
I'm not a Parton fan, but I'll turn up Jolene. I Will Always Love You is also good, but the Whitney Houston version is better.

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
The entire Moondance album is great. I highly recommend all late 60s and early 70s Van Morrison albums.

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
I was worried that Roxanne would have strong competition in this round. Reelin’ in the Years is OK, but I don't feel bad voting against it.

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart
That was easy. I could listen to this song all day long, probably longer. Here's the Sesame Street version.

Ethnic history of the Vilnius region · Sun May 17, 2020 9:24 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Like Chris Borglum, I'm basically going to vote for Zevon as long as he's in the field. Which probably won't be after this round.

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up

Curtis Mayfield probably exits this round, but he's an underrated national treasure.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes

Tough choice.

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers

It would have been interesting to see a battle of the trains had Love Train been the O'Jays tune.

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker

Easy choice.

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain

Really tough one. I can see this being an upset.

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne

I'm a pretty big Dan guy. Aja is one of my favorite albums. But I could see another upset here.

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

Not my favorite Stevie Wonder song, but it's a good choice for the bracket. Probably would pick it over any Rush son.

ScoBo · Post by **ScoBo** » Sun May 17, 2020 10:51 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Might be my favorite in this entire group.

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Hard pick - I like both. The Police seem to end so many of their songs repeating the same line over and over and over and over and over again to the point where it's sometimes kind of annoying, so I'll vote for Reelin's solo and outro.

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart
As a big Rush fan, I might consider voting for a few of their 70's songs against such strong competition, but this isn't one of them.

AgathokakologicalPunk · Sun May 17, 2020 11:52 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Move On Up
If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)
Back Stabbers
Heartbreaker
Moondance
Reelin’ in the Years
Closer to the Heart

mrtyrmystry · Post by **mrtyrmystry** » Sun May 17, 2020 1:16 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
blurgh

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
blurgh?
actually, jackson browne sounding pleasanter

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
very nice

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
during the period i was into music (yes, just music in general) i tried-liked mostly astral weeks (not relevant, but i loved Madame George the most) and also moondance. anyways, moondance's album cover makes me laugh, and i guess "you're so vain" reference-jokes do too.

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

Steeve Ho You Fat · Post by **Steeve Ho You Fat** » Sun May 17, 2020 1:46 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money. There's no moment in Lawyers that matches the chorus of Mountain. I'm inclined to pick the underdog here because it's much more consistent and doesn't waste as much time with pretty dated-sounding interludes, but nothing can compete with that chorus.
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up Curtis Mayfield is a national treasure; Killing me Softly is boring, dated, and forgettable.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind I have never gotten the appeal of Elton John, but he's probably going to win because of how easy the competition is here. Can't wait for one of these songs to have a proper matchup.
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker Heartbreaker is actually OK! But it is definitely not Jolene, and it doesn't deserve to win this quadrant of the bracket!
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

kammajos000 · Post by **kammajos000** » Sun May 17, 2020 2:22 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

34 + P.J. Dozier · Post by **34 + P.J. Dozier** » Sun May 17, 2020 4:04 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

meebles127 · Post by **meebles127** » Sun May 17, 2020 6:44 pm

Why the hell not.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Sun May 17, 2020 9:13 pm

meebles127 wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 6:44 pm Why the hell not.

No reason not to!

Wartortullian · Post by **Wartortullian** » Mon May 18, 2020 3:48 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Not even the best version of this song, and it still slaps.

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart
By far the hardest matchup of the whole bracket so far. Except for maybe "Midnight Train to Georgia" or "Jolene", none of the other songs in this bracket would stand a chance against either of these. These aren't really the songs I would've picked for either artist, but ultimately, "Superstition" is less suboptimal of a selection than "Closer to the Heart".

ValenciaQBowl · Post by **ValenciaQBowl** » Mon May 18, 2020 10:30 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
--"Lawyers, Guns, and Money" is Zevon at his most incisive and funny. It's like a Leon Golub painting. But I reckon its run is done.

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
--"Killing Me Softly" is pretty inert compared to the competition here.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
--This one is actually very tough for me. I love the Gordon Lightfoot song, but it can't beat peak Elton.

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
--Apologies to all, but "December, 1963" is trash. Shouldn't the singer have been mourning JFK? SMDH. And "Doctor, My Eyes" is fantastic.

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
--Tough, but "Back Stabbers" is more fun.

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
--It's hard to admit in this economy, but I've never been a big fan of Dolly Parton's music. She seems like a fabulous human being, though!

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
--All middle-aged white people love "Moondance," almost as much as "Brown-Eyed Girl."

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
--I love both of these songs and bands, and I'm surprised to see that it looks like Steely Dan is going to win in a blowout. In a pinch I'd rather listen to "Roxanne."

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart
--Protest vote for Rush, though there's no question Stevie's song is bigger and better as a 70s representative.

A Dim-Witted Saboteur · Mon May 18, 2020 1:15 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
An all-time classic vs. a kinda mid satirical song
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Again, not not voting for Mayfield
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Mon May 18, 2020 5:32 pm

You have 90 minutes to vote. I think we're missing a handful of regular voters, so this may get extended.

Whiter Hydra · Post by **Whiter Hydra** » Mon May 18, 2020 6:01 pm

Whoops, I knew I forgot something.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Mon May 18, 2020 9:01 pm

I'll keep this open until tomorrow at 7 in hopes of a couple more votes.

BenWeiner27 · Post by **BenWeiner27** » Mon May 18, 2020 9:51 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart -- I'm a big fan of Rush, but I do concede that Superstition is probably the better song. Since I am fairly confident Superstition will make its way to the next round, I will lodge a protest vote.

kitakule · Post by **kitakule** » Mon May 18, 2020 10:03 pm

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers - this was a tough choice, I love both of these songs.
Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart

rylltraka · Post by **rylltraka** » Tue May 19, 2020 2:36 am

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough vs. Lawyers, Guns, and Money
What a weird version of song #1, which I'm much more familiar with in its original incarnation. In a snippet from my life, the neighbors across the driveway blare the original version all the goddamn time, but only about ten seconds of it, which leads me to believe that it's the theme song to a TV show. What show? I have no idea.

Killing Me Softly with His Song vs. Move On Up
It's going to have to take one hell of a song to make me vote against "Killing Me Softly", which just has these beautiful, rolling vocals that really don't even need the instrumentation. "Move On Up" is not that song. Its lack of vocal flair just kills it.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road vs. If You Could Read My Mind
This isn't my favorite EJ song, or even song off this album (the opener's such a journey), but still very strong. I don't know anything about his stuff, but this Gordon Lightfoot sounds like music for wusses. It wears out its welcome after about 2 1/4 minutes.

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) vs. Doctor, My Eyes
"Oh, What a Night" sounds like it would have been dated even in 1970, but I guess the consumption of even the recent past for nostalgia is not a recent invention. Still probably in the top 5 songs about boning in the wintertime. I've never heard much, or any, Jackson Browne, but he sounds exactly like I expected him to. Okay song, not a better one.

Midnight Train to Georgia vs. Back Stabbers
"Midnight Train to Georgia" was actually *not* what I expected, and is one of those soul songs which is mainly slightly tonal talking over a fairly muted background. Still quite enjoyable, although it does overstay its welcome. "Backstabbers" has much more of both music and vocals and yet is a much less compelling song. Wonders never cease.

Jolene vs. Heartbreaker
This is not a vote I would have made ten years ago, and it's not easy now. But "Heartbreaker", despite its rock chops, really is quite underdone as a hard-charging anthem rock song; it has too many lulls, and the guitar's not as good as it could be.

Moondance vs. You’re so Vain
So, "Moondance" is a song about boning that is both more and less specific about when and where than "Oh, What a Night". But hear me out here, "Moondance" is super overrated, and not just because of the meandering sax part or that it's basically begging for sex. It's got a nice little vocal bit, and that's all it has, over and over. "You're So Vain" is both a better melody and a far superior vocal performance.

Reelin’ in the Years vs. Roxanne
This is the Steely Dan song which sounds the most like Thin Lizzy. I tend to like Thin Lizzy, so that's not a bad thing, but I know that SD will in the end not have enough pop oomph to make it that far in this bracket. As nerdy rock goes, it's about as cool as it gets. Anyway, I find "Roxanne" competent but annoying, so it goes.

Superstition vs. Closer to the Heart
"Superstition" isn't just a frontrunner in the '70s bracket, it's in the bracket for the greatest musical compositions humanity has ever produced. I mean that somewhat seriously. I love Rush, but this isn't their matchup.