Ur-Songs

[jennythereader]

If you met someone who had never heard Rock music, what song would you play for them as the perfect summation of the genre? How about for other genres?

I'd probably play the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" for Rock. Country would be "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. Folk would be some version of "This Land is Your Land," but I'm not sure which one. Blues would be one of Muddy Waters' songs, but I'm not sure which would be best. Maybe "Rollin' and Tumblin'"

Comments

[dancing-crow.livejournal.com]

"If I had a hammer", from Peter, Paul and Mary, esp. a version with Pete Seeger for folk.

I'd go older for rock, maybe "Twist and Shout", or something from Buddy Holly, to show the roots of rock, and maybe something more recent, like "What's so funny ('bout peace love and understanding)" as sung by Elvis Costello.

Am I playing this for a human who is out of touch, or an extraterrestrial?

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I was picturing a human, but an extraterrestrial would be interesting too.

[seawasp]

The problem is first defining "Rock" which is a pretty broad category. Do I want to sum up the AVERAGE of the genre, or do I want to present a song I think is the EPITOME of each genre -- that is, the best there is?

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

True. When I think of Rock music I'm usually thinking of classic rock from the 1960's and 70's, but I know a lot of other people think of different eras as the default.

Not exactly the average or the epitome, although probably closer to average. I guess what I was thinking of was... once you've succeeded in defining a given genre of music to your own satisfaction (be it Rock or something else, and accepting that your definition probably won't match perfectly to anybody else's), what song do you think matches that definition most closely? That won't necessarily be the best song, because the best stuff is often great because it's trying something new and different.