Towards the end of the of the Guided By Voices listening club I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of my top approx. 100 Guided By Voices songs. I came across my list again recently, and realised that it is obviously 100% correct, a completely sensible, accurate, objective ranking, and needed a thread of its own. Now that I have a load of deadlines approaching (and some I’ve missed but still need to do stuff for), it seemed like a good time to clutter up the boards with this nonsense, instead of doing the work I should be doing. Some might say this is pointless and self-indulgent, and I’m sure they would be right.
I hope other people will post their own lists of GBV songs too, in any format; I’m going to be going through one by one, which I assume will take a while.
Reluctantly I haven’t included any songs from any solo/side projects. That is a task for another time, I suppose. It does mean some of Robert Pollard’s best songs aren’t on this list.
I’d intended to write a longer ramble, an explanation of my thinking and general apologia, but actually that’ll do.
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#101 - I’ll Get Over It
Probably more at the ‘aquired taste’ end of things, but I think this is a minor classic, and a perfect encapsulation of everything I like about GBV, which is why it opens the list. Fucked-up sounding, less than a minute long, an overlooked song stuck on an underrated EP; slightly ominous but still catchy, the drums and guitar barely stay in time but are exactly how they ought to be. Sounds like it was made up on the spot. Hard to believe there could be 100 GBV songs better than this, but I’ve checked and it looks like there might be. “Leave your opinions at home, put your cigarettes out!”
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Yesssssssssssss
This Post Paid For By PROF$.
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I lied, this is actually going to be GBV’s top 100 worst-sounding, most tossed-off, shitty sketches
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doo-doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo ranker of songs
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because that’s what I like
Excited to argue about this
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as a kind of support act to the main event, here’s my hastily-assembled Top 25
- Teenage FBI
- Game of Pricks
- Don’t Stop Now
- I Am a Scientist
- Over the Neptune / Mesh Gear Fox
- I Am A Tree
- Everybody Thinks I’m a Raincloud (When I’m Not Looking)
- Watch Me Jumpstart
- Motor Away
- Echos Myron
- Sensational Gravity Boy
- Shocker in Gloomtown
- Christian Animation Torch Carriers
- Smothered in Hugs
- Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
- Glad Girls
- Drinker’s Peace
- Surgical Focus
- Non-Absorbing
- Tractor Rape Chain
- I’ll Replace You With Machines
- Exit Flagger
- Underwater Explosions
- Unspirited
- Jane of the Waking Universe
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No. 100 - Perfect This Time
One from the power-pop end of things, a b-side from the Hold on Hope single, produced by Ric Ocasek. It’s the vocal melody that really stands out here; just a really good song. Baffling it wasn’t on the album really, but most decisions around the Do the Collapse period don’t make much sense to me and presumably weren’t made with me in mind! As it should be.
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No. 99 - Volcano Divers
Another short, scrappy one from another (excellent) EP. More melody and melancholy than I’ll Get Over It. Based on an acoustic guitar arpeggio; interest and weirdness elevated by the classic GBV move of hitting/dropping a reverb tank, and the sudden, brief interjection of double-tracked lead guitar. Thought I’d got this a bit low at 99 on revisiting (this is my favourite style of GBV song really), but then I remember what’s to come. This one has been bouncing around my head since I relistened for this write-up though.
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nice little opening trio, can see what sort of vibe we’re in store for
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Hahah, well we’re at the lower end, so the hits could be coming. Maybe I’m getting it (or something) of my system! On the other hand, I do love those Suitcase box sets…
No. 98 - Demons Are Real
First song to feature in the list from a fan favourite album, the critically acclaimed lo-fi masterpiece Bee Thousand! No idea what those horrible whistling sounds are. Great Pollard lyrics on this one. I could easily imagine people thinking this was pointless and obnoxious, but not me.
On the album it’s a useful palate cleanser after Ester’s Day, and the juxtaposition makes the next track - I Am A Scientist - seem like even more of a straight ahead rock classic. 49 indispensible seconds!
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No. 97 - Do The Earth
Cool and songlike song (different parts, and over two minutes!) from the I am a Scientist EP; ominous guitar intro, uptempo chorus-y bit, and a cool guitar-led outro. More great Pollard lyrics (and I can’t say I’m usually a lyrics guy, but this specific type of nonsense really works for me). And I can’t believe - as I’m bound to say each time - that this was just stuck on an EP instead of being on a real album. Although actually it’s on the extended version of Bee Thousand too I think, which is genuinely worse than the real thing.
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I should i) do this more often ii) make it more interactive iii) occasionally think of some better things to say than ‘damn this is a cool song’
so to make a start with ii):
101 - I’ll Get Over It
- yeah this is one is a cool song, I’d have it on my list too
- good or at least fine, but not on my list
- this one is actually terrible, what’s wrong with you
100 - Perfect This Time
- yeah this is one is a cool song, I’d have it on my list too
- good or at least fine, but not on my list
- this one is actually terrible, what’s wrong with you
99 - Volcano Divers
- yeah this is one is a cool song, I’d have it on my list too
- good or at least fine, but not on my list
- this one is actually terrible, what’s wrong with you
98 - Demons Are Real
- yeah this is one is a cool song, I’d have it on my list too
- good or at least fine, but not on my list
- this one is actually terrible, what’s wrong with you
97 - Do The Earth
- I’d have it on my list too
- good or at least fine, but not on my list
- this one is actually terrible, what’s wrong with you
Not sure any of them warrant a ‘terrible’ vote but some are borderline
sometimes how close they get to terrible is what makes them good!
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