The Best Songs You Probably Never Heard (but now have no excuse!)

There are the best unknown, underknown and underappreciated songs of all time, according to one music lover. I have provided YouTube links to the songs, so there's no excuse for not knowing them now!

THE BEST UNKNOWN, UNDERKNOWN AND UNDERAPPRECIATED SONGS OF ALL TIME

by Michael R. Burch

If you know these underappreciated masterpieces, good for you, but why not refamiliarize yourself? After all, these amazing songs are now just a click or a tap away. And please feel free to make nominations in the comments.

• Wishing Well by the marvelously talented Terence Trent D'Arby. Also be sure to check out Sign Your Name, Dance Little Sister, If You Let Me Stay and his superb cover of Who’s Lovin’ You.

• A Change Is Gonna Come by Terence Trent D'Arby with Booker T and the MGs.

• Israelites by Desmond Dekker & the Aces. This is my favorite underknown song, ever. So good!

• O Come O Come Emmanuel by Enya may be the most beautiful, haunting vocal performance by a female singer. Also Only Time, Orinoco Flow and Sail Away.

• Stand! by Sly and the Family Stone. Sly Stone was a musical genius. Also Dance to the Music, Family Affair, Everyday People and Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

• The Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler. So good, so neglected!

• Rag Doll by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

• Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King and Aretha Franklin. This is a neglected masterpiece I seldom hear these days.
  
  There is a rose in Spanish Harlem.
  It is the special one.
  It never sees the sun.
  It only comes out when the moon is on the run…
  
  The original version of Spanish Harlem had a lovely, poetic, but fairly simple lyric about a man who had discovered a beguiling female rose he intended to pluck for his "garden" (however one interprets that). However, when Aretha Franklin recorded the song she made it more current and "blacker" with lyric changes. For instance, she changed the chorus to: “There is a rose in Black and Spanish Harlem.” And because the song was about a man who desired a young girl, she changed the third stanza to be in the third person, with her explaining the man’s intentions.

• Stony End by Barbra Streisand is one of the great interpretations by one of the great vocalists. And some of those notes she hits, so effortlessly!

• That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be by Carly Simon is a masterpiece of songwriting superbly arranged and performed. Also, You’re So Vain, Anticipation and Mockingbird with James Taylor.

• Taxi by Harry Chapin is another neglected masterpiece of songwriting.
  
  Oh, I've got something inside me
  To drive a princess blind ...
  There's a wild-man wizard
  He's hiding in me, illuminating my mind …
  
  Harry Chapin's "Taxi" is a ghost story in which both ghosts are still partially alive. I saw Chapin in concert, and he was a wonderful storyteller: both in his songs and in his interactions with the audience. Other songs by Harry Chapin include Cat's in the Cradle, The Dance Band on the Titanic, The Mayor of Candor Lied and W.O.L.D.

• Oh People by Patti Labelle is a tour de force vocal performance by one of the all-time greats.

• Vahevala by Loggins and Messina is blue-eyed calypso at its best, and very entertaining as well as ear-pleasing.

• House of the Rising Sun by Eric Burdon and the Animals is an underappreciated masterpiece of early rock’n’roll and my nomination for the first hard rock song, with those dark chords and lyrics. How underappreciated? Just the 471st best song according to Rolling Stone, an insanely low ranking.
  
  There is a house in New Orleans
  They call the Rising Sun
  And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
  And God I know I'm one ...
  
  "House of the Rising Sun" is an American folk ballad whose authorship remains unknown. The best-known version of the song was performed by a British "invasion" group, the Animals. (Hey, what were they doing, stealing our best songs?) Like many other songs on this page, it tells a haunting, compelling story. Other notable songs by the Animals include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," "We've Got to Get Out of this Place," "To Love Somebody," "It's My Life," "Don't Bring Me Down," "When I Was Young," "I Put a Spell on You" and "Boom Boom."

• Back for Good by Gary Barlow and Take That. I’m not usually a fan of boy bands, including most of the early Beatles’ first 66 singles (A&B sides), but I will make an exception for this fantastic song. Gary Barlow has a lilting flip into falsetto that is wonderfully tender, expressive and touching.

• Loves Lies Bleeding/Funeral for a Friend by Sir Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. This masterpiece is not as underknown as some of the other songs here, but it is definitely underplayed. I consider it a top ten rock song of all time. This eleven-minute track was too long to be released as a single but it received quite a bit of radio air play when released (one critic said it allowed DJs time for extended "potty breaks"). Elton John wrote the music while thinking furiously about what he wanted played at his own funeral. The song is full of furious, bombastic chords, but they all seem to work remarkably well with the angry lyrics.

• Fever and Blue Moon by Elvis Presley. How can two of the greatest vocal performances by the King be so neglected? Elvis was like the little girl with the little curl: sometimes he was very, very good, and sometimes he was horrid (i.e., the ultimate cheesy/bombastic Vegas lounge singer, although his voice was always pure gold). If you haven't heard the young Elvis Presley sing "Fever" and "Blue Moon," say hello to the really, really good, hip, cool Elvis.

• I Put a Spell on You by the incomparable Nina Simone, who had just one Rolling Stone top 500 song with Mississippi Goddam.

• S.O.S. as performed by Dimash Kudaibergen, the Six-Octave Man, in arguably the greatest male vocal performance of all time.

• All By Myself, written by Eric Carmen, as performed by Eric Carmen, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. But I still like Eric Carmen’s original the best, despite the stratospheric vocals of the great divas.

• I Drove All Night written by Roy Orbison, as performed by Orbison, Celine Dion and Cyndi Lauper. As great as Orbison was, and as fantastically as Lauper sang this song, I have to give the gold star to Dion for what may have been the greatest powerhouse female vocal performance of all time. It’s hard to imagine anything better.

• Speaking of the great Roy Orbison, how is Leah not better known and more often played?
  
  I'll place the pearls
  around the only girl
  for me:
  Leah
  
  Some songs have haunting lyrics, but Roy Orbison has a haunting, almost otherworldly voice. I'm not sure if this is a great song in its own right (it's about a pearl diver who drowns, only to wake up and realize he was having a nightmare), but Orbison's voice makes the performance utterly magical.

• Who Let in the Rain? by Cyndi Lauper is vastly underrated and when was the last time you heard it? Also, Time After Time, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, (Waiting for Your) Change of Heart, Hatful of Stars, Money Changes Everything, All Through the Night and I Drove All Night.

• You're the Voice by John Farnham, an outstanding Australian vocalist who flew under the rock world’s radar for decades. This may be the most inspirational song of all time, when Farnham performs it live. And it’s not a bit sappy.

• (Flying in Winchester) Cathedral is a haunting, mesmerizing song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes) Young.
  
  All religion has to have its day…
  
  Open up the gates of the church
  And let me out of here
  Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
  For anyone to heed the call
  So many people have died in the name of Christ
  That I can't believe it all
  And now I'm standing on the grave
  Of a soldier that died in 1799
  And the day he died, it was a birthday
  And I noticed it was mine
  And my head didn't know just who I was
  And I went spinning back in time
  And I am high upon the altar
  High upon the altar, high …

• Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra, aka ELO, headed by the great Jeff Lynne.

• The Freshmen was written by Brian Vander Ark and performed by The Verve Pipe.
  
  I can't be held responsible
  'cause she was touching her face
  I won't be held responsible
  she fell in love in the first place ...
  For the life of me, I cannot remember
  what made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
  for the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
  we were merely freshmen …
  
  When the Verve Pipe released "The Freshmen" there were debates on the Internet about what they meant by lines like "stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice." While "stop a baby's breath" might refer to an abortion, "shoe full of rice" might refer to a wedding, in which case "baby's breath" might be a sprig of flowers. Song lyrics, like all forms of poetry, are open to interpretation. What is certain about this song is that it will rip your heart out, if you have one.

• Been to Canaan by Carole King may be her best and most personal song. And that’s saying a lot, since she’s a top ten songwriter of all time, in my opinion.

• Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez, a song she wrote about her relationship with Bob Dylan
  
  Your eyes were bluer than robin's eggs.
  My poetry was lousy, you said.
  Where are you calling from?
  A booth in the Midwest…

• Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues is not unknown, but definitely underplayed compared to lesser songs.
  
  Nights in white satin, never reaching the end.
  Letters I've written, never meaning to send.
  Beauty I'd always missed, with these eyes before.
  Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore…

• A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum is another song that can never be played too much, in my opinion.
  
  And so it was that later,
  As the miller told his tale,
  That her face, at first just ghostly,
  Turned a whiter shade of pale.
  
  "A Whiter Shade of Pale" tells a haunting if somewhat surrealistic tale. The song is based on a party at which Keith Reid heard the phrase "a whiter shade of pale" ... the rest, as they say, is history. The phrase "as the miller told his tale" may refer to the Miller's Tale of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The Miller's Tale was about a man's attempt to seduce a young woman, so we may perhaps deduce that the woman who blanched at the party turned "a whiter shade of pale" because she was being propositioned. (This answers trivia question number five.)
  
  The music was composed by Gary Brooker with a nod to Bach’s Air on a G String and (disputed) Matthew Fisher; the lyrics were written Keith Reid.
  
  Other notable songs by Procol Harum include "Conquistador" and "A Salty Dog."

• Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company.
  
  Didn't I make you feel
  like you were the only man?
  An' didn't I give you nearly everything
  that a woman possibly can?
  
  Rolling Stone nominated "Piece of My Heart" as the 344th greatest song of the modern era, which only illustrates the dark, murky depths to which music "experts" are capable of sinking. This may be the greatest all-out rock/blues performance by a female singer, or by any rock/blues singer, male or female. Other Janis Joplin songs include "Summertime," "Mercedes Benz," "Maybe," "Kozmic Blues," "Ball and Chain," "Cry Baby" and "Me and Bobby McGee" (written by Kris Kristofferson).

• A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke is another song I’d like to hear a lot more, compared to far lesser songs.
  
  It's been too hard living
  but I'm afraid to die
  'Cause I don't know what's up there
  beyond the sky ...
  
  "A Change Is Gonna Come" was written after Sam Cooke heard and was moved by Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." Cooke's song became an anthem for the American Civil Rights Movement.

• Oh Very Young by Cat Stevens is a lovely, tender, touching song by a master songwriter.
  
  And though you want to last forever
  You know you never will
  You know you never will
  And the good-bye makes the journey harder still…

• Love Reign O'er Me by the Who.
  
  Only love
  can bring the rain
  that makes you yearn to the sky ...
  
  I’m not usually a Who fan, but this song is undeniable. It was written by Pete Townshend and became a concert staple for The Who.
  
  "Love Reign O'er Me" is the ultimate all-out rock anthem, belted out to rock god perfection by Roger Daltrey. The song was covered by Pearl Jam and furnished the title of the movie "Reign O'er Me." For the definitive cover, check out Bettye LaVette's version on YouTube. Still, I imagine the young, brash Roger Daltrey owns this one for all time.

OTHER NEGLECTED MASTERPIECES

• Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday.

• Trouble of the World by Mahalia Jackson.

• Time of the Season and She’s Not There by the Zombies.

• Ferry 'Cross the Mersey and You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

• Crossroads aka Cross Road Blues by the great blues guitarist Robert Johnson is my choice as the first rock song. Eric Clapton might agree, since he covered it with Cream. The song was originally recorded in 1936 but dates back to the 1920s. It’s the first blues song, for me, that has a rock edge and vibe. And then there’s the infamous “deal with the Devil”… rock was later called “the Devil’s music” by alarmed moralists.

• White Room and Sunshine of Your Love by Cream.

• Mannish Boy and Got My Mojo Workin’ by Muddy Waters.

• Roll Over Beethoven by Chuck Berry was nominated by Terry M. I have called Chuck Berry the Shakespeare of early rock ’n’ roll. His other hits include Johnny B. Goode, Maybellene, My Ding-a-Ling and No Particular Place to Go.

• The Weight and The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down by The Band.

• Wheel In The Sky, Open Arms, Lights, Send Her My Love, Separate Ways, Escape, Stone In Love, Still They Ride, Just The Same Way, Faithfully and Only The Young by Journey, which inexplicably had only one song in the Rolling Stoned Top 500 Songs: Don’t Stop Believin’ (#133).

• Rock Me on the Water and The Load Out/Stay by Jackson Browne, who didn’t have any songs in the Rolling Stoned Top 500.

• Roundabout, Awaken, I’ve Seen All Good People and Starship Trooper by Yes.

• You Really Got Me by the Kinks was nominated Tom Brown, then by Greg Scotland with these observations: “There’s no Gimme Shelter, Satisfaction, Revolution, I Can’t Explain, Whole Lotta Love, Comfortably Numb, Purple Haze, Eruption, Paranoid, American Woman, Enter Sandman, Smoke on the Water, etc. without Dave Davies slashing his speaker cone with a razor blade and popularizing rock and roll distortion/fuzz in the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” (August 1964). That song is partially responsible for more than ten rock and roll genres. It must be on the list.” Now it is! Also, Lola and Waterloo Sunset.

• Who’ll Stop the Rain, Have You Ever Seen the Rain and Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival were great Vietnam War protest songs written by John Fogerty. Also Proud Mary, Someday Never Comes, Green River, Run Through the Jungle and Lodi.

• Amazing Grace, Mary Don’t You Weep, Wholly Holy and Precious Lord Take My Hand by Aretha Franklin. BTW, Amazing Grace remains the best-selling Gospel album of all time!

• O Holy Night by Patti Labelle.

• I’ll Fly Away and Down to the River to Pray by Alison Krauss.

• WrightsCreekWolf gave an enthusiastic nomination: “Here’s one for you: Misty Roses by Tim Hardin. Check it out! It doesn’t get better than this.”

• Yigal Kahana nominated “All of My Love” and “Achilles’ Last Stand” by Led Zeppelin.

• John Laurie made the following nominations: “Check out ‘Flame trees’ by Cold Chisel; ‘Streets of your town’ and ‘cattle and cane’ by the Go-Betweens; ‘won’t give in’ by the Finn Brothers; ‘Holy grail’ by Hunters and collectors; ‘Slipping away’ and ‘coming back’ by Max Merritt and the meteors; ‘1,000 miles away by Hoodoo Gurus; ‘Amazing’ by Alex Lloyd; ‘And the band played Waltzing Matilda’ by Eric Bogle; ‘The unguarded moment’, ‘Almost with you’ and ‘Under the Milky Way’ by The Church; ‘Reckless’ by James Reyne; ‘To her door’ and ‘Deeper water’ by Paul Kelly; ‘Deep water’ by Richard Clapton.”

• Mike Janowski nominated:
  
  "Have I the Right", by the Ivy;

  "Get the Message", Cyrus Eyrie;

  "Roses and Rainbows", Danny Hutton;

  "Mama Said", Junior;

  The entire LP output by The Move ("Shazam", in particular).