Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

FrankLotion wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 11:55 pm Lol while I do think it has a great chorus I don’t think I voted for Africa
Whoops, I've since corrected that, thanks for pointing it out, don't know how that happened :?
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Edre Depeche Head »

Wow I am pleasently surprised once again that The Offspring did well. Anything to support my boys.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

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Edre Peraza wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 1:47 am Wow I am pleasently surprised once again that The Offspring did well. Anything to support my boys.
Joint effort! Absolute piledriver of a chorus
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

I say, don't you know?
60. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (2004)

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Score: 36.30389115
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 55
Fans: Emerald (#9), FrankLotion (#51), StevieFan13 (#87)

A likely story!
59. No Doubt - Spiderwebs (1995)

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Score: 37.27272727
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: unranked
Fans: Wezzo (#9), Edre Peraza (#28)

Hallelujah, hallelujah
58. Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (1984/1994)

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Score: 38.09866659
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 724/481
Fans: (Leonard Cohen) acroamor (#8)/(Jeff Buckley) mileswide (#97), StevieFan13 (#171), andyd1010 (#175), Wezzo (#181)

Kiss lots of boys!
57. Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow (2013)

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Score: 38.655706
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 6334
Fans: acroamor (#9), StevieFan13 (#45), andyd1010 (#58)

What's going on?
56. 4 Non Blondes - What's Up (1992)

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Score: 39.8255814
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2703
Fans: andyd1010 (#6), Wezzo (#127)

But I'm here!
55. Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know (1995)

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Score: 40.57692308
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 416
Fans: FrankLotion (#11), andyd1010 (#28), StevieFan13 (#38)

I just want your extra time
54. Prince and the Revolution - Kiss (1986)

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Score: 41.14423942
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 227
Fans: Honorio (#8), Emerald (#46), mileswide (#86), FrankLotion (#200)

You can find it all in the street
53. Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street (1972)

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Score: 42.15686275
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 1814
Fans: Emerald (#7), mieswide (#32)

Don't you want me? OH-OHHHH!
52. The Human League - Don't You Want Me (1981)

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Score: 42.35779291
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 252
Fans: Nick (#10), mileswide (#40), StevieFan13 (#57), Wezzo (#96), Jackson (#143)

Don't you know how I still believe?
51. Britney Spears - Baby One More Time (1999)

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Score: 43.13227513
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 637
Fans: Nick (#12), StevieFan13 (#28), Jackson (#58), andyd1010 (#79), Wezzo (#98)
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

The top 50 awaits! I should be able to present all of that to you tomorrow, do we dare make any predictions at this stage in the meantime?
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

mileswide wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:23 am The top 50 awaits! I should be able to present all of that to you tomorrow, do we dare make any predictions at this stage in the meantime?
Lots of Oasis.

"Don't Look Back in Anger" wins it all. "Dancing Queen" places in the top 10.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

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Enjoy The Silence will probably place high
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Jackson »

I'm glad to see Starry Eyes and Outdoor Miner in the top 100, even if it's mostly because of my high votes for them. Those are temendously catchy choruses.

How in the world did Billie Jean not place toward the top of this poll? It's fun how unpredictable this list is, even if the results aren't very robust.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Rob »

mileswide wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:46 pm
Yeah, it was a shame you didn't vote, Rob- I hope I didn't put you off with the way I handled your question about Justice vs. Simian- but I'm pleased you're enjoying it, I get enough entertainment from your Biggest Fan thread, so it's only fair for me to pay it back in a way :D
No, I agree with that decision. I kind of lost track of this after it was initially cancelled. But I wouldn't have had the time these weeks to make a list with enough effort to be satisfactory for myself.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by BobPatience »

Jackson wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:35 am How in the world did Billie Jean not place toward the top of this poll? It's fun how unpredictable this list is, even if the results aren't very robust.
I personally think that both the verses and the bridge are at least as much, if not more, memorable than the chrous.


About predictions:
I haven't really looked at the submitted lists but it wouldn't surprise me if the top 3 is, in no particular order, "Don't Look Back in Anger", "Enjoy The Silence" and "There's a Light That Never Goes Out".
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Wezzo »

mileswide wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:23 am The top 50 awaits! I should be able to present all of that to you tomorrow, do we dare make any predictions at this stage in the meantime?
Mr Brightside ranking very highly.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Interesting, we'll see how many of these forecasts are on the money as we hit the top 50!

From here on in, each entry will also be accompanied with a review, quote or fact at the very least about the song in question and, in most cases, about the relevant chorus.

Right...now it's time for...THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! (spoiler alert: that chorus that didn't make it)
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

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Rape, murder
It's just a shot away, it's just a shot away
50. The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (1969)



Score: 44,13043478
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 33
Fans: FrankLotion (#13), acroamor (#18), Jackson (#44), StevieFan13 (#113)

"We randomly phoned up this poor lady in the middle of the night, and she arrived in her curlers and proceeded to do that in one or two takes, which is pretty amazing. She really got into it, as you can hear on the record", Mick Jagger in a 2012 interview with NPR on asking session soul singer Merry Clayton to sing on Gimme Shelter's chorus

Babe, take a walk on the wild side
Ah honey, take a walk on the wild side
49. Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side (1972)

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Score: 45.11278195
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 52
Fans: Honorio (#5), FrankLotion (#131)

"My obituary has already been written. And it starts out, 'Doot, di-doot, di-doot..'", Reed in a 2016 interview with Mojo Magazine about his most famous refrain

Time may change me!
But I can't trace time
48. David Bowie - Changes (1971)

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Score: 45.11278195
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 187
Fans: acroamor (#5), andyd1010 (#125)

"An irresistible stuttered chorus sung by dozens of overdubbed Daves", from a 1972 track-by-track review of Hunky Dory in Rolling Stone

Take on me (Take on me!)
Take me on (Take on me!)
47. a-ha - Take on Me (1984)

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Score: 45.89517625
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 562
Fans: StevieFan13 (#9), Jackson (#34), andyd1010 (#47), Wezzo (#70)

"'Take on me' literally translated to Norwegian [is] 'Ta på meg.' This is how you say 'Touch me' in Norwegian. 'Take me on' / 'Ta meg på' means 'put me on' (like clothing)", Genius.com annotation of the chorus

I've been for a walk
On a winter's day
46. The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreamin' (1965)

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Score: 46.49209486
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 77
Fans: Honorio (#6), Emerald (#42), Wezzo (#136)

"We were at the Earle Hotel in New York and Michelle [Phillips] was asleep...it snowed overnight and in the morning she didn't know what the white stuff coming out the sky was", John Phillips' account of the winter's day that inspired California Dreamin' in a 1995 interview with Scott McKenzie of San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) fame

The sink is full of fishes
She's got dirty dishes on her brain!
45. Oasis - Some Might Say (1995)

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Score: 47.27272727
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2009
Fans: Nick (#9), Edre Peraza (#13)

"'Some Might Say' is still one of the finest examples of pop you'll hear this year. Noel Gallagher is on the barmy-lyric bus again", NME review, 1995

They come, they come to build a wall between us
We know that they won't win
44. Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over (1986)

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Score: 47.90158214
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 838
Fans: StevieFan13 (#6), FrankLotion (#59), Wezzo (#100), andyd1010 (#116)

"You think the song is gloomy? The record's about not giving up hope and succumbing to the effects of the mass media and consumerism", bassist Nick Seymour in a 1987 interview with Music Week

And I would rather be anywhere else but here today
43. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Oliver's Army (1979)

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Score: 48.16808813
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 690
Fans: Wezzo (#7), Honorio (#38), Jackson (#65) StevieFan13 (#103)

"Costello writes from the perspective of one of the kids desperate enough to join 'Oliver's Army' because has no better options. Only in the chorus does the optimistic facade drop to be replaced by legitimate disgust and fear", from American Songwriter's list of Costello's 20 best songs, 2013

And all the other boys try to chase me
42. Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe (2011)

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Score: 48.18181818
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 774
Fans: Jackson (#8), Nick (#20), acroamor (#64)

"The best part of the 'Call Me Maybe' chorus was how it ended up summarizing our own feelings about the song- the giddiness, the awkward excitement, and the feeling of how we never knew how much we needed a song like it in our lives until it showed up", from Billboard's 100 Greatest Choruses of the 21st Century, which names CMM number 1

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
41. The Killers - When You Were Young (2006)

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Score: 48.97959184
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM:
Fans: Wezzo (#5), acroamor (#47)

"Once upon a time, this kind of stuff just wafted out of radios and you didn't know who'd made it or what they stood for; all we were left with was a song and a hook", from Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2006 (WYWY finished #75)
Last edited by mileswide on Fri Aug 30, 2019 5:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

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Every time I see you falling
I get down on my knees and pray
40. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle (1986)

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Score: 49.75759535
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 354
Fans: Honorio (#11), Nick (#22), Edre Peraza (#32), mileswide (#54)

"The pacing of the phrasing is...inspired: alternately awestruck and rushed, never comfortable but always enthralled", from an analysis of the chorus in a Billboard piece on the greatness of BLT

Ah, come on let's take off everything!
39. Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen (1982)

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Score: 50.84731485
Number of votes: 6
Song rank on AM: 364
Fans: StevieFan13 (#21), andyd1010 (#25), Jackson (#29), Wezzo (#40), mileswide (#47), acroamor (#78)

"For years I told everyone that Eileen was a childhood girlfriend. In fact she was composite, to make a point about Catholic repression", singer Kevin Rowland in a 2014 interview to The Guardian

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
38. Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (2009)

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Score: 50.94155844
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 157
Fans: nick (#8), andyd1010 (#20), acroamor (#54), StevieFan13 (#152)

"Alicia Keys' extraordinary vocals on the catchy chorus...made the song so powerful", from a Complex article in 2012 naming ESoM the 4th best Alicia Keys song

Oh uh oh, you're changing your heart
Oh uh oh, you know who you are!
37. Feist - 1234 (2007)

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Score: 52.23214286
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 902
Fans: andyd1010 (#5), acroamor (#30)

"Feist sings it with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that's all her own", from a Time article listing the track as the 2nd best of 2007

My heart's aflame, my body's strained
But God, I like it!
36. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me (2006)

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Score: 52.23880597
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 457
Fans: Jackson (#4), FrankLotion (#132)

"Brooklyn art-rockers launch a werewolf/sex-fiend metaphor over a Sonic Youth-damaged dance groove until the entire building burns to the ground", from Rolling Stone's list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s (WLM came #74)

No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions!
35. Queen - We Are the Champions (1977)

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Score: 53.8348444
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 726
Fans: FrankLotion (#5), andyd1010 (#31), StevieFan13 (#157)

"Our initial sense of it was that it was something very big headed. We all looked at Fred and said 'Really?' But he had a very clear view of it. It was aimed at an audience that wanted to feel a togetherness and a power and an optimism. He knew people would sing it", guitarist Brian May on the band's initial reaction to Mercury's triumphal chorus, interviewed by Guitar World in 2008

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
34. Oasis - Wonderwall (1995)

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Score: 55.01688619
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 86
Fans: StevieFan13 (#12), Edre Peraza (#25), Emerald (#26), Nick (#33), andyd1010 (#92)

"It's a song about an imaginary friend who's gonna save you from yourself", Noel Gallagher doing his best to deny he wrote Wonderwall in honour of his then-wife Meg Matthews, his then-mistress cocaine or his long-time muse George Harrison, reported by the BBC in 2002

Only want to see you underneath the purple rain
33. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain (1984)

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Score: 55.29466646
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 142
Fans: StevieFan (#4), Emerald (#107), FrankLotion (#116)

"When there's blood in the sky- red and blue = purple...purple rain pertains to the end of the world", Prince at his most Prince-like in explaining the song's imagery, quoted by NME in 2012

How you say you gonna leave?
You know it's a lie
32. The Crickets - That'll Be the Day (1957)

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Score: 60.34482759
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 61
Fans: BobPatience (#4), emerald (#27)

"'That'll Be the Day' borrowed its title from the catchphrase of John Wayne's character in The Searcher and boasted a swagger worthy of the Duke", Texas Monthly's synopsis of the track in their 2004 rundown of the 100 Best Texas Songs (of which TBTD is #3)

You had my heart and soul in your hand
31. Adele - Rolling in the Deep (2010)

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Score: 60.95609962
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 217
Fans: StevieFan13 (#13), andyd1010 (#18), Nick (#21), FrankLotion (#28), Emerald (#101)

"It was my reaction to being told that my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish", Adele on the ex that inspired the song, reported by The Independent (UK) in 2012
Last edited by mileswide on Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by BobPatience »

I'm not sure that there's a 'how' in the Holly's chorus.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

BobPatience wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 8:46 am I'm not sure that there's a 'how' in the Holly's chorus.
Thanks BobPatience, that's hopefully now corrected :mrgreen:
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?
30. Pulp - Disco 2000 (1995)

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Score: 61.91082803
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 1562
Fans: Jackson (#3), StevieFan13 (#155)

The famous 'fountain down the road' (in Sheffield, naturally) apparently no longer exists! I'm sure there's a convoluted metaphor and link with the song for how things change for the worse but it feels like I've left an important part of my brain

But maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
29. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (2006)

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Score: 62.23880597
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 50
Fans: FrankLotion (#4), Emerald (#28), StevieFan13 (#132]

"Once in a while, you hear a record that is obviously so important on so many levels", Downtown Records A&R Josh Deutsch explaining to industry magazine HitQuartersin 2006 why he agreed for his label to distribute Crazy after a single listen

In my self-righteous suicide!
I cry when angels deserve to die
28. System of a Down - Chop Suey! (2001)

Imagez

Score: 68.10810811
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 1641
Fans: andyd1010 (#3), acroamor (#35)

"This song was originally going to be called 'Self-Righteous Suicide] and the record company rebelled. I remember wanting to go to the mat and keep the title, and the band decided, 'Let's call it Chop Suey!', which i thought was kind of funny", the track's producer Rick Rubin in a retrospective review with Rolling Stone in 2016 on the pressure to force the band away from using the chorus as the title in the wake of 9/11

Naa na na na na na na
Na na na na, hey Jude
27. The Beatles - Hey Jude (1968)

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Score: 68.25
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 42
Fans: andyd1010 (#4), Nick (#23), StevieFan13 (#46)

"I'm not going to clap my hands and sing Paul McCartney's bloody song!", what the only member of the orchestra not to join in the chorus/refrain/coda/section at the end reportedly said according to Mark Lewinsohn's book 'The Beatles Recording Sessions' (1988)

We know Major Tom's a junkie
26. David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes (1980)

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Score: 69.1092437
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 318
Fans: Emerald (#8), Honorio (#12), BobPatience (#32), acroamor (#48), Jackson (#103)

"'Ashes to Ashes' forces the listener to imagine Bowie reflecting from his own sickbed on the persona he's created and on the previous decade of self-destruction he only just survived in a piece of fey world-weariness", Rolling Stone Germany on the track it picked as its 17th best David Bowie song in a 2016 list

Into the blue again!
(Under the silent water)
25. Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime (1980)

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Score: 69.34347069
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 67
Fans: Emerald (#5), FrankLotion (#33), StevieFan13 (#39), Jackson (#46), Honorio (#67)

"The vivid daybreak colours of the chorus remind you that it's better to face up, and that great art is at its most life-enhancing when it forces you to face up, and then makes it alright by showing you that you're not alone in feeling empty",

Oh darling, I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in his arms
24. The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (1969)

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Score: 73.91007805
Number of votes: 5
Song rank on AM: 47
Fans: mileswide (#5), acroamor (#14), StevieFan13 (#40), Jackson (#99), FrankLotion (#135)

"Michael Jackson's voice on 'I Want You Back' just explodes. There's so much joy and force and determination in it; it's like someone let this pure engine of unbridled glee loose on the pop charts", from Stereogum's 2019 review of US Number 1s

If I was richer, I'd still be with ya
Hah, now ain't that some shit?
23. Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You! (2010)

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Score: 77.67478648
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 706
Fans: StevieFan13 (#3), Nick (#29), FrankLotion (#57), andyd1010 (#101)

"Taking all the joyful exuberance of classic Motown and jamming his tongue as far into his cheek as it would go", from the entry for #112 on NME's 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years (1996-2011)

AND THE MOONLIGHT'S SHINING THROUGH!
22. Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell (1977)

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Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2487
Fans: mileswide (#2), StevieFan13 (#109)

"Like something beamed in from another planet...thanks in large part to one of the great vocal performances on record", the speech given before this track was recognised with the Classic Song award at the 2008 ceremony for Q Magazine

Have you ever seen the rain?
Comin' down on a sunny day
21. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (1970)

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Score: 79.19856459
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 818
Fans: acroamor (#3), BobPatience (#17), Honorio (#86)

"Creedence was supposed to be sunny days, the golden times, yet look at the rain falling down on us...I don't think the band realized it was about our breakup", John Fogerty quoted in the CCR biography Bad Moon Rising (1998) on what now looks like his premonition of the band's dissolution (they split up a year after its release)
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

That took for ever for my laptop to let me get through the 20 just gone, so my laptop and I will be taking a break before the last 20...everyone's number 1 with the exception of Wezzo's has yet to make an appearance, so it's all to play for!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Henrik »

I couldn’t find the time to vote in this, but thanks mileswide for another great forum poll. Great idea and rollout!

This looks strange to me though:

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2487
Fans: mileswide (#2), StevieFan13 (#109)

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 818
Fans: acroamor (#3), BobPatience (#17), Honorio (#86)

Should these songs really get the same score? Is a second place getting that many more points than a third place?
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Honorio »

You're right, Henrik. The score for the CCR song is 79,19856459.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by andyd1010 »

acroamor, thank you for singlehandedly helping me get 1234 and Chop Suey! into the top 40! I love all your choices that showed up on this page - I either voted for them or they would have been in my next 50.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Edre Depeche Head »

Henrik wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:56 pm I couldn’t find the time to vote in this, but thanks mileswide for another great forum poll. Great idea and rollout!

This looks strange to me though:

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2487
Fans: mileswide (#2), StevieFan13 (#109)

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 818
Fans: acroamor (#3), BobPatience (#17), Honorio (#86)

Should these songs really get the same score? Is a second place getting that many more points than a third place?
Personally I feel that this was a very informal un poll with not many vote so it really doesn’t bother me that much.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Honorio »

Edre Peraza wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:31 pm
Henrik wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:56 pm I couldn’t find the time to vote in this, but thanks mileswide for another great forum poll. Great idea and rollout!

This looks strange to me though:

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2487
Fans: mileswide (#2), StevieFan13 (#109)

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 818
Fans: acroamor (#3), BobPatience (#17), Honorio (#86)

Should these songs really get the same score? Is a second place getting that many more points than a third place?
Personally I feel that this was a very informal un poll with not many vote so it really doesn’t bother me that much.
Well, even with few voters the formula yielded exact results. There were no ties in the Top 200 when we excluded the one-vote choices. Probably simply mileswide copied the wrong line when posting the results. It's already edited.
By the way, mileswide, excellent rollout! Excellent choices for quotes and gifs!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Henrik wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:56 pm I couldn’t find the time to vote in this, but thanks mileswide for another great forum poll. Great idea and rollout!

This looks strange to me though:

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2487
Fans: mileswide (#2), StevieFan13 (#109)

Score: 77.7027027
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 818
Fans: acroamor (#3), BobPatience (#17), Honorio (#86)

Should these songs really get the same score? Is a second place getting that many more points than a third place?
Honorio wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:52 pm Well, even with few voters the formula yielded exact results. There were no ties in the Top 200 when we excluded the one-vote choices. Probably simply mileswide copied the wrong line when posting the results. It's already edited.
By the way, mileswide, excellent rollout! Excellent choices for quotes and gifs!
Thanks for the praise and corrections Henrik and Honorio! I'll hope that the rest of it warrants more of the former and no more of the latter. My WiFi wavered during my last post, so I rushed in submitting it without fully checking before I lost connection again and so I could rest. I saw that you'd both highlighted the mistake, tried to correct and got hit with a 504.

As much as IT issues are doing all they can to persuade me otherwise, though, I am still enjoying it, I'll embark on the top 20 when Excel Viewer gets round to re-opening the spreadsheet!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

andyd1010 wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 2:36 pm acroamor, thank you for singlehandedly helping me get 1234 and Chop Suey! into the top 40! I love all your choices that showed up on this page - I either voted for them or they would have been in my next 50.
There does look like a love-in or at least something going on between your and acroamor's songs- without having done the calculations yet, it does seem you converge most strongly with Stevie, then acro. I'll present a list of strongest such associations once this main rollout's over.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Ok, everything's back up and running, so let's get stuck into the top 20 before my computer changes its mind again!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

I feel stupid AND CONTAGIOUS
Here we are now ENTERTAIN US!
20. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)

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Score: 82.59912445
Number of votes: 6
Song rank on AM: 2
Fans: StevieFan13 (#11), Nirvana (#13), FrankLotion (#16), Nick (#24), Jackson (#39) andyd1010 (#73)

"[The chorus] was rock and roll, and kind of an ironic commentary on rock and roll at the same time. That was the genius of the song: it combined a fierce commentary on shallowness while still having a mass-appeal musicality", Nirvana's manager Danny Goldberg, quoted in NPR's 2019 article 'The Anthem For A Generation That Didn't Want One'

*catchy non-verbal bellowing!*
19. Arcade Fire - Wake Up (2004)

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Score: 85.92905405
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 309
Fans: mileswide (#3), andy1010 (#22), nick (#30), StevieFan13 (#72)

"It's the sound of all the pain and frustration that went into the making of Funeral being unleashed in one tsunami-sized cry. It's also become the most ubiquitous vocal device in contemporary rock", from Pitchfork's 2014 article 'Arcade Fire's Funeral and the legacy of the 'WHOA-OH''

So won't you please (Be my, be my baby)
Be my little baby
18. The Ronettes - Be My Baby (1963)

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Score: 87.7775475
Number of votes: 6
Song rank on AM: 7
Fans: Honorio (#3), Jackson (#21), FrankLotion (#46), andyd1010 (#72), Emerald (#111), Wezzo (#167)

"Boy, first heard this on the car radio and I had to pull off the road, I couldn't believe it. The choruses blew me away", Brian Wilson naming it the greatest pop record ever made in Q Magazine's 1001 Best Songs Ever in 2003

Some day you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
17. Oasis - Champagne Supernova (1995)

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Score: 88.95928542
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 751
Fans: FrankLotion (#2), Nick (#27), andyd1010 (#81)

"'Caught beneath a landslide in a Champagne Supernova in the sky'...is probably as psychedelic as I'll ever get. It's about when you're young and you see people in groups and you think about what they did for you...Punk rock was supposed to be the revolution but what did it do? Fuck all", Noel Gallagher on the lyrics and theme of the song in a 1995 NME interview

I, I, I, I, I'm willing and able
So I throw my cards on your table
16. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Is This Love (1978)

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Score: 102.2727273
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 2222
Fans: Emerald (#2), Honorio (#9)

"What woman could resist Bob's no-nonsense declaration of affection?", excerpt from Complex's 2017 list of The 100 Best Bob Marley Songs, in which ITL reached the surprisingly low spot of #85

I'm down on my knees
I want to take you there
15. Madonna - Like a Prayer (1989)

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Score: 106.3542725
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 159
Fans: FrankLotion (#1), Emerald (#108), Jackson (#160), StevieFan13 (#167)

"The [first half of the] chorus: 21 words, and what's happening in them? A pun on Madonna's name, setting up her dual role as divinity and supplicant, receiving a prayer while on her knees, drawing a parallel between the (apparently) fixed relationship of worship and the mutual shifts of self and role in sex", FreakyTrigger in 2010 in their review of every UK Number 1, giving LAP a rare 10/10

I guess I couldn't help trying to be your best American girl
14. Mitski - Your Best American Girl (2016)

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Score: 106.9767442
Number of votes: 2
Song rank on AM: 657
Fans: acroamor (#1), FrankLotion (#41)

"You always want what you can't have, and that all-American thing, from the day I was born, I could never enter that dream. That all-American white culture is something that is inherited instead of attained. So yes, it's a sad song, but I wanted to make sure it reflected all of the contrasting feelings", Mitski on the track being simultaneously about white privilege and unrequited love in a 2016 interview with Pitchfork

So glad we almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
13. Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World (1985)

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Score: 107.6190476
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 839
Fans: Emerald (#3), Nick (#5), StevieFan13 (#61)

"It's a meditative commentary on an era that was so corrupt economically and spiritually. Smith wails [the choruses] in a tenor that's equal parts nihilistic and tragic", Consequence of Sound's analysis of the track in reviewing the reissue of parent album Songs from the Big Chair

Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like when doves cry
12. Prince - When Doves Cry (1984)

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Score: 108.5423729
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 29
Fans: Emerald (#1), FrankLotion (#48), StevieFan13 (#116)

"The chorus..evokes the paranoid psychoanalyis of Pet Sounds", Spectrum Culture's 100 Best Songs of the '80s list, where WDC came 3rd

No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
11. The Beatles - For No One (1966)

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Score: 109.2155502
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 1524
Fans: Bob Patience (#1), acroamor (#41), Jackson (#132)

"The song..is a strong reflection of so much of [McCartney's] songwriting conventions. The reflections of love and longing heard in tunes like 'I've Just Seen a Face' or 'When I'm Sixty-Four' and the more somber reflections of 'Let It Be' and 'Eleanor Rigby'. In many ways it is a unification of those two sides in a heartbreaking ballad wrapped within the pop-perfection of a Mozartian-miniature", Michael W. Harris, a former rock history lecturer at University of Colorado, in a 2018 blog on The Temp Track arguing that the track is "Two Minutes of Perfection"
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

The top 10 beckons! Just not yet, I'm hungry- should be with you all in a matter of hours though!

Anyone else not expect Everybody Wants to Rule the World to place that high, by the way?
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Heathcliff, it's me Cathy, come home
10. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights (1978)

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Score: 110.989011
Number of votes: 3
Song rank on AM: 164
Fans: Jackson (#1), Nick (#40), StevieFan13 (#76)

"She was imitating this witch, the mad lady from the Yorkshire Moors and she was very theatrical about it. She was such a mesmerising performer", engineer Jon Kelly's account in Richard Buskin's 2013 book Classic Tracks of Bush's singing of Wuthering Heights, which was recorded in one take

Everything will be alright, alright, alright, alright
9. Jimmy Eat World - The Middle (2001)

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Score: 120.5833915
Number of votes: 7
Song rank on AM: 2099
Fans: Wezzo (#4), acroamor (#4), andyd1010 (#40), Nick (#48), Jackson (#106), FrankLotion (#108), StevieFan13 (#153)

"There was a girl who wrote in [i.e. emailed the band] saying she was not feeling like she fit in at her school because she wasn't punk enough. I guess this is sort of directed at her- 'They don't get it and you shouldn't worry about them'", singer Jim Adkins explaining the genesis of The Middle in a 2013 interview with Alternative Press

All I wanna do is *pow pow pow pow* and a *click ker-ching* take ya money!
8. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (2009)

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Score: 122.442346
Number of votes: 7
Song rank on AM: 31
Fans: Emerald (#6), StevieFan13 (#8), Nick (#13), Jackson (#17), FrankLotion (#20), andyd1010 (#90), Wezzo (#131)

"It's about immigration and immigrants and we are seen to be really scary because we can take people's jobs", M.I.A. in a 2009 interview with Daily Beast, making clear the satirical intentions of the chorus

Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
7. Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (1990)

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Score: 130.9010989
Number of votes: 4
Song rank on AM: 426
Fans: Edre Peraza (#1), Nick (#19), Jackson (#23), Honorio (#63)

'One of the great bad relationship songs of the decade, Enjoy the Silence is malevolent from it title, asseting that between intimates, words are best left unspoken", Spectrum Culture in naming EtS the 6th best song of the 1990s in their 2017 poll

Oh man, look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
6. David Bowie - Life on Mars? (1972)

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Score: 139.0144092
Number of votes: 7
Song rank on AM: 85
Fans: Nick (#4), Honorio (#4), acroamor (#13), Jackson (#38), StevieFan13 (#47), Wezzo (#101), andyd1010 (#119)

"As the last flickers of light flash across the screen, the girl is left sitting there, dazzled yet unhappy to accept the reality she faces, questioning whether this sort of surreal, beautiful, artistic vision of life can extend beyond the screen, 'Is there life on Mars?'", Consequence of Sound's musings in their 2017 rundown of the top 70 Bowie songs on the meaning of the chorus and the wider track (the limitations of art in helping us escape from everyday life, hollow materialism and the media's interference in said art? Or just a hotchpotch of disconnected images?)

Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone
5. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone (1965)

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Score: 160.1307736
Number of votes: 7
Song rank on AM: 1
Fans: Honorio (#1), Jackson (#6), Emerald (#36), StevieFan13 (#60), mileswide (#64), andyd1010 (#77), Wezzo (#191)

"Part of LARS's enduring power comes from its open-ended chorus. It doesn't tell you what to feel. Does losing everything you once knew depress and scare you, or exhilarate you?", from American Songwriter in their 2009 poll of 30 greatest Dylan songs, whereby LARS reached the #2 spot

You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
4. ABBA - Dancing Queen (1976)

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Score: 173.801054
Number of votes: 7
Song rank on AM: 103
Fans: Nick (#2), Jackson (#7), acroamor (#7), andyd1010 (#21), FrankLotion (#31), StevieFan (#43), Honorio (#88)

"The record starts with such a bang that, after that initial piano roll, it catapults you straight into the middle of the chorus: an explosive opening before the song has even officially started", from a 2016 Guardian piece dubbing DQ the best ever pop song

And soooo Sally can wait!
3. Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger (1995)

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Score: 300.0312287
Number of votes: 6
Song rank on AM: 572
Fans: andyd1010 (#1), Nick (#1), StevieFan (#5), acroamor (#6), Emerald (#15), Wezzo (#146)

"Sally's not a real person- just a name that fits in the chorus..it's a special kind of nonsense that means everything", NME's precis of what they deemed the 'most explosive chorus ever' in a 2018 poll

To die by your side
Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine
2. The Smiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (1986)

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Score: 324.0721572
Number of votes: 10
Song rank on AM: 49
Fans: StevieFan13 (#1), Honorio (#2), Emerald (#4), BobPatience (#8), mileswide (#11), Jackson (#13), Wezzo (#27), Nick (#39), FrankLotion (#52), andy1010 (#106)

"I didn't realise it was going to be an anthem but when we first played it I thought it was the best song I'd ever heard", guitarist Johnny Marr's first impressions of the track, recounted to Select magazine in 1993

But it's just the PRICE I PAY
Destiny is calling me!
1. The Killers - Mr. Brightside (2003)

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Score: 372.2652348
Number of votes: 9
Song rank on AM: 242
Fans: mileswide (#1), acroamor (#2), StevieFan13 (#2), Nick (#6), FrankLotion (#9), Wezzo (#11), andyd1010 (#12), Jackson (#31), Emerald (#75)

"It doesn't contrive to be arty or clever or even twiddly, and the hooks draw the listener to a point at which they start overlapping...the Killers do it with such sparkle and subtle depth you never feel like you've been sold short", an excerpt on the track from BBC Radio 6Music's Alternative Jukebox published in 2014
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

As you can guess, I'm thrilled with that outcome :happy-partydance:

How about everyone else? Any nice surprises in the last few posts? Any disappointments both with the results themselves or with my presentation of them?

I'll be taking a rest from this until my next day-off (some time next week) but I'll still be looking at the forums, so you're more than welcome to comment, give suggestions and highlight errors, I will reply to these as well if needed/wanted.

In a few days, I'll be submitting follow-up representations of data such as the most-represented years in the poll, the most chorus-heavy artists and the voters with the most nominations outside the top 200 among others- if you've got another idea for analysing the resuits, please just say and I'll post that as well.

For now, I just want to give you all a massive thanks for contributing to and persevering with this celebration of choruses, you've made what was daunting as the first poll I've moderated here as easy and enjoyable as I could have imagined, hope you've all got everything you wanted from this too :D
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by andyd1010 »

Great top 10! And great presentation, mileswide. I thought Don't Look Back in Anger had a better shot at No. 1, but oh well. Mr. Brightside is a worthy winner. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out is a classic song with a great chorus, but to me the melodic line in "Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine" is not good enough to make it the second-best chorus ever. In fact, I was initially so thrown off by the strange way he sings "mine" that I couldn't be bothered to try to get into The Smiths for years until one of the forum games introduced me to the magic of I Know It's Over. The lyrics are great, and the rest of the melody is good enough for me to vote for it. But of course I cast my top vote for the best melody by a band that openly doesn't care about lyrics.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Wezzo »

A-ha, knew my call on Mr Brightside would prove right! :)

Excellent rollout, really enjoyed the results, thanks mileswide. I've been listening to my own top 200 a lot recently - might mix it up and listen to the consensus top 200..
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

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andyd1010 wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 6:23 am Great top 10! And great presentation, mileswide. I thought Don't Look Back in Anger had a better shot at No. 1, but oh well. Mr. Brightside is a worthy winner. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out is a classic song with a great chorus, but to me the melodic line in "Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine" is not good enough to make it the second-best chorus ever. In fact, I was initially so thrown off by the strange way he sings "mine" that I couldn't be bothered to try to get into The Smiths for years until one of the forum games introduced me to the magic of I Know It's Over. The lyrics are great, and the rest of the melody is good enough for me to vote for it. But of course I cast my top vote for the best melody by a band that openly doesn't care about lyrics.
Thanks Andy! I can see what you mean with There Is A Light That Never Goes Out but I think it's precisely the chorus' melodic line that earns it its place. Morrissey packing in more syllables into the first bar of the chorus than he would normally, especially in a song of this tempo ("And if a double-decker bus") makes him sound to me closer to tears as he's more breathless.

The next line sees his voice reach a higher pitch because he's found hope, the light that never goes out, which is either the love he has for his partner that will be more accepted in the next life (since singing about being gay had to be coded in the age of the Aids scare) or the literal light of the oncoming bus/ten-ton truck. The light is symbolised by the swell of the synthesised strings in between the lines.

The payoff, "Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine", does sound anticlimactic after that build-up but I reckon part of that is Morrissey playing up to a British caricature of witty understatement (discussing a suicide pact in the same way as you'd exchange pleasantries with someone you'd just met), part of it is deliberately undercutting the song's drama against the backdrop of an indie scene at the time where music critics were in thrall to C86 and ambition wasn't encouraged.

That last part might be a stretch (as might all of this, it's all just my interpretation after all) but Marr did say the song was somewhat aimed at the music mags, deliberately including the stuttering guitar that opens the song and the chorus, so the likes of the NME would get all het up about its similarity to There She Goes Again by The Velvet Underground, the name to drop for any credible band in the mid-80s, when he actually lifted it from the cover of Marvin Gaye's Hitch Hike by The Stones, not so cool a reference at the time particularly after their Live Aid performance and the infamous Dancing in the Street video.

This is probably all just the sounds of a flatulent pain in the arse but that's what I get from There is a Light's chorus without mentioning the grace of the arrangements, the defiance against common wisdom...and, as you could see from the 1986 poll, it's not even my favourite Smiths song of that year! The Smiths could sometimes be as mundane as their name but, when they pushed themselves, there are few bands that can touch them for emotional resonance.

Don't Look Back in Anger's always been dear to me- I'd say from the age of 8 (1995/6) to the age of 13, it was second only to Bittersweet Symphony in my estimations- but now, I can't help but think how the chorus could have been with Liam singing it, him stretching out the initial "So" and getting stuck into the sunshine vowels of "My soul sliiiides awayy-a". It's still a lovely, great big man-hug of a chorus but I'd still opt for the head-rush of a Liam-voiced chorus off Definitely Maybe, which is why I chose Rock and Roll Star, the wish-fulfilment fantasy so arrogant yet so wide-eyed that you can't help but root for LG, at least for the duration of the song.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

I keep thinking of more songs I forgot on my late ballot.

Saturday Night, Black Hole Sun, Gloria (Both), Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Blue Moon, Unsatisfied, Stay Gold, that St Vincent song “If I ever meet that dirty policeman...”, 911 Is A Joke.

I was surprised when I thought about Beatles songs, most of them I liked the verses more than the chorus.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Wezzo wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 8:15 pm A-ha, knew my call on Mr Brightside would prove right! :)

Excellent rollout, really enjoyed the results, thanks mileswide. I've been listening to my own top 200 a lot recently - might mix it up and listen to the consensus top 200..
Cheers Wezzo! Good shout for Mr. Brightside, bet you wish you had money riding on that prediction, eh?

Hats off to acroamor as well for guessing before the first vote had been cast that Oasis would be disproportionately represented- can't confirm yet whether they were the artist that most outperformed their AM rank, I plan to do a breakdown of artists vs. AM rank though when my next day-off comes around.

Plaudits also go to Edre for placing Enjoy the Silence in the top 10, Nick for saying there'd be lots of Oasis and Dancing Queen in the top 10 but particularly to Bob for forecasting Don't Look Back in Anger and There Is A Light in the top 3. You definitely all did better than me as I was expecting more Beatles numbers in the upper reaches of the chart.

You found any new favourites in the consensus top 200 by the way?
Last edited by mileswide on Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Jirin wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:19 am I keep thinking of more songs I forgot on my late ballot.

Saturday Night, Black Hole Sun, Gloria (Both), Tomorrow Is A Long Time, Blue Moon, Unsatisfied, Stay Gold, that St Vincent song “If I ever meet that dirty policeman...”, 911 Is A Joke.

I was surprised when I thought about Beatles songs, most of them I liked the verses more than the chorus.
It would have been awesome to have been able to include your choices Jirin, I wish I had flagged the poll up as due to close, so you would've had the chance to ask for an extension.

Each of the Glorias that pop into my mind (the Them/Patti Smith song and the Umberto Tozzi/Laura Brannigan track) have sterling choruses but for me, Them's bridge/pre-chorus ("And her name is G-") is at least equal to the chorus ("G-L-O-R..").

Saturday Night as in the Whigfield tune? I would've loved to have seen that in the list if so!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by FrankLotion »

Jirin wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:19 am that St Vincent song “If I ever meet that dirty policeman...”
It’s the title track off Strange Mercy!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by FrankLotion »

Also super great job on the poll mileswide, this has been one of my favorites we’ve done on this forum!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

That point difference between #4 and the top 3 is just insane. Don’t Look Back in Anger, There is a Light That Never Goes Out, and Mr. Brightside truly reign supreme.

Thanks for hosting the poll, mileswide!!!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Nice one, that pleases me no end that this can be compared favourably to other polls on this site. I worried if it could but if it does, it's mainly thanks to Honorio and all of you who voted!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Jackson »

That top ten rules. I think if the rest of the regulars voted, the top ten would have looked very similar but the rest of the poll would be significantly different. I'm glad I was able to get Wuthering Heights at #10 and Disco 2000 at #30!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Edre Depeche Head »

I am so glad Enjoy The Silence did so well. It is probably my favorite song of all time as it has such a special place for me.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Jackson wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 6:29 am That top ten rules. I think if the rest of the regulars voted, the top ten would have looked very similar but the rest of the poll would be significantly different. I'm glad I was able to get Wuthering Heights at #10 and Disco 2000 at #30!
I would say the same with the exception of Enjoy the Silence in the top 10- I know Wuthering Heights had fewer votes but it seems to have a fervent cult following on the forum that ...Silence lacks. Bat out of Hell wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the top 30 in the event of full participation.

I reckon Prince and R.E.M. would've performed better as there are some forumers you can guarantee will vote for both in large numbers (not saying that's bad thing, it's no secret I'm an evangelist for R.E.M.)
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Honorio »

Excellent presentation, mileswide! And great write-up on "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"! I would have liked to see it at the top but consensus is consensus...
Thank you for your kind words, mileswide, I'm glad I was of any help.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Jackson »

mileswide wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 10:25 am
Jackson wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 6:29 am That top ten rules. I think if the rest of the regulars voted, the top ten would have looked very similar but the rest of the poll would be significantly different. I'm glad I was able to get Wuthering Heights at #10 and Disco 2000 at #30!
I would say the same with the exception of Enjoy the Silence in the top 10- I know Wuthering Heights had fewer votes but it seems to have a fervent cult following on the forum that ...Silence lacks. Bat out of Hell wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the top 30 in the event of full participation.
This used to be the case, but Enjoy the Silence was one of the bigger gainers in our last all time songs poll, placing at 62. Still below Wuthering Heights at 28 but I was not surprised to see it do well here.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

The Saturday Night I was thinking of is Elton John. Maybe I have the title wrong.”I don’t want to deal with no aggravation...”

More I just thought of: Take Your Mama, Furr.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by mileswide »

Jirin wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 6:28 pm The Saturday Night I was thinking of is Elton John. Maybe I have the title wrong.”I don’t want to deal with no aggravation...”


Ah, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting- old Reg Dwight goes in for the kill on that one!
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Edre Depeche Head »

Jackson wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 6:01 pm
mileswide wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 10:25 am
Jackson wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 6:29 am That top ten rules. I think if the rest of the regulars voted, the top ten would have looked very similar but the rest of the poll would be significantly different. I'm glad I was able to get Wuthering Heights at #10 and Disco 2000 at #30!
I would say the same with the exception of Enjoy the Silence in the top 10- I know Wuthering Heights had fewer votes but it seems to have a fervent cult following on the forum that ...Silence lacks. Bat out of Hell wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the top 30 in the event of full participation.
This used to be the case, but Enjoy the Silence was one of the bigger gainers in our last all time songs poll, placing at 62. Still below Wuthering Heights at 28 but I was not surprised to see it do well here.
As a Depeche Mode fanatic is does put a smile on my face to see the song rise up.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by BobPatience »

mileswide wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:48 am ...but particularly to Bob for forecasting Don't Look Back in Anger and There Is A Light in the top 3.
I did, however, overrate "Enjoy the Silence" quite a bit. I'll blame that partly on not being a fan of the Killers or Abba songs (and thus not really considering them), and partly on preferring the verses of the Dylan and Bowie tunes.
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Re: Best Ever Choruses Poll 2019- RESULTS

Post by Wezzo »

mileswide wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:48 am
Wezzo wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 8:15 pm A-ha, knew my call on Mr Brightside would prove right! :)

Excellent rollout, really enjoyed the results, thanks mileswide. I've been listening to my own top 200 a lot recently - might mix it up and listen to the consensus top 200..
Cheers Wezzo! Good shout for Mr. Brightside, bet you wish you had money riding on that prediction, eh?

Hats off to acroamor as well for guessing before the first vote had been cast that Oasis would be disproportionately represented- can't confirm yet whether they were the artist that most outperformed their AM rank, I plan to do a breakdown of artists vs. AM rank though when my next day-off comes around.

Plaudits also go to Edre for placing Enjoy the Silence in the top 10, Nick for saying there'd be lots of Oasis and Dancing Queen in the top 10 but particularly to Bob for forecasting Don't Look Back in Anger and There Is A Light in the top 3. You definitely all did better than me as I was expecting more Beatles numbers in the upper reaches of the chart.

You found any new favourites in the consensus top 200 by the way?
"Enjoy the Silence" is certainly one I've been spending a bit of time with. I checked it out once after the top 1000 last year but I'm getting into it more this go-round. "Wolf Like Me" I hadn't really got into before either, but I'm digging it now.
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