/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/2T6IPJDOORCUXFWDFSABO7SUBU.jpg)
It was intended to create a fuss and it has succeeded.
The new installment of the 500 greatest songs of all time has dominated the musical discussion since
Rolling Stone
magazine
ran it a few days ago.
It has had an echo around the world, despite the fact that it is, even more than in its 2004 release, a list oriented towards the US market (the headline has editions on five continents).
The earthquake manifests itself at the summit.
Like a Rolling Stone,
by Bob Dylan (the winner of that 2004 list), gives way to
Respect
, an Otis Redding song energized by Aretha Franklin.
A couple conflict, about the distribution of roles in the home, with sexual subtext, replaces a story of resentment: Dylan celebrated the foreseeable fall into hell of a girl (generally identified with Edie Sedgwick, from Andy Warhol's circle).
One paragraph: it was always disturbing to hear "like a rolling stone" in a stadium, sung by tens of thousands of voices, as if that cold-food-revenge was interpreted as a rock freedom anthem.
More information
The magazine 'Classic Rock' establishes the canon of the 100 songs of the genre of tortured guitars
With the greater importance given to women being important, perhaps the main dominant vector is a derivative of Black Lives Matter: the recognition of the debt of the United States with its black population. It is not anecdotal that
Elvis's
Hound Dog
(previously at number 19)
is eliminated
and the original version, by Big Mama Thornton, lands. From the
top ten
of the list, narcissist number 2
(Satisfaction,
by the Rolling Stones) and utopian number 3
(Imagine,
by John Lennon)
disappear
, replaced by themes that refer to African-American struggles, both with strident rhetoric
(Fight the power,
of Public Enemy) and in conciliatory version
(A Change Is Gonna Come,
by Sam Cooke).
In general, rappers gain more visibility with the promotions of Missy Elliott (now No. 8) and Outkast (No. 10).
In the Beatles section, it is intriguing that
Hey Jude
descends
and
Strawberry Fields Forever
appears
:
it goes from the communal to the introspective.
It could be argued that the preference for Lennon's psychedelic masterpiece is due to the growing respectability of entheogenic substances, increasingly removed from the stigma of "drugs."
On the contrary, a first cousin, the glorious
Good Vibrations,
of the Beach Boys,
vanishes
, perhaps sunk by its
hippy
lexicon
.
The nuances of the language matter as much as the modernity of the take-off channel:
Dreams,
Edited by Fleetwood Mac and previously despised, it smashes into the payroll of the greats thanks to a TikTok video, conceived in 2020 to advertise a soft drink.
For those who yearn for some stability in the saints, the consolation that the present
top ten
still holds
Smells Like Teen Spirit,
by Nirvana, and
What's Going On,
by Marvin Gaye.
The invasion of Latin pop, reggaeton, youth stars and
stylized
country
that has changed the profile of
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
has not reached the upper zone
.
These consumers are part of the readership of the new
Rolling Stone,
which has even dedicated a cover to the Korean phenomenon BTS.
In the magazine, they explain these seismic changes by their desire to make a more inclusive ranking: if the voters in 2004 were 170, now they boast of having tabulated the opinions of 250 artists, journalists and industry figures. But you already know that the final flavor of the mixture obeys the consciously chosen ingredients. We also do not reveal anything if we advise that these types of lists are, let's say it finely, retouched at the final stage, sometimes even with the participation of the advertising and marketing departments.
Jann Wenner, the founder of
Rolling Stone
, demonstrated mastery in these dark arts. Although he was not really a musician, he understood the concept of symbolic capital. His magazine helped establish rock canon, with abundant special issues and voluminous historical books, reinforcing the cultural hegemony of his own generation, that of the
baby boomers.
. His great move was to take over, with the record label Ahmet Ertegun, an alien and very commercial idea: the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In the beginning, before his headquarters-mausoleum in Cleveland materialized, a server participated in some of the voting and everything, from the selection of candidates to the uncovering of the winners, gave a whiff of ready-made decisions. Over time, as this particular Hall of Fame grew in importance, each annual announcement has caused a scandal, reiterating its antipathy towards
heavy metal
and more populist rock (although the organization has promised to shed those prejudices).
But Jann Wenner, since 2017, no longer owns
Rolling Stone.
The magazine has changed its periodicity (previously fortnightly, now monthly), its paper size, its size and, of course, its content.
Now it's trying to hook Gen Z without making the older demographics too uncomfortable.
Mission impossible, he said.
2021 LIST
1.
Respect
by Aretha Franklin.
2.
Fight the Power
, by Public Enemy.
3.
A Change Is Gonna Come
, by Sam Cooke.
4.
Like a Rolling Stone
, by Bob Dylan.
5.
Smells Like Teen Spirit
, by Nirvana.
6.
What's Going On
, by Marvin Gaye.
7.
Strawberry Fields Forever
, by The Beatles.
8.
Get Ur Freak On
, by Missy Elliott.
9.
Dreams
by Fleetwood Mac.
10.
Hey Ya!
by Outkast.
2004 LIST
1.
Like a Rolling Stone,
by Bob Dylan.
2.
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
, by The Rolling Stones.
3.
Imagine
, by John Lennon.
4.
What's Going On
, by Marvin Gaye.
5.
Respect
by Aretha Franklin.
6.
Good Vibrations
by Beach Boys.
7.
Johnny B. Goode
by Chuck Berry.
8.
Hey Jude
from The Beatles.
9.
Smells Like Teen Spirit
, by Nirvana.
10.
What'd I Say
, by Ray Charles.