Rolling Stone Best 500 -1

流行音樂雜誌Rolling Stone在2004年邀請了172位音樂家、評論家以及音樂工作者，選出500首他們認為有史以來最佳單曲，出版了百科全書級的Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time。2010年，為了讓ipod及ipad使用者下載使用，這份名單update了一次，內容與2004年版有些許出入，但幅度不算大。

維基百科對這份名單作了一些簡單的統計：

• 500首入選的歌曲，美國占了352首，英國117首，愛爾蘭12首(其中U2貢獻了8首)，加拿大10首，牙買加7首，澳洲3首，瑞典1首(ABBA)。總而言之，這份名單以英美兩國的流行音樂為主，其中只有一首不是以英文演唱(第345名的La Bamba)。

• Beatles歌曲入選23首，居冠，接著是The Rolling Stone 14首，Bob Dylan 13首(這可能是誤植，根據我的計算，只有12首)，貓王Elvis Presley 11首，Beach Boys及電音吉他之神Jimi Hendrix各有7首。

• 有3首歌曲由不同歌手演唱入選了兩次：「Mr. Tambourine Man」(Bob Dylan & The Byrds)，「Blue Suede Shoes」(Elvis Presley & Carl Perkins)，「Walk This Way」(Aerosmith & Run-DMC)。
  

• 最短的歌曲只有1分45秒，「Summertime Blues」，最長的歌曲14分37秒，「Rapper's Delight」。

2004年版名單中，從1940年代到2000年，呈現一個鐘形曲線，在60、70年代達到高峰，這個時期的歌曲佔了將近7成，某方面來說，除了與搖滾音樂的發展相當吻合之外，也透露了這群評審的年齡。

Decade	Number of songs	Percentage
1940s	2	0.4%
1950s	72	14.4%
1960s	204	40.8%
1970s	141	28.2%
1980s	57	11.4%
1990s	22	4.4%
2000s	3	0.6%

到2010年版，同樣呈現鐘形曲線，但是緩和了許多，2000年之後的歌曲明顯增加不少，這也顯示了ipod及ipad使用者的年齡，多少影響了修訂的方向。

Decade	Number of songs	Percentage
1940s	2	0.4%
1950s	69	13.8%
1960s	195	39%
1970s	131	26.2%
1980s	55	11%
1990s	21	4.2%
2000s/2010s	27	5.4%

想挑戰聽完500首歌的人可以從這裡以及這裡線上收聽並且查到歌詞，不過這兩者都遺漏了幾首歌曲，必須另外再找。

下次再來談談這份名單中的其他事項。

以下是名單中第2長的歌曲Papa Was a Rolling Stone(The Temptations)，原長11分45秒，這是個精簡版，不過還是比一般歌曲要長得多，排名168。



Lyrics

It was the third of September.
That day I'll always remember, yes I will.
'Cause that was the day that my daddy died.
I never got a chance to see him.
Never heard nothing but bad things about him.
Mama, I'm depending on you, tell me the truth.

And Mama just hung her head and said,
"Son, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."
"Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."

Well, well.

Hey Mama, is it true what they say,
that Papa never worked a day in his life?
And Mama, bad talk going around town
saying that Papa had three outside children and another wife.
And that ain't right.
HEARD SOME talk about Papa doing some store front preaching.
TalkIN about saving souls and all the time leeching.
Dealing in debt and stealing in the name of the Lord.

Mama just hung her head and said,
"Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."
"Hey, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."

Uh!

Hey Mama, I heard Papa call himself a jack of all trade.
Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave?
Folk say Papa would beg, borrow, steal to pay his bill.
Hey Mama, folk say that Papa was never much on thinking.
Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking.
Mama, I'm depending on you to tell me the truth. Mama looked up with a tear in her eye and said,
"Son, Papa was a rolling stone. (Well, well, well, well)
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."
"Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."

"I said, Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
(And when he died) All he left us was ALONE."