An iconic American music magazine held a poll of its readers recently to get them to vote for their favourite rock n’ roll ballads of all time. The poll was tight, because the magazine had to expand their usual Top 10 to a Top 12 because it was so close. A rock n’ roll ballad is tough to get right, and can easily fall on to the side of cliché and mawkishness, but if you can pull it off, it might just become one of the most played songs of all time.
U2 – With Or Without You
U2’s first Number One in America that preceded the release of The Joshua Tree and saw them become stadium stars. The slow, melancholic vibe of the song was the perfect soundtrack to making out and slow dancing at the high school prom in 1987.
The Beatles – Hey Jude
Paul McCartney’s song written to cheer up Julian Lennon as his parents were getting divorced is one of the most played songs on radio of all time – don’t tell us you don’t get a lump in your throat when you hear the ending or haven’t drunkenly sung along to the chorus at the end of a night.
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Freebird
Originally written by front man Ronnie Van Zandt in tribute to the late Duane Allman of the allman Brothers, as Lynyrd Skynyrd lost members in a whole string of tragedies, the song took on new meaning each time a band member died.
Pearl Jam – Black
Eddie Vedder’s ode to lost love remains a showstopper at any Pearl Jam gig, but the riff itself dates back to before he joined the band. Vedder came up with the lyrics and a Pearl Jam show rarely fails to include it in the set list.
Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On
The number of times this song has been the background to a successful seduction must run in to the millions. Hitting Number One all over the world, this is one of the horniest ballads of all time and is believed to be a sure fire means of getting someone in to the sack.
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
The band’s tribute to former member Syd Barrett, who left the band after struggling to deal with mental illness possibly brought on by extreme LSD use. An urban legend has it that Barrett surprisingly dropped by the studio when they were recording it in the mid 1970s looking completely out of it – it would be the last time any members of the band saw him alive.
Prince – Purple Rain
Prince’s epic 9 minute song was a highlight of the film of the same name, and featured some of his most brilliant songwriting ever – no doubt it’s been the background to hundreds of thousands of first kisses.
The Beatles – Let It Be
Paul McCartney’s piano driven ballad was written as the band were on the verge of splitting up and has been interpreted as a message to his bandmates. It also references his mother, Mary, who died when McCartney was still a child.
Guns n’ Roses – November Rain
Axl Rose had been working away on this song for eight years by the time it was finally released on Use Your Illusion 1 in 1991. Originally intended to be included on Appetite For Destruction, Geffen Records decided that one rock ballad (‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’) was enough for the album, so it was held over for the next album and became one of the most loved singles off the album.
The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses
A song of which Keith Richards says in his recent biography Life “It almost wrote itself. Once you’ve got the vision in your mind of wild horses, what’s the next phrase you’re going to use? It’s got to be ‘couldn’t drag me away.’ That’s one of the great things about songwriting; it’s not an intellectual experience. One might have to apply the brain here and here, but basically it’s capturing moments.”
The Beatles – Something
John Lennon and Paul McCartney would only usually allow George Harrison to contribute one or two songs to each album, but his efforts were usually gems. ‘Something’ was possibly his greatest. Harrison said in an interview in 1969 of the song “I wrote it at the time when we were making the last double album. And it’s just the first line, ‘Something in the way she moves’ which has been in millions of songs. It’s not a special thing. But it just seemed quite apt. I usually get the first few lines of lyrics and melody both at once.
And then I finish the melody usually first and then I have to write the words…But John gave me a handy tip once, which is, once you start to write the song, try and finish it straight away while you’re in the mood. And I’ve learned from experience. Because you go to back to it and then you’re in a whole different state of mind and it’s more difficult. Sometimes it’s easier but on the whole it’s more difficult to come back to something. So I do it now, try and finish them straight away.”
Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
A song that has to be one of the most played songs on radio of all time, with lyrics that are barely more than gibberish, that moves from a gentle acoustic opening to the electric bombast of its finale. It’s really more than just a song though – every teenage guitarist has learned to play it, squillions of bongs have been smoked to it and even though it breaks all the rules of radio by being eight minutes and two seconds long, it’s one of the most requested songs on radio in the US. Interestingly, the song was never released as a single from the album Led Zeppelin IV and still has no official film clip.
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