Top 1000 Songs #190-#181

#190 - "Dear God" - XTC - Skylarking - #2/2 - The atheist theme song is a clever and insightful letter to God written by people who clearly feel they need to use every argument imaginable in a song the probably doesn't even run for four minutes, but makes a concise argument nonetheless.

#189 - "Judith" - A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms - #3/3 - Although it wasn't intended, this song makes a perfect companion piece with "Dear God". They both basically say the same thing, but while that song comes from a point of sadness and disappointment, this song comes from a point of anger and rage, as it deals more with the religious than religion itself.

#188 - "In Bloom" - Nirvana - Nevermind - #9/15 - The downside of mainstream appeal is that your music will be enjoyed not only by a target audience that understands what it means but also by a bunch of imbeciles who only like the hooks and how good the songs sound when buzzed on cheap beer. This song deals with the imbeciles and you know what? They love the song just to same, being imbeciles and all.

#187 - "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" - Bob Dylan - Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid Soundtrack - #10/15 - One of Dylan's best songs of the 70's, "Knockin'" is among the most popular and most covered songs of the classic rock era, with it's clever lyrics and somber tone.

#186 - "What Do I Get" - The Buzzcocks - Operators Manual - #2/2 - The Buzzcocks never get the credit they deserve, but with this song they made one of the definitive punk songs of the 1970's. They lyrics are sharp and the chorus is as poppy as punk ever got.

#185 - "When The President Talks To God (Live)" - Bright Eyes - Motion Sickness - One of the msot shocking performances in the history of Jay Leno's The Tonight Show, "President" is the boldest and most jarring protest song against the Bush Administration. In a few short minutes, Connor Oberst lays out every argument against Bush imaginable and lays his crooked administration low like a surgeon with a scalpel.

#184 - "Just" - Radiohead - The Bends - #5/8 - Before they became the leading providers of art-rock, Radiohead enjoyed a string of hits on the alternative charts, with "Just" being among the best. The chorus, in particular, was a solid indicator not only of where the band had been before but also where they'd be headed in the future.

#183 - "Blowin' In The Wind" - Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - #11/15 - The song that kicked off the protest rock genre and legitimized folk music and brought it to the masses, the song provided one of the most important lyrics of all-time: "How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man?"

#182 - "Back In The U.S.S.R." - The Beatles - The White Album - #14/22 - The Beatles' borrowed segments from The Beach Boys' "California Girls" and used them to take satirical jabs at Mother Russia. They also managed to create one of their peppiest and most fun rock songs since their early days as a Chuck Berry cover band.

#181 - "Ruby Tuesday" - The Rolling Stones - Flowers - #11/20 - The Stones weren't known for their ballads, but they were certainly skilled at creating them. "Ruby" is one of their bigger pop songs with it's fantastic chorus, but it's also a very well-written song and very moving.