Top 10 Songs
Written on October 27th, 2025 by Dr Hobo
These are the songs that have soundtracked my life - the ones I never skip, the ones that hit different every time, and the ones I’ll defend to anyone. No ranking, just ten songs I really like. Rule: Can’t use the same artist twice. As of October 2025.
Mr. Tambourine Man
Artist: Bob Dylan
Year: 1965
This one’s a big Dad influence - the song that became my gateway drug to Dylan. Interestingly, I came to it backwards, falling in love with various covers before I ever heard Dylan’s own version. Once I did, I understood what all the fuss was about. There’s something incredibly mesmerizing about how Dylan puts words together, weaving images and sounds into something that feels both ancient and immediate. What I love most is how many possible meanings have been attributed to this song over the decades. Personally, I like to think it’s about chasing inspiration - that eternal pursuit of the creative spark. The definitive version for me is the live recording from the famous “Judas” tour at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 1966. That harmonica solo is transcendent. If you know, you know.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
For Crying Out Loud
Artist: Meat Loaf
Year: 1977
Another Dad influence - emotional, over-the-top maybe, but it goes over the top and then comes down the other side in the best possible way. What also hits hard is the wider context of how this album was made - the tumultuous up-and-down relationship between Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf adds another layer of meaning to these operatic emotional extremes. This is the album closer, bringing everything full circle with pure theatrical power.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young
Artist: Fire Inc. (Jim Steinman)
Year: 1984
Jim Steinman without Meat Loaf is an underappreciated gem. His two-song contribution to the Streets of Fire soundtrack is arguably peak Steinman for me - this song encompasses everything that’s great about him as a musician. It’s got the drama, the scope, the impossible romanticism, and that sense of desperate youth crying out against the dying of the light. Pure, undiluted Steinman magic that proves he was a visionary composer in his own right.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Always
Artist: Bon Jovi
Year: 1994
Probably the band that got me into music beyond pop songs. My dad had a VHS of their 1995 Live in London tour at Wembley Stadium - that tape is now worn down to the nub from repeated viewings. That performance of “Always” was simply epic, power ballad perfection captured on grainy video. Years later, I saw them live in Southampton in 2008, and when they saved “Always” for the encore, it was bliss.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Thunder Road
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Year: 1975
Dad’s influence again with his love of ‘The Boss’ - I almost went with “No Surrender” but I went with my dad’s fav; love the story told with this song and that last line! It’s Springsteen at his most hopeful and romantic, painting a picture of escape and possibility. The way it builds from that gentle opening to the crescendo is an example of storytelling through music.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Love Ire and Song
Artist: Frank Turner
Year: 2008
Ah Frank, Frank, Frank. I initially missed the boat with him - had a mate at uni who told me all about him, but I didn’t listen. After uni, I came across this during my radical politics phase and was completely blown away. I love all his stuff, especially his early years, which provided an apt soundtrack for my backpacking adventures. The honesty, the urgency, the acoustic punk ethos - it all clicked. Highly recommended live too, where his connection with the crowd is special.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
You Shook Me All Night Long
Artist: AC/DC
Year: 1980
My favorite rock song. That riff, those lyrics - it’s just emblematic of this particular genre. Everything that makes classic rock work is distilled into these three and a half minutes. Pure, unapologetic, fist-pumping rock and roll that never gets old. AC/DC at their absolute peak-lightning in a bottle.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Don’t Look Back in Anger
Artist: Oasis
Year: 1995
The Gallagher brothers - can’t not have a track by them in this list. This one narrowly beats out “Some Might Say” for me, mainly because I have so many happy memories of finishing nights out to this track. There’s something about a crowd of people, arms around each other, singing this at the top of their lungs that just hits different. Oasis captured a nice mix with this - nostalgia, defiance, and hope. Nuff said.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Pancho and Lefty
Artist: Townes Van Zandt
Year: 1972
My favorite country track. This one pulls at the heart and reminds me of one of my favorite films. Townes Van Zandt was a master storyteller, and this tale of betrayal and regret is his masterpiece. The way he weaves the narrative, leaving just enough unsaid, is artistry. It’s been covered by everyone from Willie and Merle to Emmylou Harris, but Townes’ original has a rawness that can’t be replicated.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
American Girl
Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Year: 1976
That guitar riff is just chef’s kiss. Not sure what else to say - sometimes a song is just perfect as it is, and this is one of those times. Petty’s ability to capture a whole American dream in three minutes is unmatched. This is the song you want playing when you’re driving with the windows down. Magic.
🎵 Favorite Rendition
Honorable Mentions
These almost made the list, and on another day, some of them might have:
- I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You - Tom Waits
- Someone Like You - Adele
- Vincent (Starry Starry Night) - Don McLean
- Streets of London - Ralph McTell
- Fat Lip - Sum 41
- I Wonder - Rodriguez
- The Passenger - Iggy Pop
- Life on Mars? - David Bowie
- A New England - Billy Bragg
- Only You - Yazoo
- Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
- Cryin’ - Aerosmith
- Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Sweet Child o’ Mine - Guns N’ Roses
- Piano Man - Billy Joel
- Society - Eddie Vedder
- When the Sun Goes Down - Arctic Monkeys
- Ghosts That We Knew - Mumford & Sons
- Going Underground - The Jam
- Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile) - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
- Dancing in the Moonlight - Toploader
- Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
- All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
- Since You Been Gone - Rainbow
- Don’t Believe the Bullshit - Beans on Toast
- Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene - Hozier
- Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone) - Cinderella
- Making Love Out of Nothing at All - Air Supply
- It’s the End of the World as We Know It - R.E.M.
- Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
- Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
What are your top songs? What songs/artists might I also like? Drop a comment and let me know what I’m missing!
