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MY FIVE

Leonard Cohen

The Anthem is probably the most compelling and accessible song from the poet’s 1992 album, ‘The Future.’ At once an intensely personal reflection on shattered dreams and lost glories, it is also a song about change and optimism on a much grander scale. In his own words, the lyrics dissolve into music and the music dissolves into the lyrics and you are left with a breath of fresh air. And he reminds us, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

From Bowie’s fourth studio album, ‘Hunky Dory,’ this song was written for his son Zowie. An especially light and touching little digression in an album full of much heavier material, Bowie lays out his preoccupations on imminent fatherhood very candidly, gently suggesting to his yet-to-be-born son to take a chance with a couple of nutty old romantics when he grows up. When the bullies and homework becomes a bit too much, it’s time to burn the books and drive downtown. Well, only if you have a rock star for a father…

Trent Reznor is one of the most relevant musicians of our angst-ridden times. From 1989’s ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ to last year’s ‘The Slip,’ Reznor has pushed the limits of his own brand of distorted noise driven rock (he does not classify NIN as an industrial rock outfit), blending in words from a dark, soulless and unrelenting netherworld that is there in all of our heads to emerge as something of a reluctant bard for these times. ‘Hurt’ is the perfect ending to 1994’s uncompromisingly bleak album ‘The Downward Spiral.’ A short, haunting, hymn to alienation and loss, this song was covered by Johnny Cash in his final years.

Simply the best song from the Pixies’ sublime 1989 effort, ‘Doolittle, Monkey gone to heaven’ is one of the early gems of alternative rock. The gentle touch of classical instruments (they just use two cellists and two violinists besides the synth) very skilfully melding into the din of very unpretentious, yet powerful guitar riffs almost overrides the sharpness of the very funny and intelligent lyrics on the environment and the monkey in question, us. Any fan of alternative or punk rock should hear this one.

As far as political statements go, this song from the legendary hip hop group Public Enemy must rank up there with the most powerful ones of all time. This first appeared in Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece, ‘Do the right thing,’ sort of like an in your face leitmotif for the story based on the simmering racial tensions in a Brooklyn neighbourhood. No one can ever forget Radio Raheem and his boombox.

Neil Young: Unknown Legend

Bob Dylan: Maggie’s Farm

Warren Zevon: Werewolves of London

JJ Cale: After Midnight

(Aravindan Gopalakrishnan works for Hewlett Packard in Bangalore and is an avid music fan)

[Readers may contribute to MyFive at

myfivecolumn@gmail.com. Submissions must have a full address and telephone number. Publication is at the

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