850 – The Who – Pinball wizard (1969)

Escrita por Pete Townshend, foi gravada em 7 de fevereiro de 1969 e lançada em 7 de março de 1969 em um compacto que tinha Dogs como Lado B. Chegou ao número 4 dos charts ingleses e número 19 nos Estados Unidos.

Foi regravada por Elton John, Rod Stewart, entre outros artistas.

A letra:

Ever since I was a young boy
I've played the silver ball
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall
That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pin ball!

He stands like a statue,
Becomes part of the machine
Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean
He plays by intuition,
The digit counters fall
That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pin ball!

He's a pin ball wizard
There has got to be a twist
A pin ball wizard,
S'got such a supple wrist

How do you think he does it? I don't know!
What makes him so good?

He ain't got no distractions
Can't hear those buzzers and bells
Don't see lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell
Always gets a replay
Never seen him fall
That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pin ball

I thought I was
The Bally table king
But I just handed
My pin ball crown to him

Even on my favorite table
He can beat my best
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest
He's got crazy flipper fingers
Never seen him fall
That deaf dumb and blind kind
Sure plays a mean pin ball!

A versão do Who:

A versão de Elton John:

A versão da Ukelel Orchestra of Great Britain:

849 – The Beatles – Old brown shoe (1969)

Escrita por George Harrison, foi gravada em 30 de maio de 1969 e lançada em um compacto que tinha The Ballad of John and Yoko como Lado A. Foi uma das únicas canções de George que ele compôs no piano em vez de na guitarra. Ela fala da dualidade das coisas.

George Harrison cantou, tocou as guitarras, tocou orgao Hammond e baixo. John fez backing vocal. Paul fez backing vocal e tocou piano. Ringo tocou bateria.

A letra:

I want a love that's right
But right is only half of what's wrong
I want a short haired girl
Who sometimes wears it twice as long
Now I'm stepping out this old brown shoe
Baby, I'm in love with you
I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same now
I'm telling you

You know you pick me up
From where some try to drag me down
And when I see your smile
Replace every thoughtless frown
Got me escaping from this zoo
Baby, I'm in love with you
I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same now
When I'm with you

If I grow up I'll be a singer
Wearing rings on every finger
Not worrying what they or you say
I'll live and love and maybe someday
Who knows, baby, you may comfort me

I may appear to be imperfect
My love is something you can't reject
I'm changing faster than the weather
If you and me should get together
Who knows, baby, you may comfort me

I want that love of yours
To miss that love is something I'd hate
I'll make an early start
I'm making sure that I'm not late

For you sweet top lip I'm in the queue
Baby, I'm in love with you
I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same now
When I'm with you
I'm so glad you came here, it won't be the same now
When I'm with you

A versão dos Beatles:

A versão de Andrea Peralta:

A versão de Fucking Beatles:

848 – Crosby, Stills and Nash – Guinnevere (1969)

Escrita por David Crosby, foi gravada e lançada em 1969 no disco Crosby, Stills and Nash. David Crosby disse que é sobre 3 mulheres que ele amou. Uma é Christine Hinton, que foi morta. Joni Mitchell e a terceira ele disse que não pode dizer. Ele julga que é a melhor música que ele já fez na vida.

David Crosby cantou e tocou violões e Graham Nash cantou.

Foi regravada por Miles Davis, entre outros artistas

A letra:

Guinnevere had green eyes
Like yours, mi'lady like yours
When she'd walk down
Through the garden
In the morning after it rained
Peacocks wandered aimlessly
underneath an orange tree
Why can't she see me?

Guinnevere
Drew pentagrams
Like yours, mi'lady like yours
Late at night
When she thought
that no one was watching at all
She shall be free
As she turns her gaze
Down the slope
to the harbor where I lay
Anchored for a day

Guinnevere
Had golden hair
Like yours, mi'lady like yours
Streaming out when we'd ride
Through the warm wind down by the bay
Yesterday
Seagulls circle endlessly
I sing in silent harmony
We shall be free

A versão de Crosby, Stills and Nash:

A versão de Larry L:

A versão de David Marfal:

847 – Elvis Presley – In the Ghetto (1969)

Escrita por Mac Davis, foi gravada por Elvis em janeiro de 1969 e lançada em abril de 1969 em um compacto que tinha Any day now como Lado B. É uma narrativa sobre a pobreza, de um menino que nasceu de uma mãe que tinha mais filhos do que podia sustentar num ghetto de Chicago. O menino cresce faminto, rouba e briga na rua. Compra uma arma e rouba um carro, mas é morto pela polícia ao mesmo momento que seu próprio filho nasce.

A canção sugere que o destino da nova criança vai ser o mesmo do pai. Chegou ao número 3 nos Estados Unidos número 2 no Canadá e Reino Unido. Foi número 1 na Alemanha Ocidental, Irlanda, Noruega, Australia e Nova Zelandia.

Foi regravada por Sammy Davis Jr., Marilyn Mason, Dolly Parton, Bobbie Gentry, Nik Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Cranberries, Chris De Burgh, entre outros artistas.

A letra:

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his mama cries
'Cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day?
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see
Do we simply turn our heads, and look the other way?

Well, the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal, and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car
Tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
Face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And as her young man dies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto (in the ghetto)

And his mama cries (in the ghetto)
(In the ghetto)
(Aah-aah)

A versão de Elvis Presley ao vivo:

A versão de Sammy Davis Jr.:

A versão dos Cranberries:

846 – The Band – The night they drove old Dixie down (1969)

Escrita por Robbie Robertson e Levon Helm, foi gravada em 1969 e lançada em 22 de setembro de 1969 no compacto que tinha Up on Cripple Creek como Lado A. Levon Helm fez os vocais. É uma canção em primeira pessoa que relata seus problemas economicos e sociais, sendo ele um pobre homem branco do sul dos Estados Unidos durante o ultimo ano da Guerra Civil, quando George Stoneman estava pelo sul da Virginia. Joaz Baez regravou-a e teve um hit em 1971.

Dixie é o nome aos estados americanos que foram os Confederados. É o número 245 da lista das 500 maiores canções de todos os tempos da revista Rolling Stones. É uma das 500 cancões que deram forma ao rock and roll. Levon Helm cantou e tocou bateria. Rick Danko tocou baixo e fez backing vocals. Garth Hudson tocou trumpet e melodica. Richard Manuel tocou piano e fez backing vocals. Robbie Robertson tocou violão.

Foi regravada por Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Allman Brothers, Richie Havens, Black Crowes, Jerry Garcia, entre outros artistas.

A letra:

Virgil Caine is the name
And I served on the Danville train
'Till Stoneman's cavalry came
And tore up the tracks again

In the winter of '65
We were hungry, just barely alive
By May the 10th, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, na"

Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
Said "Virgil, quick, come see,
There goes the Robert E. Lee!"

Now, I don't mind chopping wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need
And you leave the rest
But they should never
Have taken the very best

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, na"

Like my father before me
I will work the land
And like my brother above me
Who took a rebel stand

He was just 18, proud and brave
But a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Caine back up
When he's in defeat

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, na"

The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, na"

A versão da The Band ao vivo:

A versão de Joan Baez ao vivo:

A versão de Johnny Cash:

845 – Leonard Cohen – Lady midnight (1969)

Escrita por Leonard Cohen, foi gravada em outubro de 1968 e lançada em 7 de abril de 1969 no disco Songs from a room, o segundo disco da carreira de Leonard Cohen.

A letra:

I came by myself to a very crowded place;
I was looking for someone who had lines in her face.
I found her there but she was past all concern;
I asked her to hold me, I said, "Lady, unfold me, "
But she scorned me and she told me
I was dead and I could never return.

Well, I argued all night like so many have before,
Saying, "Whatever you give me, I seem to need so much more."
Then she pointed at me where I kneeled on her floor,
She said, "Don't try to use me or slyly refuse me,
Just win me or lose me,
It is this that the darkness is for."

I cried, "Oh, Lady Midnight, I fear that you grow old,
The stars eat your body and the wind makes you cold."
"If we cry now, " she said, "it will just be ignored."
So I walked through the morning, sweet early morning,
I could hear my lady calling,
"You've won me, you've won me, my lord,
You've won me, you've won me, my lord,
Yes, you've won me, you've won me, my lord,

Ah, you've won me, you've won me, my lord,
Ah, you've won me, you've won me, my lord."

A versão de Leonard Cohen:

A versão de Andi Knitell:

A versão de John Bliemer:

0003 – The Acid Queen - The Who (1969)

Escrita por Pete Townshend, foi gravada em 19 de setembro de 1968 e lançada no disco rock ópera da banda chamado Tommy, em 23 de maio de 1969. Pete é quem canta. A canção fala da tentativa dos pais de Tommy de curá-lo, usando uma espécie de feiticeira chamada The Acid Queen. Ela dá pra ele vários tipos de drogas alucinógenas e também muito sexo, na tentativa de libertá-lo do isolamento em que ele estava acometido. Ela não foi bem sucedida na tarefa. Como foi dito, Pete canta, toca violão, guitarra e piano elétrico. John Entwistle toca o baixo e Keith Moon toca bateria. Foi regravada por Tina Turner, Patty Labelle e Bette Midler, entre outros artistas. A idéia de levar o filho pra uma mulher dar drogas e trepar com ele para curá-lo e tirá-lo do seu estado catatônico é muito louca, mesmo pros padrões dos anos 60. Ela promete quebrar a alma dele no meio se ele passar uma noite com ela. Alguém consegue imaginar isso nos dias de hoje? A proteção enorme dos pais sobre os filhos. Há uma dica de que o serviço não vai ter efeito. Ela pede pra pagar adiantado várias vezes.

If your child ain't all he should be now
This girl could put him right
I'll show him what he could be now
Just give me one night

I'm the Gypsy, the acid Queen
Pay before we start
The Gypsy, I'm guaranteed
To tear your soul apart

Give us a room and close the door
Leave us for a while
Your boy won't be a boy no more
Young, but not a child

I'm the Gypsy, the acid Queen
Pay before we start
The Gypsy, I'm guaranteed
To tear your soul apart

Gather your wits and hold on fast
Your mind must learn to roam
Just as the Gypsy Queen must do
You're gonna hit the road

My work is done now look at him
He's never been more alive
His head it shakes his fingers clutch
Watch his body writhe

I'm the Gypsy, the acid Queen
Pay before we start
The Gypsy, I'm guaranteed
To break your little heart

If your child ain't all he should be now
This girl will put him right
I'll show him what he could be now
Just give me one night

I'm the Gypsy, the acid Queen
Pay before we start
The Gypsy, I'm guaranteed
To tear your soul apart

A versão do Who:

A versão de Tina Turner:

A versão de Patti LaBelle com o Who:

843 – The Beatles – I want you (She's so heavy) (1969)

Escrita por John Lennon mas creditada à dupla Lennon/McCartney, foi gravada em 22 de fevereiro e 11 de agosto e 1969 e lançada no disco Abbey Road, em 26 de setembro de 1969. Inclusive no dia que finalizaram essa música, foi última vez que os 4 Beatles estiveram juntos em um estúdio.

É sobre Yoko Ono. John cantou e fez backing vocals, tocou guitarra solo e sintetizador. Paul tocou baixo e fez backing vocals. George Harrison fez backing vocals, tocou guitarra rítmica e solo. Ringo tocou bateria e congas e Billy Preston tocou órgão Hammond.

Foi regravada pelos Bee Gees, Booker T. and The MGS, George Benson, Sarah Vaugh, Soda Stereo, entre outros artistas.

A letra:

I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

She's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy

I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

Yeah, she's so heavy

A versão original dos Beatles:

A versão dos Bee Gees:

A versão de Sarah Vaughn:

842 – Crosby, Stills and Nash – Wooden ships (1969)

Escrita por David Crosby, Paul Kantner e Stephen Stills, foi gravada em 20 de fevereiro de 1969 e lançada no mesmo ano no disco Crosby, Stills and Nash. Kantner foi um dos fundadores do Jefferson Airplane. A música foi composta em Fort Lauderdale, na Flórida, num barco chamado Mayan, de propriedade de Crosby, que compôs a música e Kantner e Stills escreveram a letra. Foi lançada também no mesmo ano pelo Jefferson Airplane.

Foi escrita na era da guera do Vietnã e descreve os horrores de um possivel holocauto nuclear onde quase todo mundo morre. Os barcos são de madeira porque se forem de metal se tornam radioativos.

David Crosby cantou e tocou guitarra rítmica, Stephen Stills cantou, tocou guitarra solo, baixo e teclados, Graham Nash fez backing vocals e Dallas Taylor tocou bateria.

A letra:

[Intro. (Electric Guitar)]

[Stills:] If you smile at me I will understand
'Cause that is something
Everybody everywhere does in the same language
[Crosby:] I can see by your coat, my friend you're from the other side
There's just one thing I got to know
Can you tell me please who won?
[Stills:] Say can I have some of your purple berries?
[Crosby:] Yes, I've been eating them
For six or seven weeks now haven't got sick once
[Stills:] Probably keep us both alive

Wooden ships on the water very free and easy
Easy, you know the way it's supposed to be
Silver people on the shoreline let us be
Talkin' 'bout very free and easy

[Instrumental (Electric Guitar)]

Horror grips us as we watch you die
All we can do is echo your anguished cries
Stare as all human feelings die
We are leaving, you don't need us

[Instrumental (Electric Guitar)]

Aaaah ...
Go take your sister then by the hand
Lead her away from this foreign land
Far away where we might laugh again
We are leaving, you don't need us

[Instrumental (Electric Guitar)]

And it's a fair wind
Blowin' warm out of the south over my shoulder
Guess I'll set a course and go

[Ending (Electric Guitar and Organ)]

A versão de Crosby, Stills and Nash:

A versão do Jefferson Airplane:

A versão de Christine Harwood:

841 – Elvis Presley – Suspicious minds (1969)

Escrita por Mark James, foi lançada inicialmente por ele em 1968, mas obteve sucesso somente com Elvis Presley no ano seguinte e é a versão que escolhemos aqui. Elvis gravou-a em 23 de janeiro de 1969, em Memphis, Tennessee e lançou-a em 26 de agosto de 1969 em um compacto que tinha You'll think of me como Lado B. Chegou ao número 1 nos Estados Unidos.

É a canção número 91 da lista da revista Rolling Stone das 500 maiores canções já gravadas.

Fala de um relacionamento cheio de ciumes por parte da mulher e que eles precisam resolver esse problema pras coisas poderem dar certo.

Donna Jean Godchaux, que viria a ser vocalista do Grateful Dead, fez backing vocals na gravação. Elvis cantou, Reggie Young tocou guitarra, Bobby Emmons tocou órgão, Mike Leech tocou baixo, Gene Chrisman tocou bateria, Wayne jackson, Dick Steff e R.F Taylor tocaram trompete. Ed Logan, Jack Hale, Geraldo Richardson tocaram trombones. Donna Tatcher, Toni Wine, Dolore Edgin, mary Greene, Ginger Holladay, Mary Holladay, Millie Kirkham, Sonja Montgomery, June Page, Susan Pilkington e Sandy Posey fizeram os backing vocals.

Foi regravada por B.J. Thomas, Waylon Jennings, No Doubt, entre outros artistas.

A letra:

We're caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?

We can't go on together
With suspicious minds (suspicious minds)
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds

So, if an old friend I know
Stops by to say hello
Would I still see suspicion in your eyes?

Here we go again
Asking where I've been
You can't see the tears are real
I'm crying (Yes, I'm crying)

We can't go on together
With suspicious minds (suspicious minds)
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds

Oh, let our love survive
Or dry the tears from your eyes
Let's don't let a good thing die
When, honey, you know
I've never lied to you
Mmm, yeah, yeah

We're caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?

Don't you know I'm caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

Don't you know I'm caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

Don't you know I'm caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much baby

Don't you know I'm caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

Don't you know I'm caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

Don't you know I'm caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much, baby

A versão de Elvis Presley:

A versão de Mark James, original:

A versão de No Doubt:

840 – Creedence Clearwater Revival – Down at the corner (1969)

Escrita por John Fogerty, foi gravada em 1969 e lançada em setembro de 1969 em um compacto que tinha Fortunate son como Lado B. Chegou ao número 3 dos charts pop americanos.

Fala de uma banda fictícia chamada Willy and The Poor Boys, que toca nas esquinas para animar as pessoas e ganhar moedas.

Foi regravada por Bo Diddley, Harry Belafonte, The Weather Girls, Brian Adams, entre outros.

A letra:

Early in the evenin' just about supper time
Over by the courthouse, they're startin' to unwind
Four kids on the corner tryin' to bring you up
Willy picks a tune out and he blows it on the harp

Down on the corner, out in the street
'Willy and the Poor Boys' are playin'
Bring a nickel, tap your feet

Rooster hits the washboard and people just got to smile
Blinky thumps the gut bass and solos for a while
Poorboy twangs the rhythm out on his kalamazoo
And Willy goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo

Down on the corner, out in the street
'Willy and the Poor Boys' are playin'
Bring a nickel, tap your feet

Down on the corner, out in the street
'Willy and the Poor Boys' are playin'
Bring a nickel, tap your feet

You don't need a penny just to hang around
But if you've got a nickel, won't you lay your money down?
Over on the corner, there's a happy noise
People come from all around to watch the magic boys

Down on the corner, out in the street
'Willy and the Poor Boys' are playin'
Bring a nickel, tap your feet

Down on the corner, out in the street
'Willy and the Poor Boys' are playin'
Bring a nickel, tap your feet

Down on the corner, out in the street
'Willy and the Poor Boys' are playin'
Bring a nickel, tap your feet

A versão do Creedence Clearwater Revival:

A versão de Georgia Rose:

A versão de Scott and Jay:

839 – Leonard Cohen – The Partisan (1969)

Escrita por Paul Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie e Anna Marly em 1943 em Londres, e Hy Zaret fez a letra em inglês, sobre a resistência francesa na Segunda Guerra. Foi gravada por Leonard Cohen em outubro de 1968 e lançada em 7 de abril de 1969 no segundo disco dele chamado Songs from a room.

A letra:

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender
This I could not do
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often
I've lost my wife and children
But I have many friends
And some of them are with me

An old woman gave us shelter
Kept us hidden in the garret
Then the soldiers came
She died without a whisper

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
But I must go on
The frontiers are my prison

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Then we'll come from the shadows

Les Allemands étaient chez moi
Ils me dirent, "résigne toi"
Mais je n'ai pas peur
J'ai repris mon âme

J'ai changé cent fois de nom
J'ai perdu femme et enfants
Mais j'ai tant d'amis
J'ai la France entière

Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a caché
Les Allemands l'ont pris
Il est mort sans surprise

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing
Freedom soon will come
Then we'll come from the shadows

A versão de Leonard Cohen:

A versão de Adam Cohen, Damien Rice e Cour de Pirate:

A versão de Joan Baez: