Classic Rock Songs that Stand the Test of Time

Everyone has their favorite classic rock songs and it usually has to do with wha
t they were doing at the time when they first heard it. If you were experiencing
your first kiss with Suzie Q. and Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” was blasting in your da
d’s Plymouth as you leaned over, chances are that every time you hear that song fo
r the rest of your life you will get a cheap thrill. Music and music memory are
tied to our emotions and our life experiences in deep, unknown ways that psychol
ogists have been trying to decipher for a long time. Our subconscious is a stran
ge and complex place and for some reason music seems to stir passions and energi
es that we never even knew existed.
Sometimes the reaction to certain songs is not love, lust, or romance, but annoy
ance, irritation, or hatred. I myself for some reason cannot abide any songs by
the Canadian progressive rock band Rush. It is not so much the songs themselves
that I can’t stand, but the high, reedy, whining voice of their lead singer Getty
Lee. Yet many of my friends swear by Rush and think that I am off my rocker.
In comparison, I love many of the classic rock songs by another Canadian, Neil Y
oung, and I have been surprised by the vehemence of negative emotions that this
name conjures up with some of my less enlightened associates. Suffice to say tha
t Neil Young is no friend of white Southerners, especially after his pointed att
ack on them in the classic rock songs “Alabama” and “Southern Man” (one obviously was no
t enough for Neil). When Lynrd Skynrd made “Sweet Home Alabama” and mentioned “We hear
d old Neil sing about her, I heard old Neil put her down. We hope Neil Young wil
l remember, Southern man don’t need him around anyhow,” this incited a fresh round o
f racist flag waving.
This whole thing with Neil Young is very strange since Neil basically made his l
iving playing acoustic, harmonica-tinged Southern rock with classic albums like “H
arvest”, “Harvest Moon” and many others. Neil also contributed many classic rock songs
that endure to this day as some of the very finest ever written. Classic rock s
ongs like “Harvest Moon”, “Southern Man”, “Heart of Gold”, “Old Man”, “Needle and the Damag
and “Rockin’ in the Free World” are all examples of country music mixed with rock and
roll.
Classic rock songs have a way of stirring up emotions that you just don’t get in a
ny other genre of music, in my opinion. Take for example one of the greatest cla
ssic rock songs of all time, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zepellin. It was voted as t
he greatest song ever written and yet continues to be bashed by people saying th
at it has been overplayed to death. In the hit comedy movie “Wayne’s World” there is a
sign on the wall at the Guitar Center that reads “No Playing Stairway to Heaven”. I
n Hermosa Beach, California, at the great blues and rock club, Café Boogaloo, ther
e is a sign on the wall that reads “No Mustang Sally” which always struck me as hila
rious since “Mustang Sally” is not a bad song. After hearing every two bit jam band
play that song to the ground I realized that maybe not playing it was a good thi
ng.