Music: Each Band's/Artist's Most Iconic Song

[Hostile Offer]

I don't see a good argument to say that Money isn't a defining Floyd song considering that it's the song that got them big in the states, is their biggest hit on their most successful album by a long shot, and is an incredibly creative piece of music. Money is the reason why they went from big to superstar big and one of the best of all time. They followed it up with some great pieces of music and even if those songs can be argued as most popular, Money is their biggest claim to fame and success.

I guess that's you then, Money is not generally a song I associate with when talking about defining Floyd songs. Dark Side was the album that got them into fame but they followed it up with opuses that IMO overshadow it in musical creativity, but again I guess that's just me and even on Dark Side, I would consider Time as a more iconic Floyd piece than Money. Don't get me wrong though, Money is still a great song.

 

[Hammettf2b]

Journey
Dont stop believing

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I guess that's you then, Money is not generally a song I associate with when talking about defining Floyd songs. Dark Side was the album that got them into fame but they followed it up with opuses that IMO overshadow it in musical creativity, but again I guess that's just me and even on Dark Side, I would consider Time as a more iconic Floyd piece than Money. Don't get me wrong though, Money is still a great song.

I would argue that musically, they got less creative post-Dark Side. The less influence that Rick Wright and David Gilmour had on the music, the less creative the music became which happened post-Dark Side. Iconic, for me, is about what is well-recognized and successful and Money fits the bill for the reasons I stated. If we wanted to talk about musical creativity when it comes to Pink Floyd songs, Echoes is what I feel is their pinnacle of artistic creativity but it's not iconic because it wasn't successful or widely known. Money is. Money is every bit the staple that Time, Wish You Were Here, Another Brick, Comfortably Numb, Hey You, Us and Them, and Welcome to the Machine are.

 

[Hostile Offer]

I would argue that musically, they got less creative post-Dark Side. The less influence that Rick Wright and David Gilmour had on the music, the less creative the music became which happened post-Dark Side. Iconic, for me, is about what is well-recognized and successful and Money fits the bill for the reasons I stated. If we wanted to talk about musical creativity when it comes to Pink Floyd songs, Echoes is what I feel is their pinnacle of artistic creativity but it's not iconic because it wasn't successful or widely known. Money is. Money is every bit the staple that Time, Wish You Were Here, Another Brick, Comfortably Numb, Hey You, Us and Them, and Welcome to the Machine are.

This I can agree on. My personal favourite Floyd song.

 

[Xelebes]

Scotty Stevenson & The Edmonton Eskimos - Red Hot Boogie

Gaby Haas & His Barndance Gang - Edmonton Polka

Judy Singh & The Tommy Banks Orchestra - Look Around

Wes Dakus & The Rebels - Sidewinder

Southbound Freeway - Dead End Street

King Beezz - I Gotta Move

Troyka - Early Morning

Jensen Interceptor - Tiny Thing

White Wolf - She

Psyche - Eternal

Jerry Jerry & the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra - Runaway Lane

Jr. Gone Wild - Fine Scotch

SNFU - Painful Reminder

Garry Lee & The Showdown - The Rodeo Song

Three Dead Trolls In a Baggie - Toronto Sucks

Voice Industrie - Damage

The Smalls - Payload

Captain Tractor - The Last Saskatchewan Pirate

Choke - Less Than Nothing

Mad Bomber Society - Top of the World

Dead Jesus - Slowly Hating Christ

Ten Second Epic - Every Day

Shout Out Out Out Out - Bad Choices

KingDOOM - Go f*** Yourself

The Wet Secrets - Nightlife

Christian Hansen & The Autistics - Cocaine Trade

The Provincial Archive - Common Cards

Scenic Route To Alaska - Love Keeps

Zombie Girl - Creepy Crawler

Purity Ring - Obedear

 

[Neutrinos]

CCR
Fortunate Son?

 

[YoSoyLalo]

CCR
Fortunate Son?

I’d counter with Have You Ever Seen the Rain

 

[Mescaleroman]

the Who - My Generation

the Animals - House of the Rising Son

Bowie - Space Oddity with h/m to both Changes and Suffragette City

the Jam - That's Entertainment

the Only Ones - Another Girl , Another Planet

the Specials - A Message to you Rudy

Genesis w/Gabriel - Suppers Ready with h/m to Carpet Crawlers

Genesis w/o Gabriel - who cares

Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes

 

[Neutrinos]

Elton John is a tough one
Rocket Man would be my first thought, but Can You Feel The Love Tonight? was huge because of The Lion King

 

[JJ68]

Pearl Jam is kinda tough..some might say Jeremy, others Black and then others Better Man.

Alice in Chains...hmm, man in the box, rooster or would..

Guns n Roses...probably welcome to the jungle

Fleetwood Mac..The Chain

Tragically Hip...Ahead by a Century or maybe Blow at High Dough

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Rightly or wrongly...Heroin and The Velvet Underground.

 

[Neutrinos]

Pearl Jam is kinda tough..some might say Jeremy, others Black and then others Better Man.

Alice in Chains...hmm, man in the box, rooster or would..

Guns n Roses...probably welcome to the jungle

Fleetwood Mac..The Chain

Tragically Hip...Ahead by a Century or maybe Blow at High Dough

I think most of these could be challenged

Jeremy would get my vote too, but I would think Alive is ahead of Better Man

Guns 'n' Roses
Sweet Child Of Mine?

Fleetwood Mac
Go Your Own Way?

Tragically Hip
New Orleans Is Sinking?

 

[Mescaleroman]

Elton John is a tough one
Rocket Man would be my first thought, but Can You Feel The Love Tonight? was huge because of The Lion King

Candle in the Wind.

 

[mrmovies779]

Iron Maiden-im not sure because they have so many great iconic tunes..The Trooper? 2 Minutes to Midnight? Run to The Hills? My personal pick for most iconic song would be Hallowed Be Thy Name followed very closely by Rime of the Ancient Mariner.Judas Priest i guess Breaking the Law(although not my personal choice..) Black Sabbath is another 1 hard to pick

 

[Babe Ruth]

Pearl Jam is kinda tough..some might say Jeremy, others Black and then others Better Man.

yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.. Jeremy or Black.. Definitely a track off of 'Ten'.
They released so many hit-less albums after Ten.. I think Ten would be the consensus to generate their most iconic/definitive song (?)

 

[Deport Ogie]

As soon as I saw this I tried to think of bands for which there is no ONE iconic song. I'm glad to see so much Floyd discussion because that's the first one I thought of. My personal vote would be for Comfortably Numb as most identified, but best for me would be either Echoes or Dogs.

Some other random bands I saw mentioned in this thread:

Iron Maiden would be Run To The Hills or Number of the Beast I think. There are better songs but those are the two I think a pleb would think of first.

For The Who, My Generation is a good one but I'd put Baba O'Reilly ahead of it.

Guns n' Roses I'd go with November Rain

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Iron Maiden-im not sure because they have so many great iconic tunes..The Trooper? 2 Minutes to Midnight? Run to The Hills? My personal pick for most iconic song would be Hallowed Be Thy Name followed very closely by Rime of the Ancient Mariner.Judas Priest i guess Breaking the Law(although not my personal choice..) Black Sabbath is another 1 hard to pick

• Iron Maiden - I'd guess that among metal heads, "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is probably the most famous, but among mainstream rock fans, the shorter, catchier "Run To The Hills" is probably their most well-known.
• Judas Priest - agreed, Breaking the Law is probably the most well-known.
• Black Sabbath - probably Iron Man thanks to that famous riff.
• Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
• Slayer - Raining Blood
• Motoread - Ace of Spades
• Megadeth - Peace Sells But Who's Buying?
• Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town
• Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name Of
• Rush - probably Tom Sawyer?
• Yes - Roundabout
• King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man
• Jethro Tull - probably Aqualung

 

[Neutrinos]

• Black Sabbath - probably Iron Man thanks to that famous riff.

I would've thought it was Paranoid thanks to that famous riff

 

[Hammettf2b]

Elton John is a tough one
Rocket Man would be my first thought, but Can You Feel The Love Tonight? was huge because of The Lion King

I would counter with Your Song or Tiny Dancer

 

[davemess]

The Band
The Weight

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Candle in the Wind.

I would counter with Your Song or Tiny Dancer

Tiny Dancer is what came to mind for me first too.

However, time to open this can of worms. The title of thread is "most iconic" not "most popular."

So to me, "iconic" is a mix of both quality and popularity, i.e., the song you (and the public at large) most associate with defining said artist. That's why "Can You Feel The Love" is a no-go for me re: Elton.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Like "Bohemian Rhapsody," aside from being hugely popular, IS Queen.

 

[Neutrinos]

Candle in the Wind.

I would counter with Your Song or Tiny Dancer

They called his biopic film Rocketman

 

[Hammettf2b]

They called his biopic film Rocketman

Besides the fact that that means nothing when it comes to which songs of his are most iconic, its also a perfect play on words. For one person's biopic, using a compound word ending in "man" just fits. Not to mention the song being loosely inspired by a "shooting star", also fits the narrative of him being a star. I think the little skit on Friends (Hold me closer Tony Danza) made it a much more house hold name and more popular than Rocketman ever became. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Neutrinos]

Besides the fact that that means nothing when it comes to which songs of his are most iconic, its also a perfect play on words. For one person's biopic, using a compound word ending in "man" just fits. Not to mention the song being loosely inspired by a "shooting star", also fits the narrative of him being a star. I think the little skit on Friends (Hold me closer Tony Danza) made it a much more house hold name and more popular than Rocketman ever became. Just my 2 cents.

I would think the scene in Almost Famous did more for Tiny Dancer's popularity than the skit on Friends