Yet ANOTHER Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50

#209) "Cycles" by Frank Sinatra - About as far away as can be imagined from what people think of when they hear the name "Sinatra", "Cycles" is the title track from a 1968 album of cover songs, some of which have appeared on this list by other artists.

Make no mistake, this is not 1940s/50s crooner Frankie, or Frankie ringa-dinga-lingin' with his Rat Pack buddies and complement of cuckoo broads. "Cycles" doesn't have the flair or flash, or the energy, to get that job done. And to its credit, it doesn't seem to care. What the song does instead, in my opinion, is reveal Sinatra the artist, the consummate interpreter of music. All music.

"Cycles" is a soft-spoken (and for this, moving) testament to the life we all must endure sometimes, gentle reassurance in moments of hardship, anguish, frustration and fear that things are going to be all right, that indeed, "after winter, comes the spring..."  Sinatra makes you believe that he believes, and that's what being a "consummate interpreter of music" is all about.

Not much more needs to be said, really...nothing that the album cover doesn't say, before a single word is even sung:

"I've been many places, maybe not as far as you / So I think I'll stay a while, and see if some dreams some true..."

#210) "Rag Doll" by Aerosmith - Arguably one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, Aerosmith has a unique claim to having been icons of the 1970s before fading away almost to oblivion, then coming back and achieving icon status in the late 80s and early 90s, producing music throughout both periods that never seems dated. Whether you like it, you have to admit, most of it sounds just as fresh and urgent as the day it was recorded.

They achieved this, in part, by creating a unique sound, something just a little different, with a flair nobody else rockin' big hair and spandex at the time had, a style nobody else would (dare) try on for size. "Rag Doll" is a perfect example of the band's ability to think outside the box, and do nothing less than reinvent the rock and roll business model.

Who the hell else could "Rag Doll" be, but Aerosmith?

"Rag doll, livin' in a movie / Hot tramp, daddy's little cutie..."

#211) "Back in the Saddle" by Aerosmith - Not quite as outside the box as "Rag Doll", 1977's "Back in the Saddle" still tears it up and spits it out, and in that uniquely Aerosmith fashion. It's not merely hard rock, and it's surely not half-baked "hair metal"...it's an oddly potent brew, the sounds you hear rumbling from behind the bulwark of the male psyche, with just a wisp of the frantic overcompensation most men are disposed to, even if they never admit it.

In a word, "Back in the Saddle" is the motherfucker. The bass line bounces off the walls of that bulwark, manages to escape, and starts smashing windows around the neighborhood...and Steven Tyler's voice, man...for my money, nobody even comes close.

Who the hell else could sing "Back in the Saddle", but Steven Tyler?

"I'm calling all the shots tonight, I'm like a loaded gun..."


#212) "Pink" by Aerosmith - See #210 and #211....

Who the hell else could "Pink" be, but Aerosmith? 😉

"Pink, it's my new obsession, pink, it's not even a question / Pink on the lips of your lover, 'cause pink is the love you discover..."