Brian Turner delivers two candidates for best song ever

If you're at all connected with any of the mersh pimped on these pages, then you've wondered, no doubt, about the best song ever. As if some absolute rendering of anything actually exists, in a civilization defined by bounded points of light at every nano turn, one's got to wonder, right? Well, we here at LOLOTD would like to share our delight that WFMU's Brian Turner, he of "found audio detritus," unwittingly or not, proffered two candidates for such a designation on his 4/3/12 broadcast. No, not the Primitive Calculators' "Pumping Ugly Muscle", although we understand the misapprehension. No, we're talking the MOOVERS' "Someone to Fulfill My Needs" and THIN LIZZY's "Whiskey In The Jar". 

While greatness is available in all strains of the combustible sonic arts, transcendence is rare. Via methodical analysis, we've narrowed the essential components of transcendent greatness in song to their fundamental necessaries (and yes, tactful redundancy is one of the characteristics). Beyond the sweep of themes involving love and loss, the exquisitely rendered collective idiosyncrasies of a band in full flower, and the need for a damn good song, there must be longing on the verge  - the essential ingredient. 

Both of these songs can barely contain the universal bittersweet. For the Moovers, it's the pathetic yearn of a man who has so much to give, but is relentlessly spurned until he can contain it not longer. Chicken scratch guitar and deep deep burns, abetted by razor snare rolls, bring it home.  Thin Lizzy's version of the whiskey tale sparks memories of my father, ten years gone now, with "Whack for my daddy-o, Whack for my daddy-o, There's whiskey in the jar-o." I'm not sure what these lines mean, but as Phil's voice cracks, tears invariably fill my eyes. Eric Bell's riffs seal it. 

So there you have it. Two candidates for the best song ever. As for the Brian Turner radio program, while he champions the devilish, the skronk and the wave, he always returns to longing on the verge. It's why his show stands the test of time. He's a man's man, after all, and he endures. We all do. Sometimes the best we can do is channel it with the bards.

Nice live sets on the 4/3/12 episode by the Twerps and feedtime too.

"I never had a love to call my own

I've been a lonely, lonely man since the day that I was born 

So here I stand with open arms

Waiting on your loving charms 

Cuz baby, I need someone to fulfill my needs 

(someone to fulfill my needs)

And baby, baby, I (I-I-I) neeeeeed you."

Brian Turner show on WFMU 4/3/12

the Moovers "Someone To Fulfill My Needs" (1967) Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label (Numero - 2006)

Thin Lizzy "Whiskey In The Jar"/"Black Boys On The Corner" 7" (Decca, UK -1972)