Songs from years ending in zero; I love 1970, but why limit it? Please share songs that move you

A recent diary by bigjacbigjacbigjac was about music from 1970 and as I was researching music from that year I was surprised at how much music I like was from that year. I was about to post a song to that diary and as luck would have it the clock struck 10 and Daily Kos stopped everything to update the site. I suspect maybe 1970 was just a phenomenal year for music and I hadn’t realized how great it was.

Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots — Black Sabbath

Although this song is not one of the hits on the album, I consider it a real gem as it contains some of my favorite passages and moments on this groundbreaking heavy metal album.

There’s a guitar riff solo at about 2:40 that I love, which climaxes at 3:30. It’s my absolute favorite Tony Iommi moment. I’m sure not everyone shares my enthusiasm, but it’s a special musical moment that I wanted to point out in case you missed it or forgot about it.

This song rocks my soul. I don’t know what Ozzy’s intention was, but I especially love that he wrote a song about fairies wearing boots and being badass. I assumed the fairies were referring to the insult to gay men, and maybe I’m completely wrong, but I thought it was a totally defiant middle finger to the authorities and arbiters of masculinity by making the fairies part of a badass leather-clad motorcycle gang. Or maybe Ozzy took acid and read JRR Tolkien and the fairies are of the Middle Earth variety. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter because it produced some of the heaviest guitar riffs and it’s just awesome.
The entire album Paranoid is awesome, combining comic book superheroes, science fiction, and psychedelic qualities. When I was in college, someone showed me the album cover of this album and how the crease in the album cover was perfect for rolling a joint and that it was apparently not uncommon to find traces of marijuana shake left over from previous users of the album when they rolled joints with the album cover.

I was never a huge marijuana fan, but I thought it was pretty funny that this album also had a social story to it (at least according to the people I talked to).

The next song from 1970 that blew me away was the Joe Cocker Leon Russel version of Box Tops The Letter. I like what they did with the arrangement of this song and I feel like they took the original to a new level. I’m a huge Alex Chilton fan but Joe Cocker rocked this song. The horn section, backing vocals and piano give the song a dynamic that lifts it out of the stratosphere. This is the song I was going to post in bigjacbigjacbigjac’s diary before the Daily Kos system update prevented it.

There are a lot of good songs from 1970, and I don’t want to take up too many select songs, so I’ve limited the selection to music from the years ending with the number zero.

From 1980 there are

Bank Robbers – The Clash

This song is about aging and gets really serious. It delves into the dub style. I love the singing/chanting in the background.

Strengthen your back to earn your reward and don’t forget to crawl.

1980 If You Could Be Loved — Bob Marley and the Wailers

I like this song, I find the message hopeful. YMMV

1960 Cathy’s Clown — The Everly Brothers

I love the Everly Brothers’ songs for the harmonies. This song isn’t about being a winner, and I love that they had the courage to write a song from a perspective other than that of a winner. It’s ultimately about dignity. The Everly Brothers aren’t talking about resorting to domestic violence or committing a shitty “crime of passion” like some other songwriters do. It’s a healthy response to not working out in love, which is probably a big part of human nature. Hats off to them.

Please share your songs from years ending in zero or whatever moves you, and feel free to share your thoughts on what moves you about the music, what it means to you personally, etc.

Welcome!