Top 100 Songs: #40-#31

OK, I admit it. Two different artists have two songs each in this ten song stretch.

• #40: Hero (Steve Taylor - 1984)
• There are multiple versions of this song that Steve recorded… but I'm still drawn to the original '84 recording, synthesizers and all. (Got to see Steve perform this live last Sunday night - singing along at the top of my lungs.)
• Hero / it's a nice-boy notion that the real world's gonna destroy / you know / it's a Marvel comic book Saturday matinee fairytale, boy / Growing older you'll find / that illusions are bought, / and the idol you thought you'd be / was just another zero. / I wanna be a hero.
• #39: Mr. Blue Sky (ELO - 1977)
• The first record album I bought with my own money was ELO's Out of the Blue… and almost instantly this was my favorite song on the record. When the tune starts playing over the initial fight scene of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, I couldn't keep the grin off my face.
• #38: Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads - 1983)
• Stop Making Sense still ranks as one of the best concert films ever made. Full stop.
• #37: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (U2 - 1987)
• Interestingly, the gospel version in the Rattle & Hum film (also a great concert movie) and the gospel version on the soundtrack record are not identical - but both are excellent.
• #36: Miami 2017 (Billy Joel - 1976)
• I found Billy Joel's SONGS IN THE ATTIC cassette in a bargain bin late in my college years - nearly a decade after the original recording of the song. So it's not a surprise that I love the Songs in the Attic live version the best.
• #35: Hold Me Jesus (Rich Mullins - 1993)
• Rich's heartfelt prayer rips me up every stinkin' time.
• Surrender don't come natural to me / I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want / Than to take what You give that I need
• #34: Almost Threw It All Away (Charlie Peacock - 1990)
• Charlie's confessional song about marriage gains even more resonance 35 years down the line… both in his marriage and in my own.
• #33: Elijah (Rich Mullins - 1986)
• Like Steve Taylor's "Hero", there are multiple recordings of this song by Rich - but the stripped down piano-based one from his debut album is still my favorite. I want this song played at my memorial service when I die. 
• #32: S.O.S. (Julie Miller - 1993)
• "Sick of Sex" (abbreviated title due to her skittish record label) is a blistering indictment of a culture that has lost the thread when it comes to physical intimacy. Julie (along with her husband Buddy) are some of the icons of American roots music. This song, however, is rock'n'roll.
• #31: Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (Billy Joel - 1977)
• It's a mini-musical/rock opera that not only tells the story well but uses the music to draw us inside it. I first heard it as a junior high school student and have never gotten it out of my head.