Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1991

Alright, now that I’ve finished with discussing music that I didn’t like that originated from my birth year, time to take a moment to go over the songs I did like from this year. Keep in mind, much like the worst list, this list is primarily an opinion-based presentation focusing specifically on the things I like. If you don’t see something on here that you like, it doesn’t mean I hated it, nor does it mean I hate you for liking it. The same goes for if you see something on here that you don’t like; I have nothing against you for not liking the same stuff as me.

Also like the worst list, I’m primarily sticking to my previous qualifiers and questions:

·      The songs on this list had to have charted either on the year-end hot 100 chart for 1991, place in the top 20 in 1991, or placed in the top 40 for at least 5 weeks in 1991.

·      For each song, I had to ask the following questions:

o   What was the goal of the song and did it succeed at achieving it?

o   How much of a positive impact did the song have on me, or how much did I enjoy listening to the song and want to hear it again?

Before we delve into the list proper, let’s take a moment to look at some honorable mentions and songs that barely missed placement on this list:

Joyride (Roxette)

I think that Roxette are one of those bands that people don’t really remember from this point in time, which I think is a shame because, while I haven’t heard their full discography, based on what I have heard I think they were a good group. They had three hit songs this year, but I chose this one as a representation of them as a whole.

Silent Lucidity (Queensrÿche)

Dreams seemed to be a recurring theme in quite a few songs this year. This song specifically seems to focus on the concept of lucid dreaming, particularly on the idea of having one’s dreams teaching them things that they can apply to real life. It’s an interesting idea, and certainly a lot more out there compared to a vast majority of songs from this year.

Enter Sandman (Metallica)

This song seemed to go in the complete opposite direction of ‘Silent Lucidity’ in terms of the concept of dreams. While that song focused on learning from and gaining control over one’s dreams, this song seems to specifically focus on the fear and lack of control one tends to have in nightmares, possibly born from primal fears. Also, the instrumentation of this song is fantastic, probably the best to come from a metal song this year. Sadly, the lyrics drag this song down for me; I just can’t take James Hetfield seriously when his nightmarish imagery includes quotes from children’s stories and nursery rhymes.

Sadeness Part 1 (Enigma)

This is probably the strangest song to chart this year. How often is it that you hear a song on the pop charts that focuses on an infamous historical figure, with the language shifting between Latin and French, or that includes Gregorian chant, let alone all three of those things? If more religious music were willing to go out on a limb and do something this unique and experimental, it would possibly have a better reputation. That said, the theme of sadism is not really something I find all that appealing; it’s just not my thing.

Love Takes Time (Mariah Carey)

This was the most difficult song for me to keep off the list. Of the numerous slow-tempo ballads that charted this year, this was probably the best of them, and the one I was able to relate to the most, specifically because it’s actually built around a powerful, relatable sentiment. This seriously contrasts with the numerous slow-tempo love ballads that infested the charts this year, which had all the depth and nutritional value of expired Fruit Roll-Ups. Unfortunately, since this song technically came out in 1990 and charted higher on Billboard and the year-end hot-100 chart for that year, I felt like it wouldn’t be fair to include it on this list. Had this list been focusing on the pop charts from 1990 however, it definitely would’ve qualified.

You Could Be Mine (Guns ‘N Roses)

This was the theme song to Terminator 2, which I didn’t see, but this song certainly makes a good case for me to do so. It’s admittedly not Guns ‘N Roses best work, but it’s still Guns ‘N Roses performing the song. The lyrics are a bit confusing, seeming to be depicting a volatile relationship where the narrator expresses distaste that neither one of them is even trying to hide the fact that things aren’t working out while also presenting both sides in kind of a negative light. At the very least though, it doesn’t interfere with the music, for me at least.

After The Rain (Nelson)

This is kind of a guilty pleasure for me. I’ve heard Nelson described as a poor man’s Quiet Riot, who I’ve also heard described as a poor man’s Van Halen, and listening to some of the songs they released this year, it’s certainly watered down compared to most metal, even hair metal. That said, I couldn’t find it in me to hate on this song. While it doesn’t really work as a metal song, it fits in fairly well with other pop songs. The chorus is uplifting enough and incredibly catchy, and the lyrics are delivered with some level of sincerity. You don’t hear these guys hypocritically lamenting lack of effort in relationships while demanding that the listeners show them how much they love them without letting them use the words ‘I love you,’ is all I’m saying.

Unforgettable (Natalie Cole & Nat King Cole)

While I’m not really into modern artists covering older songs, I will admit that I found myself getting more into this version of this particular Nat King Cole song than in the original. Natalie Cole’s vocals lend themselves fairly well to the 1950s feel this song maintains from the original version, and her presence on the song gives it a bit more dynamic and makes it feel a bit more whole. I realize it’s a virtual duet and was likely just trying to wring a few more dollars out of the original song, but I still find myself enjoying this version.

Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)(C+C Music Factory)

Martha Walsh is this song. Without her, this would probably be no more distinct or memorable than the other songs by the C+C Music Factory that charted this year. Unlike Whitney Houston, whose vocals I felt tended to have unfocused force, Martha Walsh’s performance on this song is tight and energetic while still remaining powerful enough to carry the song. Unfortunately, the song’s main problems are its rap verses. I’m guessing many of you didn’t even realize or remember that this song had rap verses, which isn’t surprising. That’s not even to say that they’re necessarily bad; they’re just not memorable. Then again, they’re competing with Martha Walsh to try and keep the song moving, which is kind of a losing battle.

And with that, strike it up because we are counting down:

…THE TOP 10 BEST HIT SONGS OF 1991!

#10

As I mentioned on my worst list, ‘Ice Ice Baby’s success served to diversify hip-hop and introduce the genre to a mainstream audience. As it turns out, this can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it meant that morons like Vanilla Ice and Gerardo were able to achieve success and could be seen as the start of rap music’s tendency to be incredibly dumbed down to make it more palatable for the public at large. Sadly, the later is something that still seems to crop up in hip-hop music to this day. On the positive side, there were still artists that were in this genre that actually put thought and effort into their music; the racially-mixed hip hop group 3^rd Bass were able to release probably their most successful song just the following year, ironically enough a song that specifically laments the rise of pop rap and how hip-hop music at the time was starting to focus more on gaining mainstream success than actually having meaning or substance to it, and the female hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa released a similarly successful-while-still-thought-provoking song that focused on raising awareness for both the positive and negative aspects of sex.

And even in terms of pop rappers that primarily existed for style over substance, there were still a few that exercised effort in their craft, effort that definitely showed through in the finished product.

#10. Good Vibrations (Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch ft. Loleatta Holloway)

Oh yes Mark, I feel it.

For all you film buffs out there, yes; critically-acclaimed actor Mark Wahlberg did at one point have a rap career, and was known throughout the early-to-mid ‘90s simply as ‘Marky Mark,’ even after he had discarded the name and chosen to focus on acting two years later. This song was his first, and also most successful single alongside his posse known as the Funky Bunch. (I notice hip-hop music seemed rather obsessed with funk this year for some reason.) Unlike Vanilla Ice and Gerardo, however, Mark was able to demonstrate some level of diversity in terms of subject matter with the group’s follow-up single ‘Wildside,’ which was still fairly successful but not as much as this song, which is not to be confused with the Beach Boys song by the same name.

Anyway, let’s start by talking about the song’s sample. Specifically, this song heavily samples Loleatta Holloway’s 1980s disco track ‘Love Sensation’. However, unlike Vanilla Ice’s butchering of the 1976 funk rock classic, which unceremoniously discarded any possible redeeming qualities that the original song could have brought to that song, every element from ‘Good Vibrations’ only serves to enhance the sample. The hip-hop beat drives the song while the tempo was increased, rather than decreased, to give it additional energy. And, of course, there’s the piano part, likely the best portion of the production, with its laid-back, playful feel making the song much more upbeat and fun, especially during the solos before and after the final chorus of the song. Also unlike Vanilla Ice, I get the impression that Mark Wahlberg actually got permission from Loleatta Holloway to sample her song for two reasons. First of all, according to Andrew Barker of Senior Features, Loleatta Holloway actually received both vocal credit and a share of the royalties, and second of all, Loleatta Holloway is featured in the music video for ‘Good Vibrations’ singing the chorus.

If the song does have one weak link to it, it’s probably Marky Mark himself. Even in that regard, I wouldn’t say he’s bad; his flow is very good and his vocals work well with the music. The main problem is that his wordplay on this song veers a bit on the corny side. As an example of this, he wrote an entire verse of the song as basically an anti-drug PSA.

Besides that though, this is still a nice, upbeat, feel-good dance song. I definitely get positive vibes from listening to this.

#9

Of the many artists that arose during the ‘90s, there is only one I can think of right off the top of my head that both heavily embodies the time of his rise to fame and is still remembered with some level of fondness to this day. That one artist is, of course, the Fresh Prince himself: Willard Carroll Smith Jr., better known to the public at large as Will Smith.

#9. Summertime (DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince)

This song was released a year after the first season of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,’ whose name was actually built around Will Smith’s then stage name at the time rather than the other way around, since he technically started rapping alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff in 1985. That’s right; one of the most iconic ‘90s performing artists did, in fact, actually originate in the ‘80s. I admit, I’ve never actually seen very many episodes of this show, which seemed to mark a shift in the duo’s style, particularly their production. Prior to this song, most of the things they released were rather goofy and didn’t seem to warrant being taken seriously. This song, however, not only stood out from the rest of their music, but also from the music of the time. Since much of the dance music this year seemed focused on being energetic and geared towards, well, dancing, this song stood out as being a dance groove that was a bit more relaxed, something danceable but also easy-going and not too uptight.

Will’s main style of rapping tended to involve presenting stories through his lyrics, and it lends itself really well to the subject matter of this song, which focuses on celebratory, nostalgic reminiscence of all of the things people love about summer. Tell me that not one of the people reading this have some positive summer memories; any fond pastimes that they enjoyed with school being out and all sorts of possibilities opened in terms of fun activities to enjoy: going to the beach, playing outdoor sports, meeting up with friends to watch the newest films of the time, backyard cookouts, anything? Even if you don’t, Will Smith does, and it certainly shows through in his performance. He clearly sounds like he’s giving it his all and enjoying reflecting back on everything he loved about summer.

Furthermore, this song was also still fairly early on in Will’s career as a rapper, and as a performing artist in general, before he ended up getting lost in his own ego and writing music and starring in movies that seemed almost entirely centered around elevating himself and showing off his own fame. The shift from the 20^th to the 21^st century seemed like the point when the quality of his work really started to decline, even though his fame didn’t. Still, much like the Fresh Prince, we can still reminisce on the old days, and his humble beginnings.

#8

Going back to the subject of dance music, one of the most prominent movements to appear in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s was the acid house movement. Groups like EMF, Black Box and C + C Music Factory were among the music acts to rise to prominence during this time, though in addition to these groups, and probably much less remembered was a group originally founded by British acid house producers Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. I’d say the name of the group myself, but considering their name is all over the song, it’s not like I really need to.

#8. 3 a.m. Eternal (The KLF)

Ever since their conception in 1987, this group has gone by many names, including, but not limited to, ‘the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu,’ ‘the JAMs,’ ‘the Timelords’ (yes, like the ones from Doctor Who), but ultimately the name that seems to have become most associated with this act is ‘the KLF,’ even though there’s nothing to indicate what those letters stand for specifically.  When they started, they primarily lifted samples from other songs and drew on hip-hop as part of an inspiration for their music. Their main idea was to take the ideals and principles of the Justified Ancients of Mummu, the fictional conspiratorial group from which their original name was based, and reinterpret them within the context of music production in the corporate music world. A majority of their early music is basically just plagiarized samples lifted from popular songs and using them in different contexts, with some of their songs still receiving positive reviews and being nominations for ‘single of the week’ despite this. One of their more famous pieces, ‘Doctorin’ the Tardis,’ sampled Gary Glitter, Sweet and the Doctor Who theme, and wound up being a number one hit on the British charts. 

Their biggest success, however, came from their final studio album: ‘The White Room,’ with all of the singles from that album charting in the top 5 in the UK and two top 20 hit songs internationally, with ‘3 a.m. Eternal’ being the biggest, specifically the stadium house version. I like both the original ‘pure trance’ version and the ‘Live at the S.S.L.’ version but I can understand why the later was the one that gained the general public’s favor. Its much bigger, stadium sound gives the song more power, as did the inclusion of rapper Ricardo da Force, whose lyrics, while pretty much nonsensical or self-referential, help to drive the song. However, it’s the shouting choir that really pushes the song over the top in terms of its size and scope.

If people do remember this song, it’s probably because of the infamous performance of it that the KLF held at the BRIT Awards in February 1992. That performance had Drummond firing blanks from an automatic weapon over the audience while wearing a kilt, limping and smoking a cigar, with the concluding announcement stating, ‘The KLF have now left the music business.” On top of this, Drummond and Cauty would then proceed to deliver a sheep carcass, along with eight gallons of blood, to the lobby of the hotel where the after-party was held and declared that they would not release anymore music until the achievement of world peace was reached, officially retiring from their music careers on May 5. To prove this wasn’t a scam to boost record sales, they deleted their entire back catalog.

The KLF: anarchists of the corporate music world even with their departure from it. Say it with me everyone: “Ancients of Mu Mu!”

#7

For those that aren’t fans of hip-hop music, I swear, this is the last song from this genre that I’ll be including on this list. Unfortunately, it’s probably also the most embarrassing one of all.

#7. Now That We Found Love (Heavy D & the Boyz ft. Aaron Hall)

Heavy D is kind of a difficult artist for me to talk about, mostly because there really isn’t a lot to the guy; pretty much everything about his personality is right in his name; he’s a rapper that tends to focus on the fact that he’s overweight, but can still be a good lover despite that, I think. He had decent flow on some of his songs, and was capable of good wordplay on occasion, but for the most part he suffered from rather limited range and personality.

Sadly, all of these problems are also prominent in this song. And yet, despite this, I actually like it even though, on a thematic level, it’s pretty much identical to Heavy D’s other singles. If I were to put my finger on the reasoning for that, it’s probably the production. Heavy D was generally at his best on faster-paced songs, and this song probably has him at his best in that regard. Also, the new jack swing feel of the song definitely works for me, particularly with the bass-heavy soundtrack and fairly laid-back percussion.

Another thing I guess that kind of stands out for me is Heavy D’s shamelessness. He seems completely aware of the ridiculousness of the song, and he’s perfectly okay with it. Generally when I think of self-awareness on a song, I feel like that tends to have this unspoken expectation that it means the song’s message is being played tongue-in-cheek, but in this case it feels like Heavy D is using his own self-awareness to express his earnestness in his declaration of love, despite how ridiculous it is. For God’s sake, the guy uses the phrase ‘hunky-dory’ twice in the song, and plays it straight both times.

I feel like this one’s more of a hit-or-miss; you might not like this one if you don’t like hip-hop that delves into serious cheese territory. Honestly though, even if you don’t like this song, I’d say that it’s ultimately harmless enough.

#6

George Michael’s ‘Faith’ album, the first of his solo career, was likely the peak of his success, launching six Billboard top ten hits, four of which peaked at number one. The promotional tour for the album was the second-highest grossing event of 1988, earning a total of $17.7 million, and the album won the Grammy Award for ‘Album of the Year’ at the 31st Grammy Awards. And yet, the tour ultimately left George Michael frustrated, exhausted, and lonely, ultimately deciding that he didn’t want his second album to be promoted like his ‘Faith’ album had been. To this end, he made no appearances in any of the videos for the singles for his second album, and almost didn’t even release any videos for that album at all. Its intended goal was to present him as a more serious-minded artist and reflect his desire to be taken more seriously as a songwriter. In terms of reaching that goal, I’d say the album was successful, and that belief can be attributed to this song specifically.

#6. Freedom ’90 (George Michael)

Okay, some of you are probably wondering why I picked a song that was clearly released in 1990 on my list of best songs from 1991. Well, while this song not only charted higher and longer in 1990, it didn’t actually appear on the year-end hot 100 list for that year, and it did in 1991 so I’m counting it. This is actually the second song of George Michael’s I ever heard, with the first being ‘Faith,’ and I think it’s just awesome, probably not only one of George Michael’s best songs of his solo career, but one of his best songs period. The guitar has a really funky, energetic feel to it, the piano’s smooth and laid back, and this is also probably one of the few songs from this year that actually knew how to perform a decent bass part, let alone one that sounds as good as this one.

This brings us to the lyrics. Just listening to the lyrics by themselves, one might think that they’re describing George Michael’s homosexuality and that the song’s basically his way of coming out of the closet, but that’s not actually the case. The song’s verses are actually describing George Michael’s previous history in the music industry, his success with Wham!, and then leading into the chorus, which talks about the need to shed one’s past identity, cast off the image of oneself that people have come to associate with them and reinvent said image to be something different, something real, something…well, free. This perfectly matches the idea behind the album, especially the video, which has each of the items most commonly associated with the ‘Faith’ music video and George Michael, the leather jacket, Wurlitzer jukebox and guitar, set on fire or blown up each time the song reaches the chorus, specifically on the word ‘freedom’.

Although, I’m guessing he started regretting casting off the image of himself that ‘Faith’ had established once Limp Bizkit ended up butchering that song seven years later. Still, this song is just as awesome as Faith, if not more so, and that’s something that Fred Durst and his group of shrieking morons can never take away from him. We have Robbie Williams to thank for that instead.

#5

Ah, Prince. Between his flamboyant persona and rather explicit double entendres, Prince probably has one of the most shameless personalities in all of music, and honestly that’s probably his strongest asset as a performer, only matched in terms of its intensity by his versatile virtuosity. Of course, his greatest weakness is probably his pretentiousness, particularly in the mid ‘90s when he started using an unpronounceable symbol as his name. We’re still a few years away from that, of course; 1991 was right around the start of the New Power Generation phase of his career, so quite a bit of time after the time considered his ‘prime,’ but honestly I’d say the songs he released at this point weren’t that bad either. I mean, I liked ‘Gett Off,’ fine enough, and it might’ve placed on this list if it had been a bigger hit. In lieu of that though, there was still the much more successful follow-up single…

#5. Cream (Prince and the New Power Generation)

As I said, Prince’s shamelessness is probably one of his strongest personality traits as a performer, and that’s incredibly clear on this song. Most songs that are this sexually explicit tend to forget that being sexual is not the same as being sexy. This song, however, manages to balance the rather fine line of being both, despite some rather goofy lyrical choices. That said, while they don’t exactly warrant analysis to identify some deeper meaning to them, I actually like that they’re written to address the person the singer’s singing to in terms of its descriptions. Way too many attempted sex jams nowadays just treat the person being addressed as little more than a piece of meat or an object that the singer is using for their own self-gratification. This song’s lyrics aren’t necessarily better, but they at least address them as a person, and even raise them on a pedestal to some degree, particularly in the second verse. Then again, considering this song was apparently written while Prince was admiring himself in a mirror, it’s more likely just a narcissistic love letter to himself. Even in that regard though, I’d take this over many other such songs from a lot of contemporary artists also.

Oddly enough, I notice quite a few qualities to the song that should serve to drag it down for me. The beat and percussion are rather stiff, and the guitar part sounds uncomfortably similar to the one on ‘One More Try’. And yet, it works for me. Part of the reason for that might be Prince’s vocals; he doesn’t belt out and oversell the song, but they still have style and smooth out the rest of the issues I probably would have with the song otherwise. And he sings in his lower register, which presents the song as more mature, mature in that it feels like it’s performed by someone that’s actually old and smart enough to know what he’s talking about, not in the sense of a high school student that thinks he is when he isn’t. And, of course, the guitar solo after the second chorus, while brief, is still awesome.

            Sadly, this is probably one of the last really great songs that people look back on with fondness when thinking of Prince as a performer, since after this would come his time as ‘the artist formerly known as Prince’. This would not end up being a good time frame for the guy. Still, he had this song, and the entirety of the eighties as part of his legacy. Prince: musical genius, sex god, pretentiously proud peacock.

#4

Rick Astley is not a one-hit wonder!

#4. Cry For Help (Rick Astley)

Rick Astley started recording music in 1987, temporarily retired in 1993, and then returned to music almost ten years later. During his initial time frame in music, he had a total of seven top 40 hit songs on Billboard, of which five placed in the top ten, including this song! Rick Astley is not a one-hit wonder!

Much like with George Michael, ‘Cry For Help,’ marked a shift in image for Rick Astley to present himself as a more mature musician. However, unlike George Michael, whose change came about from exhaustion and dissatisfaction with his own fame, for Rick Astley it was the result of negative press, with people viewing him as little more than a puppet to Stock Aitkin Waterman, the record company he worked with for the first three years of his music career. With this shift in image also came a shift in his musical style, from dance-pop to soul. I’d honestly say that I appreciate the shift considering it led to him releasing this song.

Sadly enough, I almost didn’t include this song on the list! Yeah, it was technically a 1991 song, but when putting this list together I was seriously considering whether or not it was the song itself that I was finding myself enjoying or the sentiment behind it. Since I myself have been struggling with depression and hesitant to reach out to people, it really concerned me that that might be the only reason I liked the song. Going back and listening to it several times, however, I realized that, even if that was the case, I do still like the song in its own merit; it’s fairly somber, though not too much so, the subject matter actually justifies that incredibly well, the instrumentation’s nice and soft, but not muggy, and of course Rick Astley’s vocals tie it all together neatly.

I may have labeled ‘Love Takes Time’ as the best ballad song to chart on Billboard in 1991 despite having performed better the year before, but in terms of those specifically released in 1991, ‘Cry For Help’ is easily the best. The main issue I have with these kind of songs is that the majority of them were just mindless love jams, songs whose only purpose was to be something light and tame to listen to that was marketable and didn’t offer any kind of relatable message or interesting presentation. ‘Cry For Help,’ however, is a song questioning the need for people to hide when they’re sad or struggling with their lives, and in my opinion that’s definitely a question worth asking. Why aren’t we willing to let ourselves cry? Why do we choose not to reach out to others when we need support?

Of course, the main selling point of the song for me is Rick Astley himself. I don’t know why he doesn’t get more credit than he does for this, but he’s a really good singer. His deeper, richer voice stands out from a lot of male pop stars, even today, and it’s able to more clearly express a wide range of emotions: joy, love, earnestness, frustration, lament; the guy’s a very emotionally diverse performer.  He’s also capable of covering a decent range of genres too. Yeah, his early songs sounded uncomfortably similar, but his range started feeling a lot less limited the further I progressed through his discography. That’s not something you generally see in pop music! 

Rick Astley: never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you…except for when he retired from his music career in 1993, but then returned in less than ten years.

…Next!

#3

I’ve once heard the saying that the difference between bad art and great art is that bad art is merely a distraction while great art is something that changes people. I don’t necessarily disagree with that statement, though I feel like plenty of good art is also little more than a distraction, and the view on that differs from person to person. In my opinion, what truly constitutes ‘great art’ is something that creates a unique experience, something that differs from others of its kind in a way that the audience gains or learns something positive, about themselves, about other people, about the world, about life, the universe, everything; it can be subjective, and the likes of which would not, and probably could not be replicated even if attempted under the exact same conditions and with the exact same resources. And if you ask me, while the songs up until this point were definitely still ‘good’ art, the next three are honestly things I would consider ‘great’ art.

#3. Crazy (Seal)

Chances are, if you’re not caught up on your ‘90s pop culture knowledge, or even if you do know something about it, you’ve likely never heard this song before and are wondering who this Seal guy is. However, you may have actually heard a song of his before. You know the movie ‘Batman Forever’? One of his songs made an appearance on the soundtrack for that movie, and even went on to be one of his biggest hits. Alternatively, he also sang the cover version of the Steve Miller Band song ‘Fly Like an Eagle’ that was used in the film ‘Space Jam’.

…I’m not exactly presenting a strong case for this particular artist, am I?

Well, to be fair, neither of those songs properly reflects Seal’s musical style, and ‘Crazy’ does. And by God this is a beautiful song. From the song’s keyboard mantra to the bass and wah-wah pedal guitars, but much like ‘Cry For Help,’ the winning element in this song is Seal himself, whose vocals give the song a very soulful, kind of mystical atmosphere, walking the line between being haunting and being enchanting at the same time.

I’d argue that there aren’t really any problems with the song, but if there is one thing about it that still confuses me it’s the lyrics. On the one hand, there’s the idea that the singer’s trying to urge people to think outside the box, to not be bound by societal norms and explore new ways of thinking. It’s not just a suggestion; the singer firmly believes that we can’t survive unless we do so. On the other hand, it also seems to describe events at the time, with one line seeming to reference the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. And, of course, there’s the first half of the second verse. For the longest time, I was certain that the opening line for it was saying ‘Crazy are the people running through my head,’ and the way that the second half of that verse opens seems to support that particular phrasing. However, most of the sources I’ve checked online have stated that the line’s supposed to be ‘Crazy yellow people running through my head’. From what I’ve read, that line could be taken as a reference to the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989, the year when this song was initially written, since the rest of the verse goes, ‘One of them’s got a gun to shoot the other one/Yet together they were friends at school’. The protests, meant to expose the flaws in China’s political leadership, were student led, strongly supported by the city’s residents, and forcefully suppressed by the very leaders they were protesting against, who ordered the military to enforce martial law, conducted widespread arrests of those who participated in or supported the protests, enacted strict media control over coverage of the events and prohibited the discussion or remembrance of the events. Or it could be about a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder while contemplating suicide or something.

Regardless, I still find it to be a fascinating song, confusing lyrics and all. Even if the message is a bit unclear, I’m crazy enough to keep going back to it again and again.

#2

Another difference between music in the early ‘90s compared to today is the presence of metal in the mainstream. The musical scene back then was more open to music by people playing wood and metal instruments, while today the majority of popular music is electronic, even in country music. That’s not to say that metal wouldn’t potentially be able to reappear in the mainstream again nowadays, but chances are it’s a lot more unlikely to happen. Though that’s not to say that’s necessarily a bad thing; plenty of good metal is still coming out today, but that’s beside the point. The point is that metal songs were still appearing on the pop charts back in the ‘90s.

Of course, this was also around the time that metal’s presence in the mainstream was starting to come to a close with the grunge movement, the rise of more aggressive sounding groups like Metallica, and some groove metal groups like Pantera bringing about the end of the tenure of hair metal. By 1994, while some groups still had mild success, the genre was pretty much dead to the general public. We’ve yet to reach any of those things yet, but by 1991 hair metal was definitely in the decline, with many such bands releasing slow, tedious ballads that did not help with trying to revive the dying genre. Other metal subgenres, of course, were also managing to bubble up into the mainstream consciousness around this time with songs that differed from the tired formula that hair metal had all but exhausted by this point, and yes, one such song made it on this list.

#2. Wind of Change (Scorpions)

Keep in mind that, right before this song was released, the Scorpions’ singles around this time seemed to primarily consist of songs about sex. Interestingly enough, this even includes their most well remembered song of all, ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’. ‘Wind of Change,’ however, was inspired by a visit to Moscow in 1989, with its lyrics including imagery of the city, specifically naming the Moskva river and Gorky Park. To call this a departure from their usual repertoire would be kind of understating it. The lyrics seem to present an optimistic vision of the future as well, talking about the children of future generations, describing the USSR’s glasnost, their policy of openness that was being implemented before its untimely collapse starting that year, and the ability to find hope in the midst of deep tension and uncertainty.

Of course, the main reason I put this song on the list is, naturally, the music production behind the song. Lead singer Klaus Meine, who also wrote the song, delivers some incredibly emotive vocals here, with a roughness that doesn’t come across as too harsh, but sincere and down-to-earth. I find myself believing in his statements of optimism and hope for the future just because his vocal performance sounds so earnest. That’s not to say that the rest of the band doesn’t hold their own on the song also; the tone the song captures is nicely balanced between being somber but still uplifting. It doesn’t oversell itself and blow up into ridiculousness like hair metal tended to do, but at the same time it’s not holding back too much and coming across as weak. And, of course, there’s the whistled intro and outro to the song, which add an additional, kind of haunting tone to the song, almost like it’s reflecting on the struggles of the past while gazing into the future. Whistling is normally something I don’t feel like a lot of singers are able to use well in songs, but this one uses it brilliantly, and the song is stronger for it.

However, as much as I love this song and everything it represents, there is still one song that charted this year that I felt was just a touch better.

#1

When I initially put this list together, I told myself that I was going to be focusing only on the songs that placed on the year-end hot 100 list for 1991. However, when I realized that some of the songs that charted on that list were originally from 1990, I decided that I would expand my scope to include any song that placed in the top 40 on Billboard in 1991. Finding a site that listed everything that charted on Billboard during that time frame was a trial in and of itself, but I am incredibly grateful that I did because my #1 song for this list did not actually chart on the year-end hot 100 for 1991, despite placing in the top 20 that year. So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I present my absolute favorite song of 1991, courtesy of one Mr. Marc Cohn.

#1. Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn)

This song really snuck up on me. When I first heard about it and listened to little snippets of it, I didn’t think much of it. It just seemed like another bland, adult-alternative track that didn’t really bring much to the table. However, when I realized it charted in 1991, I decided I would give it a listen and, to my surprise, I found myself really getting into it. And with subsequent listens I found myself enjoying it more and more. I’m not even sure I can properly explain everything that I love about this song, but damn if I’m not going to try.

The first thing I guess jumps out at me about the song is the piano intro, which as simple as it is, works well as the backbone of the song. It’s not muddy to the point that it blends into the rest of the music, but it’s soft enough that it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the song. That brings us to Marc Cohn’s vocal performance. With the song’s purpose as basically being to celebrate the music and history of Memphis, his vocal delivery shows that he clearly loves what he’s singing about. His voice is a lot less rough compared to Klaus Meine’s, but that doesn’t make it sound any less sincere. As for the song progression, I think it does a beautiful job at adding new layers to the instrumentation with each subsequent chorus, starting with the piano, the second chorus adding the drums and guitar, swelling up after the second chorus, dying back down to the piano after the bridge before bringing everything else back in and adding a gospel choir for the final chorus. And finally, bringing the song full circle by stripping back down to the piano for the outro as Marc Cohn repeats the first verse again. 

What about the lyrics though? Well, as I said, the song focuses on the music and history of Memphis; the song itself is actually describing a visit that Marc Cohn took to Memphis in 1986. The first verse mentions his arrival, as well as W. C. Handy, a blues legend, and mentions Cohn’s ‘blue suede shoes,’ a reference to Carl Perkins, who recorded a song of the same name, though with the second verse’s focus on Elvis and the fact that his cover became the more well-known version of the song the lyric is often misattributed to him. The main focus of the song, however, comes right at the final verse, when Cohn describes meeting a woman named Muriel at the Hollywood Café. She invited him to perform for the patrons and the two spoke about Cohn’s life, particularly his feelings regarding his parents’ deaths and learning to let go and move on. In the song, she asks if he’s a Christian, and though he’s actually Jewish, he responds, “Ma’am, I am tonight”. This seems to reflect the ability to acknowledge and share in something bigger than oneself, not just being tolerant of another person’s religion, rather being able to find cause to celebrate it with them.

The song describes a person’s unique experience with something bigger than himself, and how it ultimately left him feeling differently than he had when he began. This is exactly what I meant before when I talked about great music presenting a unique experience that could not possibly be repeated by anyone, and it’s for this reason that it is my choice for the number one song of 1991.