Pretty songs are pretty okay?

[Otter]

Okay, so, I had a cool conversation with some fellow lifeguards about music today and one thing we mostly agreed on was that, outside of the basic spectrum of good-music-we-like versus bad-music-we-don't, there's a very qualitative "is this song pretty to me or not" judgment being made about music.  Some people thought it had everything to do with the vocals, and even in that group there were divisions about what was the key: the songwriting, singing ability of the vocalist, sheer emotional intensity, etc. etc..  Some people were calling out classical pieces, you know, pretty wide range.  Not much talk about videogame music but I have no reason to believe that isn't included as well.

So yeah.  This is intentionally even more subjective than asking "What are some of your favorite songs?"  This is asking "What are some songs you find especially pretty?" and the definition for "pretty" is left purposefully vague.  Go with your gut.  It seems like most people can answer pretty easily without thinking too hard about it, although some people feel kind of dorky even describing music that way.  But come on, right?

If you want to try and explain your idea of prettiness for music, or justify an odd-seeming choice, go ahead but it's by no means necessary.  Just rattle off a few names if you wanna.


When the question was posed to me, I almost immediately thought of "Jesus, Etc." by Wilco and then both "Planet Telex" and "Exit Music (For a Film)" by Radiohead.  "New Slang" by The Shins was thought of a bit later and seemed to fit for me.  If you don't recognize any of those songs, then uh, I guess I tried?  On the subject of videogame music, I am also forced to admit (with at least a degree of embarrassment) that I get a definite prettiness vibe from FF7's world map theme.

There is definitely music that sounds the opposite of pretty to me, you could call it ugly if you wanted, and I still like it a bunch in some cases.  That wasn't the case for some people I talked to today (they thought of prettiness as more of a have-it-or-you-don't thing), so I'll mention it.

[Hunter Sopko]

I've always thought both Hybrid Rainbow and One Life by The Pillows were very pretty. The bridges in both are very well done and the entirety of both songs have a lot of feeling in them, both instrumentally and vocally.

[Veryslightlymad]

Some that spring to mind

Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune is ridiculously pretty. Probably my favorite piece of music.

Some songs:

Don McLean ~ Vincent
~Only song that can move me to any sort of emotion. That says something, probably.

Elvis Costello ~ Alison
~The beginning of the song here. The very first note or chord or whatever. That's enough for me. It cements it as pretty.

Fiona Apple ~ Oh Well
~The Titular words at the end of the song, and the way Fiona sings them. It's very melancholy.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

...Fuck You, I'm Drunk? It's pretty to me.

[Ultradude]

Well I'm partial to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but I probably need to listen to more classical music... and, you know, actually remember who's what kind of what it was and when and whatever. Stupid so-and-so's nth symphony.

Anyways, I'll go with some classic rock right here, and probably make a few more posts with other stuff as it bubbles to the surface of my mind. I find prettiness in power ballads, blame my dad for raising me on Van Halen and Def Leppard.

KISS - Hard Luck Woman, Beth
Obligatory KISS fan answers. Beth is probably more well known? If so, more people need to hear Hard Luck Woman. Well, if they like KISS.

Tesla - Love Song
Easy choice here. A favorite of both my father and myself.

Firehouse - Love of a Lifetime
I requested it as a slow dance song at my prom. My date liked it (maybe a bit too sappy for a girl I was only casually dating...), and my friend must have liked it too since her date gave me a thumbs up.

Night Ranger - Sister Christian
It's lamenting about a little sister growing up too fast. A little meaningful to me as a big brother, though thankfully my little sister isn't one to be "motoring" for "Mr. Right". Yet T_T

Alright, that's enough for now. I'll be back later with more! Maybe it'll be Japanese, or from a video game, or something.

[superaielman]

Vivaldi's four seasons is great, but Winter 2 really stands out to me. Just a 'perfect' pretty piece. Couple of other pieces in the same style (VG examples would be SoA's intro screen music and DQ4r's Unknown Castle) are good in the same vein. Rock music in the pretty vein I would have to think on.

God of Wine (Third eye blind) is a good starter though.

[Bardiche]

Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Bach's Orchestral Suites.

Pachelbel's canon is pretty, too.

I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack is a terrific song as well, very beautiful~

As are Yesterday from the Beatles... Rainy Days and Mondays from the Carpenters...

Mamboleo from Elissa... Home from Alan Jackson... Far too many to just idly name.

On videogame music, I am not at all embarassed to admit Aeris's Theme from FF7 usually gets me all teary.

[Grefter]

Four Seasons is of course excellent.  Winter is kind of cliche for pretty now though as is Autumn (goddamned Hollywood).  Spring and Summer both have their high points though.

Shostakovich, take your pick I like pretty much all of it even the jarring stuff it is all pretty.

Tom Waits - Martha, Soldier's Things, Flower's Grave.  Any of the stuff like that.  His early piano ballad stuff lends itself to this a lot more and stuff where he is singing more than barking also helps.  Though only 2 of the mentioned ones fits that description, so take that as you will.  Invitation to the Blues.  Mmmmmm Tom Waits.

NIck Cave and Kylie Minogue - Where the Wild Roses Grow.  Classic love song structure stuff which is also a classic Murder Ballad setup I believe.  So that isn't really shocking.

David Bowie - 5:15 The Angels are Gone.  Letter to Hermione, stuff like that.

Oh yeah Beatles are good and Aeris Theme is a piece of emotional blackmail in music form.

[superaielman]

Apocalyptica in general fits here. Ruska alone would put them up there, but a few others (Farewell) are just that good.

[InfinityDragon]

Vivaldi's Four Seasons is good, but doesn't doesn't hold a candle to his Concerto for Oboe and Strings in A minor.

Other good stuff (the following should be mandatory listening for everyone!):

Bach - The Brandenburg Concertos
Bach - The Goldberg Variations
Bach - Preludes and Fugues (C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, G minor, A minor, and Bb major...BWV 553-559)
Bach - Tocatta and Fugue in D minor
Handel - "Messiah"

Mozart - Symphony No.40 in G minor
Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major
Mozart - Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# major ("Moonlight Sonata")...Mvmt. 3, Presto, in particular
Beethoven  - Symphony No. 7 in A major
Beethoven - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major
Haydn - Symphony No. 94
Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor

Borodin - Prince Igor
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite, Final Waltz and Apotheosis
Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No.1 in D major
Bruch - Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor
Dvorak - Symphony No.9 in E minor ("From the New World" symphony)
Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 and No. 2
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor

Mmm...I think this list will suffice for now. It is far from complete though.

[NotMiki]

"Tomodachi" and "Kaze ga Fuku ni" from the Vision of Escaflowne.

"Thankyou" Dido

"The World I Know" Collective Soul

"Baby Universe" We Love Katamari