Tom Sawyer is the greatest clasic rock song. Ever.

Fleetwood Mac

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Tom Sawyer. I hated that song for as long as I could remember until it finally grew on me a couple of years ago. Good song.


The best classic rock song is When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin.

Prove it by Television is a close second.

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Hmm. I have the Tom Sawyer song stuck in my head now.

And I'm not even sure what the song is about.

I prefer...

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and most especially ...

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I remember watching a parade or a bowl game or something back in the day with a video production of that song that featured the marching band in a field with rolling hills and yu could hear the buildup before you saw the USC band (you could see FM) and just at the crescendo of the USC band really kicking in (about 1:40 in the above vid) the band began to emerge over the crest of the hill

It was one of the nicest little bit of video production I've ever seen to this day and the image is embedded in my brain

Some of my nominees, in no particular order:

Often one song represents several others by the artist which might be listed)

Doobie Brothers: China Grove, What a Fool Believe, Taken it to the Street, and many others including-
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ZZ Topp - Tush, Gimmie All your Lovin and many others including...
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Lynyrd Skynyrd - too many to name but the obvious "anthem" is...
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Journey - Lights, Wheel in the Sky, Don't Stop Believin and so many others my favorite of which is...
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Foreigner - many I've mentionedearlier including
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Queen - a dozen songs probably, musically this one might roch the most...
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ELO - easily a dozen songs...how about
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U2 has so many but in keeping with the thread i'll cite an old one but a good one...
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CCR - almost every song but this one rocks...
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Bob Seger - Dozens but you can't go wrong with
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REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity offers several but I'll go with...

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AC/DC - a list would be silly but let's go with the breakout hit:
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Man...I'll miss so many but this is taking too long for this time of night...plus there are scores of "few hit wonders" to represent...I'll let [yt=Twilight Zone]kXXhlZl8Ofc[/yt] stand in for them for now...

It has to be:
"Stairway to Heaven"
"Freebird"
or
"The Bohemian Rhapsody".

Thank you.....now I know I'm not the only one who doesn't know what the song is about.

As for Freebird, I'm about to reach my limit. I'm almost 50 now...I have heard this song too many times. I'm sure there's an absolute limit, and it could come any day now. I hear your head explodes...you'll never know what hit you!

I'll be 43 in a few months and I've "reached my limit" on just about every song that's been mentioned in this thread.

I'm not saying that they're not good tunes, but I've heard most of them enough to last me the rest of this life and probably the next life, too.

Hang in there you've almost reached the halfway point.

Seriously, if that song were any longer they'd still be recording it.

I dunno, I still listen to "Freebird" every now and again... I just skip to the solo.

I also prefer "Working Man" to "Tom Sawyer" in Rush's catalogue. It just rocked harder, IMO. I would rate "War Pigs" above TS, but below WM.

CCR is pretty awesome, as well.

I was killing time in Walmart once (waiting on my family), and came
across Lynyrd Skynyrd.......extended versions.

I couldn't bear to look at the playlist on the back.....my brain would have
went nuclear.

Interesting anecdote about Freebird...

It was our Senior Class song in 1981 and the calls officers had obtained permission to play the song as a recessional when we left the field at the end of the ceremony.

so when the dramatic moment came and the button was pushed to start the tape - it was in backwards and our admiring frineds and family were treated to 15 seconds or so of "That Smell" instead.

Ahhhh....good times....

Man I love Freebird.

Maybe they're not rock, but at my funeral, I want "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum played on a constant loop. Then I want to be shot into space with vapor trails coming off the casket. I ain't going underground. I'm going to the Spirit in the Sky.

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J.

There's a demo version of Freebird on Skynyrd's box set that's absolutely amazing and it comes in under eight minutes. It's a great, great cut.

I think you meant to say horrible.

Totally agree....."Bastille Day" rocks thoroughly too. "Fly by Night" also!
"Closer to The Heart" is a great one too.

Rush in their prime had a clearer, better produced sound. Vocals were way, way louder in the mix.

Then they got a more "layered" sound + mucked it up.
Learn from AC/DC....don't mess with a sure thing!