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My five - Sriram Nathan

Van Halen

This song, part of the 1991 album, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, is all about living for the moment. According to vocalist Sammy Hagar, he was writing the lyrics to this song late one night, when he heard Eddie Van Halen in an adjacent room working on a piano melody. Hagar suddenly realized that “we were writing the same song.” The track features crisp vocals, guitar and drums; we also get one of the best videos ever to have been shot. Great effort, this one. The video won three awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, including the award for Video of the Year.

This is the only song we remember of a group which has since disappeared into oblivion although they do have other classics. The lyrics “owner of a lonely heart/ much better than/ a owner of a broken heart!!” essentially is the whole song!!! The song was the opening track in their 1983 album 90125. Written primarily by Trevor Rabin (who was new to the band at the time), the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The background keyboard and guitars aptly support the track.

Everything was right for R.E.M. in this song: the sound, the video showing a very ageing angel falling from heaven and the hard-hitting vocals. R.E.M. has always been remembered by this song even though they have produced other classics such as Everybody Hurts. Sample the lyrics, “Oh no I’ve said too much/ I haven’t said enough!!. The song was released as the first single from the group’s 1991 album Out of Time. It was nominated for several Grammy Awards, and won two for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Short Form Music Video.

Roth was the lead vocalist of Van Halen, before deciding to go solo. A lot was riding on him to prove himself and he did exactly that! Teaming up with the talented guitarist, Steve Vai, Roth released Skyscraper in 1988, a more experimental offering than the first solo album. According to Roth, the song was originally requested as the theme song of the television serial ‘Beverly Hills 90210’. Skyscraper was co-produced by Roth and Vai, and displayed the growing influence of the guitarist, featuring on many songs the dense layers of compressed guitars that gave it a unique sound. The album was certified platinum (1 million in sales) reaching No:6 on the Billboard album chart.

Magic from Jimmy Page and Robert Plant! Composed for the band’s fourth studio album, Led Zeppelin IV (1971), the song was voted No: 3 in 2000 by VH1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs. It is the most requested song on FM radio stations in the U.S., despite never having been released as a single there. Plant’s own explanation of the lyrics was that it “was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all the time without giving back any thought or consideration”!! It starts slowly and softly and finally reaches a peak with the guitars and drums beating in full frenzy.

Soul Asylum: Runaway Train

Bon Jovi: Runaway

The Eagles: Hotel California

Journey: Trial by Fire

Whitesnake: Crying in the Rain

(Dr. Sriram Nathan is a Consultant ENT and Head and Neck surgeon in Chennai)

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