Votes due Wednesday, April 20th at 8 pm EST. Are you excited? I’m excited. I have been waiting for months to see how this final bracket would shake out. Now that it has been finalized, I am not disappointed. To date we have had 101 individual voters at one point or another submit scores on 45 play-in match-ups, 256 first round match-ups, 128 second round match-ups, 64 Division Quarterfinals, 32 Division Semifinals, and 16 Division Finals. Strange to think after all 541 of these contests, we only have 15 more match-ups on which to vote before we have our Tournament Champion. I agree with Garcia’s oft-quoted line from “Truckin'”- lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been. And it’s not over yet.
The Sweetest Sixteen will be the last round in which we do four match-ups at a time; starting with the Most Elite Eight on Friday, we’ll be going to two at a time. Remember, every song that has made it this far has come out on top of thirty-one worthy competitors, so let’s all try to respect their accomplishment to date, really listen to these songs, and score with our heartiest of hearts.
Grooveshark link is here except for Twist and Shout and Golden Slumbers Medley. Vote by commenting on this post or by e-mailing LTDdotorg@gmail.com. Best of luck to all songs, but may the most worthy melody advance.
#1 Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie) vs. #16 Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen): For all his working class spunk and the recent surge in average scores for his surviving song, Springsteen has quite the draw here- Under Pressure averaged an 8.1264 among its single round means, including an LTDMT record 8.596 in the Round of 512. Is the Cinderella story over, or does The Boss have one last chance to make it real?
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#8 Twist And Shout (The Beatles) vs. #9 Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley): One couldn’t imagine an odder pairing- both amazing and worthy for completely, completely different reasons. Who is going to take this middle of the road pairing, the song you’d hear at a wedding or the song you’d hear at a wake?
#4 Baba O’Riley (The Who) vs. #13 Golden Slumbers Medley (The Beatles): This may be a good spot to mention that while The Beatles did advance three songs to the Sweetest Sixteen, two of them ended up as underdogs in the rerack. In the meantime, Baba posted the second highest single round average of the entire tournament in its Division Championship with an incredible 8.5676. Is the best from The Who still to come, or are the Fab Four going to carry that weight right through this synthesizer?
#5 Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) vs. #12 Piano Man (Billy Joel): No single song has seen a more dramatic collapse in average scoring than Piano Man, and maybe our first inclination is to coyly say, “man, what are you doing here?” Meanwhile, Queen’s second Sweet Sixteen survivor claims the honor of the song with the smallest range among its average scores across rounds; with a minimum 7.69 and a maximum of 8.227, BR is the investment grade bet of the Sweetest Sixteen. Then again, Standard & Poor’s just cut the ratings outlook of U.S. government debt from “stable” to “negative” today- there’s just no such thing as a sure thing these days. Can Billy turn things around and capitalize here?
Living the Dream 
Under Pressure 8.9
Thunder Road 10
I want to clarify that I haven’t chosen to give Thunder Road a 10 the last consecutive rounds just because I blindly want The Boss go on- I don’t think Janos or Mark O have either.
The beauty of music tournaments is that as the field narrows, you listen to songs harder and harder- I liked this song when the tourney started, but I didn’t love it like I think I do now. I would have taken Born To Run, Atlantic City, Dancing In The Dark, I’m Going Down, or Because The Night over Thunder Road. I’m not sure that’s the case anymore- this song is about not giving up on hope. Yes, so is Under Pressure. But Under Pressure seems like more of a universal “don’t give up on hope” statement to the world and not intimately accessible, whereas Thunder Road is a story about two people in a town, in the sunset where I imagine New Jersey transformer towers glowing in the ochre distance and a boy with a dirty jacket standing on a browning lawn looking up at a girl, standing on a porch that should have been repainted years before. Sure, these are both songs about hope, but only Thunder Road gives me something I can wrap my heart around, a scene I can imagine. I don’t think you can love driving or porches without loving Thunder Road. This is the hope that remains when all my ideas about how it was all going to be when I was a naive 16 fell away year by year. And it tells me that everytime I hear it. It’s perfect. And even though it will likely fall this round, it falls with the respect I know it deserves.
Twist And Shout 7.5
Hallelujah 8.2
Didn’t see this coming. I think Hallelujah is the only song left that I’ve played in its entirety on my guitar before (considering two of the founding members of Kittens Ablaze put this song on the Wall last round, I say “played on the guitar” very liberally. campfire liberally. and definitely not like Buckley does. Definitely not like he does at all.)
Baba O’Riley 7.5
Golden Slumbers Medley 7.8
If I didn’t see my last vote coming like I got hit by a dodgeball, I didn’t see this coming like I got hit by a Fukushima Prefecture bullet train. Ok Danno, I’ll give it to you. This is pretty good. I’ll carry that weight.
Bohemian Rhapsody 9.4
Piano Man 5
Um Bohemian Rhapsody is awesome. Is everyone listening to this whole thing in the way I am now? Piano Man, you are starting to get really annoying. Sorry Billy- only the good die young.
booyah!
#1 Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie) 9 vs. #16 Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen) 3
I love a good xylophone song, but the Boss has way better material than Thunder Road and this is just not a worthy representative. Under Pressure, on the other hand, has so many great parts and moods packed into it that it’s hard to resist the temptation to give it a ten. But we can’t give tens to everyone, so it gets a nine.
#8 Twist And Shout (The Beatles) 10 vs. #9 Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley) 3: No disrespect to Buckley and his legendary rock and roll death, but Hallelujah is a Leonard Cohen song, and a cover of a song that was already pretty damn good in the original doesn’t deserve to go into the elite eight. Twist and Shout, also a cover, is not just the definitive version of this particular song, but perhaps the greatest song from rock’s Golden Age (loosely defined as the era between Elvis and Dylan’s introduction of fancy lyrics to the genre- Johnny B. Goode is also a contender in this category that I wish had made it farther). Plus, Twist and Shout will always be the song that made the people dance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and if that’s not a qualification for best song ever, I don’t know what is.
#4 Baba O’Riley (The Who) 7 vs. #13 Golden Slumbers Medley (The Beatles) 3:
The Golden Slumbers Medley helps me understand why John came to hate Paul: the lyrics are overwrought, the music is melodramatic and it comes off as having been written by someone who was completely self-absorbed (which it was). But perhaps the worst thing about it is that it’s just not that cool. John gave the Beatles an edge, but by the time they recorded Abbey Road, Paul’s megalomania had gotten out of hand. My 3 is in honor of John Lennon, who should have had at least one representative in the sweet sixteen (I guess Twist and Shout is a John song, but not one of the angry fuck-you-Paul John songs that we know and love).
#5 Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) 8 vs. #12 Piano Man (Billy Joel) 3:
I always liked Bohemian Rhapsody, but it wasn’t until I sang along to the whole thing at the top of my lungs while someone was karaokeing it that I really appreciated its complexity. It’s a little hokey, but I think you have to include the part of the song that Wayne and Garth rock out to in Wayne’s World (“So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye?”) among the most electrifying moments in any rock song.
Billy Joel was the first concert I went to, so I feel bad trashing him, but this song is best left back at Jewish summer camp where I found it.
Brilliance- the most consistent voter in the whole tourney, after biting his tongue for months, lets loose a barrage of opinion fit to turn a king. Even if we don’t find a venue to do the finals party, Marconi, I demand you allow me to take you out for a night of debaucherous commentary. Hopefully at Red Derby.
Consider it a deal. I’m hoping I’ll be in town on the 30th, but if not, we’ll make it happen post finale.
Under Pressure 9
Thunder Road 9
I can’t choose! Does anyone else think of kermit the frog when they hear under pressure?
Twist And Shout 7.5
Hallelujah 9
Baba O’Riley 8
Golden Slumbers Medley 10
Baba had an 8.5 but lost half a point on the dismount.
Bohemian Rhapsody 10
Piano Man 9
Under Pressure 9
Thunder Road 3
Twist And Shout 9
Hallelujah 4.5
Baba O’Riley 5.5
Golden Slumbers Medley 10
Bohemian Rhapsody 7.5
Piano Man 9
Under Pressure [7.9]
Thunder Road [10]
Twist And Shout [8.3]
Hallelujah [7.7]
Baba O’Riley [7.9]
Golden Slumbers Medley [8.5]
Bohemian Rhapsody [7]
Piano Man [9]
Thunder Road: 10.0
Under Pressure: 9.5
Twist and Shout: 10.0
Hallelujah: 9.5
Baba O’Rielly: 9.0
Golden Slumbers Medley: 7.5
Bohemian Rhapsody: 9.0
Piano Man: 8.5
Under Pressure 9
Thunder Road 4.5
-to be fair, i seriously gave Thunder Road a close listen, actually multiple close listens. i concluded that thunder road is a very well-disguised country song and not my thing. also, whoever thought it would be a good idea to have a xylophone solo doubling clarence’s sax melody at the end deserves to have his teeth knocked out.
buckley sings with a lot more feeling…
Twist And Shout 8.5
Hallelujah 6.0
– a not top 15 beatles song easily cruises with an 8.5
Baba O’Riley 9.5
Golden Slumbers Medley 10
– beatles perfection vs. the who’s best. it’s close, but still so so far
Bohemian Rhapsody 9.5
Piano Man 7.5
– bohemian rhapsody sing-along kicks the shit out of piano man sing-along. at least 8X more epic. no offense to billy and his army of young upwardly mobile professionals uptown, but Queen is a fucking juggernaut and Piano Man is standing on the tracks with the train coming through
Under Pressure: 7.5
Thunder Road: 9
Twist And Shout: 5
Hallelujah: 9
Baba O’Riley: 7.5
Golden Slumbers Medley: 8
Bohemian Rhapsody: 7
Piano Man: 9
Under Pressure 8
Thunder Road 5
Twist And Shout 8
Hallelujah 5
Baba O’Riley 7.5
Golden Slumbers Medley 4
Bohemian Rhapsody 9
Piano Man 6
I’m a little late to the party. Oops.
#1 Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie) vs. #16 Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen)
Yeah…I can’t figure it out either, but apparently I’ve never heard “Thunder Road” before. I was so confused that I probably missed out on most of the best parts of the song. It didn’t have the instant click “OMG, LOOOOOVE” factor though.
Under Pressure – 8
Thunder Road – 4
#8 Twist And Shout (The Beatles) vs. #9 Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley)
I don’t care who sings it. I love “Hallelujah.” It completely absorbs me.
Twist and Shout – 6
Hallelujah – 10
#4 Baba O’Riley (The Who) vs. #13 Golden Slumbers Medley (The Beatles):
“GSM” kinda went off the tracks somewhere around 3:30…really, THESE are the Beatles songs that made it this far? “Baba O’Riley” by a landslide.
Baba O’Riley – 9
Golden Slumbers Melody – 5
#5 Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) vs. #12 Piano Man (Billy Joel):
Two of my favorite songs to sing along to…even if “Piano Man” is horribly overplayed at all piano bars, ever. The song evokes a run-down hotel bar with run-down regulars, not the crowds that mob dueling piano bars. The 100-person drunk sing-along (including me) doesn’t quite capture the right feeling. I digress. I like the song, and I like the clarity of that single experience. But it can’t compare to Queen’s 6-minute opera.
Bohemian Rhapsody – 10
Piano Man – 7
Welcome Liz!
Under Pressure (Reina) ~ 8.9
Thunder Road (El Supervisor) ~ 2
Under Pressure starts at a 10, but there’s a sort of cacophanous bunch of yelling at the end that brings it under 9. I kept giving Thunder Road a chance, but liked it less with each listen. Its just not melodic enough for me, the vocals don’t mix well with the instruments, the instruments are each great on their own, but don’t harmonize with each other. Not a top 500 song of all time by a long shot.
Twist And Shout (Los Escarabajos) ~ 9.5
Hallelujah (Jefe Ciervomente) ~ 6.5
Twist and Shout is f-ing awesome. What a cool song… maybe my favorite Beatles’ ditty. Hallelujah loses a little bit for me each round, guess the novelty is wearing off.
Baba O’Riley (El Quien) ~ 10
Golden Slumbers Medley (Los Coleopteros) ~ 3
Baba O’Riley does the impossible: it makes me love synthesizers. I can’t stand what they did to music in the 80s, but they work so well in Baba O’Riley that I don’t care. Just an epic song on all levels. Golden Slumbers blew me away when I heard it at the beginning of the tournament, but the breakdowns piss me off now. Not cohesive enough to advance.
Bohemian Rhapsody (Viuda) ~ 9.7
Piano Man (Guillermo Joel) ~ 7.6
Bohemian Rhapsody is everything a rock song wants to be when it grows up. Piano Man is alot of fun, losing steam though…
BTW, anyone who gave Golden Slumbers a 10 should relisten to it around 3:30, and think long and hard about giving any song with an extended Ringo bass drum solo such a high score…
Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump… pure genius!
relistened…still a 10 🙂
Apparently Ringo didn’t want to solo, but Paul wrote the song so that he, John and George would each have interwoven guitar solos through the final measures and he thought Ringo should get his moment too.
extended ringo solo is so good that keith moon copied it almost note for note on won’t get fooled again http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Won+t+Get+Fooled+Again/24iozC?src=5 (7:40 mark)
still a 10. side two of abbey road has no equal.
Under Pressure: 9 Thunder Road: 5
Twist and Shout: 8 Hallelujah 7
Baba O’Reilly: 10 Golden Slumbers Medley: 7
Bohemian Rhapsody: 9.5 Piano Man: 9
welcome back Stephenk! Keep voting!
Under Pressure = 8.5
Thunder Road = 6
Twist And Shout = 7
Hallelujah = 2
Baba O’Riley = 8.5
Golden Slumbers Medley = 8
Let’s get together before we get much older
Bohemian Rhapsody = 8
Piano Man = 8.5
Actually listening to these songs changed my vote. Bohemian Rhapsody is technically the better song, but there’s still some lines in piano man that don’t go away, and that’s why it’s overplayed.
Me / Cristina
Under Pressure 7.5 7.5
Thunder Road 10 9
“What fools these mortals be.”
– Puck, upon Thunder Road’s demise.
Under Pressure is a former personal tournament champion, so I’m cool with it, but that loooong Mercury falsetto right before Bowie’s closing was torturous tonight, and the “turn the volume down” factor is costly in this late a round.
Twist And Shout 7 8.5
Hallelujah 4 6
My least favorite Sweet 16 match up. And god am I tired of Hallelujah. I actually turned to Cristina and asked, “So what do you give this maudlin horsesh*t?” But I fully expect it to advance to the quarterfinals, where I can vote against it again.
Baba O’Riley 11 9
Golden Slumbers Medley 7.8 10
I’m fine with using my 11 here. Baba is rock and roll. I just don’t know how much more rock and roll you can get than this.
Bohemian Rhapsody 9 8
Piano Man 7 8.5
Under Pressure: 8
Thunder Road: 4.5
I don’t particularly care for Mr. Springsteen. Maybe because I grew up too far away from New Jersey. My musical journey has been shaped by Freddie Mercury and David Bowie far more than by The Boss, for better or for worse.
Twist And Shout: 3.5
Hallelujah: 11
Twist & Shout has too much screaming for me.
And I know that Hallelujah is a cover. I think that the Buckley cover is far superior to the original Cohen. I think it is hauntingly beautiful. Looking at the votes above, I’m afraid that my Hallelujah ship is sinking, sadly, but if that is the case, Jeff and I will go down in the blaze of my 11’s glory. (Maybe there’s a God above and this beautiful song will advance?)
Baba O’Riley: 9.75
Golden Slumbers Medley: 4
Yay Baba O’Riley! Such fun! I like the Lullabye portion of Golden Slumbers but I never understood why the Beatles would want to lull me to sleep and then wake me up a minute or so later with the loud stuff. I also like the very very end of the song, which is a nice sentiment. But the middle just kills it for me.
Bohemian Rhapsody: 8
Piano Man: 6
And Africa weighs in with some new voters that may switch things up a bit. I tried bribing them to vote to my persuasion….but no such luck.
Under Pressure:
WOW, this song just does not wear out. Love it.
Kate: 10
Dennis: 8
Jo: 6
Rob: 5
Dre: 10
Thunder Road
Kate: 8
Dennis: 8
Rob: 10
Jo: 9
Dre: 9
Twist and Shout: Already said how I feel about this song…
Kate: 5
Dennis: 8
Jo: 9
Rob: 10
Dre: 8
Hallelujah:
Kate: 9
Dennis: 5
Jo: 8
Rob: 2
Dre: 9
Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie): 9
Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen): 7.5
Twist And Shout (The Beatles): 7
Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley): 8.5
Baba O’Riley (The Who): 6
Golden Slumbers Medley (The Beatles): 6.5
Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen): 7
Piano Man (Billy Joel): 7.5
Second half of our vote:
The Who:
Dre: 6
Rob: 7
Jo: 6
Kate: 6
Dennys: 6
Golden Slumbers: Love the first minute of this song, hate the rest of it…
Dre: 4
Rob: 7
Jo: 8
Kate: 4
Dennys: 3
Bohemian Rhapsody:
Rhapsody gets better and better with repeated listening. Piano Man, surprisingly does not…
BR:
Dre: 9
Rob: 8
Jo: 8
Kate: 9
Dennys: 7
Piano Man:
Dre: 8
Rob: 5
Jo: 9
Kate: 4
Dennys: 8
Well, I’m a bit late to the party here, Will, but I suddenly find myself with some “free time” before finals and felt I should use it in this excellent tournament. My roommate Andrew decided to get in on the action as well (after disagreeing with my opinions), so I’m putting his scores to the right of mine.
Thunder Road-8.5, 8 Under Pressure-7.5, 9
Hallelujah- 4, 5 Twist and Shout: 9, 7
I feel I should justify the Hallelujah score with the statement that perpetually hearing that song on the piano throughout the run of Our Town may have poisoned my opinion, but I feel now and have always felt that that song needs a piano and an honest storyteller’s voice to be GREAT and I don’t hear either of those in Buckley’s version. Twist and Shout is also among my personal fave’s of the Beatles, so maybe the contrast contributed a bit because I know I’ve heard that cover in a more favorable light in the past.
Golden Slumber Medley-5, 7 Baba O’Reilly- 9, 8
Bohemian Rhapsody- 9, 8 Piano Man- 6.5, 11
Andrew was most upset Piano Man was doing so badly, and insisted on using his 11.
Hey dude! First of all, great seeing you Sunday, you killed it in your play. Second, I don’t mean to burst Andrew’s bubble but you only get an 11 if you recruit another person to vote in the tournament. So you get an 11 to use in the future for recruiting Andrew, but Andrew doesn’t get one until he finds somebody else to vote. Which should be easy since you live in a dormitory- we’ll count his Piano Man score as a 10. Case Western in the house!
Wow this has been a painful day. Massive computer virus has crippled my firm’s ability to surf the internet – IE/Firefox have been crashing within 60 seconds of being opened on average, and it’s been ugly. We’ve actually had to work. So weird.
Things seem to be doing better so I thought I’d post what I emailed to Janos/GMo earlier so I can get in on the fun.
Under Pressure 6.8
Thunder Road 6.5
This song has been fading for me…. Other Queen tracks have been kicking ass in my personal tournament, and somehow this one has slipped.
Twist and Shout 7.8
Hellelujah 2.5
The bloom is off of Buckley’s rose. What can I say. Bounce back performance by twist – could definitely give Under Pressure a run.
Baba O’Reily 8
Golden Slumbers Medley 4.5
The medley failed this time – carry that weight is still terrific, but the other pieces just don’t have the pop right now. If the opening to Baba O’Reily can’t pump you up, you might be clinically deceased – and after some good but not great performances, that was very welcome.
Bohemian Rhapsody 10
Piano Man 7
Now here was a cruel twist of fate. Piano Man scored well enough to beat half the participants, but gets pounded by a serious monster. This is Freddie on top of his game (too bad I Want It All isn’t in here… my other favorite Queen anthem), and hardly anyone can match that talent level.
So many people! Fun!
Under Pressure (7)
Thunder Road (9)
Twist & Shout (8.5)
Hallelujah (6.5)
Baba O’Riley (6.5)
Golden Slumbers (6)
Bohemian Rhapsody (7.5)
Piano Man (6)
Thunder Road: 4.9
Under Pressure: 8.3
Twist and Shout: 8.9
Hallelujah: 9.3
Baba O’Rielly: 9.3
Golden Slumbers Medley: 7.4
Bohemian Rhapsody: 8.8
Piano Man: 1.2 Longest 5:38 of my day.
Under Pressure 7
Thunder Road 8.5
Twist and Shout 7.5
Hallelujah 8.5
Baba O’Rielly 9.5
Golden Slumbers Medley 8
Bohemian Rhapsody 10
Piano Man 7
Wish I had an 11 for BR
Under Pressure 8.0
Thunder Road 6.5
Twist & Shout 8.3
Hallelujah 8.0 [did not enjoy it today –way too stressed nad busy to take the time to listne close–but it still drew me in, which is saying something amazing about the quality here, even when you fight it, it still takes over.
Baba O’Riley 8.5
Golden Slumbers 10 [was not expecting this at all]
Bohemian Rhapsody 6.5 (guitar at end is amazing but too campy for me today]
Piano Man 7 just campy enough
Time zones! They are confusing! When you say 8pm EST… that is three hours before 8pm here on the West Coast, huh? Well. You can count this or not, work has been all-consuming and I can’t access this from work to get it done by 5pm (the Site Blocked Man wags his finger at me). I’m voting anyway.
Under Pressure 8.5
Thunder Road 4.5
So I really listened to Thunder Road. And there’s this moment at about 1:20 of where I really expect the song to pick up in a different melodic way than it does. And but what it actually does is much flatter… and I think that’s how I feel about Bruce’s vocals on this one. Pretty flat. Bowie and Freddy? Whatever the opposite of flat is.
Twist & Shout 6
Hallelujah 8
There are some days Twist & Shout gets me going (now. Like I knew it would). Tonight… not so much. I think the recording quality makes a big difference to the experience of that song. The bass has to hit it.
Baba O’Riley 7
Golden Slumbers 4
I stand by my comment that a medley just shouldn’t be considered for best song. It’s kind of like cheating because you get like 3 songs in one, but it’s also not coherent enough as a single good song. I honestly don’t really even know how to rank if if I really think about it. Since a strong arc is important to me in a song… I’m gonna rank it low.
Bohemian Rhapsody 10
Piano Man 7.5
Okay. So anyone who’s been paying attention to my comments knows how I feel about Freddy Mercury. That is, that he may have been some sort of celestial presence loaned to us briefly from a heaven I don’t believe in but for the existence of Freddy Mercury. Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t my favorite Queen song (that honor would go to ’39, an album track off A Night at the Opera), but it sure showcases what’s amazing about Freddy as a vocalist and a musician. Tonight I was also feeling Piano Man. It’s truly catchy and has a lot of soul in addition to some great lyrics.