Paul Simon on SNL with Lorne Michaels. Classic skit.
Right now all of the matches are in the Game 3-4-5 stretch where the underdogs have to nominate their songs first. Coaches on both sides have to start going to their big songs to survive, and second-round songs have to look at what they have left in the tank. Listen here, and vote by commenting before 9pm (EST) on Tuesday. And now, results:
Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen) smashes Lover’s Rock (Clash), 122-86. In a classic example of using home team status strategically, Cristina saw Gmo nominate this titan, and responded with the innocuous Lover’s Rock rather than waste a top Clash song. Now the burden is on her for the next three games, with the series knotted at 1-1.
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin) dummies Dance Magic Dance (David Bowie), 99-80. Grant faced a similar scenario to Cristina, and similarly conceded ground as Led Zepp ties the series 1-1.
Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac) defeats Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (Paul Simon), 109-96. Mark B. was pulling his hair out when Mac was down early for the third game in a row, but people broke hard for the Rumors hit late. Paul Simon still leads the series 2-1.
For Once In My Life (Stevie Wonder) cruises over Walk (Foo Fighters), 114-94. Now down 3-0, Coach Astrid is turning to a mid-90s masterpiece to stave off elimination.
Semi-finals Game 3
The River (Bruce Springsteen) vs. Straight to Hell (Clash)
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin)
Undercard Game 4
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac)
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters)
Living the Dream 
This is no word of a lie – don’t do that to me again, people…I like my hair very much
Semi-finals Game 3
The River (Bruce Springsteen) 7.8
Straight to Hell (Clash) 8.3
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) ##
The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) ##
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) 5.0
You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 6.88
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) 5.3 – the closing bars brought this up .5 a point.
Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 7.1 – oh man! The regular version would have gotten an 8.5! But this kept getting better as it went on.
Semi-finals Game 3
The River (Bruce Springsteen) vs. Straight to Hell (Clash) 3.5 – 5
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 6.5 – 8.5
Undercard Game 4
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 7 – 5
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 6 – 7
Semi-finals Game 3
The River (Bruce Springsteen) vs. Straight to Hell (Clash)
8.2 : 8.2
Like picking between the children I don’t have.
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin)
6.5 : 5.5
Undercard Game 4
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac)
8 : 6.2
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters)
6.8 : 9
The River (Bruce Springsteen) 7
vs. Straight to Hell (Clash) 5
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) 6
vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 8 Zeppelin’s best compact song.
Undercard Game 4
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) 6
vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 6
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) X
vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) X
The River (Bruce Springsteen) vs. Straight to Hell (Clash) 6/5.5
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 4/9
Undercard Game
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 5/3
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 8/10
Am I the only person who had NO IDEA Gangsta’s Paradise was one giant sample? Still can’t top my favorite version of my favorite Foo Fighters song though…
Semi-finals Game 3
The River (Bruce Springsteen) x
Straight to Hell (Clash) x
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) 5.8
The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 5
Undercard Game 4
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) 7
You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 5
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) 6
Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 7.5
I feel dumb for not knowing that this Stevie Wonder song existed.
The River (Bruce Springsteen) 7
Straight to Hell (Clash) 4.5
I forgot that MIA’s ‘Paper Planes’ uses a sample from STH (to great effect)
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) 5.5
The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 5
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) #
You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) #
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) 6
Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 8
As with Straight To Hell, for me the song PP is sampled in is much better which is distracting. As with Best Of You, this is a goodie for sure but I do prefer the original – I like more Growl in my Grohl
The River (Bruce Springsteen) 7.2
vs. Straight to Hell (Clash) 7
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) 5.5
vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 5
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) XX
vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) XX
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) 4
vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 7.5
The River (Bruce Springsteen):8.5
Straight to Hell (Clash):5
The River is a really solid song by Bruce, almost impossible to compete with. It’s about time there was a Springsteen song I really enjoyed. The Clash is really going to have to step it up in the next few rounds if they’re going to compete with songs like The River.
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie):7
The Ocean (Led Zeppelin): 8
Hang on to Yourself is definitely David Bowie doing his best glam rock, a good song to go against The Ocean. Too bad The Ocean is another of the greats by Led Zeppelin.
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon):7.5
You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac): 4.5
I love Paul Simon that man just understands how to craft a creative and catchy song. Fleetwood has never been a group high on my list of music I like. I don’t want to take anything away from them there is a reason why they are so popular. If we were judging these songs based on pure musicianship the scores would be a lot closer.
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder): 8.5
Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters): 8
Why did Coolio have to go and mess with a great Stevie song, I listen to Pastime and he’s all I can think of. Pastime is a great example of how Stevie used his music to be more than just a song to put a smile on your face. A good song by the Foo Fighters, maybe I’m just in the mood for some good down tempo Dave Grohl.
The River (Bruce Springsteen) vs. Straight to Hell (Clash) 5.0 to 3.5
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 4.0 to 4.0
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 8.0 to 7.0
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 7.0 to 8.0
The River (Bruce Springsteen) vs. Straight to Hell (Clash) 4.5 to 5.5
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) vs. The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 4.0 to 5.5
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) vs. You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 5.5 to 8.75
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 6.5 to 8.25
Scores for Meghan/Adrock
The River (Bruce Springsteen) 6.5/5.5
. Straight to Hell (Clash) 6.5/9
Hang on to Yourself (David Bowie) 5/*
The Ocean (Led Zeppelin) 7/*
Late in the Evening (Paul Simon) 6/ 7
You Make Loving Fun (live) (Fleetwood Mac) 7/ 6.5
Pastime Paradise (Stevie Wonder) 6/6.5
vs. Everlong (acoustic) (Foo Fighters) 6.5/5.5