Hands down, this ballad by Kate Bush has THE BEST violin solo of any non-classical song. The song itself, though a bit of a downer, is really very beautiful.

"The Fog"

You see, I'm all grown up now.
He said,
Just put your feet down child,
'Cause you're all grown up now.

Just like a photograph,
I pick you up.
Just like a station on the radio,
I pick you up.
Just like a face in the crowd,
I pick you up.
Just like a feeling that you're sending out,
I pick it up.

But I can't let you go.
If I let you go,
You slip into the fog...

This love was big enough for the both of us.
This love of yours was big enough to be frightened of.
It's deep and dark, like the water was,
The day I learned to swim.

He said,
Just put your feet down, child.
Just put your feet down child,
The water is only waist high.
I'll let go of you gently,
Then you can swim to me.

Is this love big enough to watch over me?
Big enough to let go of me
Without hurting me,
Like the day I learned to swim?

'Cause you're all grown up now.

Just put your feet down, child,
The water is only waist high.
I'll let go of you gently,
Then you can swim to me.

'Odessey and Oracle' is an album that lives up to the hype. Of all the brilliant songs it contains, this is probably my favorite.

The basic lyrical idea - the rather pathetic hope that maybe if the guy just waits a while, his lover's new squeeze will leave and she'll take him back - is quite compelling, and the heartfelt vocals are very appealing. It's a short track, miserable as hell, but a winner!

A tiny nugget of sparse beauty. Punk as fuck.
Nothing is wasted here, bass, drums, guitar, backing vocals adding minimal textures to carry Freda's direct, heart rending vocal, which itself is virtually vibrato-free. An astonishing recording when put in context of the overblown rubbish which dominated the charts at that time (most times, come to think of it).

What a great song! Nothing flash, just a great modern, yet retro, rock song.

Probably the most chipper song of heartbreak I've ever heard. Young takes Willie Nelsons melancholy words, adds a bouncy beat, cheesy call and response chorus and that delightful early sixties country and western sound.

"Hello Walls"

"Hellooo, Helloo"
.
Along with his very fruity delivery it just makes this song sheer genius. Yet another song I first heard on the late John Peels show. And an unexpected example of why he was such a great DJ.