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Survey: What is the Greatest American Song?

Kid Rock... Does not appear in the bracket This last fourth of July, I got to thinking: what would happen if you took sixty-four great A...

Sunday, July 30, 2017

What is the Greatest American Song? (Round Two)



Round one is done!

Here are the surveys for round two:

PART ONE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8Z3Z8XH
PART TWO: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8ZGP6K9

And here's the updated bracket:
http://challonge.com/y9acqemz

And here's WHAT WE LEARNED from the first round:

1. We learned that America loves the classics.  For the most part, songs from the 60s and 70s had their way with their 80s, 90s, and 2000s counterparts.  Aretha Franklin crushed Santana and Rob Thomas's "Smooth" in the most lopsided match of the lot (38-3).  Britney, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Guns N Roses didn't fare much better.  Some contemporary acts did find a way through (The White Stripes, Beyoncé) but only after nail-biting battles (The Eagles and Patti Smith, respectively, did impressively against strong foes).

2. We learned that some classics might be a little too fucking classic, for America.  Robert Johnson went down hard against Otis Redding.  "The Star Spangled Banner," meanwhile, lost to "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," which, honestly, would make for a much better and more representative national anthem.

3. We learned that America has wide-ranging and, for the most part, impressive tastes!  No one genre outperformed the rest; round two features hip-hop, funk, country, classic rock, pop, pop-metal, new wave, and soul.  Artists that I didn't think had a chance in hell managed to garner many votes in the first round (the Stooges scored eighteen against a tough opponent in the great Al Green; the Ronettes showed the everlasting power of the wall of sound as they faced off to a near draw against Michael Jackson).  The fact that Lee Greenwood got any votes at all is disturbing, especially as he squared off with Sam FUCKING Cooke... But he still lost.  And in Trump's America, that kind of affirmation means a lot.

4. We learned that America has a deep and profound affection for "Purple Rain" (which smashed "Like a Prayer"), "Fuck Tha Police" (which hilariously destroyed "Okie from Muskogee"), "Once in a Lifetime" (which steamrolled "September Gurls"), and, uh, "Jump" (which drew the theme from "The Greatest American Hero," and toward it was pitiless).  Will one of these fan favorites win it all?  We'll find out!

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