We've made it to the end! The last 33 songs...

Don’t forget, Darius Rucker will honor Pattison's Academy should he win CMT Performance of the year! This is a FAN supported contest. Click here to vote for Darius and you'll be voting for Pattison's!!

I have decided to give you a behind the scenes look at how this song list came to be:

Step 1 - Call a meeting of the entire I’m just sayin… staff.

Step 2 - Make a list of songs

Step 3 - Check list of songs

Step 4 - Notice there are no songs from (insert awesome artist/group) on the list.

Step 5 - Yell (probably louder than should have been yelled) "Oh, S**t! There are no songs from (insert awesome artist/group) on the list!"

Step 6 - Call another meeting of entire I’m just sayin… staff.

Step 7 - Add songs

Step 8 - Repeat Steps 3-7
------Step 8 was tricky because it could have gone on forever, so at some point the I’m just sayin… Board of Directors had to just make the decision to go with what we had.

Step 9 - Go through list and "group rank" the songs (i.e. This song is a Top 10 song, this one is a Top 100, Top 200 and so on and so forth. The "group rankings" used were 10, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1,000). – This step was done via votes over email.

Step 10 - Get pumped that only 10 songs had a "Top 10" group ranking. (You might not agree with the Top 10… but we did).

Step 11 - Get worried that a little over 700 songs had a group ranking of either 50, 100, or 200. (a little under 900 had a group ranking of 500 or better).

Step 12 - Vote on the ranking of each song.

Step 13 – Post the songs in order of their ranking (starting with #1,081 and ending with #1).

I’m sure some of you have been second guessing this list since day 1. Let me tell you that I understand… because I’ve been doing the same thing. Still, it is what it is… and what it is, is the greatest list ever attempted.

So, let us now take a look at the Top 33 songs of the I’m just sayin… Top 1,081 Songs of All Time


33 - “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry

32 - “I Don't Care” by Darius Rucker with Brad Paisley

“Is 4 o'clock in the morning,/ To late to drink beer?/ I don't know, but you know what?/ I don't care./ I don't know, last time I ate,/ I don't know, how I'm still awake,/ I don't know, how long a man can live on beer./ Man, I don't know where I left my phone,/ I don't know, when we're going home,/ I don't know, if I still got a job up there,/ And I don't care.”

I hope these two get together to sing songs more often.

31 - “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N' Roses

I love the drums on this song.

30 - “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King

29 - “You Give Love A Bad Name” by Bon Jovi

28 - “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” by Frankie Valli and the Four
Seasons

27 - “Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie and the Blowfish

This is such a fun song.

26 - “Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)” by Elton John

25 - “Paradise City” by Guns N' Roses

24 - “Thriller” by Michael Jackson

What a great video… what a great song.

23 - “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard

I remember listening to this song before baseball games growing up.

22 - “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos

This is a great song… as long as you hear the whole thing. It was on the radio one day and I’m listening to it and it ended before the piano part at the end. Are you kidding me?! That’s like leaving the Super Bowl at halftime! The piano part is what makes it such a great song. Sure, it’s still a pretty good song without the piano, but the piano puts it in the Top 25.

21 - “Family Tradition” by Hank Williams, Jr.

20 - “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding

Give me a hammock and this song and I’ll be a happy man.

19 - “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis

I said yesterday that Piano Man was the best piano song ever. I was wrong. This is. If I could play one song on the piano, I’d want it to be this song.

18 - “American Pie” by Don McLean

“And in the streets: the children screamed,/ The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed./ But not a word was spoken/ The church bells all were broken./ And the three men I admire most/ The father, son, and the holy ghost,/ They caught the last train for the coast/ The day the music died./ And they were singing,/ ‘bye-bye, miss American pie.’/ Drove my Chevy to the levee,/ But the levee was dry./ And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye/ Singin’, ‘this’ll be the day that I die.’/ ‘this’ll be the day that I die.’”

17 - “Fight for Your Right” by Beastie Boys

Honestly, there should be more Beastie Boys songs on this list. But there aren’t. This is the only one.

16 - “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett

“Nibblin' on sponge cake/ Watchin' the sun bake/ All of those tourists covered with oil/ Strummin' my six-string/ On my front porch swing/ Smell those shrimp; they're beginning to boil./ Wastin' away again in Margaritaville/ Searching for my lost shaker of salt/ Some people claim that there's a woman to blame/ But I know it's nobody's fault”

This is the only song I can get Susie to fall asleep to.

15 - “Piece of My Heart” by Janis Joplin

Best rock n’ roll song by a female artist ever.

14 - “My Way” by Frank Sinatra with Willie Nelson

“Regrets? I've had a few,/ But then again, too few to mention./ I did what I had to do/ And saw it through without exemption./ I planned each charted course/ Each careful step along the byway,/ And more, much more than this,/ I did it my way./ Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew,/ When I bit off more than I could chew,/ But through it all, when there was doubt,/ I ate it up and spit it out./ I faced it all and I stood tall/ And did it my way.”

This is my song.

13 - “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith with Run-D.M.C.

This song with Run-D.M.C. gave Aerosmith’s career a whole new life. They had hits before this… but they were pretty much done. And then this song came along (with a great video) and suddenly they were introduced to a whole new generation of fans. This could have been the best move they made in their career.

12 - “Carolina Girls” by General Johnson and The Chairmen of the
Board

11 - “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

10 - “Beat It” by Michael Jackson

The first song I remember loving. And what a great video… it taught us that you never know when a gang knife fight will turn into a big group dance.

9 - “ Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns N' Roses

8 - “Won't Get Fooled Again” by The Who

“Change it had to come/ We knew it all along/ We were liberated from the fall that's all/ But the world looks just the same/ And history ain't changed/ 'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war/ I'll tip my hat to the new constitution/ Take a bow for the new revolution/ Smile and grin at the change all around me/ Pick up my guitar and play/ Just like yesterday/ And I'll get on my knees and pray/ We don't get fooled again/ Don't get fooled again/ No, no!”

I saw a video of them playing this live. Wow… what energy!

7 - “ Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard

“And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole./ No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried./ Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied./ That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried.”

I’m going to say this is the best Country song ever. You might not agree. You could be wrong.

6 - “ Me and My Shadow” by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.

I would sing this song growing up when Dach would follow me around the house. Now I sing it with Maverick. The best part is Maverick will sing it with me.

5 - “ Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys

4 - “ Livin' on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi

“We've got to hold on ready or not/ You live for the fight when that’s all that you've got/ Ohh We're half way there/ Woah Livin' on a prayer/ Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear/ Woah Livin' on a prayer”

3 - “ Freebird (Live)” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Really, I think you could put any of the top 4 songs at #1 and be ok. But the votes have this song at #3. The beginning of this song is slow and sweet with a piano/keyboard… and then about half way through it turns into the triple guitar attack (along with drums… and the piano) and it just blows your mind. This is what rock music is all about. Some have said that Lynyrd Skynyrd was more of a regional group and I would agree… as long as that region is Earth. In the book I just read about GNR, Axl Rose talked about Lynyrd Skynyrd being thought of as gods in Indiana when he was growing up. It is well known (by me and others who saw the same program on VH1 that I saw) that Steve Clark (the late, great guitarist for the British rock group Def Leppard) auditioned for the group by playing all of ‘Freebird’ without accompaniment (proving just how great a guitar player he really was). You have to be careful, because there are short ‘radio’ versions of this song out there. They are crap. I spit on them. No, this song is meant to be played live. If you listen to any version that is under 12 minutes long, you are cheating yourself.

2 - “ Back In Black” by AC/DC

I love the beginning of this song. This song just sounds so... cool.

1 - “ Let It Be” by The Beatles

“When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,/ speaking words of wisdom, let it be./ And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,/ speaking words of wisdom, let it be./ Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be./ Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.”

I find this song to be very calming. I love it.


Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private Joseph Burger (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on February 15, 1863 at Nolensville, Tennessee. His citation reads:

Was one of a detachment of 16 men who heroically defended a wagon train against the attack of 125 cavalry, repulsed the attack and saved the train.

Private E. Michael Burk (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 12, 1864 at Spotslvania, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of flag, seizing it as his regiment advanced over the enemy's works. He received a bullet wound in the chest while capturing flag.

Sergeant Thomas Burk (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 6, 1864 at Wilderness, Virginia. His citation reads:

At the risk of his own life went back while the rebels were still firing and, finding Col. Wheelock unable to move, alone and unaided, carried him off the field of battle.