Dear listeners,
I’m going to keep things brief today, since I just got back from a whirlwind trip to lovely Quebec City, where I reported on the opening night of Billie Eilish’s world tour. I was curious to see how the 22-year-old Eilish would stage and perform the songs from her latest album, the sonically adventurous “Hit Me Hard and Soft” — especially those that require the oft-whispery-voiced singer to belt to the rafters. One of those songs has a lofty but familiar title: “The Greatest.”
I have long dreamed of compiling an Amplifier playlist of different songs with the same name. Watching Eilish perform “The Greatest,” probably the emotional apex of the whole show, I realized she was offering me the perfect opportunity. I started to think of the many other artists who have bestowed that imposing moniker on one of their tunes — Cat Power, Lana Del Rey and Kenny Rogers among them.
Perhaps I just have majesty on the mind because as I made my way home from the airport yesterday, I listened to (and eventually watched) one of the greatest baseball games I can remember, an operatic battle for a postseason berth between the Atlanta Braves and my New York Mets, who came back from the brink of elimination (twice!) to win the game, 8-7. In that spirit, I dedicate all six of these songs to Francisco Lindor and his two-run, ninth-inning home run: a moment of true greatness.
If this is it, I’m signing off,
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Billie Eilish: “The Greatest”
In its muted opening sequence, Eilish coats that titular lyric in sarcasm: “Man, am I the greatest,” she sighs, reflecting on a doomed relationship that seems to have suffered from some lopsided affection. As the song builds to its cathartic conclusion, though, a soaring melody allows her defenses to drop away. “I loved you, and I still do,” she sings. “Just wanted passion from you, just wanted what I gave to you.”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Cat Power: “The Greatest”
“Once I wanted to be the greatest,” Chan Marshall sings on this elegiac opening title track from her 2006 album. “No wind or waterfall could stop me.” The heavy-is-the-head-that-wears-the-crown weariness in her voice makes the song feel like an expression of resignation, compromise and acceptance — though those golden boxing gloves on the album’s cover suggest she’s got a little fight left in her, too.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Alabama Shakes: “The Greatest”
“I never meant to be the greatest, I only ever want to be your baby,” Brittany Howard wails on this blazing cut from Alabama Shakes’s 2015 album “Sound & Color.” I love the way the blown-out guitar and changing tempos lead the song through a variety of musical styles, morphing from punky minimalism to soulful, bluesy rock ’n’ roll in just under three-and-a-half minutes.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Sia: “The Greatest”
The most straightforward, earnest and motivational use of that shared title on today’s playlist comes from Sia, who, on this 2016 hit, sings with her signature gusto, “I’m free to be the greatest, I’m alive.”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Kenny Rogers: “The Greatest”
Written by Don Schlitz, who also penned Kenny Rogers’s 1978 hit “The Gambler” this heartwarming 1999 country ballad finds a young boy practicing baseball in an empty field, telling himself, “I am the greatest player of them all.” The mood turns pensive when we hear “Strike 3,” but — twist ending! — Rogers reveals in the song’s final moments that the boy is actually a pitcher. Phew!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Lana Del Rey: “The Greatest”
Finally, my personal pick for the greatest “The Greatest” is this evocatively apocalyptic anthem from Lana Del Rey’s 2019 release “Norman ______ Rockwell.” “I’m facing the greatest loss of them all,” she sings, before shrugging and accepting that impending loss with some incomparable Lana-speak: “The culture is lit and I had a ball.” Best wishes to her and the alligator guy.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“6 of ‘The Greatest’ Songs” track list
Track 1: Billie Eilish, “The Greatest”
Track 2: Cat Power, “The Greatest”
Track 3: Alabama Shakes, “The Greatest”
Track 4: Sia, “The Greatest”
Track 5: Kenny Rogers, “The Greatest”
Track 6: Lana Del Rey, “The Greatest”
Bonus Tracks
On Saturday, Kris Kristofferson — one of the greatest songwriters of his generation — died at 88. His compositions, as Jon Caramanica wrote in his appraisal of Kristofferson’s career, “bridged folky earthiness with a jolt of literary flair.” You can hear that quality in this playlist, compiled and annotated by Jon Pareles, of 12 of Kristofferson’s essential songs.
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