THREE BEST SONGS

.-  " SONG OF THE CENTURY ''  BY GREEN DAY [ 2009 ] 

The opening track of Green Day's epic album 21st Century Breakdown, '' Song of the Century's primary function is to set the scene [ and tone ] for what's to come.

But it's a fine song in its own right, with the lo-fi production making Billie Joe sound like he is singing to us through a transistor radio we're desperately trying to tune in.

.-  'BOA CONSTRICTORS' BY THE MAGNETIC FIELDS [ 1999 ]

Just before the start of the century that so troubled Green Day, American indie band, The Magnetic Fields released the spectacularly ambitious album 69 Love Songs, which contained, yes, you've guessed it, a whopping 69 tracks spread over a near three-hour running time.

Among the many tracks are a few delightfully understated vignettes, including this one, with Shirley Simms taking lead vocals.

.-  ' ABIDE WITH ME ' BY THE THELONIOUS MONK SEPTET [ 1957 ]

I almost excluded this track - the first on 1957 album Monk's Music - for it being an instrumental, but in the end decided it was simply too good to leave out.

With only the horn section of the septet playing, Thelonious Monk himself doesn't appear, but John Coltrane does, which means at least one jazz legend present and accounted for.

Now forever associated with the FA Cup final [ having been played before every one 1927,], this version knocks spots off any other I've heard and is a fittingly brilliant interpretation of one of music's truly beautiful melodies.

The World Students Society thanks Glenn, Fosbraey, an Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Winchester, UK.