Found on: (1971)If seculars and agnostics and atheists gathered once a week and had fellowship and sang songs, this would be the first one in the hymn book. Found on: (1971)When I was a kid I had an edited 45 of and I always thought it was about the Dukes of Hazzard because of the "good old boys" part. I also loved the rhyming of "Chevy" and "levee". As an adult I have a slightly deeper appreciation. The song is actually an abbreviated, poetically-veiled history of rock up to that point. Everyone knows the reference to the deaths of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens, but look for references to Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, etc. Consider that it remains a great song despite attempts to ruin it by both Madonna and The Brady kids. Found on: (1979)Is it ironic that THE good-riddance-I-didn't-need-you-anyway anthem was originally on an album called ? Play this in a room full of women and enjoy the show. Found on: (1979)One of the horniest songs ever, and also more than slightly creepy because of the line, "I always get it up for the touch / of the younger kind."

The fact that people still sing along is a credit to the jungle beat, chugging bass, surf guitar and all-around energetic performance. Found on: (1979)As a three-year-old I had committed the soundtrack to memory before I ever saw , so when my mom took me to a showing at a rerun theater, I embarrassed her by singing along with every song in the loudest voice possible. Considering that it a) is sung by a puppet in a funny voice and b) features a banjo as the primary instrument, has no right to be as affecting as it is. Found on: (1972)I'm pessimistic about the prospects of you finding a more optimistic song than this one. Found on: (1970)The aural equivalent of your mom sitting by your bed when you feel sick in the night. Found on: (1977)A blue-eyed soul gem, with the message that every wronged lover longs to hear. Plus, a fun fact for all you daytime television fans. Ronn Moss, bassist for Player, went on to play Ridge on The Bold and the Beautiful. Found on: (1977)It's time to recognize Lionel Richie as the king of bridges.

His bridges are almost always like separate little songs, with distinct melodies. In this case it's the "I wanna be high / So high..." part. Curtains MarshallsAnyway, this song is a little bit conflicted, because he's basically telling everyone to let him be, but why would a person who's as "easy as Sunday morning" be so stand-offish?Buy Hot Tub Thailand Found on: (1972) sounds like a sad song in the beginning. Used Macbook Pro MichiganIt always throws me off until it settles into its gentle pastoral message. Musically, it sounds like Cat Stevens jamming with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Found on: (1977)Picked by: PA, WA, JG, RN, EVI think Eliza summed this one up best: "What drunk doesn't like ? Especially on your birthday when everyone dances around you."

Found on: (1972)Todd Rundgren picked up right where The Beatles and Beach Boys left off with this ultra-melodic easy listening classic. This is another one of those songs the '70s seemed to specialize in, namely the fact that it sounds like a love song but is really a break-up tune. If you listen carefully, the singer is basically letting her down easy by pretending it's for her own good: "It's important to me / that you know you are free." Of course, he still wants to hook up occasionally. Picked by: PA, WA, JG, RN The Cars took a little bit of a '70s hard rock sensibility, some New Wave cool (especially in Ben Orr's detached vocals), the harmonies and production quality of a '60s pop group, and mixed it all together into a completely unique concoction. is a perfect example of their appeal to both audiophiles and casual listeners. Found on: (1976)Picked by: PA, JG, RN, EVRobert Zimmerman's pop breakthrough. There's nothing to complain about in this song; from the strong musicianship to the mesmerizing spell of the lyrics it's all solid.

Even Bob's vocal performance is charming, making it one of the few Dylan songs that couldn't be improved by a cover version. Found on: (1972)Picked by: PA, WA, RN, EVI'm betting not many girls (or boys) were looking at the album cover as they listened to this song and fantasized that the future Reverend was singing just to them. That cock-eyed, leering look on Al's face kind of ruins the whole sentiment. Found on: (1979)Picked by: PA, WA, RN, EVFun Fact: At least four Cheap Trick album covers feature only the pretty boy members of the band, Robin Zander and Tom Petersson. The nerdier Rick Neilsen and Bun E. Carlos were relegated to the back. Anyway, is not only a great song, but it's one of the rare cases where a live version of a tune captures the public imagination. I think it's the thousands of Japanese boys and girls screaming "ah-ah-ah" that puts it over the top. Found on: (1970)Picked by: PA, WA, SB, RNA great love song; too bad McCartney had to stab the other Beatles in the back when he released it (he had begged each of the other members to not quit the band and then announced their break-up and the release of his first solo album in one fell swoop).

By the way, the cover is another "Paul is dead" clue. You know the saying "life is just a bowl of cherries"? Well, they've all spilled out, see? Found on: (1973)Picked by: PA, WA, RN, EVIf you couldn't tell, we've reached the baby-making section of the list. Paste magazine had some commentary about this song recently. I can't find the exact wording, but it was something to the effect of " could get a polar bear and a toaster to mate." I used to wonder if the line "stop beating 'round the bush" was entendre, but dismissed that as too tawdry for Marvin. Then I found out he had a song (on this very album, in fact) called . Found on: (1971)That layered groove alone is enough to place it among the best '70s songs, but add in the "damn right"s, "can you dig it"s and "shut your mouth"s and there's really no question. Found on: (1970)Is that an album cover photo or a J.C.Penney ad? Either way, as Kyan says, "This is the jam!" It's the sexiest break-up song ever.For "music night" this evening at I share singer-songwriter ' haunting "How Can I Tell You?", a track from his phenomenally successful 1971 album .

Also on this album are three of Stevens' most famous recordings, "," "," and "." Before sharing a YouTube video of Cat Stevens performing "How Can I Tell You?" on a BBC television show in 1970, I'd like to share a little about how and why this particular song is especially meaningful for me. I guess it all begins at around the time when Cat was at the height of his popularity, which was in the early 1970s. How popular was he? Well, when I was doing a Google image search for pictures to accompany this post I came across the image at left, which in 1972 was a pin-up in the Australian magazine . Now, at that time I was just a child and although I don't recall this particular poster, I did have a number of other posters sticky-taped to the inside of my bedroom wardrobe door. They were all of popular male entertainers, or "heart-throbs," of the day – , , and . I dare say that if I come across this poster of Cat Stevens, it would have been added to my collection. I mean, the guy's incredible handsome and would have appealed, I'm sure, to my little gay boy-self.

Now, I should say that back then the word "gay," along with its meaning related to sexuality, meant nothing to me. I should also say that I wasn't trying to hide anything by having my posters on the of my wardrobe door; it was just that Mum didn't want anything sticky-taped to the outside of our painted built-in wardrobes. There did come a time, however, when my mother gently told me that "little don't have" the type of posters that I had so intentionally and happily collected. I'm sure she said this out of concern for me. Maybe she thought my friends would see them and tease me. Or perhaps it was simply that she sensed that there was and thought to discourage or redirect whatever this was. Whatever the reason, I don't judge her for her comment as she made it out of love and concern for me. (Plus, a few years later that was very liberating in my journey as a gay boy.) Yet, without doubt, I felt confused and a little frightened by my mother's words . . . and by what they suggested my poster collection was saying about me.

I felt this way because at the time I simply didn't have the words to explain what I was experiencing inside, let alone describe how the beautiful young men in these posters made me feel. And if I couldn't tell what was going on, how could I tell anyone else, even my mother? And so I took my posters down. I have another vivid memory from that time: I remember standing and crying in front of my bedroom mirror, feeling totally overwhelmed by a sense of . Again, much of this confusion and sense of not fitting-in came from my inability to fathom or articulate the sexual self-awareness that was surfacing – and surfacing in ways that felt so natural to me and yet which others were letting me know were okay. It was a difficult time, and one that I'm sure many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can relate to. Fast forward thirteen years. I'm 21, in my last year of college, out to myself, and . Yet how could I tell my friend about the feelings I had for him? I just didn't have the courage.

It was around this time, 1988 to be exact, that I first heard Cat Stevens' recording of "How Can I Tell You?" By then I was in my first year of in Goulburn but still very much in love with my straight friend. I can recall, on more than one occasion, being moved to tears when, alone in my little flat, I heard Cat Stevens plaintively singing . . . How can I tell you that I love you, I love you, but I can't think of right words to say. I long to tell you that I'm always thinking of you, I'm always thinking of you, but my words just blow away, just blow away. It always ends up to one thing, honey, and I can't think of right words to say. Wherever I am, boy, I'm always walking with you, I'm always walking with you, but I look and you're not there. Whoever I'm with, I'm always talking to you, I'm always talking to you, and I'm sad that you can't hear, sad that you can't hear. when I look and you're not there. I need to know you, need to feel my arms around you,

feel my arms around you, like a sea around a shore. And each night and day I pray in hope that I might find you, because hearts can do no more. still I kneel upon the floor. How can I tell you that I love you? I love you but I can't think of right words to say. I long to tell you that I'm always thinking of you; I'm always thinking of you but my words Yeah, it's kind of a sad story, which I guess is fitting for such a sad song. Thankfully I've journeyed far beyond that time and place, as I document in my coming out series, . But if by chance you're reading this and feeling the same way I once did, then I lovingly encourage you to take heart; to seek, discern and respond to the loving and transforming presence of God deep within you. It may take time but, trust me, you will grow in understanding and discover that, no matter what your circumstances, you are "" and loved by God . The journey goes on and you can and will find peace, acceptance and happiness within . . . along with the right words to say.