My Top 1000 Songs #511: Sister Golden Hair

 [I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

America are one of the ultimate guilty pleasures, the band the cool kids were pretty much obligated to disdain in the 70s. That omnipresent Greatest Hits album every suburban mom seemed to own; the borrowed CSNY stylings; those ridiculous "Horse With No Name" lyrics.

But let's face it: "Sister Golden Hair" (from 1975's Hearts, though, let's be honest, mostly from that year's Greatest Hits album) is a great song. No guilt at all. Indelible melody, that distinctive slide guitar line, the pivot from mellow folk-rock to something a little more poppy by the end. And far less embarrassing lyrics than "Horse"--hell, I'll even concede they're downright solid ("I've been one poor correspondent, and I've been too too hard to find, but it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind"). 

Really nice cover version from Vanessa Peters a few years back:

America's Gerry Beckley with The Killers, of all bands!