My Top 1000 Songs #515: The Cutter

 [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.]

Sometimes you're listening to a song on the radio, and it's fine. Perfectly good song. But a verse or so in, something switches gears, and you're in a whole new place, an anthem for the ages, and you just want it to go on forever.

Anyway, right. Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Cutter," from 1983's Porcupine album. Starts out winning enough, some jagged guitar-driven post-punk with a strings-based Eastern-sounding introduction. It coasts along nicely on Ian McCulloch's captivating baritone and those syncopated guitar jabs.

But approaching the 2-minute mark, that ringing-bagpipe barrage kicks in, a soaring monster, while McCulloch slips into a sleepy croon. It's remarkable. It dissipates for another verse, though now the band is all pretty revved up, before you get another dose of that riveting bridge. One of the most exciting little moments of the new wave era.

Live 2007: