The blurb on The Parquet Floors song about the destruction of our environment mentions a number of precursors but fails to mention one of the most important, Nature’s Way by Spirit, released in 1970. Fresh Garbage is another prescient recording by Spirit from the same time. My wife and I saw Springsteen’s Born in the USA tour in Baton Rouge back in the 84/85 day and bought a 3’ x 4’ tour poster of the back of Bruce’s blue jeans with a red baseball hat in his back pocket with the horizontal red stripes of a large American flag in the background. We had it framed and it’s hung in our house ever since. Anyone who heard the song performed back then and could understand the lyrics knew it was a primal scream against the War in Vietnam. I always took the poster as being complimentary to that theme. I usually like to let art speak for itself and not know the “background” of its creation from the artist. But Born in the USA is even more poignant now with the revelation of the personal tragedy in Bruce’s life that was its instance.

How extraordinary that the purveyors of these god-awful processed beats and voices , are so protective of their garbage as to only allow us to listen to a few seconds for free -- when even those few seconds are enough to send any thinking person fleeing from the room ... This world is so full of so much wonderful music of every stripe and persuasion ... Perhaps we can't get the proles to listen to dirges or cantatas -- but there's nothing admirable about pretending that it's hip to give credence to rubbishy pre-fab fakirs spewing ego and bile and mania and ugliness

At the risk of sounding old and irrelevant, this was possibly the worst issue of the magazine that I've seen in 25 years. To whom did they think this list would appeal?

Los Lobos "Will the Wolf Survive" Los Lobos "One Time One Night"

I thought nearly the selections were boring. Rap and songs without hooks and dreary lyrics. No wonder I'ver been driven back to jazz box sets. Maybe if I was 20 I'd think the music meant something.

My musical tastes came of age in the 1960's. Tom Petty once opined that every generation thinks its music is the best. But, as Petty said, correctly, "we were right."

When the name James Blake came up, I immediately thought of the tennis player! Did I miss something?! And after perusing the rest of the 25, I've come to the following conclusion: Nope!!!

You missed the obvious song. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon from his Imagine album. It is a screed against lying politicians that is set against 1970s Nixonian America. It is as relevant today as it was in the 70s in lyrics that only John Lennon could conjure. Probably more so given the prevalence of lies and false news in the world we live in. "I'm sick and tired of hearing things from Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocritics All I want is the truth, just give me some truth I've had enough of reading things By neurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians All I want is the truth, just give me some truth No short-haired, yellow-bellied Son of tricky dicky's Gonna mother hubbard soft soap me With just a pocket full of hopes Money for dope, money for rope.."

Brilliant use of multi-media. But I sooooo wish that you could play the whole songs.

A hard copy of the Times is a Sunday ritual for me. I like the leisurely feel of the paper in my hands. I hate to see it wasted.

Adam lambert's latest "Feel something" outdoes at least half of the 25 When is this country going to wake up and hear Adam.

What clickbait nonsense. The title hints at a collaborative effort between at most a handful of the NYT's music critics- mostly from the pop world at that. "25 Songs That Matter Right Now?" Some music guide for 2019? Instead we get a hodge podge of individual contributions from 25 different writers, most of whom have no special expertise in reporting on the music business. Sorry, this ain't up to the standards I expect from the Grey Lady.

I must admit I get really tired of self-appointed persons or institutions telling me what songs, plays, movies, tv shows, art, is the best, most relevant, blah blah blah...that's why I have also avoided any awards shows for the past 30 years. The beauty of any of the arts is that it can mean one thing to one person and an entirely different thing to another. It's all subjective, and that in itself precludes mass opinion. Right now I'm listening to Dave Brubeck on my Jeep CD player and am thinking I might be in the mood for some Dusty Springfield after that. That's what is relevant to me right now.

A Better title would be Random Thoughts About Random Songs. None of the writers tell us why these songs matter right now. As someone who has listened to and thought about Springsteen's music for a long time, "BITUSA" has always been laden with a weight of mortality and the things we leave behind--the Broadway version displays different nuances, but they were revealed during his earlier acoustic shows. When the song came out in '84, you could hear the anger, regret, and loss, especially in the live performances with the E Street Band. When he strips it down, it takes on an added existential fatigue, but you don't need the (quite brilliantly rendered and moving) opening monologue to appreciate the song or to find new meaning. I'm not sure what someone was listening to in 1984 to miss its power. It was relevant then--you don't need to contemplate a world without Bruce (sorry, but I ain't going there yet), to interpret it any differently. As for "Thank U, Next"--that's two different songs muddled together into one: a facile self-empowerment anthem and an unintentional comment on the disposable nature of modern relationships. The real essay would examine why the catchphrase title became the most annoying caption for Instagram "models" to put with their pictures. Anyone who writes thinkpiece on a Juice WRLD song has waay too much time on their hands or a fast deadline to meet. Next time, maybe a deconstruction of the meaning of Michael Che's lazy eye?

Other than Springsteen and possibly a couple others, none of these entertainers will be remembered even two years from now. They are the aural equivalent of tissue paper, and just as quickly forgotten. I've already forgotten 23 of their names. Must be my advanced age.

Are these entertainers important?

I miss Ben Ratliff.

here is your ultimate gauntlet, for songs that matter... the passing of Briton Mark Hollis days ago heralded the quiet departure of a man from whom nearly every song continues mattering more 30+ years after their quiet releases on 3 (4, once addicted) seminal albums. dare-i-say the only that didn't were coerced by record company swine, but even they soar. a simple search: "Talk Talk, Mark Hollis" yields keys to a decades-hidden kingdom hidden attended only by the blessed. warning: this music reduces almost all others to pap.

Wow. Really giving ammunition to those who promote the (erroneous) assumption that there is no good music being made anymore. If not for the presence of Sharon Van Etten, Julia Holter, and Kacey, along with Parquet Courts - one of the many stellar indie bands on the current scene - this would be a bleak summation indeed. What is it with people who actually like the sound of autotune???

I'd be infavor on an above and beyond set on here or at least "Sun and Moon", or maybe "Own Hymn"

I am relieved by the inclusion of a Springsteen song: at least I recognize it. But "Born in the USA" was released when Reagan was in office, and veterans were being deprived of their rights, and benefits. Come to think of it, I first encountered Springsteen on the cover of TIME magazine. (Bruce wasn't getting much airplay in the midwest in 1975.) ) I'm pleased that your editors find meaning, and joy in these songs, but these tunes are created for the purpose of making money, and will be unknown in a decade.

Pop songs are about melody and rhythm...critics, for as long as I've read them, think lyrics are important. They're not. In fact, often I won't even listen to what they mean until years later. None of these songs "matter"...they're just a bunch of tunes, and if you don't like hip hop, a bunch of noise.

Probably the biggest throw away song on the entire soundtrack, engendered only to move the plot along. Need music critics that have a sense of both time and place. Let's listen to "Arizona Sky" again. Thank you. Thank you very much.

There's very little, if anything, new or creative about these songs. Springsteen, Grande, Carey? Seriously? These are the sounds of the past, and you are stuck in it.

What an incredibly superficial and artistically unvaried list.

where's Childish Gambino??

I used to think pop music was important. Then I became an adult. I still listen, occasionally, but I know that the vast, vast majority of pop music is hopeless schlock. As for your arbitrary and subjective list, it's just that. Not that the commentators here will not argue about its deficiencies, as they do with all lists.

It says something about the times we are currently in that I found these 25 songs as a whole to be quite contrived and limiting, as if New York City was the center of the universe. No Blue Oyster Cult or Dictators either. Richard Titelius Perth, Western Australia

Amusing....okay, Reality check time. The social commentary songbook was pretty well taken care of by the end of the 1960's. Today's music in comparison will be forgotten by next month. But each generation likes to take upon itself the task of reinventing the wheel.

I was so startled that NYT Mag would title this mélange of commentaries that are so similar and yet so uncoordinated with each other that just skimming through the list made me realize that I was totally blaise about whether or not these reports were even marginally accurate that any of these songs even mattered at all, right now or ever. So good to know that there is some almost virtual reality called songs right now that are possibly amassing a kind of threatening popularity…a popularity that is totally invisible and silent to me. But now I can know that I am not at all concerned about this stuff because I have been so wrapped up in listening ovwer and over to the songs of the period 2009 through 2016…saongs that I consider whether covers or original material as important as anything that came out of the 20's or the 30's or the post WWII period when that was so much of Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston and itinerant street bands that were so fundamental in the jazz and folk traditions that life would not be enduring today save for a profound undercurrent which we are still being nourished every day and every day and that matter so much right now. But thanks for the fly-by.

American Tune by Paul Simon is about everything we are going through now. It was important in 1973, it's critically important in 2019. "We've lived so well so long Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on I wonder what went wrong I can't help it, I wonder what went wrong." The heartbreak of that song defines the heartbreak of this country.

I appreciate the effort.But what about the 25 Songs that define the 20th Century or even the 21st so far? What does "right now"mean other than trendiness?

By the end of the year, most of these songs will be forgotten.

Wow, it's amazing to me that anyone would be willing to admit that "Why Did You Do That" could be included in something entitled 'The 25 Songs That Matter Right Now." As others have said, matter to whom? And if it actually does, that's a very sad statement.

These are songs that matter to you...not me. Springsteen wouldn't even be on my list. And I say, "Viva la difference!"

Where is the Spotify playlist?

Like a medieval proclamation presented in the town square by an emissary of the King - "Hear ye, Hear ye -- The New York Times hereby declares 'The 25 Songs That Matter Right Now' - Take heed all ye and mark it well as the word of the Times - fr all to know" - Sorry - if the list doesn't have Britney Spears singing "Oops I Did It Again" - it doesn't count...

stefani is a jazz singer and player. you study your music, you train your voice, you do your songs. It aint glitz. It's musical culture. Why dumb it down?

Kudos to Gail Bichler, Matt Willey, and everyone else involved in the design and art direction of this issue and website. Absolutely phenomenal.

I am very glad to see Meek Mill on here for "Trauma." Fan of rap music or not (which I no many on here are not), it is clear that Meek Mill's lyrics on this song get at the problems with the criminal justice system and tie them to the much more personal side of how that affects the minds of the people trapped in it. The influence of "Trauma" in rap culture is particularly interesting because often times in Hip-Hop the enlightened artists can lack street-cred, but Meek Mill is both a hero in terms of street-cred and a chart topping artist, meaning that his voice has reached just the right audience. Hip-Hop is becoming a very dominant and influential genre and instead of bashing it as a whole as many are quick to do, this article helps highlight the artists using their popularity to give us an under represented point of view through their art. In recent years Meek Mill has been heavily involved in activism and charity and this song captures his elevation as an artist perfectly.

To whom, exactly, do these songs matter? I guess they matter to certain listeners, but objectively, I don't think they really matter at all. Just a lot of noise, in my opinion. When I get my weekly Spotify playlist, the most interesting and exciting things I hear are coming from Europe, especially Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Difficult to categorize - jazz, electronic, ambient, but as Duke Ellington said, there's only two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. Not on most people's radar here, and that's a shame, because I think that's where the best modern music is coming from right now.

This is a great read. And I love Dylan and the Dead too and Tom Petty, was lucky enough to see them when they were all playing together in the mid to late 80s. But currency is relevant too and I love Travis Scott and so many young performers today. Love GaGa, Love Arianna. Love my kids and my elders. I really enjoyed the appreciation of music and collaboration that came through these write-ups.

Sorry, not for me. To me, modern music is an irritating noise and classical music puts me to sleep. Of inspirational value are only the martial tunes and military marches.

Those songs don't matter to me Right Now. They won't matter to me tomorrow. Next year. Next life. Not ever. Dylan will matter to me forever. And for the ages. The next century too. If there's still a planet with people listening to music in 300 years Dylan will matter. Just like Bach matters after more than 334 years.