Here are 7 songs that are best listened to at the dead of night through a pair of good headphones or performed around a campfire with a faint smell of pine to complete silence as the audience collectively contemplates existentialism. These songs are not necessarily solo guitar pieces. These is singing, drums, an occasional tambourine, but all of these songs can be played with just a guitar and still work as full-bodied songs. I’m sure there are a bunch of Spanish Flamenco or Classical pieces that should be included on this list, but frankly I don’t know enough in that area of music to rightfully include any songs. To summarize, these are the songs I daydream about playing to the woman I love on a beach in Greece as the sun sets.

Baby’s Arms by Kurt Vile

The opening song to Kurt Vile’s fourth studio album Smoke Ring For My Halo and by far the standout track on the album. His guitar is tuned to an open minor chord of some kind which makes spontaneous playing nearly impossible unless you have a great ear for tone or carry a tuner on you, but the song is absolutely gorgeous. There is a touch of reverb or echo on the guitar and a maraca in the background, but other than that just a man and his guitar. Kurt has a great voice which is especially haunting on this track but really the guitar outshines him on this one. Not too complicated once you master the finger picking pattern, it’s mainly arpeggio’s and with a few embellishments it can be a truly impressive piece.

Needle And The Damage Done by Neil Young

A classic song by legend Neil Young with an absolutely enthralling guitar riff which is accompanied by dark lyrics dealing with Heroin addiction and overdose. A good sing-along song if everyone knows the lyrics, but also works fine when simply played as an instrumental. To me, Neil Young is the king of the solo acoustic performance and this is his magnum opus along with Old Man”. Such a timeless song that I must have listened to over one hundred times but never become sick of.

Peace Like A River by Paul Simon

A lesser known Paul Simon track released two years after his split from Garfunkel on his Paul Simon album. A basic yet distinctive riff opens the song which is the bulk of the guitar for the verses. There is also a soft finger-picking throughout the song, with an occasional hard open note to highlight certain points, which follows the cadence of the lyrics and builds to a brief but impressive solo, twice. The least technically impressive song on this list but it always stuck with me. A song doesn’t have to be overly complicated to be good, this is simple beauty done right. Being able to sing like Paul Simon certainly helps too.

Oceans by John Butler Trio

This song is ridiculous. I can actually play, albeit shitty versions, of some of these other songs on guitar. But I won’t even begin to attempt this song. A completely instrumental track played on a 12 string guitar tuned to open C, the finger-picking on this track is phenomenal. John Butler is an incredibly man with really long fingernails (like really long). There is no point in me trying to describe this one, just watch the video. There are many versions of this song on Youtube that differ enough to warrant watching so if interested give them a search.

My Mind is Ramblin’ By The Black Keys

Okay I cheated on this one, this song is quite clearly played on an electric guitar. But trust me when I say it sounds fantastic on an acoustic, which can be verified by one of the many amateur acoustic covers on Youtube. This song is actually a cover of an old blues track by musician Junior Kimbrough. The Black Key’s must have been huge fans of the man as they created an entire album called “Chulahoma: The Songs Of Junior Kimbrough” of just covers of his song’s (although there were only 6 songs on the album). This is a classic blues number with a catchy riff that is a lot of fun to play. The lead breaks follow a simple blues scale but sound immaculate when played alongside the main rhythm. The whole song is arranged for a single guitar so it is a great song to learn solo as it sounds full despite the lack of instruments.

Heartbeats by Jose Gonzales

This song was made famous (at least where I’m from) for being on an add for television’s that had a tonne of colourful bouncy balls rolling down a hill. It was a very visually pretty add but I am sure this song alone sold several hundred TV’s. Such a great song. The singing is absolutely stunning. Jose Gonzales has such a unique voice and I believe he is an under appreciated talent. The guitar is simply beautiful. How many time have I said beautiful in this list? Probably too many, I should use a Thesaurus. But it really is an apt description. This song has such strong emotion behind it, so great.

When My Train Pulls In (Acoustic) by Gary Clark Jr

Released on his Bright Lights Ep as the finale, this lengthy, live acoustic song was the first one to bring Gary Clark Jr to my attention. I love this track because it’s not perfect. There are occasional missed notes throughout the song which I actually find to be a refreshing change from all the flawlessly produced music that comes out. It is such a raw and intimate track. The guitar is based around a simple blues riff but includes a massive bridge/solo that is fairly impressive for an acoustic song. The singing is on point and the simple lyrics suit the song wonderfully.

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