Q Magazine, the best-selling music magazine in the UK, recently published its top 1001 songs of all time. Big deal you say. Another excuse to trail out the old favourites - 'Stairway...' at number one, 'Bohemian Rhaspody' a nailed on each way bet, but hang on a minute!. Here's the top ten:-

1. One - U2
2. I Say A Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
4. A Day In The Life - The Beatles
5. In The Ghetto - Elvis Presley
6. My Name Is - Eminem
7. Creep - Radiohead
8. Independent Women Part 1 - Destiny's Child
9. Live Forever - Oasis
10. River Deep Mountain High - Ike and Tina Turner

???!

Where did these come from?? I've can only remember 3, 4 and at a push 7 figuring in the top 100 of any such charts in the past.

What is behind such a bizarre list? I wouldn't expect 'One' to normally be in the top five of a list of best U2 tracks, similarly with 'In The Ghetto', and the least said about Destiny's Child and Eminem the better.

The issue is not, however, whether the choices are 'bad' or not - that's a matter of personal opinion, and given how much music is out there and the divergence in musical taste, such lists are always on a hiding to nothing. The interesting thing is how this list diverges so significantly from all other lists I've ever seen.

Maybe the reason for this lies partly in the source of the pool. They were voted for by Q journalists and a selection of chosen musicians rather than the general public. An enlightening quote also came from Q's editor-in-chief Paul Trynka:

"Our writers and experts weren't asked to name the most historic songs of all time - rather it was the songs they enjoy hearing songs you can use every day, whether that be on your Walkman or your brand new iPod."

I find this quite interesting. I think many polls couched in such terms as " What is the best song of all time?" make people try to make objective judgments rather than trusting their own gut feelings. This could lead to a bias towards the traditional favourites. For example, a person may like 'Stairway to Heaven' no more than many other songs which aren't so revered, but when asked what is the 'best' track may be nudged into selecting this one. Let's face it, the question's an unfair on to start with. It encourages such bias.

I wonder if the way people listen to music these days is changing things. Will the MP3 culture, and listening to customised selections of music through media players change the nature of how we evaluate music? The results of this poll may give such an idea some credence.