The Most Beautiful Song of The RnR era?


I'm about to spend a week with my father in law, who loves music but insists that nothing of interest (that is, beautiful) has been produced since WWII. In order to get a little music in, I thought I'd burn a compilation cd that might not offend his sensibilities too deeply. "God Only Knows", "Hello, It's Me", "Truly, Madly, Deeply", "Something", and "Bee's Wing" are in. Many others are under conssideration. Your additional suggestions would be appreciated.
martykl
Songbird by Fleetwood Mac, What Am I to You by Norah Jones, Angel from Montgomery by John Prine but sung by Bonnie Raite, In the Arms of an Angel by Sarah McLachlan, I Know you by Heart sund by Eva Cassidy.
Do you self a favor and buy your father in law "Secret Heart" by Curtis Stigers and give it to him. He will love it, he will scratch his head and say gee I thought they didn't write em like that anymore.Then give him "Standard Time" by Steve Tyrell and he will say how come I've never heard of this guy before. And yes he will love it too. Trust me. The songs are the stuff he used to listen too but updated like Irving Berlin ,Fats Waller, etc etc.
Don't forget Van Morrison. Too many to mention but you can't go wrong with what ever you choose. Then there's Rubber Soul...
Er..how you define the RnR era?
Martykl, Do you mean "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson? Great song. If not, add it to the list.

Marvin Gaye -What's going on

Crosby, Stills & Nash -Guinnevere

David Bowie -Letter to Hermione

Santana -Samba Pa Ti

Van Morrison -I'll Be Your Lover Too, Into the Mystic, Hymns to the Silence

Led Zepplin -The rain Song

Richard & Linda Thompson -Dimming of the day

Rolling Stones -Lady Jane, Wild Horses

Big Brother & the Holding Company w/Janis Joplin -Summertime (Gershwin)

Annie Lennox -Cold, The Gift, Why

Al Green -I'm Still in Love With You, Let's Stay Together

Mazzy Star -Fade Into You

Beatles -Because, I will, Julia

Sarah McLachlan -The Path of Thorns (Terms), Drawn To The Rhythm

Bob Dylan -Girl from the North Country (w/ Johnny Cash)

Simon & Garfunkel -America

Nike Drake -Cello Song, Pink Moon, Which Will

Crowded House -Don't Dream It's Over

Dusty Springfield -Son of a Preacher Man

Tom Waits -Ol' 55, I Wish I Was in New Orleans, This One's from the Heart (w/Crystal Gayle)

Yes -Mood for a Day

The Jimi Hendrix Experience -Castles Made of Sand

Elvis Costello, Alison

Bruce Springsteen -Thunder Road, She's the one

Rickie Lee Jones -The Last Chance Texaco, We Belong Together

Cowboy Junkies -Blue Moon Revisited (Hart/Rodgers), Something More Besides You, Crescent Moon

I'm sure I missed a couple hundred or so but there is my take on beautiful songs of The RnR era. Guess this generation or so since doubya, doubya 2 hasn't accomplished much...(just kidding) Happy Listening!
Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

To clarify:
R'n'R era really means music made by rock musicians. Since the idea is to debunk his notion that rock musicians haven't made any beautiful music, I thought a well selected compilation might broaden my father in law's view of "r'n'r" songwriters while allowing me to get in some contemporary music listening time during the family vacation. Though some responses went a different way (my original post was worded more generally), I'll look forward to exploring some of those suggestions for my own benefit.

Beeswing did refer to the Richard Thompson song. If my FIL is ok with RT's voice, I'm betting he'll like the song.
Fleetwood Mac- Landslide

Bruce Springsteen- Two Faces Have I

U2- One

Weezer- Island in the Sun

Dave Mason- Sad and Deep as You

Elvis Costello- Every Day I Write the Book

Graham Nash- Simple Man

Neil Young- Harvest Moon
Just to name a few:
"White Bird" by It's a Beautiful Day
"Yesterday" by the Beatles
"Darling Be Home Soon" by The Lovin' Spoonful
"Candles in the Rain" by Melanie
"Dust in the Wind" by Kansas
"Love Alive" by Heart
"Free Man in Paris" by Joni Mitchell
"Winter" by Tori Amos
I would not call it the "most beautiful song of the RnR era" but the running list ought to include "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack.
Springsteen: Sandy (4th of July, Asbury Park), Across the Border*

Beach Boys: Warmth of the Sun, Don't Worry Baby

C,S,N: Lady of the Island
Several songs from Neil Young's 'Decade', Leonard Cohen: "to the end of love", S&G: "Kathy's song", Van Morrison: "Madame George".
Yea, Springsteen's Sandy is a good one. How about the Stone's "Wild Horses" from Sticky Fingers. It would seem in your situation nearly the perfect dicotomy: good music being created by the Rolling Stones (whom I recall parents thinking were among the root of all evil impacting the young - remember Kristofferson even wrote a song about it, "Blame It On The Stones"?).
Van Morrison, Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell or Vanlose Stairway, Beautiful Vision

Jackson Browne, For Everyman, Late For The Sky (title tracks), Daddy's Tune

Niel Young, A Man Needs A Maid, Harvest Moon, Only Love Can Break Your Heart

King Crimson, I Talk To The Wind

Crosby, Stills & Nash etc, Guennivere, Suite:Judy Blue Eyes, Helplessly Hoping, Cathedral, To The Last Whale, Seen The Changes

America, Three Roses

Badfinger, Baby Blue

Three Dog Night, Pieces Of April

Jim Croce, Operator

The Band, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

BeeGees, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, To Love Somebody

Janis Joplin, Summertime (Big Brother & Holding Co), Me & Bobby McGee

Stephan Bishop, On And On

Kenny Rankin, Silver Morning

Blood Sweat & Tears, God Bless The Child, Sometimes In Winter

Buckingham Nicks, Races Are Run, Frozen Love

Buffalo Springfield, Bluebird

Steven Stills, Johnny's Garden

Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn

Chicago, Wake Up Sunshine

John Denver, Poems Prayers And Promises

Doobie Bros., South City Midnight Lady

Bob Dylan, You're A Big Girl Now, Simple Twist Of Fate, Shelter From The Storm

Allman Bros., Blue Sky, Melissa

Eagles, Ol 55

ELP, From The Beginning, Still You Turn Me On

Genesis, More Fool Me

Steve Forbert, Tonight I Feel So Far Away From Home, It ISn't Gonna Be That Way

Dan Fogelberg, Netherlands

Heart, Dog & Butterfly

Elton John, Come Down In Time, Love Song, Tiny Dancer, Your Song

Rickie Lee Jones, Company

Hollies, Bus Stop

Jethro Tull, Bouree

Billy Joel, Summer Highland Falls

Led Zep. Going To California

John Lennon, Hold On, Jealous Guy

McCartney, Maybe I'm Amazed

Loggins & Messina, Watching The River Run, Pathway To Glory
Sailin The Wind

Malo, Sauvecito

Joni Mitchell, Song For Sharon, Case Of You, Lesson In Survival

Moody Blues, For My Lady, When You're A Free Man, Nights In White Satin

Nilsson, Everybodys Talkin

Poco, Magnolia

REM, Fall On Me

Gordon Lightfoot, Early Morning Rain, Beautiful, Softly

Roxy Music, Avalon, More Than This

Leon Russell, Lady Blue, This Masquerade, Song For You

Simon & Garfunkel, Scarborough Fair

Rod Stewart, Country Comfort, Gasoline Alley

Robin Trower, Bridge Of Sighs

Joe Walsh, Meadows, Dreams, Days Gone By

Stevie Wonder, Golden Lady, Superwoman, Ribbon In The Sky

...just to name a few. ;-)) HTH.
Resands - Wow you deserve a commendation. That was amazing. Bouree isn't a song, but the rest of your list looks amazing. Can you burn a copy of those for me? : )
Rrsands, I think you missed a couple a three titles.
Just kidding.
Nice job!
Cheers!
Thanks again, everyone.

The recent post was certainly...comprehensive!
I actually finished 2 cds using many of the recommendations you all so kindly posted. Some people tended to favor beautiful singing, so I did one cd focused this way, while another focused on beautiful songs - often sung by less than beautiful voices. The initial response from my father in law to both cds could probably be best characterized as "grudingly positive".

Thanks again,

Marty.
Lots of good calls on this thread.

Sandy by Springsteen...love that song, and I am not a Springsteen mark.

This one is virtually unknown and way out there perhaps and way too late for this thread, but, if you ever do it again, also consider "Never Blame the Rainbows for the Rain" by The Moody Blues.

Did "Across the Universe" and "I Will" by the Beatles get missed?

I weighed in three years ago on this one. Here's another:
"Angie" The Rolling Stones
Sometimes we old timers tend to embrace everything from the past as the BEST.But you mention God Only Knows,There was a recording by this name done in 1955 by a R&B group from Philadelphia named the Capri's.If you ever heard it you would agree with your father-in-law.
Have a fun week
Now for your consideration: There are some awesome songs from the mid-70s singer-songwriters:

"Winterlong" by Neil Young;
"Urge" or "Coyote" by Joni Mitchell;
"Seven Bridges Road" by the Eagles,
"Fountain of Sorrow" by Jackson Browne.

From the 50s, I would nominate also Sam Cooke, especially songs like "Rome Was Not Built in a Day".

"Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks is an under-rated classic from the 1960s.

Too many classic Motown, Hi and Stax recordings:
Al Green's "Call Me",
Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky" and
Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me."

Concur with "Sandy"; hard to imagine that Bruce wrote that at age 22.

I also like "Time after Time" by Cindi and "Alison" by Elvis from the New Wave period.
You may not have heard these but they are as beautiful as anything ever written in the RnR era-
Grant Lee Buffalo - Honey Don't Think
Jeff Buckley - Lover You Should Have Come Over
Over The Rhine - Latter Days, Snow Angels, or practically everything they've done
Cousteau - She's Not Coming Back
Adam Again - River On Fire
Now that I think about it almost everything everyone has mentioned is pretty amazing. Great thing about music it is powerful in so many forms.
I could nominate a bunch of Todd Rundgren tunes as most beautiful but I've narrowed it down to two: Bag Lady from the Hermit of Mink Hollow album and Compassion from the Healing album. Beuatiful, haunting melodies and touching lyrics.
Kris,

I agree with your general sentiment which is why "Hello, It's Me" was the second song I listed in the original post. The guy is just a machine - cranking out amazing songs year after year. Some of his lyrics push it a bit, but the melodies and - especially - harmonies usually stop me in my tracks.

Marty
I would add two to those already mentioned:
Stones - Wild Horses
Croce - Time In A Bottle
Not RnR, I believe, but Roberta Flack's "First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face," is one of the few pop melodies that I store with my Classical titles.
Hendrix- Little Wing, Angel
Blind Faith- In the Presence of the Lord
Thin Lizzy- Cowboy Song
Chicago- If You Leave Me Now
Eric Clapton- Wonderful Tonight
Velvet Underground- Pale Blue Eyes
Sorry about my last post. I forgot this was for your Father-in-law. (I only read the thread title).

Here's a couple that fit the bill:

Sweet Child-O-Mine and September Rain, G-N-R

Sister Christian and Sing Me Away, NightRanger

Again-My apologies
Steve