Top Ten Songs by Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett has been an American icon for over fifty years. It seems very fitting that in his eightieth year on this Earth that ten best songs of his career be looked at.

(1) I Left My Heart in San Francisco I know this is a cliché chose, but no list of Tony Bennett’s best songs is complete without this one. In my book, it is great for only one reason and that reason is that this song was picked as a “filler” song. As the story goes, Tony needed one more song for a concert one evening and someone found this one. It was such a hit with the audience that night and with other audiences that Tony decided to record it. It just goes to show that some of best songs are the ones that weren’t meant to be the big hits.

(2) Steppin’ Out With My Baby- The recording of this song is great, but the version Tony Bennett performed on MTV’s Unplugged is even better. Basically, this song is what cemented Tony Bennett’s “street cred” with Generation X. After thunderous applause, Tony was said to have remarked with the wisdom that only a man born before 1960 would have, “These songs aren’t just old songs, they’re good songs.” For keeping the old way of singing cool is what makes this song great.

(3) I Wanna be Around- This is just another great song. Period. The thing that makes “I Wanna Be Around” great is the pace and punch of it. The opening lines sound like a love and protect type song, but by the punch of the final lyrics, “and that’s when I’ll discover that revenge is sweet. When I sit there applauding from a front row seat,” we know that Tony is kicking the fictional lover of this song while she is down. He sings with such emotion, viciousness and reverie that you support him and don’t hate him for the fact that he wants his ex-love’s heart broken.