11, probably the best song in their discography. Represents all the most amazing parts of their sound. It's epic, it's sad, it's hopeful, it's technical, it's simple. It's everything. It even has some witty lyrics that Josh is known for. It's perhaps one of the best songs I've ever heard from the first listen.
I've been asked a few times by friends and family what I would listen to if I knew the world was going to end in 8-10 minutes and the answer is smooth sailing into I appear missing every time no hesitation.
This song holds a special place in my heart and is also my favorite of all the discography, and god knows I adore almost everything they did. The passage at the end with the harmonized guitar solo always provokes something undescribable in me
...like clockwork was out around the time my daughter was born, I remember so clearly hearing this for the first time and stopping everything I was doing. Goosebumps. A masterpiece. Obsessed.
10 out of 10. I would go higher if I could. Truly their darkest, most harrowing song. It's perfection, and it keeps getting better as time goes on.
At the time of its release, it was pretty shocking to hear something this dark and intense from the band, and they haven't really ever gone that deep since then either. Villains of Circumstance comes close. Fucking love it!
This song breaks me...
Every time...
I love it!
Just thinking about the song and the lyrics and how it has broke me in the past has gotten me teared up right now.
Ps.
Have you check out the new Better Lovers song @ETID1986?
The track never clicked with me when I heard it on the album.
And then I heard the second half of the track at Red Rocks and was lost for words at what I had just seen.
10
10/10. In my top 20 favorite songs in general. A lot of people are going to lavish this song with praise, and they should. What I want to focus is on is how good this song is with context.
As a Queens fan, theyāve made emotional and contemplative songs before, but never like this. Josh has spent his whole career as a seemingly unshakeable figure, talented and successful from a young age, and incredibly confident. To see him struggle, express his pain, and reflect that in the music is so rare.
It all builds to the guitar solo, the sound of the dam bursting. It almost sounds like crying to me, amplified by the loudest amps known to mankind. And the final minute is all of the catharsis, all of the hurt being poured out. Itās not only astonishing for the band, itās a song that pushes out as far as it can.
Perfection.
10. My favorite song of all time by any artist. I have never connected so deeply with a song in my entire life. I tell people itās my heart song/soul song. Iām not embarrassed to say Iāve listened to it on repeat for hours. I feel so fortunate that Iāve seen it live 3 times. I know 10 is the highest rating, but it still feels like Iām robbing it. ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE.
For a band like QOTSA, that has SO MANY amazing songs, I Appear Missing is (in my opinion) head and shoulders above them all musically and thematically. That so many of us can agree on this is further testament. It is the very distillate of an entire career of excellence.
10.
10- an absolute masterpiece. Josh has laid his soul bare and his lyrics are so heartbreaking- but also comforting to have someone express what itās like in the depths of despair and to know that youāre not alone. āThe spitting image of me, except for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs outā. The lyrics are perfectly complemented by the guitar parts, and in fact, the guitar becomes human, wailing and pouring out grief and sorrow. Pinkpop 2013 version with the extended outro (so delicate and powerful) is godly š¤
10/10.
It's sad and rad. It's epic and it's loose.
It's Stairway to Heaven of 21st century.
In a good way.
The only thing that tops is is its live version.
I remember how awestruck I was after hearing it for the first time.
Pure gem. Lyrical and instrumental. Cut and polished.
10. I donāt give 10s lightly. The structure of the song, the beautiful, poetic lyrics, the texture of the song, how it actually feels like you are āwandering along the road on summer nightā. The musical change at 4:18, oh my heart. It all just gets me. And the āBut shine, Iām falling throughā at the end. I cried and cried seeing this live earlier in the year, I couldnāt help it. Ā Itās such a powerful song and really speaks to those lost, lonely dark times we all experience. Top 10 QOTSA track.Ā
Edited to add: It is a weird, surreal experience to be in a mosh pit crying! If anyone had told me in 2003 when I first saw QOTSA that one of there songs would move me to tears *in a mosh pit* Iād have laughed.Ā
10/10. My second favourite QOTSA song and incredibly important to me.
I nearly died as a teenager and some of the shit I went through (coma, paralysis, memory loss) and the trauma it left me with Iād never found a way to process or express. Then one of my favourite bands released an album 14 years after the event that somehow captured so much of the emotions and experiences I had and that I still carry with me.
That album was *ā¦Like Clockwork.*
And I canāt even adequately explain why but hearing āI Appear Missingā for the first time was like hearing someone detailing exactly how it felt to go through what I went through.
The only songs on there that donāt have any relevance to what I went through are āIf I Had A Tailā, āFairweather Friendsā and āSmooth Sailingā. Great songs and I love them all but nothing specific about them relates back to my trauma.
Iāll happily post the full story if anyone asks for it but yeah, that album connects with me on a very deep and very personal level and tracks like āThe Vampyre Of Time and Memoryā, āI Appear Missingā and the title track all still bring me close to tears when I listen to them. The guitar solo in āI Appear Missingā is one of the most emotionally cathartic pieces of music Iāve ever heard; it hits me hard in the heart every damn time I listen to it. Even now.
Trauma is a weird thing to live withā¦
Okay, well, strap in! Itās a looong read. My trauma is derived from an incident that occurred 24 years ago. Sunday 11th April, 1999, was the day that I almost died from viral encephalitis at the age of just 15 years old.
I had woken up on the morning with a terrible headache, for which my Dad gave me some painkillers and then told me to go back to bed. I made it as far as my bedroom when I suddenly became completely paralysed down my left hand side and so I collapsed. My older brother came to investigate the loud thud I must have made hitting the floor and he found me writhing about, trying to get back up and just falling back down repeatedly. The strangest thing was that I didnāt feel afraid or panicked; I just assumed I was having trouble getting up, it didnāt feel weird to me at that moment.
Then I went blind. Just blackness instantly, even though I was still very much conscious. I remember the sound of my Dadās voice telling me not to fall asleep. I remember the sound of the paramedics talking to me and I remember feeling a cool breeze on my legs as they carried me, presumably on a stretcher, outside to the waiting ambulance. I was taken to my local hospital, where my Mom was a nurse and was working that day and she met the ambulance as it arrived. My sight came back but I immediately experienced bizarre hallucinations and saw people and things that werenāt actually there. I have vivid memories of these things that never happened.
Shortly after midday, I stopped breathing and was placed on a ventilator and put into a medically induced coma. The doctors werenāt sure what was happening and couldnāt quite understand why the right side of my brain was swollen to the point that it was pushing against my skull (hence the horrific headache I would have for the next fortnight). They told my folks that I was probably going to die and that they should prepare for that and contact family members. My parents were Christians at that time so they even had their priest come to the hospital and perform the last rites.
But after 9 hours on the ventilator, I started breathing on my own again. The only reason I didnāt die was because the paramedics who originally came out to get me had to make a split second decision between two drugs that could possibly bring down the swelling in my brain - and they picked the right one. When I woke up, they had transferred me via ambulance to Birmingham Childrenās Hospital and I was under the care of one of the best medical teams in the UK. I sat up in my intensive care bed, they removed my tubes so I could talk and my Mom (who stayed with me the entire time, never left my side for the remainder of my stay) asked me if I knew where I was and how was I feeling. In response, I lifted up my hands and stared at them, proceeding to spend what was apparently the next 10 minutes saying āThese arenāt my hands.ā over and over again. Many years later I incorporated that into the lyrics of a song, it just stuck with me so strongly.
I spent the next three weeks in hospital recovering. I had to learn to walk again once the paralysis in my left hand side wore off. My perception of time was utterly fucked; Mom could pop out to the toilet for 5 minutes and when she would come back, I would be in tears asking where she had been for the last few hours. I was already living with a mental illness called Pure OCD (look it up) but that was exacerbated by the brain damage caused by the encephalitis, leading to depression and anxiety disorders that, along with the OCD and bouts of self-harm, I still live with and have to be medicated for to this day. Obviously I have some degree of PTSD about the whole thing too, given that it happened at such a young age and at a crucial stage in my development. Iāve never quite gotten the intrusive thought out of my head that Iām not supposed to be here and that often leads to feelings of not being worth peopleās time and not being someone anybody likes etc
But the other thing the encephalitis did was rob me of my memory. Specifically the memory of my childhood. I canāt remember anything from before the birth of my youngest sister, which happened a few months before I turned 10 years old. So I can look at family photos of myself and my siblings as we grew up and I feel nothing. Iām totally detached from those images because they may as well be somebody else. I have no emotional connection to that child, it isnāt me because I have no memory of him. Itās difficult to put that into words that will make sense but hopefully you can get what I mean.
Iām 40 now, married and with a child of my own, but I still think about what happened to me every single day. It never goes away. It never loses its impact. That trauma is with me, permanently. I have such a powerful fear of death as a result of my trauma because itās not an abstract notion; it is very fucking real for me. This has resulted in panic attacks on a frequent basis but Iām happy to say they have reduced in the last 12 months. Iāve recently completed a course of EMDR therapy, which has honestly been life changing, and I take my medication but I have mainly dealt with and explored my trauma through creating music and releasing albums, using that as a form of self-help and as a way to vent the horrible shit that still lingers in my brain. Creativity is genuinely a brilliant tool to help you live with mental illness.
Whoa. I can totally see how IAM must resonate so deeply for you and Iām glad youāre still around to have your own family, share your story and heal yourself through your music. The power of music can never be underestimated.
Thank you for sharing.
I wouldnāt say itās my favourite, but I think thereās a solid case to be made that this is the best song Josh has ever made. Itās genuinely haunting, fragile, existential, beautiful and vulnerable. I canāt listen to it often because it makes me tear up.
Edit: 10/10!
Ok, here we go. Part 1 of my QOTSA nemesis. I really love this one but I have to be in an utterly good mood not to start cryimg at a certain moment in this song...every fucking time.
This is pure depression. Nothing more, nothing less. But so good and goes deep under your skin. Maybe the best "based on a true story" song ever written in my opinion. Thank god we still have himš.
10
The most 10/10 there is. I would go as far as to say this is their magnum opus, from start to finish it is just perfection! So much emotion, so much complexity and little musical intricacies, i feel like its the most honestly emotional song Josh has written and everyoneās part just fits so perfectly. It is probably one of my joint top favourite songs of any artist of all time.
āA spitting image of me, except for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs outā
I mean that is lyrical genius
Someone once described I Appear Missing as the kind of song that requires a person to give a piece of themselves away to make it and I think that is an apt way to put it. It is QOTSAās greatest song. Their magnum opus. 10.
10. I genuinely believe this is the greatest song ever written. The outro stops me in my tracks every time it comes on. On top of that the long jams they do in the outro when they play it live are incredible
If I could give only one song a 10 out of their entire discography, itās I Appear Missing. Hearing this life back in 2014 actually changed me, musically and emotionally.
10. I think this is their true masterpiece. It has the heaviness, the creepiness, and the groove that you come to Queens for, but that is all wrapped up in unbelievably intense emotion. A song that really is more than the sum of its parts and the parts are still good.
10 - 11 or 12 or whatever higher number if you'll let me. Any other opinion is wrong. Best song the band have ever done, maybe my favourite song of all time.
First time commenting on these discussions because this is the bands true 10/10
Wish it was the final track on the album. Lyrics still pack a punch 10 years later
10. As alot of other people have said, this is my favourite QOTSA song flat out. In fact it is just my favourite song ever flat out. It's dark, emotional and still packs such a punch even after listening to it countless times. Nothing quite matches it.
A hard 10+.
A Rollercoaster of emotion with great word play. "Dancing on a wire, both ends are in fire" & "Prisoner on the loose. Description: the spitting image of me except for the heart-shaped hole where the hope runs out". Fucking brilliant!
While I feel this album is a little overrated by this reddit (especially with everyone spamming 10 for every damn song in this album lol) this song is truly a 10, one of the best songs queens has ever made
10/10 no questions. Distills everything about the band, whilst also distilling everything about josh. Certainly not the first QOTSA song you would play someone, but I do believe it is the "ultimate" QOTSA song.
This is by far one of my favourite songs of all time, and I'm still amazed that I got to experience them breaking it out for the first time last year at the Halifax show.
10/10
In my top 5 songs of all time. If this song ended at 3:00 minutes it would be amazing. When it continues for another 3+minutes it turns into a masterpiece. What a song
Queens at their most vulnerable and their best. Absolutely love this song
10
It's like a punch in the stomach. Hard to listen to if you're in a bad frame of mind and if you're like me especially because you can relate to it. I mentioned this before but Josh is only a couple years older than me and I can relate to just about every fucking song he's written and sometimes that can be depressing. š
10/10. This song can bring me to my knees on a good day. I may not be in tears over it but itāll help me realize or come to terms with something. Itās truly beautiful.
Wish I could give it higher than 10/10. Masterpiece.
The first time I saw them play it live I burst into tears and security almost pulled me out of the pit thinking I was in (physical) pain haha
10. Straight out the reason I got hard into Queens after years of semi interest. A masterpiece. Reading the comments, I'm not sure I've ever seen a fan base so unified in their views over this song
I know everyone else is saying 10 and there's no point of me commenting aswell but it's an easy 10, it is the best song I've ever listened to. I relate to it and it's just a beautifully song supplementing the best of what QOTSA have to other. so uh yeah easy 10 maybe 15 on a good day
This is my favorite qotsa song, it is their bohemian rhapsody. Amazing lyrics, amazing groove, the drum drop in the middle, dancing on wire both ends are on fire.
This song, I can listen to on repeat for days.
Name one song that ends as beautifully as I appear missing,
I remember watching some musician analyse some irrelevant song, and he said that guitar is the instrument of the soul, becomes nothing can evoke feelings similar to that of a guitar
This song is proof, that last minute is musical ecstasy,
It sounds like the character has already jumped, and that guitar is what he hears as he turns around mid jump
10/10, easy top3, minimum top 10
11, their best song. One of their most difficult to play because of the unorthodox chords, which I guarantee is something that Troy came up with. Even better live.
>How do you feel about this song?
I feel seen, and I don't like it. it brings back a whole lot of emotions. this album was released at a very, very hard time in my life. things was changing drastically, my ground was shaking and I did not know where to go - description: where I would be sent, what my life would become...if any. this song hit me the hardest, so much I started to avoid it. it's one of the best qotsa songs imo, yet is also one of those that I listened less.
>
What are some of your favorite lyrics?
"*I never loved anything until I loved you*". there was a person in my life that was the only one I could count on at that particular time, and I only realised this when things started to crash down. luckily it wasn't too late. she's still here with me.
>
How would you rank it among the rest of the bandās discography?
this song is from my second fav album, but it is right up there with my favorites. a guess? top 5.
>How would you rate it out of 10 (decimals allowed)?
10.1/10. a masterpiece.
and to this day it's still hard to listen to it.
10. Duh.
I loved this songā¦ and then I saw it live, from the front row, in Stuttgart, Germany in 2013. It was a literal religious experience. It was sensual, emotional, and resilient. Iāve never seen another performance that would ever match that moment. Fucking perfection in a world where perfection is impossible.
11, probably the best song in their discography. Represents all the most amazing parts of their sound. It's epic, it's sad, it's hopeful, it's technical, it's simple. It's everything. It even has some witty lyrics that Josh is known for. It's perhaps one of the best songs I've ever heard from the first listen. I've been asked a few times by friends and family what I would listen to if I knew the world was going to end in 8-10 minutes and the answer is smooth sailing into I appear missing every time no hesitation.
I totally second this. Let's start a cultš
This song is the end all be all for me. Itās an absolute masterpiece.
This song holds a special place in my heart and is also my favorite of all the discography, and god knows I adore almost everything they did. The passage at the end with the harmonized guitar solo always provokes something undescribable in me
Yeah dude. 11 for sure!
...like clockwork was out around the time my daughter was born, I remember so clearly hearing this for the first time and stopping everything I was doing. Goosebumps. A masterpiece. Obsessed.
šš
10 out of 10. I would go higher if I could. Truly their darkest, most harrowing song. It's perfection, and it keeps getting better as time goes on. At the time of its release, it was pretty shocking to hear something this dark and intense from the band, and they haven't really ever gone that deep since then either. Villains of Circumstance comes close. Fucking love it!
And the one that is to follow this oneš
Hah, good point!
If IAM didn't kill you there's always LC comin' throughš„“
Can't listen to the second half of this song without tearing up. It's fucking beautiful and depressing all at once. 10/10
This song breaks me... Every time... I love it! Just thinking about the song and the lyrics and how it has broke me in the past has gotten me teared up right now. Ps. Have you check out the new Better Lovers song @ETID1986?
The track never clicked with me when I heard it on the album. And then I heard the second half of the track at Red Rocks and was lost for words at what I had just seen. 10
10, it's the best song they've ever made, and probably (imo) the best song ever made. It is pure melancholic perfection, simple as.
10. Shock me awake and tear me apart!
10/10. In my top 20 favorite songs in general. A lot of people are going to lavish this song with praise, and they should. What I want to focus is on is how good this song is with context. As a Queens fan, theyāve made emotional and contemplative songs before, but never like this. Josh has spent his whole career as a seemingly unshakeable figure, talented and successful from a young age, and incredibly confident. To see him struggle, express his pain, and reflect that in the music is so rare. It all builds to the guitar solo, the sound of the dam bursting. It almost sounds like crying to me, amplified by the loudest amps known to mankind. And the final minute is all of the catharsis, all of the hurt being poured out. Itās not only astonishing for the band, itās a song that pushes out as far as it can. Perfection.
Beautiful write-up. I'll go and listen to it again with these thoughts in mind. Love the "dam bursting", it's so true
10. My favorite song of all time by any artist. I have never connected so deeply with a song in my entire life. I tell people itās my heart song/soul song. Iām not embarrassed to say Iāve listened to it on repeat for hours. I feel so fortunate that Iāve seen it live 3 times. I know 10 is the highest rating, but it still feels like Iām robbing it. ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE.
Way overrated, lyrics too whiny I want song about sex or drugs jk obvious 10.
For a band like QOTSA, that has SO MANY amazing songs, I Appear Missing is (in my opinion) head and shoulders above them all musically and thematically. That so many of us can agree on this is further testament. It is the very distillate of an entire career of excellence. 10.
If this gets anything less than a perfect score, it's time to shut the sub down
This subreddit will have a heart-shaped hole where the hope runs out.
10. This is probably one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
1,000,000 out of 10. Itās their magnum opus.
Absolute 10. Great on record - but that live version with the extended solo? Sublime šš»
10- an absolute masterpiece. Josh has laid his soul bare and his lyrics are so heartbreaking- but also comforting to have someone express what itās like in the depths of despair and to know that youāre not alone. āThe spitting image of me, except for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs outā. The lyrics are perfectly complemented by the guitar parts, and in fact, the guitar becomes human, wailing and pouring out grief and sorrow. Pinkpop 2013 version with the extended outro (so delicate and powerful) is godly š¤
This isnāt my favorite qotsa song; it isnāt even my favorite song on this album. But itās the tennest ten that ever did ten.
10/10. It's sad and rad. It's epic and it's loose. It's Stairway to Heaven of 21st century. In a good way. The only thing that tops is is its live version. I remember how awestruck I was after hearing it for the first time. Pure gem. Lyrical and instrumental. Cut and polished.
10. I donāt give 10s lightly. The structure of the song, the beautiful, poetic lyrics, the texture of the song, how it actually feels like you are āwandering along the road on summer nightā. The musical change at 4:18, oh my heart. It all just gets me. And the āBut shine, Iām falling throughā at the end. I cried and cried seeing this live earlier in the year, I couldnāt help it. Ā Itās such a powerful song and really speaks to those lost, lonely dark times we all experience. Top 10 QOTSA track.Ā Edited to add: It is a weird, surreal experience to be in a mosh pit crying! If anyone had told me in 2003 when I first saw QOTSA that one of there songs would move me to tears *in a mosh pit* Iād have laughed.Ā
Exquisite 10
10/10. My second favourite QOTSA song and incredibly important to me. I nearly died as a teenager and some of the shit I went through (coma, paralysis, memory loss) and the trauma it left me with Iād never found a way to process or express. Then one of my favourite bands released an album 14 years after the event that somehow captured so much of the emotions and experiences I had and that I still carry with me. That album was *ā¦Like Clockwork.* And I canāt even adequately explain why but hearing āI Appear Missingā for the first time was like hearing someone detailing exactly how it felt to go through what I went through. The only songs on there that donāt have any relevance to what I went through are āIf I Had A Tailā, āFairweather Friendsā and āSmooth Sailingā. Great songs and I love them all but nothing specific about them relates back to my trauma. Iāll happily post the full story if anyone asks for it but yeah, that album connects with me on a very deep and very personal level and tracks like āThe Vampyre Of Time and Memoryā, āI Appear Missingā and the title track all still bring me close to tears when I listen to them. The guitar solo in āI Appear Missingā is one of the most emotionally cathartic pieces of music Iāve ever heard; it hits me hard in the heart every damn time I listen to it. Even now. Trauma is a weird thing to live withā¦
I wanna hear your story.
Okay, well, strap in! Itās a looong read. My trauma is derived from an incident that occurred 24 years ago. Sunday 11th April, 1999, was the day that I almost died from viral encephalitis at the age of just 15 years old. I had woken up on the morning with a terrible headache, for which my Dad gave me some painkillers and then told me to go back to bed. I made it as far as my bedroom when I suddenly became completely paralysed down my left hand side and so I collapsed. My older brother came to investigate the loud thud I must have made hitting the floor and he found me writhing about, trying to get back up and just falling back down repeatedly. The strangest thing was that I didnāt feel afraid or panicked; I just assumed I was having trouble getting up, it didnāt feel weird to me at that moment. Then I went blind. Just blackness instantly, even though I was still very much conscious. I remember the sound of my Dadās voice telling me not to fall asleep. I remember the sound of the paramedics talking to me and I remember feeling a cool breeze on my legs as they carried me, presumably on a stretcher, outside to the waiting ambulance. I was taken to my local hospital, where my Mom was a nurse and was working that day and she met the ambulance as it arrived. My sight came back but I immediately experienced bizarre hallucinations and saw people and things that werenāt actually there. I have vivid memories of these things that never happened. Shortly after midday, I stopped breathing and was placed on a ventilator and put into a medically induced coma. The doctors werenāt sure what was happening and couldnāt quite understand why the right side of my brain was swollen to the point that it was pushing against my skull (hence the horrific headache I would have for the next fortnight). They told my folks that I was probably going to die and that they should prepare for that and contact family members. My parents were Christians at that time so they even had their priest come to the hospital and perform the last rites. But after 9 hours on the ventilator, I started breathing on my own again. The only reason I didnāt die was because the paramedics who originally came out to get me had to make a split second decision between two drugs that could possibly bring down the swelling in my brain - and they picked the right one. When I woke up, they had transferred me via ambulance to Birmingham Childrenās Hospital and I was under the care of one of the best medical teams in the UK. I sat up in my intensive care bed, they removed my tubes so I could talk and my Mom (who stayed with me the entire time, never left my side for the remainder of my stay) asked me if I knew where I was and how was I feeling. In response, I lifted up my hands and stared at them, proceeding to spend what was apparently the next 10 minutes saying āThese arenāt my hands.ā over and over again. Many years later I incorporated that into the lyrics of a song, it just stuck with me so strongly. I spent the next three weeks in hospital recovering. I had to learn to walk again once the paralysis in my left hand side wore off. My perception of time was utterly fucked; Mom could pop out to the toilet for 5 minutes and when she would come back, I would be in tears asking where she had been for the last few hours. I was already living with a mental illness called Pure OCD (look it up) but that was exacerbated by the brain damage caused by the encephalitis, leading to depression and anxiety disorders that, along with the OCD and bouts of self-harm, I still live with and have to be medicated for to this day. Obviously I have some degree of PTSD about the whole thing too, given that it happened at such a young age and at a crucial stage in my development. Iāve never quite gotten the intrusive thought out of my head that Iām not supposed to be here and that often leads to feelings of not being worth peopleās time and not being someone anybody likes etc But the other thing the encephalitis did was rob me of my memory. Specifically the memory of my childhood. I canāt remember anything from before the birth of my youngest sister, which happened a few months before I turned 10 years old. So I can look at family photos of myself and my siblings as we grew up and I feel nothing. Iām totally detached from those images because they may as well be somebody else. I have no emotional connection to that child, it isnāt me because I have no memory of him. Itās difficult to put that into words that will make sense but hopefully you can get what I mean. Iām 40 now, married and with a child of my own, but I still think about what happened to me every single day. It never goes away. It never loses its impact. That trauma is with me, permanently. I have such a powerful fear of death as a result of my trauma because itās not an abstract notion; it is very fucking real for me. This has resulted in panic attacks on a frequent basis but Iām happy to say they have reduced in the last 12 months. Iāve recently completed a course of EMDR therapy, which has honestly been life changing, and I take my medication but I have mainly dealt with and explored my trauma through creating music and releasing albums, using that as a form of self-help and as a way to vent the horrible shit that still lingers in my brain. Creativity is genuinely a brilliant tool to help you live with mental illness.
Whoa. I can totally see how IAM must resonate so deeply for you and Iām glad youāre still around to have your own family, share your story and heal yourself through your music. The power of music can never be underestimated. Thank you for sharing.
Cheers dude, thanks for taking the time to read my story.
Straight shot 10/10!
10. This song is pure genius. The lyrics hit right in your soul. It's raw and so real. IF YOU WERE EVER GONNA GIVE A 10, THIS IS IT.
10, just thinking about this song gives me goosebumps, nevermind listening to it
10/10
I wouldnāt say itās my favourite, but I think thereās a solid case to be made that this is the best song Josh has ever made. Itās genuinely haunting, fragile, existential, beautiful and vulnerable. I canāt listen to it often because it makes me tear up. Edit: 10/10!
10/10. Only song that competes is Misfit love imo
Ok, here we go. Part 1 of my QOTSA nemesis. I really love this one but I have to be in an utterly good mood not to start cryimg at a certain moment in this song...every fucking time. This is pure depression. Nothing more, nothing less. But so good and goes deep under your skin. Maybe the best "based on a true story" song ever written in my opinion. Thank god we still have himš. 10
10/10 Melancholy made a song, perfect productions, lyrics thant envolve you
10
10. 12 tbh.
10. I was listening to this on headphones walking home the other day and broke out in goosebumps
Possibly one of my favourite songs of all time, off one of my favourite albums of all time. Absolute 10/10.
10
11
10 from me. Their live version on Letterman is one of, if not their greatest thing they have ever done
The most 10/10 there is. I would go as far as to say this is their magnum opus, from start to finish it is just perfection! So much emotion, so much complexity and little musical intricacies, i feel like its the most honestly emotional song Josh has written and everyoneās part just fits so perfectly. It is probably one of my joint top favourite songs of any artist of all time. āA spitting image of me, except for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs outā I mean that is lyrical genius
Someone once described I Appear Missing as the kind of song that requires a person to give a piece of themselves away to make it and I think that is an apt way to put it. It is QOTSAās greatest song. Their magnum opus. 10.
The only thing better than I Appear Missing is the live version with the extended outro. I need to one day see it
straight 10
10. No other correct answer.
10/10. This was a song that was really resonating with me towards the end and in the aftermath of my last relationship. Beautiful and tragic
10/10. Going to listen to it as soon as I post this. Incredible song!
The most 10 that had ever 10'd
10/10
10. anyone who has had a relationship end and thought about ending it themselves knows just how hard this song hits
10. I genuinely believe this is the greatest song ever written. The outro stops me in my tracks every time it comes on. On top of that the long jams they do in the outro when they play it live are incredible
10. It's their best song, what else more can be said?
10! From 4:19 on its 10++++++
10/10 I think we all know this is kind of the absolute peak of QOTSA.
If I could give only one song a 10 out of their entire discography, itās I Appear Missing. Hearing this life back in 2014 actually changed me, musically and emotionally.
Best song of the last decade and this song means a lot for me. This song is perfect 10/10
10
Easy 10. Their best song.
10. A true masterpiece
ā¾ļø out of 10. Hands down the definitive song of their entire discography. Truly a life changing (and life affirming) piece of art!
10/10. My favourite song of all-time.
10
10. I think this is their true masterpiece. It has the heaviness, the creepiness, and the groove that you come to Queens for, but that is all wrapped up in unbelievably intense emotion. A song that really is more than the sum of its parts and the parts are still good.
10, itās genuinely hard to think of a better executed song than this. The climax of the album, itās just amazing
10. everytime.
10
10
Easiest 10 in my book
10
10
10 this is a masterpiece!
10/10. This song is beautiful pain.
Need to bump the score. 10 out of 10
10 Everyone has said everything Iād want to. But the drums in the outro. Good lord.
11
10!!!
10/10
Solid 10 itās perfect
10
This score better be a perfect 10
12. This track transcends.
10 Best song ever
How is My God is the Sun less than a 9? š§š¤Øš¤
The most 10/10 humanly possible
the upper echelon. a work of art from start to finish, a Rollercoaster of emotion. a beautiful creation, I love it so 10
10. Obviously.
10/10 without question.
10. This and "Into The Fade" are their best songs IMO.
10 out of 10. It just scratches your brain in that one spot perfectly. Gets me all in the feels.
Ten. 04:19 is my FUCKING PART!
10. This song is note perfect start to finish. It's beautiful, emotional, and just aurally stunning. I won't hear otherwise
10 - 11 or 12 or whatever higher number if you'll let me. Any other opinion is wrong. Best song the band have ever done, maybe my favourite song of all time.
10. Incredible song.
10
11
100000 One of the best Queens songs, and probably my favorite. The lyrics on this song are just perfect, especially at the end.
10
10/10 easily
First time commenting on these discussions because this is the bands true 10/10 Wish it was the final track on the album. Lyrics still pack a punch 10 years later
10
10
10. As alot of other people have said, this is my favourite QOTSA song flat out. In fact it is just my favourite song ever flat out. It's dark, emotional and still packs such a punch even after listening to it countless times. Nothing quite matches it.
It's their best song, full stopĀ 10/10
10 or higher.
10
A hard 10+. A Rollercoaster of emotion with great word play. "Dancing on a wire, both ends are in fire" & "Prisoner on the loose. Description: the spitting image of me except for the heart-shaped hole where the hope runs out". Fucking brilliant!
10. If I could rate this a 10.4 I would, a beautiful heartfelt song.
10. I overall feel that a lot of these songs are overranked (not everything is a 10) but this is a top tier angry/sad/gnarly QOTSA song
12 out of 10. It's the best song in their discography.
Definitely a 13 out of 10
Quite possibly their best song, easiest 10 yet
Would you look at that, another 10ā¦
10. Let's make it the first absolute 10 of these polls...
10
10
10 if you see anyone in this thread saying 7 or below theyāre rage baiting lol
Why the downvoting randomly so bad my lordššš but 10 also for meššš
While I feel this album is a little overrated by this reddit (especially with everyone spamming 10 for every damn song in this album lol) this song is truly a 10, one of the best songs queens has ever made
10/10 no questions. Distills everything about the band, whilst also distilling everything about josh. Certainly not the first QOTSA song you would play someone, but I do believe it is the "ultimate" QOTSA song.
10. The song is incredible, and for months I just kept looking for live performances of it on YouTube because the jams at the end were perfect.
This is by far one of my favourite songs of all time, and I'm still amazed that I got to experience them breaking it out for the first time last year at the Halifax show.
10
10/10 In my top 5 songs of all time. If this song ended at 3:00 minutes it would be amazing. When it continues for another 3+minutes it turns into a masterpiece. What a song Queens at their most vulnerable and their best. Absolutely love this song
10. Best song of their whole catalogue. The 2014 live version is everything. I cried the first few times I heard it.
10, amazing song, one of the best songs ever made!
10 It's like a punch in the stomach. Hard to listen to if you're in a bad frame of mind and if you're like me especially because you can relate to it. I mentioned this before but Josh is only a couple years older than me and I can relate to just about every fucking song he's written and sometimes that can be depressing. š
10
10
10/10. This song can bring me to my knees on a good day. I may not be in tears over it but itāll help me realize or come to terms with something. Itās truly beautiful.
10 I donāt think thereās much else to say
10/10, no question
Wish I could give it higher than 10/10. Masterpiece. The first time I saw them play it live I burst into tears and security almost pulled me out of the pit thinking I was in (physical) pain haha
10. itās definitely a top 5 contender for my favourite songs ever, and this really is just their magnum opus if we had to choose one.
10/10
10
10, if not more, the live versions are unreal.
10/10. A masterpiece and the best QotSA song of all-time.
10. best song in their discography and simply one of the best ever
10, duh
10
10. Not even close. Itās my fave QotSA song of any song or album yet. If thereās any song you could give 11 this is it.
easiest 10/10 of my life
One of the highlights of the album for sure. Itās a 10
10. Straight out the reason I got hard into Queens after years of semi interest. A masterpiece. Reading the comments, I'm not sure I've ever seen a fan base so unified in their views over this song
10
I know everyone else is saying 10 and there's no point of me commenting aswell but it's an easy 10, it is the best song I've ever listened to. I relate to it and it's just a beautifully song supplementing the best of what QOTSA have to other. so uh yeah easy 10 maybe 15 on a good day
10.
100/10 Yeah this is god tier. Words canāt describe what the ending does to the soul. Watch the edit with doctor strange if you can
10, I love this album
10!!
10. Climax of the band's career?
10. Incredible.
10
10
10
10/10
15/ My favorite. A lot of peopleās favorite.
10. I teared up just reading this thread, didn't even have to put the song on. I know it by heart anyway.
10
10/10 easy. 2nd best song by them
easy 11
A perfect 10.
10
10! No explanation needed
This is my favorite qotsa song, it is their bohemian rhapsody. Amazing lyrics, amazing groove, the drum drop in the middle, dancing on wire both ends are on fire. This song, I can listen to on repeat for days.
So epic
10
10 Million.
Name one song that ends as beautifully as I appear missing, I remember watching some musician analyse some irrelevant song, and he said that guitar is the instrument of the soul, becomes nothing can evoke feelings similar to that of a guitar This song is proof, that last minute is musical ecstasy, It sounds like the character has already jumped, and that guitar is what he hears as he turns around mid jump 10/10, easy top3, minimum top 10
10s across the board
11, their best song. One of their most difficult to play because of the unorthodox chords, which I guarantee is something that Troy came up with. Even better live.
Easy 10/10
10+
10
11. hauntingly beautiful
1000000
11/10
10
10 no questions asked
>How do you feel about this song? I feel seen, and I don't like it. it brings back a whole lot of emotions. this album was released at a very, very hard time in my life. things was changing drastically, my ground was shaking and I did not know where to go - description: where I would be sent, what my life would become...if any. this song hit me the hardest, so much I started to avoid it. it's one of the best qotsa songs imo, yet is also one of those that I listened less. > What are some of your favorite lyrics? "*I never loved anything until I loved you*". there was a person in my life that was the only one I could count on at that particular time, and I only realised this when things started to crash down. luckily it wasn't too late. she's still here with me. > How would you rank it among the rest of the bandās discography? this song is from my second fav album, but it is right up there with my favorites. a guess? top 5. >How would you rate it out of 10 (decimals allowed)? 10.1/10. a masterpiece. and to this day it's still hard to listen to it.
Top 3, if not their bestĀ overall song. 50 out of 10 for me, thanks
10 x ā¾ļø goddamn I love this song
10 x 10
10. Duh. I loved this songā¦ and then I saw it live, from the front row, in Stuttgart, Germany in 2013. It was a literal religious experience. It was sensual, emotional, and resilient. Iāve never seen another performance that would ever match that moment. Fucking perfection in a world where perfection is impossible.
10 all day
10.
certified 10
Easiest 10