Despite what any critic says about Greatest Hits, I proudly stand by my claim that it contains some of the greatest songwriting made in this century. As Ochs, a very outspoken socialist, began to see the downfall of 1960s protest culture, he began to spiral into a manic depressive episode. After several other poorly performing albums were released, he decided to make an album to poke fun at the music industry. Some songs like Chords of Fame and One Way Ticket Home scorn the music industry quite heavily, while other tracks are much more bleak. Similar to Ochs’s disorder, the angry songs are followed by funereal lows like Boy in Ohio, which reads like a recollection one would have before their dying breath. 

The most damning of these tracks is the finale, No More Songs, in which Ochs essentially sings his suicide note 6 years before his untimely demise. The moment I heard this song for the first time, I was moved beyond tears. I have never before been so haunted by an album.