My Top Five Tracks - Jake Pattinson
Following the release of Jake Pattinson's third single 'Part of Me', we got to chat his top music picks of all time...
Jumping Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones
This might sound dramatic but it’s true - this song changed my life. I was 17 and washing dishes in Pizza Hut in Harrogate before they fired me for not knowing how to make a pizza and someone put this on full blast on the Bluetooth speaker. Obviously I’d heard the song before and I’d heard the Rolling Stones before but suddenly those chords really hit me and it all made sense!
Immediately I stopped listening to the CEX fodder I’d been assaulting my ears with for a little while and I became the world’s biggest Stones fanboy for probably 7 years running - I could’ve told you the length of Keith’s toenails on the day they recorded Tumbling Dice for instance, probably. I could’ve picked any number of Stones tracks like Loving Cup or Sweet Virginia or Moonlight Mile or Beast of Burden or Sympathy but if it wasn’t for Jumping Jack Flash I’d be riffing on a 7 string guitar crying into a can of Monster, and I’m not. Thank you Mick and Keith.
In My Life - The Beatles
Like The Stones and The Killers there are countless songs I could choose, but for years I couldn’t even listen to this song because I’d just start crying during the opening riff. It’s such an incredible, beautiful song. The lyrics absolutely floor me - it’s such a beautifully grounded love song, but also the lyrics make me think of everyone I’ve ever known and loved and think of even if we no longer speak. T
he Beatles were on another planet when it came to melody and harmony. Actually I think they must have been aliens who were sent from the future to show us how it’s meant to be done. I’m proud to say nowadays I can listen to the whole thing without crying, but only sometimes.
Read My Mind - The Killers
The Killers have soundtracked my life ever since I was 8 or 9 years old and I think they’re one of the best bands of all time. I could write ten thousand words about this track - I’ve loved it ever since I first heard it. The lyrics - absolutely unreal. Throw a rock amongst the lyrics in this song and you’ll hit a 10/10 line each time.
Brandon’s voice and the way it drips with energy and emotion in all its glorious reckless abandon - I love his voice pre and post Day & Age. Dave Kuening’s guitar playing and the chord voicings he goes for, the synths, the bass, the drums and that hi hat fill on the line “magic soaking my spine…” I really could go on for days about this song and The Killers and their genius. If there’s a band I could be dep guitarist in for one night, it’d be The Killers.
End of the Line - The Traveling Wilburys
If ever I’m having a bit of a bad time I’ll stick this song on - the lyrics are a beautiful message of not getting hung up on being materialistic, to live and let live, to forgive people when they’ve been muppets, and to just keep rolling along through life. It makes my soul feel a little lighter whenever I listen. I
’m a fan of each Wilbury’s solo work of course but particularly that of Tom Petty and Bob Dylan as they’re two of my all time favourite artists - I love the song but this felt like a good way to get both in my top five!
Candle In The Wind - Elton John
In 2025, my girlfriend and I spent two weeks travelling the west of America - California, Nevada and Arizona. Going to California in particular was a dream we’d both separately had before ever meeting each other, so to do it together was really special. This song became part of the soundtrack of the trip - one night in Los Angeles we got in a Waymo (Uber but with AI in the drivers seat) and we blasted this song as we went down Sunset Boulevard and through Hollywood along with Tiny Dancer and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Elton is a god of melody and harmony, Bernie is a lyrical king, and this is a beautiful song in every way. Music theory nerds will know any Elton song is a treat for slash chords and inversions and borrowed chords etc and I’ve learnt a lot from figuring out his chord progressions. My mum is and was a huge Princess Diana stan so naturally I also love the 1997 version and occasionally get that version up on YouTube on a Saturday night after a beer or four.
