Well done! You've come so far. With no messin' about, here's the final stretch - in reverse order to build the suspense before revealing Leona Lewis is number one... 10 'Hey Ya!' by Outkast - I do love a song that just jumps straight into the fun bit (intro's do have their place sometimes I guess) and this certainly does that, just a shame Outkast had already got to their 'release separate albums because we can't stand each other' stage, or we would've had plenty more like this. Still, 'shake it like a polaroid picture' and 'gimme some sugar, I am your neighbour!' will have to do, even if there's a diminishing number of folk that will get the Lucy Liu reference...
9 'Seven Nation Army' by The White Stripes - speaking of intro's, this may very well take the prize. Face it, you're humming it now, and now you're playing the video in your head. You may also be wishing that Meg could use her other arm while playing the drums too, but you can't have everything. In a parallel universe where I'd not heard this more times than I'd care to mention, this may have got a tad higher.
8 'Maps' by Yeah Yeah Yeahs - although they got pretty famous for their post-NYC-punk clatter, it was this subdued beauty that made the critics really stop and take notice. Karen's tears are real, as is the emotion she pours into every heartbreaking lyric here. It's a stunning tune that starts with the simplest of guitar riffs and builds into a rage of drumskin banging and rockstar guitar shapes. Sublime.
7 'Freak Like Me' by Sugababes - for precisely three months, six days and seventeen minutes 'mash-ups' were the sound of the Noughties. Until, that is, DJ's ran out of Destiny's Child songs and had to start recycling god-awful 90's rave tunes and selling them back to the yanks. Easily the finest of these such 'mash-ups' is this clash of dirty soul and 70's electronica sung by a recently remodelled girl group ready for a relaunched, raunchier image. Strangely enough no-one really complained about them singing about the 'dog in me' - presumably because they managed to keep their clothes on in the video.
6 'Out of Time' by Blur - happily, one of Blur's finest moments emerged from their acrimonious final (for now at least) album. Damon kept the African influences to just the right level, infusing the song with melancholy from the start. It's just about the best melody he's ever written too, coming across more wistful than despondent but still tugging at the heartstrings. The video fits the song perfectly, so much so that you expect the final camera shot to pan to the African choir on a warship (it doesn't). Strangely there's a bit that keeps reminding me of the theme tune to Mr. Rossi - though I suspect this is just me.
5 'The Rat' by The Walkmen - okay now, so I completely overlooked this on the year of its release, just don't tell anyone, but I'm making amends in this countdown. A simple rule of thumb for any up-and-coming indie band should be 'Can you write a tune as good as The Rat?' If the answer is 'no' then you should go on the X Factor instead. Full of spitting vitriol, soaring guitars and packed with acerbic energy but still being incredibly catchy, it makes you want to press play again even before it's over.
4 'Destroy Everything You Touch' by Ladytron - powerful, pounding synths under ice cool female vocals - what's not to like? Ladytron have always been a band that I know I should like but never quite got, until this. I'm frightened to look at the number of plays this has had on my old gramophone as I could probably have learnt a language in that time instead. Unfortunately you're stuck reading this in English then.
3 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' by Kylie Minogue - such an apt title for a pop song isn't it? Sharing a fair few similarities with the previous track in it's driving, future-of-the-1970's electronic sleekness, but with added sexKylie and Julian MacDonald dresses. Although she'd already done the comeback by donning those hot pants a couple of years before, this was the tune that cemented her place in pop royalty and made Madonna call for the botox.
2 'Crazy in Love' by Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z - for many months (believe it or not this countdown was actually planned) old Mrs. Carter was in the top spot. But then, a bit like Seven Nation Army, there's only so many times you can hear 'oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-no-no' without going as crazy as the title suggests. Still, a classic of our time, and a showcase of how US R&B (and sampling) should be done. About as perfect a debut solo single as you can get.
1 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash - a surprise? Yes and No. Yes, firstly because it's a cover (and by definition that generally means they're second-best) and secondly because it's a sad, downbeat, slow song. But then no, because it's one of the best covers ever, never mind for the decade, and also why do number ones have to either be slices of perky pop or indie classics? So this being in pole position answers the question 'which track of the decade made you feel the most?' Intellectually its a great number one, because it takes a song and, without altering the lyrics, completely changes its meaning from Trent Reznor's ode to drug abuse to the final, reflective thoughts and actions of an old man nearing his end. It is so sad and touchingly sung that you'd have to have no tear ducts not to well up while listening to it. It's also Johnny Cash. Throw in the video and you'll be well away. As far as songs with impact go, there's little competition. But if you want to end on a happier note I hear there ain't no party like an S Club party...
(so, no Leona, but for a second you thought I'd done it didn't you?)
Now listen to a good old earful of all of these over on that there Spotify malarkey...and if you missed the rest of the countdown (shame!) you can listen to them over on my account...
No comments:
Post a Comment