I’m kind of a sucker for video countdowns. I get drawn in like a moth to a flame. (Yeah, I’m channeling a little Janet.) Whether it’s year-enders, "best of" a decade, Justin Timberlake’s Sexiest, One Hit Wonders…..I could go on. But the point is, without fail, I come across a countdown and about eight hours later I’m sidelined on the couch wondering where my day went.
And while I love the color commentary of random comedians and “celebrities” (Audrina Patridge and some Jersey Shore-ers were on this last one) why must it always take 30 minutes to show the last five songs??? And it’s just a tease that they only show about 25 seconds of the actual song. Color me perturbed.
Anyway…countdown watching isn’t just a procrastination method for me (that’s what cleaning the bathroom is for). I fall into the countdown vortex and wind up having some sort of magical trip down memory lane. I’ve made multiple mentions of how music inspires my writing so there’s always the chance of song triggering an idea, or a sentence or a piece of dialogue. Or it may help me set a scene. Sometimes I rediscover songs that I totally forgot that I loved. Or maybe, just maybe, a song I used to loathe gets a second chance. I pretty much walk with a soundtrack playing in my head so it’s so very conceivable that I song I hated back in the day could totally resonate now. And even though I can’t sing to save my life, music is pretty much everything to me.
So it’s no surprise that VH1 totally got me with their Top 100. Now I’m used to all the 80s and 90s countdowns, which pretty much let me re-live my youth and, ahem, my high school and college days. So imagine my surprise when the latest countdown was for the 00’s. I’m speechless. Not only is it a countdown I haven’t seen before but it’s also for a whole new decade of my life. Possibilities? Meet endless.
(Bee-tee-dubs, the whole “00’s” does not look as cool at the “80s” or “90s” did. I mean a countdown for the double zeros? Sounds like anorexic chicks. Zero is not a size. Don’t even get me started on the double z. I digress.)
So…it was me. VH1. And 100 songs from the double-oh’s. Now I should be ashamed to admit that I don’t even know all the songs on the countdown. Though I’m not sure if it makes me horribly uncool or just proves I am someone with fabulously good taste (I vote the latter) because I don’t know who the eff Chamillionare featuring Krayzie Bone is. (And I have to say it absolutely annoys the hell out of me to deal with these stupid spellings for words that, um, already have a way to be spelled. Krayzie = Crazy. Just saying.)
Now if you want to jump ahead and read the whole list, I don’t blame you one bit. I would do the exact same thing, so for those of you who are like me go nuts.
And now that you’re back (I hope!), while I won’t dissect the entire list and tell every little story I have, I will highlight my faves that I am SO happy to see made the cut. In the order they appear on the list, but not necessarily the order they are in my heart (lol…that was very cheesy 80s, huh?), here goes:
#85 – “I Try” by Macy Gray: I definitely cried with this song playing in the background. A lot. Break-ups require a soundtrack. The timing of this song couldn’t have been better. (Unfortunately.) The song is one, giant, amazing lyric. I can’t even pretend to pick a favorite line. Also reminds me of a scene in “Picture Perfect”, a very fun "vintage" Jennifer Aniston movie. And a good dark horse for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
#78 – “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s: This song fully reminds me of a weekend I spent with a boy when we were still in the friend zone, but teetering on the edge of maybe more. It seemed to come on the radio every time we were in the car. I lived in NYC and he didn’t and I hoped, dreamed, that he felt the same and would someday sing this to me – “I've got so much left to say. If every simple song I wrote to you would take your breath away, I'd write it all. Even more in love with me you'd fall. We'd have it all. Oh it's what you do to me.” Ah, that could have been a movie moment if he showed up on my doorstep singing. He didn’t. We had lots of great moments though and this song still reminds me of that weekend when there was the possibility of possibility.
#75 – “I Don’t Want To Be” by Gavin DeGraw: The theme to “One Tree Hill”. If you need a bigger explanation, then you probably don’t know me at all and should just stop now.
#64 – “I’m Real (Murder Remix) by J. Lo with Ja Rule: I rocked out to this song like only a white girl from Westchester can. Can vividly remember buying this CD at Newbury Comics. What can I say? I like J. Lo the singer. This song reminds me of driving around New Hampshire with one of my best friends, who pointed out the genius of “My life I live it to the limit and I love it. Now I can breathe again, baby, now I can breathe again.”
#53 – “All the Small Things” by Blink-182: So happy they made the list and while I think they have done more major (“Stay Together For the Kids” or “I Miss You” would have been my list choice) I so just love them and am happy to see they were invited to the party.
#49 – “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga: Definitely epic. She could have dominated the countdown. Brilliant choice. (Though why isn’t it higher on the countdown?)
#32 – “This Love” by Maroon 5: I capital L LOVE this one. An introduction to a series of great songs. Some double entrondras. Broken hearts. Walking away because you have to.
#29 – “Best of You” by Foo Fighters: I’d be hard pressed to pick just one for the list and would absolutely lose Shaggy in exchange for “Times Like These”. But this song is exactly what makes me love Dave Grohl. I have blasted this song and run to it at the gym, rocked out on my commute and sang it at the top of my lungs in my apartment. “Has someone taken your faith?” Amazing lyrics. This song gets better every time I listen to it.
#18 – “Beautiful” by Christina Aguliera: Maybe I should be embarrassed, but I’m not. I remember getting this CD (yes, actually buying the physical CD) when I was still living in Boston. Fully blasted it. The girl can sing. And I proudly sang along with her. “Every day is so wonderful. And suddenly it’s hard to breathe.” “To all your friends, you’re delirious. So consumed, in all your doom.” I hear you Xtina.
#17 – “Clocks” by Coldplay: Agree it’s amazing. Actually, oddly enough, reminds me of the trailer for that Peter Pan movie which I watched on a horrible turbulent plane ride (both literally and emotionally) from Arizona. The song itself is a fan favorite, but I’m not going to lie, where is “Fix You” and “The Scientist” and “Warning Sign”? Maybe the countdown is about popularity and not just musical genius. But kudos to “Clocks” for “cursed missed opportunities”. Great line.
#16 – “Single Ladies” by Beyonce: I love the video. And have done the drunken, singing girl dance to this song many a times. Weeeeeeeeee! Hands in the air! JT and Andy Samberg dancing on SNL in a bodysuit made it legendary. Then I liked it less when every headline and Facebook post about some chick getting engaged had some version of “he put a ring on it”. Retch. Then I loved it again when “Glee” opened an episode in black and white with the dance by Kurt, Tina and Britney.
#15 – “Beautiful Day” by U2: They can do no wrong. Not enough time or words.
#13 – “American Idiot” by Green Day: If you’ve been reading this blog at all you know Billie Joe Armstrong can do no wrong in my eyes. This song is the gateway to a whole new era of Green Day and I think it was an amazing new world for them. The guitar intro alone gives me the chills. Their “Storytellers”, as I’ve gushed about already, is beyond. Billie Joe as St. Jimmy on Broadway was one of the best nights of my life. This song is very 2004. It reminds me of my last few months in Boston and was absolutely a song and a CD I played on repeat while I was packing up my apartment. This entire album is a win to me. It’s like Sophie’s Choice having to pick just one song.
#8 – “Empire State of Mind” – Jay Z featuring Alicia Keyes: New York City. A fabulous anthem to my town. The Yankees 2009 World Series. Singing and dancing on a beach in Portugal. “There’s nothing you can’t do.” I take inspiration anywhere I find it.
#7 – “SexyBack” – Justin Timberlake: Now, I was not an N*SYNC fan. Partially because I was too old for that and being a fan would have been beyond shameful. (Though I do love “Girlfriend”. And know all the words to “Bye, Bye, Bye”. And maybe to “Dirty Pop”.) But beyond that confession, “SexyBack” is literally ah-may-zing. (Do I need a new word for amazing?) Good beat. New sound. Risk taking. Pushing the boundaries of what people expected from JT. Absolutely makes me want to dance. And when I do, I kind of feel like I *can* dance. Justin makes triple threats looks lazy. Deserves all the fan-fare in my opinion and this song just raised the bar.
#5 – “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson: Love the Prince-ish “U” in the title. Couldn’t care less about “American Idol” but as one of the commentaries in the VH1 countdown said, “every drunk white girl in the world knows this song”. I SOOOOO eviscerated exes in my mind to this song. It was the 2005 version of “You Oughta Know”. Thank you, Kelly!
#4 – “Lose Yourself” by Eminem: This is one of those songs that I shouldn’t like but I totally do. I used to listen to this on my commute to Cambridge circa 2002. Yet I listened to it while running on the treadmill last week. The slow build up of the song is exquisitely done. I’m so not a rap girl, but I do love this song.
#1 – “Crazy In Love” – Beyonce featuring Jay Z: It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Tremendous dance gone. Start of something great from Bee. I tried to sing along but still can’t keep up. (Or understand half of what Jay Z is saying). But what can I say? I’ve been crazy in love. And this song was everywhere. Including my apartment! Number 1? Not so sure. Top 10. Absolutely.
Now I would be remiss to not throw out a few digs, which pretty much means, I hate these songs and have no idea how they earned a spot on this list. (Insert a growling, groaning, sneering, fist-shaking me.)
#69 – Evanescence – “Bring Me to Life”: In all fairness I don’t even know what this song is. But Evanescence? On a “best of” countdown? Seriously? We just broke up for a moment VH1.
#43 – Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”: I have to say that I outright despise this song. I’m not really a KP fan at all. I’m still pissed about her whole slutting up Sesame Street. A bustier? Really? It’s PBS and it’s for kids. Regardless of the Elmo-offense, this song is so annoying to me. Jill Sobule did a remarkable job in her song “I Kissed a Girl” in 1995 and I’d venture to guess few people in the 00’s era even knows it. This song also reminds me of this loser guy an old friend of mine was in love with. He couldn’t stop talking about how great it was to have a song about lesbians (such a chach) and when he wasn’t calling me “babe” he was calling me “a tall drink of water”. Um, ew. I need to shower his greasiness off of me all over again.
#41 – R. Kelly – Trapped in the Closet: OMG. No words. Not even really a song. The videos for this (I think there are like 10 of them) are so horribly awful they of course have a level of entertainment to them. But this “song”. Beyond terrible. Where is Guster? Vampire Weekend? Snow Patrol? The Fray? I vehemently protest. This does not deserve a place on the countdown. "Ignition" I could have dealt with, but not this. "Give me that toot-toot."#9 – Mariah – We Belong Together: Top 10? For real? Yes, she has a great voice. But I can’t stand the ballady crap. Give me some “It’s Like That”. Even “Heartbreaker” is tolerable. The only thing redeeming about this song is that she made a video for it and Wentworth Miller is in it. And he looks hot. But I can’t see him while I’m listening to the song.
So there you have it. I scratched the surface on the songs I love (sorry for leaving you out Gwen, Avril, and Brit), but there’s only so much time and space. And there are a lot of songs that I LOVE that are so missing. Which just means I’m going to have to make my own “missing from the best of” list. But that’s another blog for another day.
Since I always have to end on a song, I’ll give you just a taste of a song that was missing in action:
What songs would make your “best of” list? Do tell!
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