Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (The Winner)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

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We're finally here. Before I reveal #1, here's a quick recap of the 99 songs before it:

#100: “Rebellion (Lies)” - Arcade Fire

#99: “Shut Me Up” - Mindless Self Indulgence

#98: “Grounds for Divorce” – Elbow

#97: “The Kill” - 30 Seconds to Mars

#96: “Bodies” - Drowning Pool

#95: “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)” - Florence and the Machine

#94: “Sing” - Travis

#93: “99 Problems” - Jay-Z

#92: “Wires” - Athlete

#91: “Slither” - Velvet Revolver

#90: “Feel Good Inc.” - Gorillaz

#89: “Warriors Dance” - The Prodigy

#88: “Filthy/Gorgeous” - Scissor Sisters

#87: “Uprising” - Muse

#86: “Last Nite” - The Strokes

#85: “Empire” - Kasabian

#84: “Famous Last Words” - My Chemical Romance

#83: “Gives You Hell” - The All-American Rejects

#82: “B.Y.O.B.” - System of a Down

#81: “Time is Running Out” - Muse

#80: “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” - Kaiser Chiefs

#79: “Duality” - Slipknot

#78: “Bohemian Like You” - The Dandy Warhols

#77: “Dry Your Eyes” - The Streets

#76: “Monster” - The Automatic

#75: “The Shock of the Lightning” - Oasis

#74: “Danger! High Voltage” - Electric Six

#73: “Break Stuff” - Limp Bizkit

#72: “Tribute” - Tenacious D

#71: “Bonkers” - Dizzee Rascal

#70: “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” - Jet

#69: “Cochise” - Audioslave

#68: “Feeling This” - Blink-182

#67: “Sugar, We're Goin Down” - Fall Out Boy

#66: “Foundations” - Kate Nash

#65: “Kings and Queens” - 30 Seconds to Mars

#64: “We Are All Made of Stars” - Moby

#63: “Gay Bar” - Electric Six

#62: “Fat Lip” - Sum 41

#61: “Time to Pretend” - MGMT

#60: “Standing in the Way of Control” - The Gossip

#59: “That's Not My Name” - The Ting Tings

#58: “Clint Eastwood” - Gorillaz

#57: “Butterfly” - Crazy Town

#56: “Teenage Dirtbag” - Wheatus

#55: “For Lovers” - Wolfman feat. Pete Doherty

#54: “Paper Planes” - MIA

#53: “Crazy” - Gnarls Barkley

#52: “Brianstorm” - Arctic Monkeys
#51: "Dance Wiv Me" - Dizzee Rascal
#50: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Green Day

#49: "Ruby" - Kaiser Chiefs
#48: "Don't Upset the Rhythm" - The Noisettes
#47: "Complicated" - Avril Lavigne
#46: "Chop Suey!" - System of a Down
#45: "Fire" - Kasabian
#44: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day
#43: "All My Life" - Foo Fighters
#42: "Bring Me to Life" - Evanescence
#41: "Shut Up and Let Me Go" - The Ting Tings
#40: "I Predict a Riot" - Kaiser Chiefs
#39: "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
#38: "Last Resort" - Papa Roach
#37: "Dare" - Gorillaz
#36: "Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse
#35: "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters
#34: "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
#33: "Oh My God" - Kaiser Chiefs/Mark Ronson
#32: "Hurt" - Johnny Cash
#31: "Run" - Snow Patrol
#30: "By the Way" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
#29: "Best of You" - Foo Fighters
#28: "Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z
#27: "Smooth Criminal" - Alien Ant Farm
#26: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" - My Chemical Romance
#25: "Clocks" - Coldplay
#24: "Misery Business" - Paramore
#23: "Human" - The Killers
#22: "Welcome to the Black Parade" - My Chemical Romance
#21: "In the End" - Linkin Park
#20: "When You Were Young" - The Killers
#19: "The Scientist" - Coldplay
#18: "Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
#17: "Viva la Vida" - Coldplay
#16: "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
#15: "All Summer Long" - Kid Rock
#14: "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" - The Darkness
#13: "All the Small Things" - Blink-182
#12: "Somebody Told Me" - The Killers
#11: "Valerie" - The Zutons/Mark Ronson
#10: "Rockstar" - Nickelback
#9: "You've Got the Love" - Florence and the Machine
#8: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" - Arctic Monkeys
#7: "Rollin'" - Limp Bizkit
#6: "One Day Like This" - Elbow
#5: "Hey Ya!" - OutKast
#4: "Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol
#3: "How You Remind Me" - Nickelback
#2: "Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon


Okay, here we go, the most important song of the last decade is...

#1. "American Idiot" - Green Day
Released: 31/8/04
Album: American Idiot
Accolades: #22 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004, #13 in Rolling Stone's Best of 2000s, #432 in Rolling Stone's Best Songs of all Time
Appearances: Wedding Crashers (movie trailer), Madden NFL 2005 (video game), The Andy Milonakis Show (TV series), The Simpsons Movie (movie), Johnny Test (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #56 (#1 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #1

"American Idiot" is for me, the most important song of the decade. Now that might upset some of you people who don't like modern punk, and want to stick to your indie roots, which is fair enough. In fact, some could argue that "Boulevard" was a bigger hit, which it was. But the reason why it was a bigger hit is because at the time of "American Idiot"'s release, downloads weren't considered. Between the releases they were. I'm sure some of you think "Sex on Fire" is a more deserving entry, but here me out.

Imagine in your mind it was 2004 again. 9/11 happened not too long ago and every American is on high alert about the whole thing. The war on Iraq was a controversial decision. On a less serious side of things, Green Day not long released International Superhits!. They had just just passed 15 years of music making. They were now at the peak of their career in terms of the fact that everyone worldwide knew of their music and they had experience and maturity on their side.

They then release a concept album about a guy that hates his life and everything about it. "Emo" was on the rise not too long from the release of the album. "Emo", if you didn't know, is the rise of a 'new' fashion statement and music genre associated with teenagers who dress in dark makeup, tight black trousers and stripy tops. "Emo" culture fell into teenage life where these young individuals were questioning life and disliking the negative elements within it. It can stretch to self harm and even suicide, although I'm not going to talk about those dark elements in a strong way.

So, everything, in my eyes, came to a climax with the release of this song. It's anti-American lyrics, the attachment to the album with its punk/emo qualities were definitely part of the reason this song because such a huge hit. Green Day as I said, were getting to the stage of their career that they were an experienced well respected band, and they were about to get a huge influx of new fans. No, it didn't sell as well as "Sex on Fire", or many other songs in this listing, but I'll tell you now, since 2004, I've not seen one song played more on multiple video channels that's not an RnB or pop or rap song. I've heard this song more than any other song in the decade I'd say. It's revived Green Day's career, it was accepted as a great track by many diverse fans, rock, metal, pop, indie, and everything in between. It has a purpose in this decade, it was a form or rebel song in reference to the 9/11 attacks and American culture as well. America in this decade has started to be perceived as a silly nation and this song definitely pinpoints that.

"American Idiot" above all that is a decent little punk/emo song. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. And while a lot of people got fed up of the band after a while, the playing of this song hasn't really gone away. It ticks all my boxes when it comes to its importance in the decade, and that's why I believe, it's the most important song of the decade.

So Green Day, this award goes to you!

Agree? Disagree? Comment below. So there you have it, the 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade. But this Noughtie series hasn't quite finished yet. Tomorrow I'm going to explain myself further. How did I make this listing? How did I go about it? Read tomorrow if you want to know. On Friday will be the stats post, where I'll compile all the songs that featured in certain TV shows or games, as well as a compiled list from each year, and more.  Hopefully you'll find that interesting. Also you'll see a Mixtape in that post, if you want to create a Johnny Mercyside Important Songs of the Naughties playlist. After that, the whole thing will be finished. It's took nearly six months to put the whole thing down on the website and I've really enjoyed it. I hope you have too, if you agree or disagree. I'll see you again tomorrow I hope.

To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 10)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

Finally. After more than three months of daily listing, we're arrived at the Top 10. I'm personally proud of this project, I hope you enjoyed reading it if you've been following it since the beginning. Let's do this!

To view part 1, click here.
To view part 2, click here.
To view part 3, click here.
To view part 4, click here.
To view part 5, click here.
To view part 6, click here.
To view part 7, click here.
To view part 8, click here.
To view part 9, click here.

#10. "Rockstar" - Nickleback
Released: 22/8/06
Album: All the Right Reasons
Accolades: Winner of the UK Record of the Year Award, #100 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 Songs of 2007,
Appearances: DFS (sofa advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #6 (#4 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #1

I pissed off a lot of people with my statement that Nickelback are the Most Important Artist of the Decade. It's not a statement I like to say, but they've had a huge amount of success consistently throughout the decade. Like it or lump it, but it's a fact. It says something about the strength of the band if you take into perspective that this song was the fifth single off the album. It wasn't going to be released in this country but after a surge of interest from the country on the internet they took the punt to release it. It ended up being their biggest chart success to date. And it still is. This song remained in the UK charts for most of 2007 and 2008. It was in the Top 40 for a total of 35 weeks. It was in the Top 75 for 50 weeks in a row, only 22 songs have been in the Top 75 for a longer period of time, and most of those aren't modern releases. That's the strength of the song. Want more proof? How about the fact that after the HUGE success of this song, the album "All the Right Reasons", the sales went up 250% in the end. That's indefinite proof. Not happy about Nickelback being a huge band, with huge singles and huge success? Me neither, but I 'aint going to lie to you about it.

#9. "You've Got the Love" - Florence and the Machine
Released: 5/1/09
Album: Lungs
Appearances: Domestic Blitz (TV series), MasterChef Australia (TV show)
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #6 (#4 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Denmark - #7

Similar to "Rockstar" above, this song slowly crept through the charts before eventually peaking very high and then slowly going back down. Granted, it didn't stay in the charts for as long as "Rockstar" did, but the song was incredibly popular throughout 2009 and 2010. The main difference between the songs as well is that this song was over huge with critics, where as some critics have a huge distaste for Nickelback (me included). "You've Got the Love" is the highest up cover version on this list, so in a way, you can say this is the most important cover version in the decade (although you can also give that accolade to Johnny Cash and "Hurt"). This was a beautiful song, sung incredibly by Florence Welch and she completely made the song hers (the original if you didn't know was by The Source and Candi Nation in 1986). I am almost convinced this song will remaintain its popularity throughout this and other decades as one of the finest songs to come out from the last decade.

#8. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" - Arctic Monkeys
Released: 17/10/05
Album: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Accolades: Winner of Best Track Award at the NME Awards, #10 in the NME's Top 50 Indie Anthems of All Time
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #118 (#7 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #12
 
What a decade the Arctic Monkeys have had. They started their career in 2002 and in four years, became the most hyped British band since Oasis. And while they haven't maintained their success like Oasis did, their music quality is arguably better. The Arctic Monkeys are just one of those bands that deserve everything they get, they make great indie music, they are good live, they are genuinely a nice group and critics and fans love them. But no song they have released represent them like this one. "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor" became an instant classic. It didn't come out of nowhere, it was built up for weeks and then released, but the sound of the song was so genuine, so, ahem, British, it just had everything in it that a general British public wanted. It's a simple yet brilliant song, and it'll easily live on forever as a defining moment in the decade.

#7. "Rollin'" - Limp Bizkit
Released: 10/10/00
Album: Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water
Appearances: NHL Hitz 2002 (video game), The Fast and the Furious (movie), Hancock (movie), Fastlane (TV series), My Name is Earl (TV series), WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It (video game), WWE Raw (video game), WWE WrestleMania X8 (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #65 (#7 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #1

I'm sure there are going to be people absolutely ripping me for putting this so high in this listing. As I said, this isn't a personal listing, it's an unbiased one. And like it or not, this song was fucking huge in this country, and in Ireland. It's Limp Bizkit's most popular song. It's a song that arguably defines the rap/rock/metal era from the early Naughties. White guys rapping over metal music, thinking incredibly high of themselves. It's a genre that at the times the adults hate, and a lot of teenagers loved at the time, but feel embarrassed about now thinking about it. Not me in particular, I don't have any shame saying I liked Limp Bizkit's old stuff. This was a catchy track. And it was really over in this country. And you still see it get played more than any other nu-metal track from the era today. I just speak the truth, if you like it or not.

#6. "One Day Like This" - Elbow
Released: 2/6/08
Album: The Seldom Seen Kid
Accolades: Winner of Ivor Novello Award for Best Song
Appearances: 2008 Summer Olympics (athletics broadcast), Earth Day 2009 (advertisement), The Soloist (movie advertisement), Big Brother 9 (TV series), Hollyoaks Later (TV series), Torchwood (TV series), British Soap Awards (award ceremony), Screenwipe (TV series), Waterloo Road (TV series), National Rugby League (Australian rugby coverage), Holby City (TV series), MacBook Air (notebook computer advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #35

Beautiful. It's the best word to describe this song. Frustratingly so, because at one point or another, this song wouldn't go away. It was everywhere, on the radio, and in every single fucking sporting broadcast around. But let's not retract that away from how awesome this song is. This song really is a masterpiece. It's just an incredibly moving song. And no, it didn't chart well, but the song maintained its popularity for a long time, just in case you didn't know, it's ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FUCKING SIX WEEKS, and counting, in the Top 100 right now. That's an amazing feat. Yet, the song has never peaked higher than #35, which is a damn shame. Regardless, this song more than deserves a place this high in the listing, I'm willing to put a lot of money on the fact that this song will be considered a highlight of the decade.

#5. "Hey Ya!" - OutKast
Released: 9/9/03
Album: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Accolades: Winner of Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the Grammys, #1 in Jazz & Pop's Best of 2003, #15 in Blender#s Top 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, #2 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Singles of 2000-2004, #4 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Songs of the Decade, Nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #1, Best Elsewhere - Norway, Australia, Canada and Sweden - #1

I read somewhere around 2 or 3 years ago that "Hey Ya" is the most played song on the radio in the decade. Frustratingly, I can't find evidence of that at the moment so take this information with a pinch of salt. Regardless if that information is true, you can't deny how big this song was, and is. It's a hip hop classic. You can put this song up there with the great hip hop songs of the nineties and eighties and seriously, it won't look out of place. It's genuinely one of the best song ever made. OutKast will never have a finer moment, much to Big Boi's disappointment I'm sure, as Andre 3000 cracked the world with this masterpiece. The video, the lyrics, the beat, everything is just brilliant. It's funny how "Shake it like a Polaroid picture" is potentially responsible for the revival of the retro camera. I can't say I've heard one person dislike this song (although I'm sure someone will prove me wrong now). "Hey Ya!" will forever be known as one of the best hip hop tracks of all time, it's that simple.

#4. "Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol
Released: 6/6/06
Album: Eyes Open
Accolades: Nominated for Best Rock Song award at the Grammys, Nominated for Best Single award at the BRITs, #1 in Channel 4's Best Songs of the Decade
Appearances: Gray's Anatomy (TV series), One Tree Hill (TV series), Just Go with It (movie), Anatomia Unplugged (TV series), Gavin and Stacy (TV series), Cold Case (TV series), SingStar Pop (video game), Wo is Fred? (movie), ER (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #6, US - #5 (#1 in the Adult Contemporary Charts), Best Elsewhere - Austria - #2

This song was released in America on 6/6/6 so it must be EVVIIIIIIILL!! Okay seriously though, what a remarkable song this was. I mean, it's not my thing, I don't like it, but you'd be a fool not to understand why this song got put into so popular. I swear this film was in like EVERY romcom around at the time but when I did my research I can't find it being listed in many romcoms which is embarrassing. Regardless the song wouldn't go away, it was everywhere, because of its gentle tune and it's romantic lyrics. The video was also a reason. You can also thank "Grays Anatomy" for that too, the song shot up in popularity afterwards, particularly in the US. In fact, the song was STILL in the UK Top 100 this year, that's five years! I think it's last activity in the Top 100 UK singles was March mind. But yeah, that's longevity for you, it's quite obvious this song isn't going anywhere, you will hear it for years to come, as one of the most romantic songs ever to grace our ears. If you like it or not!

#3. "How You Remind Me" - Nickelback
Released: 28/7/01
Album: Silver Side Up
Accolades: Winner of Record of the Year award at the Grammys, #16 in VH1's Greatest Power Ballads
Chart Positions: UK - #4, US - #1, Best Elsewhere - Austria, Denmark and Ireland - #1

Yep. Nickelback at #3. I think there's three songs that stand out in the decade, and that are guaranteed to be played forever, or however long music will be a form of entertainent. And like it or not, this is one of them. "How You Remind Me", despite being nearly 10 years old this month in terms of release date, still gets an incredible amount of airplay today. It was such a strong hit for the band, and despite "Rockstar" getting a lot of airplay as well, this song is probably untouchable in terms of its impact on the music scene. It won a Grammy award two years after its release, which is bizarre, but at the same time it shows that even two years after release the song was still played, still important and still worthy of winning such a prestigious award. "How  You Remind Me", regardless if you like the song or not, is just untouchable as a song that will be associated with the 10 years of music I'm covering at the moment. And that's why it's third in my list of most important songs from this decade.

#2. "Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon
Released: 5/9/08
Album: Only by the Night
Accolades: Nominated for Best Rock Song award at the Grammys, Winner of Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Group Award at the Grammys, #1 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2008, #40 in Rolling Stone's Best of 2008
Appearances: Stay Cool (movie trailer)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #56 (#1 in Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia, Finland and Ireland - #1

Surely there should be no surprise about this entry. It had to go in really. It's the biggest hit in history in the UK on downloads alone. The song got to #1 on downloads before it was physically released. The song has spent an amazingly long time in the Top 100, it's not long dropped out actually.

Truth is, I was really going to put this down as my #1. It was a difficult choice between this and the song you'll see posted tomorrow. Chart success, this wins, hands down. Probably in terms of how much it will be played in ten years time from now in comparison to my #1, it'll probably win in that 'battle'. But there's a significance to tomorrow's track that this lacks. And if I said what it is now, you'll have a good idea what that is. So I'll shut up about that song now.

Who would have anticipated that Kings of Leon would get a #1 hit eight years ago? I wouldn't have. They've come a long way to being one of the most loved rock bands of the moment. The song itself isn't the best song in the world, I prefer a lot of their older stuff. But there's an appeal to this song that bodes very well with the general public, it's got to be the simple yet memorable guitar, the simple yet memorable chorus and the simple yet memorable video. "Sex on Fire" will forever live as an important song of the decade, it was the song that Kings of Leon will always be known for.

To view the winner, click here.
To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.

Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 7)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

To view part 1, click here.
To view part 2, click here.
To view part 3, click here.
To view part 4, click here.
To view part 5, click here.
To view part 6, click here.

Here's the beginning of my official Top 40, from #40 to #31!

#40. "I Predict a Riot" - Kaiser Chiefs
Released: 1/11/04
Album: Employment
Accolades: #36 in NME's 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever
Chart Positions: UK - #9, US - #34 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #25

For a song with no appearances in the media and one major accolade it's ridiculous that this song hasn't gone more. This song is just simply one of the biggest anthems of the decade. It's a proper lads song, it's one of those songs that you can just shout the lyrics to at the top of your voice. It sounds great, it's got awesome lyrics and it's quite simply one of the most important songs of the decade. If it wasn't for this song or the popularity of it, the band wouldn't have been the same.

#39. "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
Released: 23/4/02
Album: White Blood Cells
Accolades: Rolling Stone's 40 Songs That Changed Rock History Chart
Appearances: Rock Band (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #21, US - #121 (#12 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart)

Another song that makes you wonder how it hasn't got any more accolades or appearances to its name. But this isn't a list just about accolades and appearances, it's about other things. It's about airplay, it's about how often the song was played at the time, and more importantly, going in to the future. And "Fell in Love" is one of those songs that just stand out so well in the decade as a quick little ditty of greatness. It's a song that sounds so raw yet it has such fantastic charm it's unbelievable. How often can you describe something as raw and charming in the same sentence? Well this song does both. Naturally the video is the appeal to a certain extent, such a simple idea of getting band playing in lego form made such cool viewing. But the song itself, while probably wouldn't have been commercially as successful without the video, can stand on its own two feet against other songs and win many climatic battles as one of the most important songs of the decade. This song won't leave our radio stations and music channels anytime soon, trust me.

#38. "Last Resort" - Papa Roach
Released: 23/4/00
Album: Infest
Appearances: The One (movie), Training Day (movie), Pay it Forward (movie), Smallville (TV series), Cold Case (TV series), Rock Revolution (video game), Rock Band (video game), Tap Tap Revenge 2 (iPhone game), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #57 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #4

Wow I never knew this song got to #3 in the UK. For a song of its genre, of its lyrical theme, you wouldn't have imagined it getting this high up our pop and RnB orientated charts. You can easily make a case for this song to being on of the first true modern "emo" songs, although it was in the badly reputable "nu-metal" genre at the time. "Cut myself into pieces, this is my last resort" is arguably one of the most well known lines in any song of the decade. The video, while very simple in its broadcast, is very iconic, showing poor little kids being depressed in their homes, and then apparently enjoying a Papa Roach gig. Papa Roach have had a decent career, their lifespan is longer and more respected than Limp Bizkit's and they haven't "sold out", something a lot of people Linkin Park have done. But this song will never be beat for popularity, and most importantly, it's significance and impact on the world of music.

#37. "Dare" - Gorillaz
Released: 29/8/05
Album: Demon Days
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #87 (#8 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #3

For a song with no appearances, no major accolades, this song gets a TONNE of airplay. Surely this song is one of the most played songs of the decade, in clubs, radio stations and music stations? This song was much more prominent on its release than "Feel Good Inc" was, although the former was a bigger hit in the US. "Dare" was just a fantastic blend of alternative rock, brit pop, techno and dance music. This song pretty much sums up the Gorillaz in one sweep in terms of what their music sounds like. It's still the bands only #1 hit in the UK so far, and you could argue it was universally accepted by all music fans of all diversions. It's a true quality track that lives up as arguably the bands most popular time in their career so far.

#36. "Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse
Released: 19/6/06
Album: Black Holes and Revelations
Appearances: Twilight (movie), Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), FIFA 07 (video game), Supernatural (TV series), Doctor Who (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #4, US - #6 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Denmark - #7

It's quite hard to choose one single by Muse as their most important, their most groundbreaking, their most popular, their best song in the decade. My punt is "Supermassive Black Hole". It's arguably their first worldwide hit, with it hitting the Danish, Finnish, European, Irish, Italian Top 20's.  When "Time is Running Out" came out, America still paid very little attention to the band. When "Uprising" came out they were all over Muse. Yet this was the middle ground, this was when America started to notice this cool British band, yet Europe embraced them. It's still their biggest hit in this country. It's also, in a biased way, one of their coolest songs, the riff is fricking awesome. So that's my justification for it being the highest Muse entry in this listing.

#35. "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters
Released: 21/8/07
Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Accolades: #47 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2007, Nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards, Nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #5 in Triple J's Hottest 100 Songs
Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (video game), Rock Band (video game), Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (video game), Californication (TV series), CSI: Miami (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #8, US - #37 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #3

This was a huge song. For a hard rock track it got very high in many charts and it topped the US Alternative Songs Chart for longer than any other song in the year 2007. It was #1 for 18 weeks. Not only is it a big song chart wise but look at those appearances and accolades, despite it not winning, I don't think any song so far on this chart has been nominated for two Grammy awards. The Foo's always pull big about of the bag and have done so now consistently for a good 12 years, they're just this big and fantastic band that has universal praise. I just have an infinite amount of respect for this band and this song was easily one of their biggest of the decade, there is one more song by the band that I think is more important however... stay tuned to see it and how high it gets on this chart!

#34. "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
Released: 8/12/08
Album: Only by the Night
Accolades: Winner of Record of the Year Award at the Grammy's, Winner of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Award at the Grammy's, Winner of Best Rock Song Award at the Grammy's, Nominated for Song of the Year Award at the Grammy's
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #4 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Belgium - #1

What was the bigger song? "Use Somebody"? Or "Sex on Fire"? They were both HUGE hits, and both are responsible for the Kings of Leon being on top of the rock world right now. For me, "Sex on Fire" is the bigger song, you'll find out how much bigger in this listing later on.
"Use Somebody" was the song that finally brought the band's breakthrough in America. It was a beautiful ballad, and was proof that the band's sound was changing, for better or for worse. It was definitely a more mainstream sound that's for sure. But the transition of Kings of Leon, including their beards, is a fascinating story, it's one of the most interesting stories of the decade artist wise. I remember, and I'm sure many of you do too, a time when Kings of Leon were just random Americans singing country and garage rock hybrid songs on MTV2. Now look at them, you couldn't have imagined this song being any wheren near as big as it was six or seven years ago. It's fascinating, and kudos to them for that.

#33. "Oh My God" - Kaiser Chiefs / Mark Ronson
Released: 17/5/04 / 16/7/07
Album: Employment / Version
Appearances: Driver: Parallel Lines (video game)
Chart Positions: UK - #6, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #27 / UK - #8, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #21
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I was debating whether or not to put this original song in, the very well received Mark Ronson cover version. So I thought I'd put both as one entry as they're both important and successful. Also, it's the same song.
Now I'm effectively cheating as this is the fourth and final Kaiser's song on the list, when I said in the beginning that I'd be setting a cap of three songs per artist. But if we're getting THAT picky, consider it Mark Ronson's entry.
"Oh My God" is still arguably the Kaiser's most important song, it's got one of the greatest, catchiest and simplest choruses in the decade. The song, while being released the second time, did very well in the charts and shows you how far the band had came. In 2004, this song got to #66, yet in its re-release it jumped 60 places. The Kaiser Chiefs, as explained in other entries, are just a great, humble band that are just so happy making music and enjoying the fame they are getting. "Oh My God" was their little baby that started it all off, and it's arguably their finest moment. The Mark Ronson cover version was great, the band also appeared in the video and it was just a really cool jazz version of the song. Mark Ronson did a great job of covering many songs, and this one is one of the bigger and more important songs. I don't think you can go through this decade of music without mentioning Mark Ronson.

#32. "Hurt" - Johnny Cash
Released: 8/3/03
Album: American IV: The Man Comes Around
Accolades: Winner of Single of the Year Award by the Country Music Association, #1 in Rate Your Music's Top Singles of the 2000s, #1 in UpVenue's Top 10 Best Music Covers, #60 in Triple J's Hottest 100 Songs of All Time, #15 in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #2 in CMT's Songs of the Decade
Listings: Best Videos, Top 100 Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #39, US - #33 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Norway - #8

No song in the world, even the original Nine Inch Nails version, gives me the goosebumps, the feeling, the emotion that this song gives me. I could probably babble on for paragraphs about how this song makes me feel, I've already talked about it twice on thie site before, on the Best Videos page, and on the Favourite 100 Songs page.
It's not hard to explain why this song was important. No, the song didn't chart well, but some songs on this list have a legacy no sales records can touch. Johnny Cash, country rock 'n' roll legend, took a song from an industrial metal artist from 1994 and turned it into this heart wrenching, tear dropping, dark yet elevating masterpiece. It's hard to imagine a better way to end your long 50 year career than this way. Most rock stars (I know he's a country star but I always see him as a rock star too, he's far cooler than other people who call themselves "rock stars") die in their prime, or just after their prime. But was there a prime with Cash? Was there a sparkling moment in his career? You could argue it was the Folsom City Blues era, yet "Hurt" is arguably more prominent than any of his original songs, I think "Ring of Fire" is the only song that touches the song for popularity and "I Walk the Line" for importance. This was a man around half a century in his career. And look at the song. It's just so amazing, so real, his iconic vocal chords trembling through the guitar and piano. It's just an iconic moment in the decade, and in music history in my personal opinion, it's the hardest song to place in this list that's for sure, but I've put it here at #32.

#31. "Run" - Snow Patrol
Released: 26/1/04
Album: Final Straw
Appearances: The Chumscrubber (movie), Rescue Me (TV series), The Guardian (movie trailer), Doctor Who Confidential (TV series), Cold Case (TV series), Jericho (TV series), Life As We Know It (TV series), Wide Sargasso Sea (TV series), One Tree Hill (TV series), Empire Falls (TV series), Mad Dogs (TV series)
Accolades: #874 in The Rock FM's The Rock 1000 Songs
Chart Positions: UK - #5, US - #15 (in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Netherlands - #22

Someone like myself, who doesn't hasn't (until now) done a great deal of research on Snow Patrol, never knew that "Run" was on their third album. Third time lucky I guess, as this was a mega hit. It was also the second single off that album too, so the song's quality shines very well. More evidence is the fact that Leona Lewis chose to cover this song, and got it even more mainstream attention, so much in fact that it this original version re-entered the charts as a result four years later. Snow Patrol would later have more chart success than this track, yet when I, as someone who isn't a fan of the band, think of one song by them, this comes to the front straight away. I'm sure a lot of people feel exactly the same.

To view part 8, click here.
To view part 9, click here.
To view part 10, click here.
To view the winner, click here.
To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.