#87: "Rockstar" - Nickelback Release Date: 2006 Director: Dori Oskowitz Fun Fact: So many celebrities feature in this video, to name a few, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top (who also has spoken parts in the verses), Dominique Swain, Gene Simmons of KISS, Eliza Dushku, Wayne Gretzky, Kid Rock and Ted Nugent!
I'm expecting a mixed to negative reaction to this inclusion simply for praising Nickelback in any format, and for the fact that some people absolutely hate this song.
But I'm sorry to say, I've always liked both the song and the video. I do very much dislike this band and like maybe two of their songs? But this video is great. If you don't agree, fine. But I'd put money on the fact that I bet the first time you saw this video, you didn't turn it over. I bet you watched it the entire video. Why? Because you wanted to see who was in the video. How many celebrities are in the video? There's loads, the list above is just a sample. So like it or not, this video gets your attention, and I thoroughly enjoy/enjoyed watching it... until it got overplayed massively!
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #86 on the list or here for #88!
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. To view part 10, click here. To view the winner, click here.
Hey everyone, I've finally posted the entire of the Noughtie series. The whole thing is nearly six months long, some would argue it's been too long, and in a way I definitely agree, but regardless, it's been a heck of a ride and I've enjoyed it. But some people still weren't sure where I was coming from with some of my suggestions. Some found them baffling. I want to draw a line behind both the Most Important Artists list and most importantly, the Most Important Songs list. At the end of this article is a list of 50 songs that in the end didn't make the 100. I'm revealing them as alternatives, but also to show you other songs that you could argue are also important. But let's hit some of this criticism head on.
The most frequent criticism I've had for my listing is for the word 'important'. It was difficult what word to choose to describe what I was trying to pinpoint in my listings, both important artists and songs. For the artists list, I was looking for the artists that have had an incredible amount of success throughout the decade, in the singles department and the albums department. Sales did have a say as well. It was primarily success in this country, but America also plays its part and worldwide success. In the end Nickelback was my choice for #1, a band I personally really REALLY dislike but you'd be an idiot if you were ignorant to their success and popularity. I pissed off a lot of people with that decision, mainly because I found out there's a lot of people who dislike Nickelback as much as I do. They haven't gone away, they haven't dipped in popularity, they had huge hits in the US and the UK, they have sold a ridiculous amount of albums.
Consistently throughout the decade, Nickelback made hit after hit after hit. Their albums were always well received. Their songs were always on the radio, or on music television. As far as I'm concerned, frustratingly, they are the most prominent band of the decade.
My intention was to balance all the criterias that define what is a good or successful artist, this include success, hits, memorable songs, albums, critics and fans, all of it. That's what makes it important. And that's what I felt I achieved.
I want to talk about some artists that didn't make the important artist listing. Someone mentioned it being quite a disgrace that I never put The Strokes down in the important artist listing. I can see why they would think The Strokes deserve a mention, I mean they definitely have the critics love them. But how popular are they commercially? Also throughout the decade? I can't say they performed much in the second half of the decade. Chart success is important, if you like it or not. And it played a part in my listing. Another band that follows a similar vein is The Streets, although they did get a #1 hit (which featured in my 100 Important Songs). Same applies to The Libertines, and Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire, and another band that do this is Fleet Foxes, they sell albums, but they don't do well with singles. This is a broad search in terms of consistency in the decade, album sales, single sales, critical and commercial success, and their songs standing out as being memorable in the decade. Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes are what I call album bands, they produce critically praised albums, they have a cult fan base. They don't have mainstream popularity, unfortunately Nickleback do.
There's a band that I've not drawn much attention to in this entire series that I need to address. That band is Radiohead. Now Radiohead is a difficult one for me, because while you can argue that Radiohead are an 'album band' not too dissimilar to Arcade Fire, they do sell music well. They're a band who have broke through the critic favourites yet uncommercially successful barrier, and have done so for some time. They are also a band that released material throughout the decade. But... how many of the songs released in this decade really stand out? I mean personally, one of my favourite songs by them is "2+2=5", but when did you last hear it? I can't say any Radiohead single released in this decade gets much airplay anymore, if any. "Just" gets played much more, so does "Paranoid Android" "Street Spirit" and "Just". The songs from this decade just don't stand out much, in terms of prominence unfortunately.
Some people say that Radiohead deserve immediate entry because they were the first major band to release their album for free on the internet, and this was a major event in music history, so therefore that makes the band important. It's a good point no doubt, but the Important Artists listing wasn't about a history lesson, it was about consistency throughout the decade, a mixture of consistent success in the album and singles chart as well as the impact they had. And... on the grand scale of things, Radiohead as a band didn't make much of an impact. Their decision to release their 'In Rainbows' album for free is most certainly an important moment, and it was extremely innovative, but that doesn't take away that Radiohead didn't really stand out much in this decade.
Another criticism I've had in both listings was Green Day's part. Some felt that I made Green Day seem like their success was more significant in this decade than in the last. It's a valid opinion. "Dookie" was a huge hit in the early nineties, it's no doubt. The singles off that album are still played today. But I just feel "American Idiot" had a bigger impact in all faces of music, and also, as much as it sucks, pop culture. The 'emo' fad is horrible and can't be ignored. I'm sorry I have to say it, but Green Day played their part in that. Their 'modern punk' was just that on Dookie, 'modern punk'. But this new 'emo' genre that was surfacing around this time, was all new. And that's why I think ten, twenty years down the line, "American Idiot", the song and the album, will be forever seen as the band's biggest work. I didn't say finest, I said biggest. It'll go down as their important album.
Now was I wrong to use the word 'important'? The more I think about it, the more I might be wrong to have used it. What I define before you might not be important, some say it should be just successful. But if I were to make a listing of the most successful songs and bands, then I can just pull out a load of facts and stats to do with commercial success. So that's why I refrained from using that word, and I still think it's the wrong word. I sometimes think using 'impactful' might be a better word. These bands and artists are what I believe will create a legacy for this decade that has passed. Bands like Arcade Fire won't be remembered in ten, twenty, thirty years time, neither will Sigur Ros. Unless they have a freak surprise hit, in which they will then get the fame they arguably deserve, they will fade away. One of my favourite bands from the eighties is Bauhaus. You barely hear their music now. Yet they are arguably responsible for goth rock and metal of today. But you hear of The Smiths, The Cure and Metallica don't you? I hope this makes sense a little. Is 'impactful' the right word?
Moving on to the Important Songs listing, the idea behind the 100 songs is that it is an unbiased list of songs that were popular, successful, well received and have longevity going into this decade. It's not a list of my favourite songs and there are many songs in this list that I don't like. This listing is about many things, which tally up to the important 100 songs of the decade, in my opinion. The listing is about its impact on the decade, the awards it may or may not have won, its chart success predominantly in Britain but also in America, and other countries too. But most importantly, this is a list about what songs will be played from the last decade, in the decades of the future.
It sucks to say it, some people hate the fact that popularity of a song comes into this listing, but sales are important, it’s a form of measuring stick of success. It’s not the be or end of, but if your song was successful, chances are it will be remembered for years to come.
I set a single cap of three singles per artist, so that a lot of artists would get a chance for a song on the list. I also tried to cover all ten years of the decade, instead of concentrating on the early part of the decade. Take for example, "All the Small Things" by Blink-182, is pretty much a rock classic now. You'll hear this song played many years down the line as one of the biggest and best songs from this decade. I'd put money on it. But that song is currently eleven years old. Yet higher up in the listing was "You've Got the Love" by Florence and the Machine. Am I saying that as of right now, "All the Small Things" is a less important song than "You've Got the Love"? Not necessarily. But I needed to cover all ten years, and in an unbiased fashion. The former song as I said is eleven years old, the latter is only two. There's nine years of airplay between the tracks. So keep that in mind if you look at the listing again. Tomorrow I'm going to run down a load of stats, you'll see that there's a fair bit of balance between the ten years of music, I mean some years have more songs than others, but one thing is for certain is that all ten years have been considered to some degree.
Another thing to think about. Think of what songs are always played from the eighties. Those new wave tracks? Those post punk tracks? Those electronica songs? And what of the nineties? Brit-pop? Boybands? Girlbands? Dance music? This is what this listing is about. What songs people will associate with this decade, for good or for bad, is what this listing is about. I'm predicting what songs will be played for many years from now. What songs will be played on the radio when people reminisce about the decade gone past? What songs will be available on a CD, or a more advanced music playing device, as the "Best of the Naughties"? That's what this listing is about.
Trying to put them into an order that respected all ten years of the decade AND on vibes that I feel from critics and music fans, from rock and metal (with alternative rap and dance) was a difficult task. I hope you all respect that if you look through the list again.
I'd also like to mention about the appearances and accolades of each song. I chose the order of the listing before I checked out the appearances and accolades, so I think it's only fair to explain that they didn't affect my charting, they were there to emphasise why each song is important, in different ways. It was also to bulk out each entry.
Some songs people felt should have been higher. One was "Last Nite" by The Stokes, or just Strokes songs in general. In fairness I think The Strokes deserve more praise than I gave them in the singles listing, especially "Last Nite". If I were to redo the list some time, it's something I'm open to doing in the future, I think I'd put some more emphasis on this band and that song.
Another song was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. Someone said that this song should be very high, if not #1, based on the fact that it was downloads alone that got the song to #1 in the UK charts, a first for this country. While that was a very important landmark in the decade historically, I feel there are other songs that will be played more, remembered more, and thought of more in the decades to come. But I do, once again, feel it should merit a higher place on the listing.
An artist that didn't get one song in the Top 100 was Eminem. Now there's a few reasons for that. The first was that I felt that all the big hits from Eminem's career were released in years where I felt there were big rock and metal songs also released. I prioritised rock, indie and metal over rap and dance, as these are popular genres with alternative fans. Eminem had many big hits in his career, and tomorrow when I release the "50 runner ups", you'll see what songs marginally mised out of the Top 100. You might find this to be a lame excuse, but at the time it made sense. Once again looking back on it, Eminem deserves at least one placement in this decade listing.
To emphasise, the only thing I'm trying to refrain from is dance, pop and RnB, unless it has an alternative audience (eg Eminem, The Prodigy). I'm predominantly sticking to indie, rock, punk, and metal and any subgenre around these genres.
One song that got under people's skins was "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock, which got to #15 in my list. I don't like "All Summer Long". It's a shit song. "All Summer Long" got to #1 in 6 different countries. How many other songs on this listing to to #1 in 6 different countries? Not many.
Sorry this post is in note form but there are was a lot of criticism for a lot of different things to do with these aspects of my work. And while I don't mind criticism (as long as it's constructive) I want to try and get people to understand where I'm coming from. I don't want to just concentrate on the critisicm, I've had a lot of praise for my efforts on this project and also some of the decisions I've made on route. It's not all bad, in fact it's mainly been good, the site is still quite new and this project has brought a lot of attention to my work so I'm happy about that. I just want to you all to understand this project, if you understand and still disagree then that's fine by me. The least I can do is explain where I'm coming from.
So there you go. I hope you understand the logic behind some of the decisions I made. There are songs on this list that you don't like. There are songs on this list I despise. But they were successful, they are thought of well by other people. Don't be ignorant to other people's feelings. Respect that some people like Nickelback, or other artists that are debated to be crap.
To finalise, here are the 50 'rejects' that didn't make the Top 100. Keep in mind these songs also work with the three song cap (for instance, Coldplay had three songs in the Top 100 so I didn't have any more songs by them in the listing). They're in order of what year they were released.
Girl All the Bad Guys Want - Bowling
for Soup
The Real Slim Shady - Eminem
One Step Closer - Linkin
Park
Original Prankster - The
Offspring
One More Time - Daft
Punk
Purple Hills - D12
Beautiful Day - U2
With Arms Wide Open - Creed
It's My Life - Bon
Jovi
Hate to Say I Told You So - The
Hives
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy
Slim
Buck Rodgers - Feeder
Burn Baby Burn - Ash
Toxicity - System
of a Down
Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
No One Knows - The Queens
of the Stone Age
Sk8er Boi - Avril
Lavigne
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte
Too Bad - Nickleback
The Hindu Times - Oasis
Without Me - Eminem
Can't Stop - Red
Hot Chili Peppers
Faint - Linkin Park
Jerk it Out - Ceasars
Stacy's Mom - Fountains
of Wayne
mOBSCENE - Marilyn
Manson
Underdog - Kasabian
Do You Want To - Franz
Ferdinand
Vertigo - U2
I'm Not Jesus - Apocalyptica
The Importance of Being Idle - Oasis
Spitfire - The Prodigy
Lyla - Oasis
Woman - Wolfmother
Roses - OutKast
Here it Goes Again - OK
Go
Dani California - Red
Hot Chili Peppers
White and Nerdy - Weird
Al Yankovic
Hard Rock Hallelujah - Lordi
Goodbye Mr A - The
Hoosiers
Zero - Yeah Yeah
Yeahs
Baby Fratelli - The
Fratellis
A Beautiful Lie - 30
Seconds to Mars
Saturday Superhouse - Biffy
Clyro
Granite - Pendulum
Since U Been Gone - A
Day to Remember
No You Girls - Franz
Ferdinand
Ignorance - Paramore
We Made You - Eminem
Rusted From the Rain - Billy
Talent
Overall this has been a great experience. I really enjoyed this project. So much in fact, I'm going to start going backwards through the years, starting with 1999. But it won't be done in the same style as this Noughtie series. You'll see it when it happens. Stay tuned. Tomorrow I'll be back with the final FINAL piece to do with this project, and that's a load of statistics and fact to do with the Noughtie 100. I hope to see you then.
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.
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. To view part 10, click here.
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.
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.
