Top 100 Favorite Songs of the 2000's (Part V)

Hey all,

Here's tracks #80-71. Now that the list has gotten underway, there's not much for me to elaborate on at the beginning of each post, so I think we'll just get right down to it! Enjoy...


SONGS 80 THROUGH 71


80. The Goo Goo Dolls, "Let Love In" [2006]

And you're the only one I ever believed in/The answer that could never be found/The moment you decided to let love in

Take the blueprints for: "Name," "Iris," "Black Balloon," etc., slow down the tempo, name your album after it, enjoy hit song.


79. Bruce Springsteen, "Working On A Dream" [2009]

Out here the nights are long, the days are lonely/I think of you and I'm working on a dream

Sound familiar? Like, "In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream" familiar? Retro Boss imagery for the problems of the new century.


78. The Kooks, "Sway" [2008]

And I need your soul, 'cause you're always soulful/And I need your heart, 'cause you're always in the right places

There's nothing inherently special about this song in either lyrics or construction (though the guitar work is quite good). But it all fits. There should be more indie power ballads.


77. matchbox twenty, "Disease" [2002]

Every little thing you do is tragic/All my life, oh, was magic

This song might be on the list solely because Rob Thomas was able to rope in Mick Jagger to co-write it. Another credit should have gone to Sting for the above lyric.


76. U2, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" [2004]

You don't have to put up a fight/You don't have to always be right/Let me take some of the punches for you tonight

An autobiographical piece that deals with the death of his father, Bono crafts U2's most sincere song since "One." If this doesn't move you...well, nothing will.


75. The Flaming Lips, "Do You Realize??" [2002]

Do you realize/That everyone you know someday will die?

Sounds like a wedding song on the surface but goes much, much deeper than that. Also on this list for: the double question mark in the title, and the fact that it's not about pink robots.


74. Hard-Fi, "Suburban Knights" [2007]

A global terror, they say we are at war/But I ain't got time for that 'cause these bills keep dropping through my door

Lyrically and musically, it's probably best described as a re-write of "Cash Machine." But it's a grown-up version.


73. Coldplay, "Clocks" [2002]

Come out upon my seas, cursed missed opportunities/Am I a part of the cure or am I part of the disease?

Never been my favorite Coldplay song, but when the book is closed and the history is written, it'll be hard to deny that "Clocks" was absolutely one of the signature songs of this decade.


72. Test Your Reflex, "Pieces Of The Sun" [2007]

Every little thing I promised you, I'll make it come true/I'm not ready to stop

It's like subpar Killers, which means it's still better than "Mr. Brightside" or "When You Were Young." Yeah, I said it.


71. Idlewild, "Love Steals Us From Loneliness" [2005]

You said something, you said something stupid like/"Love steals us from loneliness"/Happy Birthday, are you lonely yet?

The first new song I can distinctly remember liking when I got to college. You'd be hard-pressed to find a song that squeezes more disgust, venom, and pure attitude into three minutes and 15 seconds.


OK, so there you have it. Back tomorrow with numbers 70 through 61 -- we're really starting to get to the good stuff, as tomorrow's ten will include no less than four songs that defined the popular music scene this decade. (The artists are Beyonce, Fountains of Wayne, Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand. Can you guess the songs?)

'Til then,

-- pl