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

Hi kiddies,

Into the top half, the top 50, of the Favorite Songs list for this Saturday afternoon, starting with ten songs and moving from there. Let's get right to it! Here goes:


SONGS 50 THROUGH 41


50. Ben Folds, "Landed" [2005]

If you wrote me off, I'd understand it/'Cause I've been on some other planet/So come pick me up/I've landed

Most Ben Folds fans love the Rockin' the Suburbs album top to bottom. I didn't. So when this song came out, it became a bit of an anthem for me, a new favorite song by an old favorite artist.


49. Bruce Springsteen, "Waitin' On A Sunny Day" [2002]

Without you/I'm a drummer, girl, that can't keep a beat

False modulations, a loose partying feel, great work by The Big Man on sax...it's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" with 25 years of perspective, the proud statement of a hard-working band that finally made the big time.


48. Radiohead, "Optimistic" [2000]

You can try the best you can/If you try the best you can/The best you can is good enough

After OK Computer, what was Radiohead going to do for an encore? Kid A didn't meet up to most critics' standards, but this simmering, atmospheric ballad (with Charles Darwin/George Orwell lyrical undertones) was a standout.


47. Art Brut, "Pump Up The Volume" [2007]

I know I shouldn't, is it so wrong/To break from your kiss to turn up a pop song?

Art Brut lead singer Eddie Argos' singing style is a combination of off-key singing, rap, and slam poetry. Rarely has a rock song been written in which so many witty lyrics have been uttered without one right note.


46. Barenaked Ladies, "Pinch Me" [2000]

I could hide out under there/I just made you say underwear

The best part of this lyric, and song? At live shows, rabid BNL fans (once requested by the band not to throw Kraft Macaroni & Cheese onstage during "If I Had $1000000") have taken to tossing lingerie, causing Ed Robertson to change the lyric to "I just made you throw underwear."


45. 1990's, "See You At The Lights" [2007]

Get out to a bar/Get out like a blonde gets out of a car

In a song where the main hook is "baaaaa, ba ba, ba ba ba ba," this is the most bewildering lyric as well as the most exuberant moment in an enormously energetic track.


44. Lifehouse, "Hanging By A Moment" [2000]

There's nothing else to lose/There's nothing else to find/There's nothing in the world/That can change my mind

A huge, huge hit built on the 90's pop-rock formula, that almost singlehandedly carried the genre into the 2000's. One of those ubiquitous radio singles that everyone knows the words to whether they choose to admit it or not.


43. Paul Westerberg, "Love You In The Fall" [2006]

Seasons change before me/After me, there'll be someone new, someone new

Ex-Replacement and indie god, in a popular decade trend, gets hired to write songs for the kids' movie Open Season. This ain't "Bastards Of Young," but it's irresistibly enjoyable nonetheless.


42. Ryan Adams, "Two" [2007]

I got a really good heart, I just can't catch a break/If I could, I'd treat you like you wanted me to, I promise

Mr. Mandy Moore could have made it onto this list for any number of tracks -- "Come Pick Me Up," "When The Stars Go Blue," etc. But this song is short, sweet, and to the point. It takes two when it used to take one. Simple.


41. Maritime, "Tearing Up The Oxygen" [2006]

When your eyes are off me I'm alone/They could be anywhere, I should be so lucky

The whispered vocals, chiming guitars, video-game-sounding synthesizer solo...awesome. Another song everyone should know about, but doesn't -- try to (legally) download it somewhere, you're in for a treat.


Alright, that's enough for now. Tomorrow, "TOP 40"...starting with Train, The Darkness, more Bruce, and so on and so forth! 'Til then...

-- pl