Dead And Gone - T.I. Ft. Justin Timberlake (2009)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2009: #12                                                               



Dead and Gone was inspired the death of Philant Johnson, a close friend of T.I., and reflects on the realization that pride and recklessness are a recipe for disaster. A lyric I especially love: 

I won that fight; I lost that war
I can still see my n*** walkin' out that door
Who'da thought I'd never see Philant no more?
Got enough dead homies I don't want no more. 

I love a great song about redemption. It's not clear to me that T.I.'s is genuine enough to keep him out of trouble for good, but the song is inspirational. Justin Timberlake sings a chorus with such soul you could swear he was channeling Sam Cooke, and T.I.'s rap lyric is swift and compelling. It sweeps you up in the chaos, and exposes his fear as much as his regret. Running through all that is a lot of heart, coming straight from a guy on the other side of some dark days.

Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis (2008)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2008: #2                                                          
 

 
In the 1990s, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston conspired to kill the female-lead love ballad. Between I Will Always Love You and My Heart Will Go On, I never wanted to hear another one (EXCESSIVE radio air play didn't help either).

Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love hits just the right spot. She sings big high notes without hurting the ears of your pets. The chorus soars, but doesn't launch into orbit. The lyrics (written by Jesse McCartney? really?) are sweet but not saccharin, intense, but still accessible. Most of us can relate to the feelings on some level.

Bleeding Love is a beautiful song, sung beautifully. That's all it needs to be.

American Boy - Estelle Ft. Kanye West (2008)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2008: #39                                                               


 
This one's just fun. Better in your party mix than a box of Chex. (Yeah, I said it...)

Disturbia - Rihanna (2008)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2008: #16                                                                  



You won't hear a lot songs with this many hooks. Distubia jumps on you from note one, and doesn't let go. Catchy, a little bit creepy, and in a hurry, it'll get stuck in your head for hours. Luckily, it's good enough that you won't mind.

Viva La Vida - Coldplay (2008)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2008: #13                                                                



I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world

It was a wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Hips Don't Lie - Shakira Ft. Wyclef Jean (2006)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2006: #5                                                               

 

For those of you who are big fans of Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, you're aware that the original version of this song by Wyclef Jean is with Claudette Ortiz a couple years earlier. The rest of us first heard it with Shakira. There's a reason some cuts work and some don't. Sometimes it's just the right hook; sometimes it's right voice (and sometimes it's in the hips).

Shakira adds a richness of sound to this already-solid Latin rhythm, her more powerful voice creating a better balance to Jean's quick (and slick) cadence...
 
HA! Like you're even LISTENING to the music! Right now you have the screen maximized, don't you? You're not even reading this, are you?? HEY!

(yeah, me either)

Holiday - Green Day (2005)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2005: #39                                                     




Protest music. I had thought it was a thing of the past. Was the 1960s long-hair hippie band really the end of anti-war, anti-establishment music? Someone will surely tell me it was hanging around in Punk Rock all this time. Perhaps, but Holiday made it a long way up the charts. This is a song that clearly resonated with people. In 2005, many in America were coming to terms with the idea that the government campaigned for and entered us into a war (in Iraq) on false pretenses, if not out-right lies. This song tapped into that anger.

You may not agree with Billie Joe Armstrong's politics. Maybe you're the type who hates when musicians or celebrities speak politically at all. It's popular to call protest music Anti-American, especially when your side is in power. The opposite is true. There are few things more American than dissent. It's in our DNA to disagree, to protest, even to fight each other over what we believe in.

What's under-appreciated in America today is how nobody considers a Punk band shouting angry satire at the top of their lungs a threat to our institutions of our government. For the past year in the Middle East, they were arresting people and shooting at people for far less. Whether you support the Tea Party or Occupy or disagree with all of them, never forget that the right to protest is only worth anything when there are people out there passionate enough to exercise it.

Irreplaceable - Beyonce (2007)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2007: #1                                                                    


Sometimes everyone agrees - the fans, the radio stations, the critics. The number one Pop song of 2007 was also the best.

This is Beyonce's masterpiece. Clever lyrics, fantastic hooks, a great R&B groove, and timeless vocals all rolled up into a sound that's quintessential Beyonce.

The beauty in Irreplaceable is its drama. Beyonce claims "I won't shed a single tear," but the emotion in her voice gives away that she (or her character) already has shed a few. It's brilliant subtlety: she's acting tough, but clearly there's some serious pain she's hiding. She's not weak, or going to change her mind; it's more that she's not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her suffer.

(A side note: for a "His Side" counterpoint to this song, check out Kanye West's Heartless.)

I guarantee, Irreplaceable will stand the test of time. Fifty years from now, when you hear it on your Oldies station, tell your grandchildren I told you so.

Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood (2007)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100, 2007: #6                                                                 

What if this whole thing was a big misunderstanding? Consider:

Carrie: "Well, look who's finally home."

Bobby: "I was at the impound, somebody trashed my truck! I'm pretty sure her name was Carrie. That's what it said on the DRIVER'S SEAT!! The paint, the headlights - there's about 15 grand in damage there! Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND? Do you have any idea how much those TIRES cost??"

Carrie: "Well, MAYBE, if you were workin' like you said you were gonna be instead of partyin' at the Whiskey Mistress with some tramp..."

Bobby: "I WAS workin'! Ricky said he had a hot date, so I let him borrow my truck. Jesus! You thought..."

Carrie: "Oh... your... brother. Oh NO! Oh baby, I'm sorry! Here - take my Amex card. You can drive the Ferrari until your truck's fixed. Thank goodness I'm a super-rich Country singer, or this could've been a real problem!"

Bobby: "Ah'right, but I'm gettin' a new hat too, then..."