Tag: Top 100 Songs of 2010s

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #33: “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” by The National

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The song at #33 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the gorgeous “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” by American alternative folk-rock band The National. The group have been putting out consistently good and well-received music for over 20 years, and one of their finest works was their critically acclaimed and Grammy-winning seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast. The lead single from that album, “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” is a phenomenal track, and one of the best of 2017. I was shocked to learn this was the band’s very first single to ever appear on any Billboard chart, going all the way to #1 on the Adult Alternative chart.

The song opens with a dreamy a cappella female vocal, then lovely piano chords and gnarly guitars ensue, propelled by an urgent drumbeat. The band uses a palette of richly-layered instrumentals, including a subtle trumpet fluttering over propulsive percussion to create a dramatic backdrop for singer Matt Berninger stunning and heartfelt baritone vocals. Aaron Dessner’s blistering guitar solo in the bridge, unusual for The National, is a highlight of the song.

The band has never been afraid to express their liberal political views in their songs, and while “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” is not political per se, it was inspired by the political mood in America and the election of Trump. In an interview with Pitchfork, Berninger stated that the song is generally about “the strange way our world and our idea of identity mutates—sometimes overnight, as we’ve seen recently. It’s an abstract portrait of a weird time we’re in.”

Maybe I listen more than you think
I can tell that somebody sold you
We said we’ve never let anyone in
We said we’d only die of lonely secrets

The system only dreams in total darkness
Why are you hiding from me?
We’re in a different kind of thing now
All night you’re talking to God

I thought that this would all work out after a while
Now you’re saying that I’m asking for too much attention
Also no other faith is light enough for this place
We said we’d only die of lonely secrets

The system only dreams in total darkness
Why are you hiding from me?
We’re in a different kind of thing now
All night you’re talking to God

I cannot explain it
Any other, any other way
I cannot explain it
Any other, any other way

The song’s surreal video features digitally-altered imagery in mostly black and blue colors.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #34: “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele

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At last, British superstar Adele makes her first of two appearances on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s with her stunning anthem “Set Fire to the Rain“, which bows in at #34. Born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, the remarkable singer-songwriter first came to prominence in 2008 with her debut album 19 and hit single “Chasing Pavements”, for which she was awarded Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal. In 2011, she released her second album 21, which became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, setting numerous chart and sales records, and topping the album charts in the U.K., U.S., and around the world. It was the top-selling album on the planet both in 2011 and 2012. As I write this in November 2020, 21 has spent 492 continuous weeks and counting on the Billboard 200 Album chart. That’s nearly nine and a half years!

The album’s third single, “Set Fire to the Rain”, was also her third consecutive single to reach #1, and is one of my favorites of Adele’s many songs. The song was co-written and produced by Fraser T. Smith, and it’s a sweeping, piano-driven anthem, with the kind of lush orchestration that I love (though a few prickly critics called it ‘over-produced’ and a ‘misfire’, and to them I say fuck off!). The dramatic arrangement creates a cinematic wall of sound befitting Adele’s soaring, emotionally-charged vocals. The lyrics speak to the contradictions that occur in some relationships, how a partner can seem so wonderful at times, yet awful at others: “You and me together, nothing gets better. But there’s a side to you that I never knew, never knew. All the things you’d say, they were never true, never true. And the games you play, you would always win.”

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #35: “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities

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The song at #35 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the wonderfully ebullient “Safe and Sound” by Los Angeles- based electro-pop duo Capital Cities. Consisting of singer-songwriters Sebu Simonian and Ryan Merchant, they seem like nice, down to earth guys who’d be fun to hang out with. They formed their music project in 2010, a few years after Merchant responded to a Craigslist ad by Simonian, who was looking for music production jobs. Their lineup includes other musicians who assist in the recording of their songs and for live performances.

A sleeper hit, “Safe and Sound” was originally released in January 2011, but didn’t chart until 2013, when it was included on their terrific debut album In a Tidal Wave of Mystery (the album title is from a lyric in the song). The song reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative chart that June, and was the #2 song of 2013 on that year-end chart. The song has a catchy synth-driven melody with an infectious dance beat, but the real highlight is the exuberant trumpet line that gives the track incredible texture and energy. The guys’ vocal harmonies are pretty great too.

In a 2013, interview with USA Today, Simonian explained that “‘Safe and Sound’ is an ode to humanity and all living things. We want people to recognize that life can be good, things are getting better.” Though the lyrics are quite simple – “I could lift you up / I could show you what you wanna see and take you where you wanna be / You could be my luck / Even if the sky is falling down I know that we’ll be safe and sound” the song is just so damn upbeat that it brings me immense joy every time I hear it.

The delightful official video, directed by Grady Hall, was filmed in the historic Los Angeles Theatre, and shows Capital Cities performing on stage as dancers emerge from pictures on the wall and film clips from different time periods in the theater’s history, and compete in a dance-off. Simonian and Merchant took lessons so they could dance in the video. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #36: “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic

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The song at #36 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Counting Stars” by pop-rock band OneRepublic. I’ve been a big fan of OneRepublic since falling in love with their beautiful song “Apologize” in 2008, which ended up at #8 on my Top 100 Songs of the 2000s. Their fantastic song “Counting Stars”, was released in June 2013 as the second single from their third album Native. It was a huge hit around the world, reaching #1 in Canada, Brazil, Finland, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Israel and the UK. In the U.S. it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts.

The song has an infectious and powerful beat-driven melody, with touches of soul, gospel and dance-pop that make for a colorful and exciting listen. Band front man Ryan Tedder wrote the song while staying in a house in the Hamptons being rented by Jay-Z and Beyonce, and said it’s about “laying in bed awake at night when you’re stressed out of your mind, thinking ‘How are we gonna make ends meet? How are we gonna pay the bills?’ You know, all those things you wanna do with your life – how are we gonna make them work? How’s this actually gonna happen or come to pass? So, instead of counting sheep, we’re counting stars.” For me, the highlight of the song are Tedder’s beautiful vocals.

The music video for the song was filmed in New Orleans, and shows the band performing the song in a dusty, decrepit building – complete with a roaming alligator – while a church revival service goes on upstairs. As of November 2020, it has received over 3.1 billion views, and currently ranks as the 14th most-viewed YouTube video ever.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #37: “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train

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The song at #37 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Hey, Soul Sister” by California pop-rock band Train. From their fifth studio album Save Me, San Francisco, the song is a sweet and joyous celebration of lust and love. Technically, the song is from the previous decade, as it was released in August 2009, but didn’t peak on most charts until early 2010, so qualifies for inclusion on my best songs of the 2010s list. It’s the best-selling single of Train’s career, and also highest-charting, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Top 40 and Contemporary charts. It was named the #1 song of 2010 on the Adult Top 40 chart and #3 on the Hot 100. It also reached #1 in Australia, Hungary, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Band front man Pat Monahan teamed up with New York-based Norwegian songwriting and music production duo Espionage (consisting of Espen Lind and Amund Bjørklund, who wrote Beyoncé’s smash hit “Irreplaceable”, among others) to write “Hey, Soul Sister”.  Monahan told them he wanted the song to have an INXS vibe, and after they wrote the melody, he wrote the lyrics and started to sing the song, but wasn’t pleased with what they’d come up with. He later recalled: “Espen, who’s like a huge star in Norway, picked up a ukelele and said, ‘Hey, how about this?’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ And it made the difference. It made my words dance. It made sense. These words were meant to dance with ukulele and not guitar.” (Wikipedia)

The heartwarming lyrics speak of being besotted with a woman and singing her praises, and are nicely delivered by Monahan with an endearing fervor guaranteed to bring a smile to even the dourest face. “Hey soul sister, ain’t that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo. The way you move ain’t fair you know. Hey soul sister, I don’t wanna miss a single thing you do tonight.” The charming video was filmed in front of Chango Coffee in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #38: “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton

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The song at #38 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Can’t Hold Us” by Seattle hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring guest vocals by R&B singer Ray Dalton. On the heels of their worldwide smash hit “Thrift Shop” (which ranks at #89 on this list), the charismatic duo hit the jackpot again with “Can’t Hold Us”, although it took a while for the song to catch hold. The single was actually first released in August 2011, a full year before “Thrift Shop” (which instantly became their first big hit) but didn’t gain much traction or airplay until after the release of “Thrift Shop” and their debut album The Heist more than a year later. The song finally entered the Billboard Hot 100 in early 2013, and reached #1 that May.

“Can’t Hold Us” is a wonderful feel-good anthem of hope and perseverance that’s so joyously upbeat that I can’t help but get swept up in it’s euphoric celebratory vibe, wanting to jump up and down with glee! Macklemore freestyles the lyrics about overcoming naysayers and fighting onward in the pursuit of his dreams with a flow that’s truly impressive: “Chasing dreams since I was fourteen with the four-track, bussing halfway cross that city with the backpack / Fat cat, crushing labels out here, nah, they can’t tell me nothing. / We give that to the people, spread it across the country.” Dalton sings the hook “Can we go back, this is the moment / Tonight is the night, we’ll fight ’til it’s over /So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us / Like the ceiling can’t hold us.”

Musically, the song features an exuberant array of instruments, including a fantastic piano line, horns, strings, tambourine, guitar and drums, all accompanied by bold handclapping, foot stomping, and a soaring gospel-like chorus that make for a truly uplifting and electrifying track. The video produced for the song is a mini saga, filmed in several locations around the globe.

And here’s a terrific live performance in November 2011 of the song at their legendary hometown radio station KEXP. I almost prefer this, as it allows us to more fully appreciate the song’s greatness, as well as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ joyful energy.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #39: “The Man” by The Killers

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The song at #39 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the deliciously bombastic “The Man” by The Killers. I’m a huge fan of The Killers, and have loved or at least liked every song I’ve ever heard from them. Released in June 2017, “The Man” was the lead single from their fifth studio album Wonderful, Wonderful. The song received mostly positive reviews from critics, and I think it’s terrific; it spent five weeks at #1 on my own personal Weekly Top 30 chart. I love how the music revs up at the beginning, then explodes into a pounding dance beat courtesy of Ronnie Vannucci’s power drums. Throw in a sturdy bass line, sweeping synths and band front man Brandon Flowers’ soaring tenor vocals, and you’ve got a fun, exhilarating tune. I also love when Flowers pays homage to David Bowie late in the song when he shouts “headed for the hall of…FAME!”

Vannucci has stated that the song is basically about how a lot of men feel invincible when they’re younger: “Sort of your chest out, the breadwinner, nothing could stop you… It’s tongue-and-cheeking that, how that is not really the point of being a man at all. It’s actually more about compassion and empathy.” The fantastically entertaining video, filmed in and around the band’s hometown of Las Vegas, shows Flowers playing several different arrogant characters who are full of themselves, all thinking they’re ‘the man’.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #40: “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga

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From a bad guy to a bad romance, the business of love can be a treacherous minefield. The song at #40 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. At the dawn of the 2010s, Lady Gaga (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) was already an international star, thanks to the success of her debut album The Fame, which launched her career like a shot from a cannon. Two singles from the album – “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” were both huge worldwide hits, topping the charts in the U.S. and many countries.

In late 2009, she followed up with Fame Monster, released as both a stand-alone EP and as a deluxe reissue of The Fame, which included two discs, one consisting of the eight new tracks, and the other consisting of the original tracks from The Fame. One of the new tracks was “Bad Romance”, which I think is her best song ever. The unusual melody and song structure are interesting and fairly complex, featuring elements of German-esque house and techno that Gaga described as being experimental pop. But whatever it’s called, it’s absolutely brilliant and gloriously cinematic, with a larger-than-life quality befitting her own persona.

The lyrics address aspects of a bad relationship and her poor choice in men, specifically, of being attracted to men with whom romance never works, and falling in love with your best friend. In an MTV interview, she stated that in the verse, “I want your psycho, your vertigo shtick, Want you in my rear window, baby, you’re sick“, she used Alfred Hitchcock film titles to express that she wanted “the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that you are afraid to share with anyone because I love you that much.”

The stylish and surreal video for “Bad Romance” has garnered nearly 1.3 billion views.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #41: “This is America” by Childish Gambino

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The song at #41 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “This is America” by Childish Gambino, the artistic name for the music project of the multi-faceted and incredibly talented actor, writer, director, producer, singer-songwriter and rapper Donald Glover. One of the best songs of 2018, “This is America” features an alternating mix of African-folk inspired melodies and pulsating hip hop-driven trap beats, paired with highly provocative lyrics addressing issues of racism, police brutality and gun violence in America. It features background vocals by rappers Young Thug (who also co-wrote the song with Glover and Swedish songwriter-producer Ludwig Göransson), Slim Jxmmi, BlocBoy, JB, Quavo (of the group Migos), and 21 Savage. The song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 5, 2018, and also topped the charts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In February 2019, the song won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance, and Best Music Video.

The companion video for the song, directed by Hiro Murai, drives home the lyrics’ message with shocking and often disturbing visual imagery. Released on YouTube simultaneously with Gambino’s performance of the song on Saturday Night Live on May 5, 2018, the video quickly went viral, garnering 12.9 million views in the first 24 hours. As I write this, it’s been viewed over 736 million times.

Things start off pleasantly enough, with Glover/Gambino dancing about shirtless, but using grotesque smiles and exaggerated poses that some believe invoke the racist caricature Jim Crow. He sings “We just wanna party. Party just for you. We just want the money“, possibly referencing Black peoples’ historic role as entertainers for White people. Events take a violent turn when he walks up to a man who’s sitting on a chair playing guitar with his head covered by a hood, and shoots him in the head. A little later, he nonchalantly mows down a choir of singers with an automatic weapon. In both cases, he hands the guns over to someone holding a red cloth, giving the impression that the guns are being handled with greater care than the people he’s killed. The shooting of the choir is thought to represent the 2015 massacre at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Glover/Gambino and a group of kids clad in school uniforms dance throughout much of the video, smiling as violence erupts around them. At the end of the video, he’s shown running for his life from an angry white mob.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #42: “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons

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The song at #42 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Radioactive” by Las Vegas-based pop-rock band Imagine Dragons. Since the release of their breakout single “It’s Time” in 2012, Imagine Dragons has become one of the biggest and most successful music acts in the world, selling over 35 million singles in the U.S. and 20 million albums worldwide (RIAA). Unfortunately, as it happens with a number of bands who’ve become hugely popular, there’s also been a bit of a backlash, with a sizable number of people hating them as well. I like them a lot, though I’ll admit many of their songs have been overplayed to the point where they got to be annoying.

“Radioactive” was their second single, and was included on their EP Continued Silence and later on their debut album Night Visions. It’s a bombastic alternative electronic rock song with booming dubstep beats, loads of distortion, and dramatic soaring choruses that make for an intense and exciting listen. The dark lyrics reference apocalyptic and revolutionist themes, though band front man Dan Reynolds told Rolling Stone that it’s “basically about my struggle with anxiety and depression. It’s about becoming self-empowered and rising above that. I wanted to write a masculine and primal song about conjuring and rising above human weakness.”

The song has sold over 10 million digital copies, and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Alternative, Hot Rock and Rock Airplay charts.

The official video produced for the song was directed by Syndrome and features actors Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays the ringleader of an underground puppet-fighting ring, and Alexandra Daddario, who plays a mysterious female drifter on a quest to save her friends in Imagine Dragons from Phillips. The video shows a series of fights between puppets, and just seems rather silly and childish to me, taking away from the overall power of the song. But in an interview with MTV, Reynolds explained that they wanted a more lighthearted approach in the video: “We read through a ton of scripts from really talented directors, and we came across one that stood out to us in particular, because it put into visuals the general theme of the song, which is kind of an empowering song about an awakening, but it did it in a way that was very different. A lot of people probably see a post-apocalyptic world when they hear ‘Radioactive’, understandably, but we wanted to deliver something that was maybe a little different from that … a lot different from that.” As I write this, the official video has been viewed more than 1.2 billion times, with 7.6 million likes on YouTube.

Here’s an audio-only video for those who’d just like to hear the song: