Tag: Top 100 Songs of 2010s

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #43: “Happy” by Pharrell Williams

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The song at #43 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Despite its repetitive chorus and being played to death on the radio (which I still listened to a fair amount back in 2014), I never tired of hearing this irresistibly catchy earworm. Neither did millions of others, as “Happy” became a massive worldwide hit, reaching #1 in over 30 countries, including the U.S. It spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, where it was also named the #1 song of 2014.

A renowned and prolific singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer and fashion designer, Pharrell has had a successful career as a solo artist, as part of the record production duo The Neptunes (with Chad Hugo), lead singer of rock/hip hop band N.E.R.D., and a frequent collaborator with an astonishing array of artists. In late 2013, on the heels of his monster collaborative hits “Get Lucky” (with Daft Punk) and “Blurred Lines” (with Robin Thicke and T.I.), he released “Happy”, which was one of five tracks he wrote for the Despicable Me 2 film soundtrack. The song was originally intended to be sung by fellow singer/songwriter CeeLo Green, whose version Pharrell actually thought was better than his, however, CeeLo’s label Elektra Records decided against it, as he was about to release his Christmas album. So, Pharrell’s recording was used for the film soundtrack and released as a single instead, and the rest, as they say, is history. The song was also later included on his album G I R L.

To coincide with the single release, the website  24hoursofhappy.com was launched, featuring a 24-hour long video of “Happy” consisting of the song repeated multiple times, with footage of the charismatic Pharrell and an array of people, including celebrities and the Despicable Me minions, dancing and miming along to the song on streets and parks around Los Angeles. An equally delightful official four-minute long edited video was also released, and has been viewed over 1 billion times. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, but unfortunately lost to the inferior “Let it Go” from Frozen.

And for those who want to indulge, here’s the series of 24 hour-long videos:

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #44: “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish

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The song at #44 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Bad Guy” by the insanely talented young artist Billie Eilish (her full birth name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell). With the meteoric success of her ground-breaking debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, one of the biggest-selling albums of 2019, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter became a superstar. I was blown away by her phenomenal performance at the 2019 Coachella Music Festival (which I watched livestreamed on YouTube) when she was only 17 years old. “Bad Guy” reached #1 on numerous music charts in the U.S. and around the world, including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Greece, Hungary, Norway and the Czech Republic.

“Bad Guy” was co-written by Eilish and her older brother Finneas O’Connell (a successful artist in his own right), who also produced and programmed the track. Musically, the song has an unusual minimalist melody featuring instrumentation provided by synth bass, kick drum, finger snaps and 808 bass, pulling us headlong into a thumping, ominous soundscape. Eilish’s clipped, breathy vocals have a seductive, almost menacing quality as she sings the provocative lyrics that seem beyond her tender years, yet she makes them totally believable. “I’m that bad type. Make your mama sad type. Make your girlfriend mad tight. Might seduce your dad type. I’m the bad guy, duh.” It’s brilliant!

Given her talent, creativity, intelligence and willingness to experiment, I’m confident that Billie Eilish is destined for a long and illustrious career.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #45: “Pompeii” by Bastille

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The song at #45 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Pompeii” by British alternative pop-rock band Bastille. Originally started in Leeds in 2010 as a solo project of singer-songwriter Dan Smith – who named his project after the French holiday that’s celebrated on his birthday of July 14 – Bastille later grew into a four-piece. In 2011, they released their debut EP Laura Palmer, featuring songs Dan had previously written. That December, they signed with Virgin Records, and began recording and releasing a series of singles that would become part of their debut album Bad Blood, which dropped in March 2013. One of those singles, “Pompeii”, would catapult Bastille to international fame. It reached #1 in Scotland and Ireland, and #2 in the UK, Italy and Mexico. In the U.S., it peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Alternative, Adult Alternative and Rock Airplay charts.

Smith wrote the song in 2010 while still a student, after reading about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. It made him think about all those who perished being forever frozen in time. He later told The Daily Telegraph that he imagined what those dead inhabitants might have to say to one another, and explained the song’s meaning “It is essentially about fear of stasis and boredom. Being quite a shy, self-conscious person, I was afraid my life might get stuck.” “Pompeii” is darkly beautiful, immediately grabbing our attention with its ominous opening chant of  “Eh, eheu, eheu…” (“eheu” is Latin for alas, which is an exclamation of grief, pain, or fear) that’s repeated throughout the track, ending as it started. It was one of the more unusual and haunting songs of the decade.

The fascinating and eerie video plays almost like a mini horror film, albeit not a terribly frightening one. Smith is shown frantically wandering about an empty-looking Los Angeles at night, discovering that the few people he encounters all have unnatural vacant black eyes that resemble the looks of the petrified remains of those who perished in Pompeii. He steals a car and flees to the desert to try and escape, but the car breaks down. The next morning, in a scene filmed next to the Whitewater River in north Palm Springs not far from where I live, he realizes he’s been infected too. In the final scene, he’s atop Mt. San Jacinto looking out at the view, then turns around to reveal his own eyes have turned black.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #46: “Mountain At My Gates” by Foals

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The song at #46 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the gorgeous anthem “Mountain At My Gates” by British alt-rock band Foals. They rank among my current favorite bands and I passionately love their distinctive sound, characterized by uniquely beautiful guitar work and lead singer Yannis Philippakis’ rich vocals that make their music instantly identifiable. The group was formed in Oxford, England in 2005, and their current line-up consists of the aforementioned Yannis Philippakis (I love that name!) who also plays lead guitar, drummer and percussionist Jack Bevan, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Smith and keyboardist Edwin Congreave. Their previous bassist Walter Gervers left the band in 2019 to pursue other interests.

From their stunning fourth album What Went Down, “Mountain At My Gates” was released as a single in July 2015. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative chart in early 2016. The lyrics seem to address perseverance and overcoming life’s obstacles, although in a 2015 interview with NME, Philippakis said the lyrics just came to him spontaneously in the studio: “The central image – ‘I see a mountain at my gates’ was from me getting more interested in seeing what would come out lyrically where there wasn’t a pre-conceived idea. Normally I write voraciously in books and journals, then harvest a lot of that for the record. This, though, came out instantaneously in the room.”

I see a mountain at my gates
I see it more and more each day
And my desire wears a dark dress
But each day, I see you less

Oh, gimme some time
Show me the foothold from which I can climb
Yeah, when I feel low
You show me a signpost for where I should go

The dramatic and powerful instrumentals – highlighted by those beautiful guitars – are fantastic, and Philippakis’ fervent vocals smolder and soar to impassioned wails as the song builds to a climactic flourish, leaving me covered in chills every time I hear it.

The interesting video produced for the song is a spherical video filmed with a GoPro omnidirectional camera. You can rotate the imagery with your cursor.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #47: “Seasons (Waiting on You)” by Future Islands

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The song at #47 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the superb “Seasons (Waiting on You)” by American pop-rock band Future Islands. Despite releasing three studio albums and touring almost non-stop for years, they’d remained relatively unknown since forming in North Carolina in 2006. That all changed in 2014 with the release of their fourth album Singles, particularly the breakthrough single “Seasons (Waiting on You)”, and their riveting performance on The Late Show with David Letterman in March 2014, which became the show’s most-viewed video.

Lead singer Samuel T. Herring, who actually started out as a rapper, is a lifelong lover of performance art. His on-stage performances are characterized by his elaborate and animated dance movements and raw, aggressive vocals, and he literally owns the stage when he performs. He also has Reinke’s edema, a condition involving swelling of the vocal chords that has caused him to compensate for the fact that he can no longer hit certain notes by growling, which is now part of his signature vocal style. In an interview with Stereogum, Herring attributed his condition to four causes: “Acid reflux, smoking, talking too much or overuse of the vocal cords, and then chronic misuse of the vocal cords … which is how I sing.”

Now based in Baltimore, Maryland, Future Islands has long rejected being called synth-pop, instead calling their music “post-wave”, a combination of the romanticism of new wave with the power and drive of post-punk. “Seasons (Waiting on You)” is a stunning, almost heartbreaking song about finally giving up on trying to win the love of another, and Herring makes us believe every word he sings. The song was named best track of 2014 by NME, Pitchfork and Spin.

Here’s their famous performance on The Late Show with David Letterman (which may get removed over copyright issues with video owner).

And here’s the official video:

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #48: “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay

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The song at #48 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay. They’re one of my favorite bands, and this is their second song on this list (the other being “Adventure of a Lifetime”, which ranks at #63). The beautiful, uplifting song was co-written and co-produced by the late Avicii, which accounts for its sweeping and lush piano and synth-driven EDM and progressive house sound. It was released in May 2014 as the third single from their sixth album Ghost Stories, a very good album that received mostly positive reviews, other than from the aptly-named Pitchfork, which tends to skewer everything that doesn’t ‘break new ground’. “A Sky Full of Stars” also received mainly positive reviews, though Josh Modell of The A.V. Club dismissed it as a “blatantly pandering, album-interrupting, mood-fucking-up [track] which is destined to be a hit and also instantly dated” – to which I say ‘fuck him and the horse he rode in on!’

“A Sky Full of Stars” is a jubilant celebration by someone for another person for whom their love shines brighter than the stars. A bit sappy, yes, but so darn exuberant and pretty that I can’t help but love it! The happy video for the song was directed by Mat Whitecross and filmed in Australia, on King Street in the inner Sydney suburb of Newtown. It shows lead singer Chris Martin and his fellow bandmates, each dressed as one-man-bands, walking the street amid throngs of people as they perform the song. The song itself was obviously dubbed over the video, but it still makes for an exhilarating experience, highlighted by the band entering a crowd of adoring fans at the end, accompanied by bursts of paper stars being shot into the air.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #49: “Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON

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The song at #49 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the rousing ear worm “Shut Up and Dance” by pop-rock band WALK THE MOON. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, the band was started in 2006 by singer-songwriter Nicholas Petricca while he was a student at Kenyon College. The inspiration for his band name came from the Police song “Walking on the Moon”. In addition to Petricca, who also plays keyboards, the band includes Eli Maiman on guitar, Kevin Ray on bass, and Sean Waugaman on drums. They first gained success on the Billboard Alternative and Rock charts with their 2012 single “Anna Sun”, but it was their massive hit “Shut Up and Dance” that brought them international fame.

The song was actually a bit of a sleeper hit. Released in September 2014 as the lead single from their second album Talking is Hard, the song first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 in late November 2014, then fell off after spending only two weeks at #98. It re-entered a week later, and slowly climbed the chart, ultimately peaking at #4 in May 2015, however, it spent many weeks at #1 on the Alternative, Hot Rock Songs and Adult Top 40 charts. It was also named the #1 song of 2015 on the Hot Rock Songs and Adult Top 40 charts.

Petricca and Maiman had initially developed the infectious verse that formed the beginnings of the song, but it all came together the following weekend while Petricca was at a nightclub in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles. The place was packed, it was taking forever to get a drink, and he was frustrated because he wanted to dance to the great music that was playing. His girlfriend told him to stop complaining and just dance with her, inspiring the title “Shut Up and Dance’. He envisioned the song “as an anthem for letting go of frustration and having fun”, and set the lyrics to a jubilant, catchy-as-hell dance beat, embellished with rolling riffs of jangly guitar, jazzy synths and thumping drums.

The endearing and funny video portrays Petricca as, in his own words, “an incredibly uncomfortable, awkward dork who is 100 percent me” at a bar, trying to look cool.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #50: “Breakeven” by The Script

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We’re now halfway through the countdown of my list of the 100 Best Songs of the 2010s, and #50 is “Breakeven” by Irish alternative rock band The Script. The beautiful song is also one of the saddest and most bittersweet on this list. From their self-titled debut album The Script, “Breakeven” was actually released as a single in the previous decade, in late November 2008. It quickly became a hit in Ireland and the UK, but didn’t appear on the U.S. music charts until a year later in late 2009. It eventually peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Top 40 charts in May 2010. It was one of my favorite songs of that year, so as far as I’m concerned, it qualifies for inclusion on my list of best songs of the 2010s.

“Breakeven” is about how the breakup of a relationship can affect each of the two parties involved quite differently, leaving one feeling free while the other is heartbroken, and unable to move on: “I’m still alive but I’m barely breathing. Just prayed to a God that I don’t believe in. ‘Cause I got time while she got freedom. ‘Cause when a heart breaks, no, it don’t break even.” The lovely mix of strummed acoustic and chiming guitars, snappy drums and sparkling keyboards provide a stirring backdrop for lead singer Danny O’Donoghue’s heartfelt vocals that beautifully convey feelings of intense sadness and desolation after a painful breakup: “What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you? And what am I supposed to say when I’m all choked up and you’re OK? I’m falling to pieces..”

The guitar work on this song is phenomenal, and it always impresses me when musicians choose just the right kinds of guitar notes and textures – along with any and all other instruments for that matter – to make their songs sound the very best they can be.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #51: “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA

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The song at #51 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “All the Stars” by songwriter and rapper Kendrick Lamar and singer-songwriter SZA. One of many outstanding songs featured on the soundtrack for the hit superhero film Black Panther, the gorgeous song is a stylistic departure for Lamar. Unlike most of his rap-heavy hip hop songs, “All the Stars” is highly melodic, with vibrant sweeping synths and lush orchestration, set to a strong thumping drumbeat. His vocals are mesmerizing and powerful as he sings the biting lyrics about duplicity and betrayal, while SZA captivates with her bewitching soulful vocals. She passionately sings about her inability to resist another’s charms despite the fact he’s no good for her, always putting her faith in love and the stars: ” This may be the night that my dreams might let me know / All the stars are closer.”

The song received much critical praise, but also a few withering reviews. Most critics and fans much prefer Lamar’s edgier rap songs like “Alright” and “HUMBLE” for their artistic innovation and how they speak to issues in the Black community – which I certainly appreciate – however, I’m just personally more drawn to this type of beautiful and melodic song. Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork called it “generic and so nondescript that it reeks of compromise, devoid of personality or any true vision, and pales in comparison to both Lamar and SZA’s recent works,.” Well I say screw him! He’s entitled to his opinion and I’m entitled to mine, and I love it!

The dramatic and richly colorful video, directed by Dave Meyers and the little homies, is visually stunning, and one of the best of the year.

100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #52: “Renegades” by X Ambassadors

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The song at #52 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Renegades” by Ithaca, New York-based rock band X Ambassadors. The beautiful song of inspiration was already in the process of being written by the band when their label Interscope Records was approached by Jeep, who wanted a song to promote their new Jeep Renegade SUV. The band and label delivered the song within a few days, and it was simultaneously released as a single in March 2015.

The uplifting lyrics speak to courage and perseverance in living one’s life to the fullest, no matter the obstacles placed in our paths. This not only satisfied Jeep’s goal of having a song that would appeal to young people’s sense of freedom and exploration, but also had personal meaning for the band, as one of its members Casey Harris was blind since birth. The video that was later produced for the song shows several people with disabilities working to overcome their challenges. Musically, the song starts off with a lovely strummed acoustic guitar riff that slowly builds, then a thumping drumbeat ensues along with a deep bass line and swirling keyboard synths to create a stirring soundscape. Lead vocalist Sam Harris fervently sings “Long live the pioneers, rebels and mutineers, go forth and have no fear, come close and lend an ear. And I say hey, hey hey hey Living like we’re renegades.”

The song was a sizable hit, peaking at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Rock Airplay, Adult Top 40 and Alternative charts, where it spent many weeks at the top spot.