This is it, the Top 5!! Whether you like it or not, these are the top 5 songs of the millennium so far.
Part 4 Can Be Found Here
#5
Song: Chop Suey
Artist: System of a Down
Peak Position: #7 Rock Charts
Hey, guess which song was the biggest rock song around and was joined by the most popular rock video when 9/11 happened. 9/11 did more than just through the planet into a tailspin, it also destroyed many careers and delayed several more. Rock really never recovered from the banning of many of its songs due to the sensitive status of the United States after seeing four of their planes crash in a coordinated attack. Chop Suey was smack dab in the middle of this, as a band that has a Middle Eastern look singing about how angels deserve to die was suddenly being shunned into the corner for bad timing.
Chop Suey could have really done more for the music scene because of its very innovative mesh of thrash, nu-metal, and hard rock. In a span of three minutes we were treated to a great acoustic-heavy opening, an amazing rhythm, several random pauses, and heavy guitar work that would impress the kings of 80s metal. During the reign of nu-metal, System of a Down was amongst the biggest names because of the amazing vocal work backed by a band that is loud, heavy, and right in your face. You can’t listen to this song and not wind up with a bloody nose because of the constant headbanging.
#4
Song: Breaking the Habit
Artist: Linkin Park
Peak Position: #1 in Both Rock Charts
Linkin Park owned, OWNED the rock scene for the first five years of the 2000s. Hybrid Theory was a rapid-seller, and Meteora was selling millions as well. But one can admit that their sound was mildly predictable, it went at a certain pace, was done in a formulaic fashion. The sound worked, but there are definitely similarities between the songs Papercut, Crawling, Numb, and Runaway (Especially Crawling and Numb). But then we have Breaking the Habit.
This song is calmer than the usual nu-metal, it sounded drastically different, it didn’t seem overproduced or overdone, but still had the heavy emotion and heavy vocals that Linkin Park became famous for. Almost coming off as a rock ballad or sorts, Linkin Park turned down the volume, used a more electronic sound, and increased the pace. What we have is a heartbreaking song about overcoming addiction that certified Linkin Park as the best in the rock game before their downward spiral attached to making music for the Transformers series. But during their undeniable reign, this song rules supreme.
#3
Song: Somebody I Used to Know
Artist: Gotye feat. Kimbra
Peak Position: #1 in Billboard Hot 100
There was a nice wave of indie music making its way through all the commercials (Not just the computer ads) and thanks to the power of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, were getting their shot in the radio. This song snuck in essentially out of nowhere and slowly drifted into the hearts of all listeners.
This song is purely heartbreaking, and works on so many levels. When you hear it the first time, you don’t really expect for the female’s side of the story to break in the middle of the song. You have Gotye’s haunting and light vocals dabble within the light indie pop sound. And then we have a female vocalist pop out of nowhere and add an extra layer to the song. And by the time it’s over you have just heard one of the most successful indie anthems of all-time, and hands-down the best indie song of the new millennium.
#2
Song: Don’t Know Why
Artist: Norah Jones
Peak Position: #4 Adult Contemporary
I am going to be blatantly honest: part of this is because Norah Jones is quite possibly my biggest celebrity crush. She can sing, she can play the piano, and has the girl next door look that always makes you feel like you actually have a chance. So, yes, part of this is because I am a huge fan of hers. I am a huge fan of her work, and I admire the fact that she never does the same album twice.
Don’t Know Why is the song we all needed to hear in the modern era, it was the album we needed to hear. In an age in which hip-hop and sugar-candy pop was dominating the charts, we got a jazz record that was simple, bubbly, soothing, and downright beautiful. Jazz has definitely lost its luster especially when compared to its dominating days of the 30s-50s, but Norah Jones brought it back in a big, big way. This song can never become irritating, can never become dated, and not once does it ever overstay its welcome. It is an attractive song from lyrics to vocals to piano.
#1 Song: Gangnam Style
Artist: PSY
Peak Position: #1 In 39949585 Places
You know I am just joking, right?
#1
Song: Crazy
Artist: Gnarls Barkley
Peak Position: #1 in the U.K.
This song is everything: a bit of indie, a bit of pop, a bit of hip-hop, a bit of rock, a bit of spaghetti Western, and synced together by the tightest production I have heard from a song in at least 15 years. It has some of the best male vocals since Boys II Men, has one of the slickest beats ever composed for a hip-hip song, and is packaged together so neatly, so beautifully that you don’t realize that the song is 3 minutes long---and you’ll want to hear it again and again.
I don’t know how else to explain to you why this is the best song since 2000 rolled around. Sampling a spaghetti Western song from a largely forgotten song, Danger Mouse increased the tempo, minimized the Western feel, gave it an edgy European hip-hop touch, and got the mighty Cee-Lo Green to polish it off with his best vocal performance of his career. It hit all the charts around the globe because it’s accessible without sounding like its selling-out, while being so big in England the record label pulled out all the singles from stores so the song could age gracefully and all of Europe wouldn’t be sick of the song in the coming years.
This is not just a great song, it is THE song of the 2000s, and the best song since the ridiculously delicious music of The Seatbelts in the Cowboy Bebop anime.
There you go, The End. For Now.
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