For a concept show one day, I want to feature the best songs written or released since 2000. The criteria is that, genre doesn't matter, but it has to be a song that has a memorable melody, allows you to hum or sing along, is a song that would be appealing 50 or 100 years from now and hopefully crosses over beyond its original scope.
My first, tentative list in NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
The Rising (2002) -- Bruce Springsteen
You and I (2111) -- Lady Gaga
You Raise Me Up (2002) -- Secret Garden
Beautiful Day (2000) -- U2
Happy (2013) -- Farrell Williams
Crazy (2005) -- Gnarls Barkley
Never Wanted Nothing More (2007) -- Kenny Chesney
Colder Weather (2010) -- Zac Brown Band
Rehab (2006) -- Amy Winehouse
I Hope You Dance (2000, barely) -- Lee Ann Womack
Seven Nation Army (2003) -- White Stripes
Blue Ain't Your Color (2016) -- Keith Urban
HeyYa (2003) -- Outkast
Drink A Beer (2013) -- Luke Bryan/Chris Stapleton
Stay (2007) -- Sugarland
**I Should Have Known It (2010) -- Tom Petty
** Guilty Pleasure
What have I missed? What should be deleted without delay? Be open minded; if you have a reaction, find it and listen to it one more time.
Well if you're going on songs that will still be relevant a long time from now there's a few that I think we'll see remain popular much later than most people want. And I'll limit to one per artist.
1. Crazy in Love - Beyonce. Song came out 15 years ago and it still gets playtime.
2. Lose Yourself - Eminem - While Stan is a far superior song, Lose Yourself is gonna be featured in almost any lockeroom type of scenario for a long time. It's kind of the Rocky Theme of the aughts.
3. Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliot - This I think is the type of song that people will appreciate for years and years. It's got like a princce level of weirdness to it that just makes it so awesome.
4. Last Nite - THe Strokes - The closest thing to Iggy Pop type of stuff we have. In 20 years kids will "discover" the Strokes and they'll have even more cultural relevance
5. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson - Don't think this needs a long explanation, you're probably already screaming the refrain in your head.
6. Umbrella - Rihanna - One of the best popsongs made recently, got an interesting groove to it and everything.
7. Mr. Brightside - The Killers- The Killers are Bon Jovi of the aughts. Make incredibly catchy pop/rock songs.
8. American Idiot - Green Day - As long as counter culture is popular this will be too.
9. Fallin - Alicia Keys - While you can pick others from her catalogue, I think this has the most staying power long term.
10. No One Knows - Queens of the Stone Age - Someday people will appreciate Songs for the Deaf as much as I do, I feel like it will happen. QOTSA with Dave Grohl on drums, sign me up every time.
11. Rolling in the Deep - Adele - The pounding piano syncing with the drums and her soaring vocals make this a song that just sticks with you.
12. Teenage Dream - Katy Perry - Guessing that this will be the one of hers that lingers the longest. I'm not 100% sure
13. Chandelier - Sia - Similar to Adele, the soaring vocals make this song easy to get lost in.
14. Lonely Boy - Black Keys - It's a song that keeps getting play. I don't really get it but it does.
15. Hold On - Alabama Shakes - Love this song, love it so much.
16. Somebody that I used to know - Gotye - The "Don't You Want Me Baby" of this decade
17. Some Nights - fun - Hate this song, but it's catchy and will stick around.
18. Love you Like a Love Song - Selena Gomez - This is a perfect pop song, the way it's recorded, the way she sings it. It's perfect. It's every bit as amazing as say I'm a Believer in the realm of pure earworming.
19. I Will Wait - Mumford and Sons - Now the catch is people may forget about this song becaus almost every Mumford and Sons song sounds the same. But this is an incredibly catchy pop/bluegrass dip.
20. Uptown Funk - Bruno Mars - This is a song that took over every genre fan when it came out. It was cool in a way that people didn't know a song could be cool. It was retro but new.
So that's where I'll stop for now. Songs that I think are the best since then but won't be hummed along because they're not overly catchy.
1. Slither - Velvet Revolver
2. I am Mine - Pearl Jam
3. DOA - Foo Fighters
4. Joker and the Thief - Wolfmother
5. Black Gives Way to Blue - Alice in Chains (song is a virtual lock to bring me to tears)
6. Like a Stone - Audioslave - Debated on putting this up on the other list, but I feel like Audioslave will fall by the wayside of popular conscious.
7. 3005 - Childish Gambino - While likely a footnote in hiphop history, Donald Glover made an amazing Album or two.
8. Christmastime (Don't let the bell's end) - The Darkness - Chrismas Legend here.
I'm probably forgetting a dozen or so, my brain is starting to slip.