The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2004 - Pt.1

As I wrote last year, picking my Top Fifty Favorite Songs is a difficult task. And like last year, I loaded about 150 songs into a playlist on my iPod, and listened and ranked and re-listened and re-ranked, until I couldn’t stand doing so. Now, lest there be much confusion, this list is not the 50 best songs of 2004, rather the 50 songs I, me, loved the most over the last year. Now, there definitely is a method to my list-making madness: yes, the list is comprised of my 50 favorite songs; but that doesn’t mean that the list has been set arbitrarily. No, no discerning music listener, these 50 songs are ranked with number 50 being the least favorite of my 50 favorite songs, and number 1 being my most favorite of my 50 favorite songs. Excellent. And remember, I will be posting ten songs per day for the next five days. Read on!

50. “Legal And Tender” by Map
Vocals and melodies have never been main Map dude Josh Dooley’s strong suit, but he got it right here – the song rocks, propelled by Dooley’s guitar heroics and complimented beautifully by lovely female backing vocals and a tight rhythm section. Dooley’s Map has never impressed me, but their 2004 release Think Like An Owner is a very pleasant surprise. “Legal And Tender” is a dirtied-up-American-new-wave-metal take on The Smiths.

49. “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)” by The Arcade Fire
This track consistently stood out on each listen to Funeral (one of 2004’s most hyped records – deservedly/undeservedly so). The vocals drip with distance, the guitars are catatonic, the drums steady the whole shebang; Win Butler’s gothic-moan-Byrne-croon-XTC-yelp is melodically creepy and strangely comforting as he intones, “Our mother shoulda just named you Laika!”

48. “Tragic Novelty” by The Spectacular Fantastic
TSF’s principal, Mike Detmer, crafts a song that any indie-popsta-sucka would devour. I wrote in my review for Bandoppler: “Tragic Novelty” is an absolutely tremendous grooving mini-pop-symphony (three “movements” over three minutes and twenty-three seconds).” Badfinger, The Apples In Stereo, Guided By Voices are all reference points, but Detmer’s got his own voice.

47. “My Dad” by Paul Westerberg
Westerberg puts his own style and spin on the “tribute” song, full of humor and insight; he even gets downright sentimental – kind of grown-up for the guy who wrote “Mamadaddydid” (from 1996’s Eventually). I’ve always related to Westerberg’s lyrics, and the words of “Mamadaddydid” resonate within me, so it’s with interest (and, even, hope) that I could arrive at that place to sing a “My Dad” someday. Sometimes a pop song can make you re-think your own life. Still, if anyone else wrote this song, I would most likely write it off as “cheeseball.”

46. “Trouble Loves Me” by The Legends
The Legends impressive Up Against The Legends is packed with hit-after-hit, so it was difficult to choose what songs affected me the most. “Trouble Loves Me” is one of song from that record that I kept coming back to … this is insanely catchy and the chorus knocks your legs out from under you.

45. “There’s Always Music” by United State Of Electronica
Horribly monikered U.S.E. cranks out the party tunes as 2004’s Junior Senior (awww, that’s so easy), but applied in the proper environment this is perfect music. “There’s Always Music," delivers the title track for any hipsters-gone-wild party: the intro is epic, the hook is addictive, talk about a straight up massive, booty shaker.

44. “Great To Be Fine” by Velvet Crush
Chastain and Menck craft one of the prettiest songs of the year. There is so much going on in this wonderful power-alt-country-pop track – weepy pedal steel, honky tonk piano, Byrds-y guitar riffs, an earnest bridge – but the song never bogs down; conversely, it soars to yummy earthly pop ecstasy.

43. “Hear Me Out” by Ben Kweller
Ben Kweller can really write some nice pop tunes, and “Hear Me Out” is one of his best songs ever: sweet and muscled; twee and messy; tender and demanding. It’s tough to make a simple song convincing, but Kweller pulls it off naturally.

42. “C’mon C’mon” by The Von Bondies
This is the most idiotic, vapid, and trendy song ever written that succeeds way, way more than it has any right. It’s too easy to let the Von Bondies back-story influence their songs, so just shut up about that tiff with Jack White. “C’mon C’mon” is restless, it grooves, it moves, plus, it's more tuneful than The Hives, more urgent than The Killers (fellow GQ-office monthly playlist entries), The Von Bondies dominate with this track.

41. “Til The Morning Comes” by Fancey
New Pornographer Todd Fancey gets all sunshiney, optimistic, cheery on this slab of pure pop delight. The melody is smooth and addictive, lots of those indie popster staples like “ba-ba-bahs” and bright shimmering harmonies are punctuated perfectly by electric guitar distortion, vintage synths, and a slight-disco-beat. This song brings summer warmth regardless of the season.