The nominations are rolling in.
I'm a little confused by the category. Don't know if you mean, current pop song, happy-feel-good pop song, or just best pop song ever.
I'm going to submit "Anna Begins" by the Counting Crows, because if you are down and depressed - you can't leave the song without realizing at least one person in the world is more so than you...
Also, the lyrics feel like poetry, more so than words strung out to "fit" to a tune. Sorry, I can't be more musical in depiction...
Scott | Maryland
Duran Duran's Rio. Why? I don't have to justify my opinion to you.
Joanna | my house
And further proof that American literature doctoral students have too much time on their hands . . .
That was a good call on Scott from Maryland's part--I've always liked "Anna Begins."
Anyway, my nom(s): Don't feel like you have to use all of these or anything. It was just hard to stop once I got rolling.
So, my pick: "Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)," Wilco (Summerteeth). In "Sunken Treasure," from Wilco's sprawling double-record opus Being There, Jeff Tweedy sang that he was both "saved" and "maimed" by rock n' roll. It's not surprising, then, that Wilco's next album, Summerteeth, took the driving paradox of all great pop music--sunny melodies about gloomy emotions--and stretched it to its logical extreme, so that the listener finds himself in the unusual but not unpleasurable position of bobbing head, tapping foot, and singing along with gusto to songs about such topics as the randomness of God's love, burying your lover alive, and suicide. "Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)" is perhaps a bit less philosophically weighty than other songs on the record but no less catchy, and boasts, in addition to hooks-a-plenty, hand claps, sighing backgrounds vocals, and one of the most beautifully resigned refrains--"I'm a bum regardless"--ever.
Also perfect:
"Caring is Creepy," by the Shins. The Shins sound like Simon and Garfunkel fronting The Kinks, haunting and rollicking all at once. Their album Oh Inverted World is a gem, full of perfect and near-perfect pop songs. "Caring is Creepy," the first track, doesn't so much have a chorus as two alternating and equally compelling halves fused together by a deceptively simple and utterly compelling bass line.
"Fell in Love with a Girl," The White Stripes. (White Blood Cells) Yeah, they're a pair of VMA/SNL performin'-trendos now, but the "pop" in "pop song" don't stand for unimpeachable indie cred. This song is merely great for the first third, then achieves sublimity with an "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah" refrain that never fails to set my head on fire.
"Rollerskate Skinny," Old 97's. (Satellite Rides) "I believe in love," sings Rhett Miller, "But it don't believe in me." What else do you want?
"NightShiftGuru," Cash Brothers. (How Was Tomorrow) Remember that song "Carnival" by Natalie Merchant? About how unusual and freakish but beautiful everyone is? Remember how boring it was? This is the song she wishes she could have written. The brothers sing in a beautiful two-part harmony that bounces along with an urgency that approaches desperation as the song nears its end. Plus, this album features a song about listening to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, an album comprised almost entirely of perfect NON-pop songs.
"I Don't Love Anyone," Belle and Sebastian. (Tigermilk) Of all the Scottish folk-pop bands who sing about teen angst, B&S are my favorite. Another study in sunny-gloomy contrast.
Brannon | Knoxville
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