We begin with an Aussie band that had a little song that did
surprisingly well on the charts in 2010…
10. “Plans” by Birds of Tokyo
Originally when I made this list as a draft, I placed it at
number two mainly because I was in the middle of an infatuation with this
particular song but as time went on, it kind of faded on me a little but this
song still does an incredible amount right, the slow build through the verses
and into that chorus with that guitar and drums that are missing a fair bit in
the modern pop scene and front man Ian Kenny’s vocals are just superb on this
song. Birds of Tokyo continue to rack up minor to moderate hits on the ARIA
chart to this day with “Good Lord” being their most recent hit.
So still on the pop rock vein of things…Scouting for Girls!
9. “This ain’t a Love Song” by Scouting for Girls
This only barely scraped onto the 2010 year end list and I
for one am glad it did as Scouting for Girls sing about a relationship that
soured to point of them throwing the whole thing away and how he’ll recover
from the end of the relationship and that she won’t be keeping him down and the
instrumentation hints at there being more drama to come between the pair with
the guitars and orchestral swell. Good job!.
This song was one of the biggest hits of 2010 and for good
reason…
8. “Fireflies” by Owl City
Look, this song might have made it higher on the list if it
didn’t start coming across as completely twee and its unfortunate that Owl City
has in recent times released less than impressive music but “Fireflies” has
also been that one Owl City song to come back to where he describes being kept
awake by bugs and dealing with insomnia over an oddball synthline, yeah, I
don’t think time has been kind to this song but it still deserves to be here
regardless.
She might have made my worst list but that doesn’t prevent
her from landing a song on my best list…
7. “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry
This is the Katy Perry I love, the one way she’s just going
the silly pop songs, having fun and we all should be too because “Teenage
Dream” is that song about being in head over heels in love and going all the
way with no regrets and being the girl that this guy fantasised about as a
teenager, its just the perfect beach pop song. Nice job, Katy.
As I mentioned earlier 2010 was the year of the club boom
and right at the centre of the boom was Ke$ha with her brand loud, brash and
kind of bratty music but if you want a song from her where the party curdled
for a turn to the dark.
6. “Take It Off” by Ke$ha
Okay so this sound might sound very similar to the GWS
Giants song and given one of those behind the writing of “Take It Off” would be
the cause of so much heartache for Kesha but regardless of all that, “Take It
off” is awesome as Kesha proceeds to describe a visit to a bar where everyone
filthy, drunk, or wasted (possibly all three) with its electro infused beat
plus the auto tune but Kesha just owns the relentless hedonism this track and
indeed the club boom as a whole seemed to gravitate towards. Great song!
I won’t have many chances to talk about Florence and the
Machine on year end lists so I am taking the opportunity here and now.
5. “You’ve Got the Love” by Florence and the Machine
When I did this list originally I had this song at number
one, a decision I wrestled with because it didn’t quite feel like the right one
and one that I couldn’t possibly justify because while it’s a cover of Candi
Station’s 1986 hit, Florence and the Machine turned this song into a epic
despite it being shorter than Station’s original. This cover brings forth a
sense of euphoria with its instrumentation and Florence Welch’s belting. While
I couldn’t justify it being number one, it deserves a place on this list.
Never dreamed of seeing this guy on an ARIA chart end of
year hit list either but hey it was 2010…
4. “Just Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble
Michael Buble is just about the last person I’d expect to
see in amongst the sea of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, B.O.B (We’ll get to him).
Kesha and a whole slew of club boom songs but none the less this jaunty and
somewhat fun song from Canadian crooner ended up being a hit for him possibly
because radio was looking in weird places to find songs that didn’t tilt
straight into the club boom so much so it peaked at number nine on the ARIA
singles chart, I can see why though with Buble oozing easy charisma as he sings
about just not having met the right woman for him. Lovely song.
So I mentioned B.O.B before, a rapper who showed in the
early 2010s that he had plenty of talent and it was never more evident when he
teamed up with a future popular music superstar for this…
3. “Nothin’ On You” by B.O.B feat. Bruno Mars
Man, if you wanted to talk about wasted potential…B.O.B was
that…he has three songs on the ARIA year end list with “Airplanes” feat. Hayley
Williams and “Magic” feat. Rivers Cuomo but its “Nothin’ On You” that makes the
list because its just a charming song where B.O.B doesn’t want any other girl
In his life other than his girlfriend and yes there are a few cheesy lines like
“You’re my wonder woman call me Mr Fantastic” that triggered some raised
eyebrows but its that hook sold by Bruno Mars that really threw the song this
high on the list, it’s just perfect with that piano and Mars crooning his way
over the hook.
So I’ve never really cared for this band all that much, sure
they have songs I like…like this one…
2. “The Only Exception” by Paramore.
In a year where it felt like music wasn’t going to let the
party slow down and take a breath, this guitar lead ballad from US pop punk
band Paramore was the perfect breather where Paramore’s lead vocalist Hayley
Williams is the star of the show with her delivery just perfect for a song
about the protagonist believing that love doesn’t exist and is trying to live
without it but then realizing that love does exist with this one person in her
life, it’s just such a sweet song and am glad this reached the year end list.
As I said earlier, Florence and the Machine’s “You Got the
Love” would have been my number one pick when I drafted this list and while that song is great, I couldn’t
ignore this song from an artist who really was grabbing the headlines in 2010…
1. Alejandro” by Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga was going to make this list in one way or the
other with one of either “Bad Romance” or this song making the list and while “Bad
Romance” is decent, “Alejandro” is just even better, it’s a song that sees Lady
Gaga saying goodbye to her former lovers realizing that the relationship just isn’t
working out. In fact by the end of the song, she’s bidded farewell to three former
lovers, it shows Lady Gaga at her least weird and most vulnerable but I think
the reason why I like this song comes more in the production where “Alejandro”
sounds like an Abba combined with Ace of Base song especially in terms of the
vocals and melody, it’s a fantastic song and more than deserves to top this
list.
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