So after discussing the absolute worst that the year 2000 had to offer, it’s time to flip the script and talk about the good to great songs that were popular in the mainstream and honestly 2000 was a pretty middling year because while I found plenty of good songs, I didn’t find many absolutely great songs that stood out as among the absolute best which means a lot of this list is songs I like but not love especially when the year overall carried on with the tropes of the late 90s in terms of bubblegum pop,
Let’s go through the rules before we kick this thing into gear.
1. The song must have made the ARIA singles top 100 year end list.
2. A song from 1999 year end list is eligible only if they charted on the year end higher in 2000 than they did in 1999.
Got that? Good. Now time to get this started with a party…cause this group are going to show us how…
10. “S Club Party” by S Club 7
This one is more a guilty pleasure pick than anything else but if “Bring It All Back” was a self-empowerment anthem in a pop song than “S Club Party” was an in your face introduction to Bradley, Hannah, Jon, Tina, Paul, Rachel and Jo and what S Club 7 were all about, “S Club Party” is this bright, garish and somewhat obnoxious pop song that tilts straight into the party but serves the purpose of having everyone know who the band are as individuals. I will say the song is clever for that and yeah, I am not going to lie, it’s a song that I still go back to and have way too much fun with however I think the video for the song is proof that S Club 7 could throw a party anywhere? In the middle of the desert does not seem like a good idea.
Go back and check out S Club 7’s first three albums, they are a lot more fun than you remember.
Now for an artist that stepped up her game and improved in 2000…
9. “Day & Night” by Billie Piper
Billie Piper stepped away and out of her annoying brat phase (Let’s face it, “Because We Want To” is absolutely obnoxiously bratty even if that bridge is fantastic) and showed that she has pipes with this euro pop dance song that has probably one of the best hooks of 2000 (seriously the damn thing got stuck in my head for days after listening to it), it’s a pretty basic love song praising her lover for making her happy but In the case with this song this happiness can feel incredibly infectious so yeah, this song does make me happy every day and night.
Oops that’s corny but ehh, I’ll live…so stepping away from the cheesy pop songs into rock (there’s plenty of it on this list) and an Aussie band that kind of swept all before them in 1999 and 2000 for good reason
8. “Mascara” by Killing Heidi
Look, I am not sure I can quite explain why I like “Mascara” however I have always found this song to be more appealing than their 1999 hit “Weir’. I suspect it’s the part of me that views this song as being about refusing to conform to other people’s opinions and to find things out for yourself/do your own research rather than being sucked in by the crowd that in the song’s case are all dressing the same also Ella Hooper is another pretty solid reason as her vocals just sparkle on this song so yeah this song kicks loads of arse.
This next song is one that has somehow been apart of my life coming from an 80s band that somehow got a second life this year…
7. “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi
I think this song probably describes my attitude in 2000 as a thirteen year old wand who basically didn’t give a flying about a lot of things (there are days I wish I could go back to thirteen year old me)…I just wanted to live MY life because yeah it’s the only one I’ll have and the fact that this song from a band known for songs like “You Give Love a Bad Name” says something kind of bizarre. Jon Bon Jovi sounds great here, passionate with the delivery but anthemic in terms of trying to take the audience with him and it works, this song still resonates today, it is a worthy addition to Bon Jovi’s discography.
So much like “Mascara”, I have no idea why I put this next song here…
6. “Gotta Tell You” by Samantha Mumba
This is as close as R’n’B or hip hop will get to this list this year and it comes from a one hit wonder to a degree courtesy of Ireland’s Samantha Mumba. It’s a song where Mumba thinks this guy and her have something special and hook up but then realizes he doesn’t exactly love her so she doesn’t want to give her love and affection to him if he isn’t reciprocating, it’s the sort of song that resonated and stuck with me over time more so than some of the larger hits of the year. Just a shame Samantha Mumba would never really be able to follow up that success.
Life, death, taxes and here is another rock song on my best list…
5. “Bent” by Matchbox Twenty
So in 2000, Matchbox Twenty were looking to follow up the success of their late 90s smash debut album “Yourself or Someone Like You” so the sophomore album “Mad Season” was born with “Bent” being the lead single for that album, a rock ballad about two messed up people finding each other and falling in love that it doesn’t matter that if both have stuff to sort out in life, all that matters is that they are together…it’s a song that has a hopeful note attached and honestly…hope is something I love in music.
So next up is the biggest song of the year at least according to the ARIA year end chart for 2000 and may I say deservingly so
4. “I’m Outta Love” by Anastacia
Anastacia’s got better hits than “I’m Outta Love” eg: “Left Outside Alone” in 2004 however “I’m Outta Love” is still damn great with that bass groove, keyboard, guitar and that kick ass Anastacia vocals…lets not make any bones about it, Anastacia is the star of this track as she begs for this former lover to let her go and move on with her life as she simply just not in love with this person anymore and wants to move on. Yeah, it’s a little catty but my god Anastacia sells this well and earn a deserved place not only this list but also on the ARIA year end singles chart for 2000.
So here we are at the final rock song to make this list and yeah…it’s a beautiful day to put U2 on a year-end best list.
3. “Beautiful Day” by U2
I honestly struggle to have the words to describe why I love this song with it’s verses where Bono’s vocals are restrained as he describes somebody who has lost almost everything but is still grateful for what he has left with that soaring chorus being that moment of release as he realizes that what he has left is worth loving and celebrating, it’s a song that takes you on a ride of emotions and feelings and while it may not have clicked for me when I was a thirteen year back in 2000, given everything that has happened this year, this song connects in so many ways that it’s quite potent stuff. Great work U2.
In a year where boy bands dominated…it might surprise that there aren’t many on this year-end l top ten however one did make it courtesy of the Backstreet Boys…
2. “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” by Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys had two songs make the year end for 2000, one was this song and the other was “Shape of My Heart” (a song I like but don’t love) however “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” is just concentrated wonderful with it’s lush orchestral arrangement and melody that supports the bands harmonies that sell the utter loneliness that underpins the song.
The song deals with the immediate feelings of loneliness and loss that come in the wake of a painful breakup and the longing of being where this ex is and that feeling of a hole being left in the heart when the break up occurs and the production genuinely makes the boys sound as though they are alone and trying to grapple with life beyond the end of this relationship, the song does get to me a fair bit and yeah, it’s one of the best of the year.
Before we get to our number one, how about five honourable mentions.
HM 1: “Don’t You Worry” by Madasun
This was the last cut I made and my god, it was painful because this song works for me, it’s a song where Madasun are moving on with their lives but the exes can’t so Madasun set these exes straight over a pretty solid R’n’B groove.
HM 2: “I Should’ve Never Let You Go” by Bardot
I’ve always liked this song more so than “Poison” because for one thing it shows the group harmonizing something that always felt missing from “Poison” with its clunky production, the issues in the production are still there in “I Should’ve Never Let You Go” which kept it off the list proper but it’s still a good song.
HM 3: “Everything You Want” by Vertical Horizon
Okay, so this song didn’t make the ARIA year end list and if it had it would have knocked “S Club Party” out of the top ten at the very least had It have done but yeah this song is epic with its guitar and those vocals telling this girl that this other guy is everything that she could want but for some reason he doesn’t mean anything to her and she can’t figure out why before the switch up on the last chorus where it turns out that this guy is actually him who can’t work out why he means nothing to her, it’s quite the switch not quite done as well as “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett but still good.
HM 4: “Absolutely Everybody’ by Vanessa Amorosi
So I’ll say this, “Absolutely Everybody” might be Vanessa Amorosi’s biggest hit but it’s not her best song, her debut song “Have A Look” and “Perfect” are still miles better than “Absolutely Everybody” but I can’t deny that there’s an incredible power and idealism to “Absolutely Everybody” that’s just enough to make it work.
HM 5: “Bye Bye Bye” by *NSync
This song might be one of the ‘cattier’ songs I have heard from a boy band but my god it’s catchy as the guy kicks this girl. who has been doing wrong to him, to the curb. The song is lyrically pretty ugly but hey it still somewhat works.
That is the honourable mentions done so what could possibly be topping this list? Well leave that to the pure shores’ girl group All Saints are roaming…
1. “Pure Shores” by All Saints
For the longest time this song wasn’t going to be my number one then much like “Beautiful Day” did, it clicked for me and I began to appreciate what an incredibly textured electronic production and melodic song it is. Written for the film “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, “Pure Shores” is a song that describes finding that place you can relax and escape, sometimes that place can totally call for you even when finding that moment to relax feels totally lost….a feeling that has so often happened to me even 20 years after the song was released.
It’s haunting song that got plenty of well deserved praise at the time, All Saints would go on to release “Black Coffee” that didn’t quite achieve the same success as “Pure Shores” but both songs are classics in the All Saints discography with “Pure Shores” being the deserved best hit song of 2000.
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