Friday, January 1, 2010

My Top 70 Songs of 2009 (sort of)

I was tortured this afternoon.
Forced to listen to the repeat broadcast of
Radio Disney's Top 50 Songs of 2009.
I love my daughters,
But can only take so much of the Jonas Brothers,
Before wanting to throw open my door,
fling myself out of the car
and down an embankment
on the side of the road.

But it got me thinking.
About my music.
2009 was my best year, musically, in ages.
Best concerts.
Best discoveries.
Best, best, best.

Decided to post my own list of Top Songs...of sorts.
You see,
Mike bought me a new computer the last week of December in 2008
(next to my house, it is my all-time favorite THING in my life).
With it, my iTunes library was reset.
Which means, all my play counts, for ALL my music, were reset to 0.
I love this.
I have an almost-perfectly-accurate count of exactly what I have listened to for the past 12 months.
And how often I've listened to it.
Almost perfect, because the tunes I listen to on CD in the car, aren't included in the count...
But close enough, right?

So here it is.
But I must explain...
I decided to list each artist--- ONLY ONCE
Which means,
even if I have listened to hundreds of songs by
Mary J Blige, U2, Alicia Keys or Lyle Lovett,
ONLY THE ONE SONG I LISTENED TO THE MOST BY THEM,
made it on to the list I'm posting here.
Otherwise, I would only have 10-12 artists, filling the top 100 slots.
This means, a lot of my favorite songs didn't make the list.
A lot.
But I think the variety of music is more interesting.

So my list isn't 100 songs long.
It's more like 70 artists long.
And, I'll admit right here,
Not EVERYONE on the list is REALLY an artist.
Some of these folks are purely entertainers.
And there is a big difference between the two.
Each has a place in my life.

I love good music
I love good writing
I love weepers
I love sad songs
Didn't used to...
Used to only listen to happy songs
Light songs.
Also, used to listen to a lot of pop (I know--crap).
But now there is more to my music than before.
And as a result, more to me.
So, there is still a good bit of pop on my list
But some other really good stuff.
Thanks to the influence of friends and some personal discoveries.

Comments are welcome.
Criticisms aren't.
Add some suggestions for me to entertain in 2010.
I'd appreciate the help!

1. Big Girls Are Best - U2
2. Lovesick - Bob Dylan
3. Empty Baseball Park - Whiskeytown
4. Where the Stars Go Blue - The Coors
5. I'm the Man Who Loves You - Wilco
6. Tell You Something - Alicia Keys
7. Grown Woman - Mary J Blige
8. Maybe - Ingrid Michaelson
9. Big Moon - John Doe
10. Falling into You - Kasey Chambers
11. Make You Feel My Love - Adele
12. When You Find Me - Joshua Radin
13. Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cutie
14. Just the Morning - Lyle Lovett
15. One Moment More - Mindy Smith
16. River - Sarah MaLachlan
17. Breathe - Maria McKee
18. Poughkeepsie - Over the Rhine
19. Wheel - John Mayer
20. You and Me - Rosie Thomas
21. Love Story - Taylor Swift
22. Little Less Conversation - Elvis
23. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
24. Did You See the Moon Tonight - A Girl Called Eddy
25. Love Hurts - Incubus
26. Nobody - Paul Simon
27. Wheels - Lone Justice
28. When It Don't Come Easy - Patty Griffin
29. Clocks - Coldplay
30. Kiss - Prince
31. Outskirts of Blue - The Greencards
32. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
33. I Need You - Lee Ann Womak
34. You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast - Julie Miller
35. Someday - Rob Thomas
36. Feel Like I Love You - The Hiders
37. Droplets - Colbie Caillat
38. Not Forgotten You - Kelly Willis
39. Butterfly - Jason Mraz
40. I Celebrate the Day - Reliant K
41. All I Want - Violent Femmes
42. The Man Who Can't Be Moved - The Script
43. Melt Your Heart - Jenny Lewis
44. Wish I Could Forget - The Weepies
45. Turn Me On - Norah Jones
46. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z
47. Somewhere Out There - Steve Earle
48. Somehow, Someday - Ryan Adams
49. Crazy Girl - Hail the Size
50. Periodically Double or Triple - Yo La Tengo
51. Changing My Mind - Bob Schneider
52. I Thought I Saw Your Face Today - She & Him
53. Smash Into You - Beyonce
54. Pretty Pathetic - Smoking Popes
55. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
56. Resistance - Muse
57. Ten Thousand Words - The Avett Brothers
58. Seeing Stars - Jack Ingram
59. Somewhere Down the Road - Feist
60. Rave On - M. Ward
61. Rain - Creed
62. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths
63. Let's Be Friends - Bruce Springsteen
64. Love Addict - Family Force 5
65. Low - Flo Rida
66. Goodbye - Hootie & The Blowfish
67. If I Die Sudden - John Mellencamp
68. Sweet Thing - Keith Urban
69. She is Love - Parachute
70. Fire Burning - Sean Kingston