Dave's Faves: Top 100 Songs, 2000-2009

Dave’s Faves: My Top 100 Songs 2000-2009

These are my personal favorite top 100 songs from 2000-2009. 1. Crowded House “Silent House” (2007) 2. Michael Franti & Spearhead “Everyone Deserves Music” (2003) 3. Michael Andrews with Gary Jules “Mad World” (2002) 4. Alan Jackson “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” (2001) 5. Johnny Cash “Hurt” (2002) 6. Bruce Springsteen “American Skin (41 Shots)” (2000) 7. John Mellencamp “If I Die Sudden” (2008) 8. Dresden Dolls “Sing” (2006) 9. Sandi Thom “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker” (2005) 10. Bruce Springsteen “My City of Ruins” (2001) 11. OutKast “Hey Ya!” (2003) 12. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” (2006) 13. Eminem “Lose Yourself” (2002) 14. Pearl Jam “Just Breathe” (2009) 15. Limp Bizkit with Johnny Rzeznik “Wish You Were Here” (live, 2001) 16. The Gaslight Anthem “The ’59 Sound” (2008) 17. Bruce Hornsby “Gonna Be Some Changes Made” (2004) 18. KT Tunstall “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree” (2004) 19. Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah” (2005) 20. Evanescence with Paul McCoy “Bring Me to Life” (2003) 21. Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (2009) 22. The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army” (2003) 23. Sheryl Crow “Safe and Sound” (live, 2001) 24. Beck “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” (2004) 25. Amy Winehouse “Rehab” (2006) 26. Eminem with Dido “Stan” (2000) 27. Fountains of Wayne “Stacy’s Mom” (2003) 28. Death Cab for Cutie “I Will Follow You into the Dark” (2005) 29. Bruce Springsteen “Empty Sky” (2002) 30. Playing for Change “Stand by Me” (2008) 31. Perpetuum Jazzile “Africa” (2009) 32. Mike “Grace Kelly” (2007) 33. John Mayer “No Such Thing” (2001) 34. Pink with Indigo Girls “Dear Mr. President” (2006) 35. Gorillaz “Clint Eastwood” (2001) 36. David Baerwald “I Won’t Back Down” (2006) 37. Arnold McCuller “Free Bird” (2000) 38. Eagles “Hole in the World” (2003) 39. Chris Cornell “Billie Jean” (2007) 40. Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out” (2004) 41. Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2004) 42. Bruce Springsteen “Radio Nowhere” (2007) 43. John Mellencamp “Rodeo Clown” (2007) 44. Dixie Chicks “Travelin’ Soldier” (2002) 45. Bruce Springsteen “The Rising” (2002) 46. Bowling for Soup “1985” (2004) 47. Queensrÿche “Home Again” (2009) 48. U2 “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” (2004) 49. Tori Amos “‘97 Bonnie and Clyde” (2001) 50. The White Stripes “Hotel Yorba” (2001) 51. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova “Falling Slowly” (2007) 52. Avril Lavigne “Sk8r Boi” (2002) 53. John Mellencamp “To Washington” (2003) 54. Green Day “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (2004) 55. Pearl Jam “Love Reign O’er Me” (2004) 56. John Mellencamp “Rural Route” (2007) 57. Foo Fighters “Darling Nikki” (2003) 58. Bright Eyes “Road to Joy” (2005) 59. Blur “Out of Time” (2003) 60. D’Angelo “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” (2000) 61. Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) ” (2008) 62. Alicia Keys “Fallin’” (2001) 63. One Republic with Timbaland “Apologize” (2006) 64. Sting “Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)” (2003) 65. Death Cab for Cutie “I Will Possess Your Heart” (2008) 66. Eminem “Like Toy Soldiers” (2004) 67. Pink “Family Portrait” (2001) 68. The Killers “All These Things That I’ve Done” (2004) 69. Hooters “White Jeans” (2007) 70. Eminem “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” (2002) 71. Del Amitri “Jesus Saves” (2002) 72. U2 “Beautiful Day” (2000) 73. Uncle Kracker “Follow Me” (2000) 74. Alanis Morissette “My Humps” (2007) 75. Eminem “Sing for the Moment” (2002) 76. Lucinda Williams “Righteously” (2003) 77. Dixie Chicks “I Hope” (2005) 78. No Doubt “Simple Kind of Life” (2000) 79. Badly Drawn Boy “Something to Talk About” (2002) 80. Hooters “Morning Buzz” (2007) 81. Kid Rock with Sheryl Crow “Picture” (2001) 82. U2 “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” (2000) 83. Five for Fighting “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” (2000) 84. Alicia Keys “No One” (2007) 85. Coldplay “Clocks” (2002) 86. Mindy Smith “Come to Jesus” (2004) 87. Linkin Park “In the End” (2000) 88. Blue October “Into the Ocean” (2006) 89. Lee Ann Womack & Sons of the Desert “I Hope You Dance” (2000) 90. Train “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” (2001) 91. Amanda Ghost “Silver Lining” (2000) 92. Tricky with Ed Kowalczyk & Hawkman “Evolution Revolution Love” (2001) 93. Adele “To Make You Feel My Love” (2008) 94. Staind “It’s Been Awhile” (2001) 95. Nine Inch Nails “Only” (2005) 96. Daniel Powter “Bad Day” (2005) 97. Beck “Lost Cause” (2002) 98. Aaron Lewis with Fred Durst “Outside” (live, 2000) 99. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Hard to Concentrate” (2006) 100. Eminem “Mosh” (2004) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Faves: Songs Dave’s Faves: #1 Songs Dave’s Faves: All-Time Top 100 Songs First posted 5/6/2020; last updated 6/27/2022.

Crowded House released “Silent House”

Silent House Crowded House

Writer(s): Neil Finn, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison (see lyrics here) Released: 6/29/2007 (album cut on Time on Earth) First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards (Crowded House): Click on award for more details. Awards (Dixie Chicks): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Silent House” was a joint writing effort between Neil Finn and the Dixie Chicks. Neither released it as a single, but both recorded versions. It was first featured on the latter’s 2006 album Taking the Long Way Home, which won the Grammy for Album of the Year. A year later, Finn recorded his version of the song with his band, Crowded House. It was featured on Time on Earth, the band’s first album in fourteen years. Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks said the song is about her grandmother, who’d been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for a decade. The song reflects on “memories of her triggered by walking through the house.” SF She described it as “a sad song that tries to be sweet” BT and that it takes the perspective that “it’s okay to forget, I’ll try and carry on.” BT The Dixie Chicks’ version “is quintessential country, complete with banjos a-plucking and fiddles a-whining.” GW It isn’t a fast song, but the drums do give it momentum. Vocally, Maines has a “strong, forthright” voice and “the melody is firmly in her wheelhouse.” GW By contrast, on the Crowded House version, the drums are “barely there: less percussive, and more like thumps, like heartbeats.” GW Additionally, Finn’s “voice is softer, more vulnerable.” GW As such, the latter version ends up striking a more somber, reflective tone. The song takes on even more weight with the knowledge that Paul Hester, Finn’s bandmate in Crowded House and Split Enz, had committed suicide in 2005. While a different kind of loss, one can’t help but wonder if Finn thinks about Hester when he sings the song. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Crowded House DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Dixie Chicks BT TheBoot.com (5/27/2016). “Story Behind the Song: Dixie Chicks, ‘Silent House’” GW Medium.com (4/20/2018). “Sad Songs: Silent House” by Greg Weight. SF Songfacts Related Links: First posted 5/6/2020; last updated 11/13/2023.

Crowded House released Time on Earth

Time on Earth Crowded House

Released: June 29, 2007 Peak: 46 US, 3 UK, 38 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 0.45 world (includes US and UK) Genre: adult alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Nobody Wants To Don’t Stop Now (6/16/07, –) She Called Up (9/17/07, –) Say That Again Pour Le Monde (12/10/07, --) Even a Child Heaven That I’m Making A Sigh Silent House English Trees Walked Her Way Down Transit Lounge You Are the One to Make Me Cry People Are Like Suns Total Running Time: 58:31 The Players: Neil Finn (vocals, guitar, piano) Nick Seymour (bass, backing vocals) Mark Hart (piano, keyboards, electric guitar, harmony vocals) Matt Sherrod (drums, backing vocals)

Rating: 3.790 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Crowded House released four albums in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Frontman Neil Finn then ventured out as a solo artist and released “the kaleidoscopic Try Whistling This and the hazy One Nil, both book-ended by albums with his brother Tim.” AMG Year after year went by without new music from Crowded House. Then tragedy struck in 2005 when Paul Hester, who’d drummed with Finn on all four Crowded House albums and even worked with him back in his Split Enz days – committed suicide. This sparked Neil to reconnect with Nick Seymour, the bassist on all four Crowded House albums. Multi-instrumentalist Mark Hart, who’d worked on Together Alone, also rejoined the fold and what had initially been intended as Finn’s third solo album evolved into the first Crowded House album in fourteen years. However, this still looks and sounds more like a Neil Finn solo outing than a Crowded House effort. Most of the album was recorded with session musicians – nost notably guitarist Johnny Marr of the Smiths. The team of Finn, Seymour, Hart, and Sherrod only appear on four of the album’s tracks. As a result, “it’s streamlined where their previous albums were ragged, and the most notable element that’s been trimmed is the humor that ran throughout each of their albums.” AMG “This curtailing of good spirits is an appropriate, even expected, reaction to Hester’s death, and his ghost does linger over the whole of Time on Earth.” AMG Nick Seymour did the cover art, as he did for the previous Crowded House albums, and made it a tribute to Hester. The cover – a direct reference to the sea serpent in Olaus Magnus’ book History of the Northern Peoples, features a blue dragon eating a human, a symbol of the depression that consumed Hester. WK Of course, Hester’s presence is “most apparent in the subdued, contemplative tone of the album.” AMG Uncut’s Bud Scoppa says the opening cut, Nobody Wants To, sets “the prevailing melancholy mood.” WK Regarding People Are Like Suns, Finn said “part of it is the idea that people burn brightly and then they fade out.” WK Yahoo! Music’s Andy Strickland asserts that English Trees is a “brilliant weaving of a tale of loss and yearning…[that puts him] up there with the very best songwriters working today.” WK Less direct are songs like Silent House, which Finn initially wrote with the Dixie Chicks prior to Hester’s death. It first appeared on their 2006 album Taking the Long Way, but resurfaces here. The song reads specifically as a reminiscing excursion sparked by going through a grandmother’s belongings after her death from Alzheimer’s. However, on a grander scale it works as a reflection on loss of loved ones in general. “This mildly mournful vibe is enhanced by the subdued tone of the album.” AMG Billboard’s Jessica Letkemann says, “Gone are the more overtly ‘80s top 40 flourishes.” WK “This set of songs takes its time, relying heavily on ballads and meditative, mid-tempo pop tunes, and even the brighter numbers like She Called Up are far from sprightly.” AMG “Finn may in a ruminative mode but Time on Earth is not heavy-handed or oppressively sorrowful: it’s contemplative and sweetly melancholy. Given this hushed vibe, it’s not surprising that the album, as a whole, is a bit of a grower, as Finn’s tunes take some time to reveal their gifts. A few songs have an immediate impact; such as the gently propulsive Don’t Stop Now, the snappy, jangly Marr collaboration Even a Child (the closest this record comes to a rocker) and the spacy, tongue-in-cheek Transit Lounge, featuring Beth Rowley as vocal support; but most of these are subtle songs that unfold at their own speed. It may take some time for the songs to catch hold, but once they do, they dig deep, sticking around in the memory like much of Finn’s best work.” AMG Pour Le Monde (French for “For the World”), one of Finn’s “achingly fine ballads,” WK was inspired by a demonstration Finn observed in Paris against the war on terror. WK Transit Lounge is about the time Finn spent in transit lounges around the world, particularly Singapore and Bangkok. WK “Even if the best of this album does stand proudly alongside the best of Finn’s music, Time on Earth is still quite unlike any of his other records: strangely, it feels more like a solo album than either of his solo albums, partially because it’s such an introspective work, partially because it sustains a bittersweet tone from beginning to end, whereas his other solo efforts careened wildly between moods.” AMG While this is “Neil Finn’s show, this also does feel like the work of a band, since there is a warmth here, a feeling of support, that sounds like a group, not a one-man-band. This curious intermingling of sounds and intent makes Time on Earth a haunting yet comforting affair that is quite unique in Neil Finn’s body of work, yet functions as an oddly appropriate, utterly worthy, comeback as Crowded House.” AMG Notes: The CD was released with a bonus DVD.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/3/2008; last updated 8/9/2021.