Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” hit #1

Girlfriend Avril Lavigne

Writer(s): Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Karl Sandberg (Max Martin), Avril Lavigne (see lyrics here) Released: February 27, 2007 First Charted: March 11, 2007 Peak: 11 BB, 11 DG, 11 RR, 13 A40, 2 UK, 14 CN, 16 AU, 11 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.0 UK, 12.38 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.2 radio, 792.79 video, 621.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Avril Lavigne was born in Canada in 1984. She “was essentially the small-town Canadian version of a talent-show kid.” SG She signed with Arista Records as a teen. She released her debut album, Let Go, in 2002 and it generated three top-10 hits with “Complicated,” Sk8r Boi,” and “I’m with You.” She came along “right after the teen-pop boom of the late ‘90s, right before the MySpace emo boom of the mid ‘00s.” SG Her “bratty howl came to define a very divisive wave of major-label pop-punk” SG and although she “dressed like a Hot Topic kid, and some of her music had a bit of pop-punk pogo to it” SG she wasn’t punk. “Instead, she was a fully-formed pop star.” SG She “was deep in the major-label system before she adapted the aesthetic signifiers of early-'00s mall-punk.” SG “Girlfriend” is “an obnoxiously insidious hook-monster.” SG “There’s no nuance…It’s just one big, ridiculous chant.” SG It is “big and brash and loud…The song is all booming drums and trebly shouting, and its tiny bursts of melody are almost incidental.” SG “It’s just Avril Lavigne yelling at some dude, telling him that his girlfriend sucks and that he should date Avril Lavigne instead.” SG It “can sound like an anthem” SG but is “also a fundamentally silly song” SG and Avril “sounds like she’s having fun.” SG “It’s got hooks and sass and energy. Its lyrics are simple enough that you can probably sing along by the second time you hear it – not just with the chorus but with the entire song.” SG Avril wrote the song with Dr. Luke and Max Martin, whose resume includes hits by Kelly Clarkson (“Since U Been Gone,” “My Life Would Suck Without You”), Pink (“Who Knew,” “U + Ur Hand”), and Katy Perry (“I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot n Cold”). After “Girlfriend” became a hit, “two members of Berkeley power-poppers the Rubinoos sued…claiming that they’d plagiarized the Rubinoos’ 1979 single ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’” SG Avril and Dr. Luke denied the charges but settled out of court. Resources: SG Stereogum (3/13/2023). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan Related Links: First posted 1/22/2025.

Arcade Fire “Wake Up” released

Wake Up Arcade Fire

Writer(s): Will Butler, Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Tim Kingsbury, Richard Reed Parry (see lyrics here) Released: November 14, 2005 First Charted: November 26, 2005 Peak: 29 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.09 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 16.69 video, 144.93 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The indie-rock band Arcade Fire formed in 2001 in Montreal, Canada. At their core are the husband-and-wife team of singer/songwriters Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. The band have also been comprised of multi-instrumentalists Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara since their 2004 debut album, Funeral. The album became a critical favorite and ranks as one of the top 100 albums of the 21st century, according to Dave’s Music Database. Five singles were released from the album; the last was “Wake Up,” which has become their most celebrated song. In 2014, NME rated it the 25th greatest song of all time. WK In 2009, the song was featured in the trailer for the film Where the Wild Things Are. Lead singer Win Butler was “hit with an epiphany of existentialism when his grandmother died…Events like these inflict grand questions: What is life? What is death? Why are we here? Where do we go? What’s the point of living at all?...Butler expresses his answers on ‘Wake Up,’” FS “pleading for today’s kids to open their eyes” TM and “be proud of their mistakes…ive a true summer, to plant the fruits of adulthood and then let them ripen…before they (society, authorities, parents) turn it all into dust.” FS “Wake Up” “begins with a simple, one-note, rhythmic guitar pattern that leads to every band member singing an all-encompassing vocal part in unison. It’s big, spacious and patient…[Win Butler’s] vocals turn from beautiful melody to back-of-the-throat screaming that blends seamlessly into the rest of the members’ vocal line.” TM It “transforms into a dance number driven by a bouncy but still gloomy piano…It’s a truly sincere anthem for this seemingly unending age of irony.” TM Resources: FS Forthespeakers.com (9/18/2021). “The Beautiful Philosophy of ‘Wake Up’ by Arcade Fire” TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs” WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/25/2024.

Nickelback “Photograph” released

Photograph Nickelback

Writer(s): Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Daniel Adair (see lyrics here) Released: August 8, 2005 First Charted: August 20, 2005 Peak: 2 BB, 11 DG, 3 RR, 16 AC, 118 A40, 17 AR, 3 MR, 18 UK, 3 CN, 3 AU, 14 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.6 UK, 2.69 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.50 radio, 360.80 video, 377.58 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Poor Nickelback. They’ve become the punching bag of rock and roll in the 21st century. Sure, they aren’t exactly the equivalent of Beethoven, but it’s hard to grasp how a band who’ve sold more than 40 million albums have been ridiculed like they were a flash-in-the-pan one-hit wonder. The band was formed in 1995 by the Kroeger brothers Chad (vocals, guitar) and Mike (bass) with their cousin Brandon (drums) and Ryan Peake (rhythm guitar). The band cycled through a few drummers before Daniel Adair landed the job in 2005. The group landed a #1 hit with “How You Remind Me” from their third album, 2001’s Silver Side Up. Their next album, 2003’s The Long Road, gaven them another top-10 hit. Their commercial peak, however, came in 2005. The band exploded in 2005 with their fifth album, All the Right Reasons. it sold 18 million copies worldwide and gave the band three more top-10 hits with “Photograph,” “Far Away,” and “Rockstar.” The song “is about reviewing the memories - missed and forgotten - from the band's childhood in Hanna, Alberta. The lyrics are a chronicle of real events and personal landmarks lead singer Chad Kroeger recalled as he wrote it.” SF He said, “It’s just nostalgia, growing up in a small town, and you can’t go back to your childhood. Saying goodbye to friends that you’ve drifted away from, where you grew up, where you went to school, who you hung out with and the dumb stuff you used to do as a kid, the first love – all of those things. Everyone has one or two of those memories that they are fond of, so this song is really just the bridge for all that.” WK The video was shot in Hanna, Alberta, with the band revisiting old stomping grounds. The photograph which Chad holds up in the video was the inspiration for the song. The picture is of him and Joey Moi, the band’s producer, at a New Year’s Eve party. In the song he says, “What the hell’s on Joey’s head?” It’s a chiller for champagne. SF The shot of Chad holding up the photo has become a meme with people substituting other images in the photograph. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/27/2026.

Neil Young “Rockin’ in the Free World” charted

Rockin’ in the Free World Neil Young

Writer(s): Neil Young (see lyrics here) Released: November 14, 1989 First Charted: September 23, 1989 Peak: 2 AR, 39 CN, 5 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.6 video, -- streaming

Awards (Neil Young): Click on award for more details. Awards (Pearl Jam): Click on award for more details. Awards (Indigo Girls): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Some music fans don’t want to see politics in rock ‘n’ roll, but “artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have woven politics seamlessly into the fabric of their music, chronicling the American condition over decades. And anger has always been part of the backbone of rock music, whether the singer’s angry at the government, another man, or a girl who’s done him wrong.” UCR “When the result is a barnburner like Neil Young ‘Rockin’ in the Free World,’ it’s hard to deny the value of self-righteous rage when it comes to penning a classic tune.” UCR “Young captured that anger perfectly with ‘Ohio’ in the wake of the Kent State shootings in 1970, and he did it again in 1989.” UCR “There may be no better explosion of rage on record than ‘Rockin’ in the Free World.’” UCR “It feels like decades of rage over every betrayal of the American promise, spitting out line by line and lick by lick over three and a half minutes.” UCR “Whatever your political leanings, there’s plenty to love about this track, not least of which is the simple gut-punch riff that churns throughout the tune. Young shreds away at his guitar with the ferocity of a pissed-off teenager in his garage, spitting out words that were a scathing indictment of America under George H.W. Bush, but seem timeless decades years later, especially when his attention turns to a baby in the arms of a poor drug addict living on the streets: ‘There’s one more kid / That will never go to school / Never get to fall in love / Never get to be cool.’” UCR The song has been widely covered by other artists including the Alarm, Pearl Jam, Indigo Girls, and Bon Jovi. On my personal charts, Pearl Jam and Indigo Girls each got to #1 with their versions. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Neil Young UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/31/2022.

Rush “The Spirit of Radio” hit the chart

The Spirit of Radio Rush

Writer(s): Neal Peart, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson (see lyrics here) First Charted: February 9, 1980 Peak: 51 US, 60 CB, 57 HR, 1 CL, 27 AR, 13 UK, 22 CN, 3 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 40.9 video, 80.84 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Canadian rock band Rush built a faithful following with six studio albums released in the 1970s. While all have since gone gold or platinum, none fared particularly well on the charts at the time. Their highest peak had been with 1977’s A Farewell to Kings, which reached #33. However, 1980’s Permanent Waves took the band to a new level. The album reached #4 on the Billboard album chart, the first of six consecutive top-ten albums for the band. The album was preceded by the single “The Spirit of Radio,” which became the band’s highest of three entrants (#51) on the Billboard Hot 100 up to that point. While it may not have looked impressive from a chart standpoint, that song and “Free Will” from the same album, became classic rock staples. The title of the song was inspired by the slogan from CFNY-FM, a radio station in Toronto. Guitarist Alex Lifeson said the opening riff of the song was designed to sound like “static – radio waves bouncing around, very electric.” WK Lyrically, the song “is a lament on the change of FM radio from free-form to commercial formats during the late 1980s.” WK Drummer and lyricist Neal Peart parodied some lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” He took the phrase “For the words of the prophets were written on the subway walls, and tenement halls…and echo with the sound of silence” and turned it into “For the words of the profits are written on the studio wall, and concert halls…and echo with the sound of salesmen.” SF He explained that the song was “a tribute to all that was good about radio, celebrating my appreciation of magical moments I’d had since childhood, of hearing ‘the right song at the right time.’ However, [the song’s] celebration of the ideals of radio necessarily seemed like an attack on the reality – on the formulaic, mercenary programming of most radio stations.” SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Rush SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/22/2022; last updated 7/28/2022.