Bye, Bye Timbaland. Hello, Killer Pop.
This decade has been devoid of everything except killer pop. We heard folk, funk, rap, R&b, jazz, but never any great pop. Ironically, 2009 marks the ebst year in pop ever and the first time pop divas had more intellectuality than indie freak folk sweethearts. With the death of teenie pop boybands and the mental collapse of Britney Spears in 2003, pop lost all it's glittery showbiz universal qualities and gained Timbaland beats and corny lyrics about sexting. In short, pop sucked in the 00's. However, Britney Spear's comeback, Lady Gaga's disco stick, the 80's retro revolution, and some accidental pop genius hipsters stimulated America with melody's of empowerment that created more self-confidence (artificial self-confidence) and more retrospection than any economic package Obama threw at us this year. Here are the best songs that gave us hope, escape, and cultural analysis (yes, analysis in pop; it shocks me too) in 2009.
9.) "I Dreamed A Dream"- Susan Boyle. After a decade of Heidi Montag and Paris Hilton, comes Susan Boyle, an old British woman who has sold more albums than any artist this year. In a time of economic crisis, no song could lift anyone's spirits more than her cover of the Les Mis song along with her back story.
8.) "Pearl's Dream"- Bat For Lashes. This indie queen paints images on knights, unicorns, and love without looking like a child's notebook. It's atmospheric and weird but just as showstopping and groovy (I like this word a lot. Can you tell?) as "Bad Romance." Another artists to look out for.
7.) "Stuck on Repeat"- Little Boots. She might sound less confident than Gaga, but she writes a heck better set of lyrics. Who would have thought a scratched max single would make a stellar metaphor for a crush? Catchy and smart don't go together, but here they do. In contrast, Britney's new song reminds us how great stupid pop can be. "3" barely makes sense but that's the point. It's sexy, fun, and dancy ad doesn't try to be anything else. Neither Britney nor Boots try, making them the most honest set of pop divas this year. Gaga might sound more confident but sometimes honesty is the best policy. (I hate "Speechless" by the way.)
6.) "Laura"- Girls. Some may see this as too indie to be considered pop, but it is as catchy as "Poker Face," so, I'm labeling it as pop. I would hate to live as the lead singer of this San Fran duo. He sings with such longing I can't decide if I've always been missing something or lost something on the way to downloading this tune. Yet, it doesn't sound depressing. It sounds like the Beach Boys 2009, not Cat Power. No one knows this band right now, but I promise you in a year's time, I will be saying "I listened to it first." Download this now before Y100 plays their next single all day long!
5.) "Million Dollar Bill"- Whitney Houston. Somehow this gem failed to takeover the charts and clubs. I blame it on Clive Davis marketing the single toward middle aged woman, but, alas, I'm here to say why this song rocks not why it flopped. Whitney's voice (a national treasure according to Oprah) may sound nothing like it did it the 80's, but this song is so fun to sing, so empowering, and so damn groovy you got to love it. It says nothing important about the world but it makes you want to dance. Isn't that what dance is about?
4.) "The Fear" Lily Allen made her name on cheeky lyrics and tabloid rants. No one song this philisophical and venerable song coming. Each verse, she proudly describes her vain money loving, eating disorder, clubbing lifestyle. She sounds so careless and nonchalantt, listeners feel the danger. She seems confidence with this, but on that killer refrain she reveals her insecurity and fear with the fame that consumes her. Could she be the Brit tabloid tart version of Tolstoy? Perhaps.
3.) "Bad Romance"- Lady Gaga. On my first listen, this song bored me. The lyrics aren't as introspective as Gaga believes and the vertigo sticks comes off as the Lady playing it safe. However, after 90 plays on itunes, this song shows reveals that it contains everything that makes Gaga great. She's no great singer, dancer, or lyricist, but she sings with such compassion and tries so hard that she makes a great chorus evoke the toxic energy that is a "Bad Romance." When Gaga screams "I don't want to be friends," she has as much emotional energy as Edith Piaf. She creates one of the first industrial goth dance songs to simultaneously top the charts and break hearts. She is no genius but she "lies to" herself that she is and therefor becomes one (that's her words, not mine).
2.) "Stillness is the Move"- Dirty Projectors. The idea of three yodeling folk singers channeling Beyonce while singing about a metaphore for Mariah Carey against indian chimes and experiemntal beats arranged in the same formula of a typical Britney Spears song sounds absurd. It's not absurd. It's brilliant. Pop is rooted in plastic. Here, nine Brooklyn hipsters burn the plastic and reveal pop's celestial soul that drives every disco beat. This song is a masterpiece.
1.) "Party in the U.S.A." and "The Climb"-Miley Cyrus. Music purists critisize pop for its simplicity and lack of intellectuality. In the best song of the decade (and one of the best pop songs ever), Dr. Luke has crafted a set of lyrics about a perfect pop song's power. "Party in the U.S.A." and "The Climb" may not discuss existentialism but it provides something more important to surviving day to day life: escape. Everyone knows the power of a "Britney or Jay-Z song" on a bad day. As Miley says, they make the "butterflys fly away." It may not be about the recession, but chesse like "The Climb" can comfort anyone trying to pay mortgage or college tuition. Miley reminds us that pop is not meant to make us question. It is meant to make us escape.
