Revisionist History: Retroactive Contenders for the Best of 2010

At year-end I put together my list of the top 100 songs of 2010, culminating here. As is always the case, the clock hadn't turned to February before there were several new-to-me songs I realized I had missed that merited consideration. Below are my ten favorite songs that weren't on my list at year-end but that might make a revised list today. Certainly the top two tracks would have broken the top 40.

Top 10 Songs of 2010 that weren't on my year-end list (as of May 2011 - subject to revision!)

1. "On Feathers and Arrows (on Burnt Pine)" / il gato / All These Slippery Things"
   "And I'll remember your life / as I change mine / and forget all your forests of evergreen /  because I'll survive / just fine / with burnt pine"
2. "Nothing Can Kill the Grimace" / Mixtapes / Maps
   "And I'm not saying that I'm any better / but at least I do all my dumb shit at home / 'cause everyone's the same, and everyone is lame / but they can sing bad songs and dance ironically"
3. "Trust" / Generationals / Trust EP
   " My friend / Olivia / said to me"
4. "Right Direction" / Dirty Diamonds / Monster Ballads
   "For the first time / in a long time"
5. "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" / Against Me! / White Crosses
   "Don't you remember? / When you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire"
6. "Digging Holes" / Icarus Himself / Mexico
   "Terrible things that I know and I know"
7. "Land Majestic" / Anni Rossi / Heavy Meadow
   "I am / an ant / stuck in / the cement"
8. "Water Hymn" / Painted Palms / Canopy EP
   <no lyrics>
9. "Kites" / Geographer / Animal Shapes
   " And my love is so quick / like the legs of my kids"
10. "Clockwatching" / Belleruche / 270 Stories
    "Put them back in the backseat / your dues have long been paid"

Rewind: Top 10 Songs of 1976

If you have ever wondered what is the worst year in modern popular music history, the answer (without question) is 1976. The year is a wasteland of below average efforts from mediocre bands. Even the greatest artists of the era released lackluster albums during the year. There is a reason that 1977 has such resonance in music circles as The Clash, The Sex Pistols and others rose to tackle the mediocrity of disco and bland rock. In Pitchfork's top 100 albums of the 1970's, 1976 had one single album (The Ramones debut) which is a statistical impossibility. 1977 had 15 albums on the list.

Which is not to say that I don't like the songs below. It's simply that my #1 song of 1976 might not make the top 10 in other years.

Grooveshark playlist is at the bottom.

Top 10 Songs of 1976

1. "Step by Step" / Jesse Winchester / Let the Rough Side Drag"
   "Cause Jacob's golden ladder / get's slippery at the top / and many a happy-go-lucky saint / has made that long long drop"
2. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" / Blue Oyster Cult / Agents of Fortune
   "The candles blew then disappeared / the curtains flew then he appeared <more cowbell>"
3. "Love's in Need of Love Today" / Stevie Wonder / Songs in the Key of Life
   " Don't delay / send yours in right away"
4. "American Girl" / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
   "After all it was a great big world"
5. "Golden Years" / David Bowie / Station to Station
   "I'll stick with you baby for a thousand years"
6. "Johnny Was" / Bob Marley and the Wailers / Rastaman Vibration
   "Johnny was a good man"
7. "Memory Motel" / The Rolling Stones / Black and Blue
   "What's all this laughter on the 22nd floor?"
8. "Judy is a Punk" / The Ramones / The Ramones
   "Oh, I don't know why / perhaps they'll die"
9. "Take the Money and Run" / Steve Miller Band / Fly Like an Eagle
   "He ain't gonna let those two escape justice / he makes his livin' off of the people's taxes"
   (so wonderfully terrible)
10. "Cocaine" / JJ Cale / Troubadour
    "When your day is done and you got to run"