2012 Songs: 61-80

The next 20...

 

80. "In Decay" by Phèdre (from Phèdre)

"Wasted bodies / lying oh so still / so many lovers / in need of organs"

Plays out like a love child between The Magnetic Fields and Of Montreal, which would seem romantically (if not biologically) possible.  Also, at least someone out there is recording good music that sounds like Of Montreal, because Of Montreal sure as hell isn't.

79. "We OK" by The Very Best (from MTMTMK)
"Someone show him how we move"

Just another Swedish-produced band from Malawi featuring a Somali-Canadian guest rapper.

78. "By Lamplight" by Woodpigeon (from For Paolo EP)
"If all the lights in Paris went out / you'd still manage to find me"

After releasing sprawling double albums in 2009 and 2010, Woodpigeon took it easy by releasing this gorgeous little EP in 2012. New full-length due in February.

77. "In the Same Room" by Julia Holter (from Ekstasis)
"I can't recall this face / but I want to"

A nice song elevated by a wonderfully quiet closing minute.

76. "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" by Tame Impala (from Lonerism)
"I know that you think you sound silly when you call my name"

A favorite of the critics, it ultimately took listening to the Memory Tapes remix for us to fully recognize the strengths of the original version.

75. "Prettyboy" by Dan Deacon (from America)
<instrumental>

Plays a bit like an instrumental-only version of "Snookered" (our #15 song of 2009) on downers. Or, perhaps more accurately, "Snookered" plays like "Prettyboy" on hallucinogenics.

74. "Inhaler" by Foals (from Holy Fire)
"I'm pale and coy / a mama's boy / I make believe"

As the advance single to their upcoming third album, "Inhaler" showcases a darker sound from Foals   A major improvement on their prior efforts, as far as we are concerned.

73. "Silver Springs" by Lykke Li and "Think About Me" by The New Pornographers (from Just Tell Me That You Want Me)
<Fleetwood Mac covers>

A bit of a cheat, but including two songs offsets the fact that these are covers, and relatively straightforward ones at that.  In this case, our appreciation of the new versions undoubtedly  benefits from a relative lack of familiarity with the source material.

72. "Class Clown Spots a UFO" by Guided by Voices (from Class Clown Spots A UFO)
"Up / up we go now"

After making this list last year with his Boston Spaceships project and just missing with his solo work, Robert Pollard returns in 2012 with 3 (3!) Guided by Voices albums and another solo album for good measure. Quantity alone merits limited admiration, but quantity at this quality is insane.

71. "Capsule" by Menomena (from Moms)

"While I'm evolving from a child / to an aging child"

There was little doubt that Menomena would suffer from the departure of Brent Knopf, turning the songwriting/singing/producing trio into a duo for Moms.  While the new album still has its moments, Knopf's own efforts this year landed materially higher on the list.

70. "Hot Knife" by Fiona Apple (from her new album with the really long title)

"I get feisty / whenever I'm with him"

Never really a fan, but this song works like its titular metaphor.

69. "Silent Way" by Milo Greene (from Milo Greene)

"When we're older / will you still come over"

In discussing track #98 on this year's list ("Analog or Digital"), we referenced that all of the other tracks save one could probably take its lunch money.  This is the lone track that couldn't.  Pretty milquetoast, but the sentiment works.

68. "The House That Heaven Built" by Japandroids (from Celebration Rock)

"When they love you / and they will / tell them all they'll love in my shadow"

 Now this is the genuine article.

67. "Home Again" by Michael Kiwanuka (from Home Again)

"Many times I've been told / all this talk will make you old"

The Bill Withers comparisons seem obvious listening to the not quite Soul, not quite not Soul debut from this Londoner. 

66. "X-Mas Spirit Catcher" by Sufjan Stevens (from Songs Silver and Gold)

"And Gabriel / in spite of it / went for wandering in the desert"

Current count: Christmas-themed albums 10, state project albums 2.  Don't like the ratio, but happy for any new Sufjan.

65. "10" by jj (from High Summer)

"23 years of this / I just hope you miss me a little when I'm gone"

jj is on an odd path of late.  After releasing a straightforward album of hushed Swedish pop in 2009 (which featured our #10 song that year), they followed with dour album in 2010 and a string of mixtapes with quasi-rap lyrics paired with lush production and female vocals.  High Summer is a half return to form, switching to more of a quasi-rap beat but with softer lyrics dropping both some Tommy James & the Shondells and verses in Swedish.

64. "Spender" by Smiler (from All I Know mixtape)

"I plug money in Harrods / I'm bugs bunny with carats"

Exposure-wise, Smiler benefited from having asked a pre-Born to Die Lana del Rey to sing the hook here, even if the reasons to like the track is are due more to his driving verses than the by-the-numbers chorus.

63. "A Little Biblical" by Band of Horses (from Mirage Rock)

"I'm old enough to know / I'm holding on for something"

It is pretty clear by now that the band that released Everything All The Time is not coming back.  As a Carrissa's Wierd partisan, I'd blame the departure of Mat Brooke for his Grand Archives project. Still, each BoH album is good for a couple solid pop nuggets like this track.

62. "The Baddest Man Alive" by The RZA and The Black Keys (from The Man With the Iron Fists)

"I grab a crocodile by the tail / handcuff the judge and put the cops in jail"

Black Keys plus Wu Tang is a can't miss combination, though Bobby Digital wouldn't have been my first choice as the Wu M.C. to best pull it off (better than The KRZA, though).

61. "Five Seconds" by Twin Shadow (from Confess)

"I'm not trying / to make you cry"

If TV on the Radio decided to make a bid for pop stardom, it might sound like this. As much as we enjoy Twin Shadow, let's hope they don't.

2012 Songs: 81-100

After a year with nearly no activity on the site (what a difference an extra human child makes), we return with the first installment of our top 100 songs of 2012

As before, the list is limited to one appearance per artist to maximize diversity.  Also as in the past, immediately below is a Grooveshark widget with available songs. Song order in the playlist mirrors the below (descending order). Where songs are not available on Grooveshark as of today, I've included a link to a safe location to stream. Enjoy.
 



100. "Call Me on Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox & Carly Rae Jepsen

<Rostam mashup>

Vampire Weekend's Rostam (who was responsible from my #15 song last year) makes the Song of the Summer more palatable by overdubbing its generic production with some sweet post-Eurythmics Annie Lennox. Not on Grooveshark, listen with Soundcloud here.

99. "Fineshrine" by Purity Ring (from Shrines)
"Cut open my sternum and pull / my little ribs around you"

A pretty song with unsettling imagery off of Purity Ring's debut.

98. "Analog or Digital" by Wildlife Control (from Wildlife Control)
"Because the records I play are my only education / I turn it up"

Sporting punk sentiment but a glossy pop production, there is a good chance this track would get beaten up by 98 of the other songs on the list.

97. "All the Rowboats" by Regina Spektor (from What We Saw From the Cheap Seats)
"Masterpieces serving maximum sentences / it's their own fault / for being timeless"

Only Spektor's second album since her breakthrough in 2006, Cheap Seats is a less quirky affair highlighted by this tale of woe for lonely works of art.

96. "The Only Place" by Best Coast (from The Only Place)
"Why would you live anywhere else?"

Sure we are biased, but seriously, why would you live anywhere else? (proximity to family, tax rates, inordinate cost of living and pathetic fiscal condition notwithstanding)

95. "Trap Door" by Strand of Oaks (from Dark Shores)
"And when you give it all away again / give a little bit back to me"

An earworm of a song that benefits from it simple structure: just one verse followed by a variation on the above repeated a dozen times.

94. "Love That's Gone" by La Sera (from Sees the Light)
"And I'll be gone just as soon"

Second album from Vivian Girls' bassist Katy Goodman is just damned pleasant, as typified by this lilting little ballad with some nostalgic guitar work.

93. "Soul Killing" by The Ting Tings (from Sounds from Nowheresville)
"If you never hold us down / they can never hold us down"

After some positive buzz for their early singles, it has been pretty acceptable to hate on the Ting Tings (e.g., Pitchfork's reviewing Sounds at 1.8, a level I thought reserved only for latter day Liz Phair).  We can agree that the music is a bit soulless, but it's also pretty catchy and just enough fun.

92. "Bright Whites" by Kishi Bashi (from 151a)
"And if you're to say to me / what is mine is yours to keep"

A touring member of Of Montreal, K(aura) Ishibashi presents an amiably eclectic mix of songs on his full-length debut (released, appropriately, by the Joyful Noise label). "Bright Whites" leads off sounding like African music sung in Japanese before settling into a very Beattles-esque pop tune.

91. "Bigger than Love" by Ben Gibbard (from Former Lives)

"So our house got crowded / I never felt so all alone"

Featuring Aimee Mann, this track from Death Cab for Cutie's frontman doesn't expand on anything either artist has done before, but represents a comfortable combination of familiar voices.

 

90. "Losing You" by Solange (from True)

"I'm not the one that you should be making your enemy"

Hard to categorize into a specific genre, the lead single off Solange Knowles debut alternates between a throwback and something distinctly modern.

89. "What Makes a Good Man" by The Heavy (from The Glorious Dead)

"Indelible is what I need to spread the word"

There is no such difficulty identifying The Heavy's 70's influenced blues-rock.  While the music is so bombastic it risks becoming kitch, there is enough going on here to elevate the track beyond merely fodder for future KIA commercials with Muno and sock monkeys.

88. "Fingers Never Bleed" by Yeasayer (from Fragrant World)

"I know you think you could do this without me / but I know I could do without you"

 The highlight from Yeasayer's disappointing third LP, "Fingers Never Bleed" showcases many of the bands strengths, but is ultimately a less cohesive song than their best work.  Yeasayer has appeared on this list 3 times previously, including the #8 song in 2009 ("Ambling Alp").

87. "Dance Ghost" by Helado Negro (single)

"There's no one home / just a ghost who dances alone"

If the vocals were dropped and this track was released only as an instrumental, the name would still fit.

86. "Happy Pills" by Norah Jones (from Little Broken Hearts)

"Never said we'd be friends"

I like Danger Mouse quite a bit and own a dozen or so of the albums he has produced. And yet, the result is never as strong as the idea. Danger Mouse producing Beck? Awesome! Modern Guilt? Ehhh, it was fine. Danger Mouse producing a Albarn/Simonon supergroup? Sign me up! The Good, the Bad and the Queen? It was pretty OK. So it goes with Norah Jones and Little Broken Hearts. There is enough in the production to make it different from her prior albums, but not enough to really make it better.

85. "Three White Horses" by Andrew Bird (from Hands of Glory EP)

"You will need somebody when you come to die"

Not only is my selected Andrew Bird track off the EP he released in the fall and not the full-length released in the spring, I probably enjoyed his take on "Auld Lang Syne" from the Holiday's Rule compilation more than anything off of either.

84. "I Love It" by Icona Pop (from Iconic EP)

"I crashed my car into a bridge / I don't care"

This song primarily consists of being yelled at for 3 minutes by some crazy, pissed off Swedish ladies.  So, you know, maybe you want to be in the right mood.

83. "Lazarus" by David Byrne & St. Vincent (from Bright Love This Giant)

"Gold in your river/ there forever"

Falling short of our expectations, Love This Giant is better than Byrne's recent collaboration with Fatboy Slim and worse than his prior collaboration with Eno.  He is at risk of becoming the Danger Mouse of iconic art-rock heroes.

82. "Ivory Coast" by Pure Bathing Culture (from Pure Bathing Culture EP)

"I know that you will love me until my eyes do close"

I wonder if those Francophiles in West Africa are pissed off about this song. Please learn to use proper nouns when naming your country if you are so damned sensitive!

81. "Laura" by Bat for Lashes (from The Haunted Man)

"They told me at the end / don't justify the dreams"

This song was downloaded and deleted more once before its charms finally took hold.  Great vocal work by Ms. for Lashes.

Rewind: Top Songs of 1972

 

 

Last year, while ticking through the songs from years ending in "1" and "6", the 1971 list was the strongest batch (followed by the 1991 list).  Not surprisingly, the 1972 list presents a similar mix of classic rock and latter-day soul, plus The King and Jimmy Cliff.

Picking one song from Exile is not an easy task. While it is the Stones' best album (and, to my mind, the greatest rock album of all time) it is not an album full of "singles". Ultimately, I chose "Rocks" because its rawness (both lyrically and musically) is the most emblematic of the album as a whole, though it is tough to make an argument against "Tumbling Dice", "Happy", "Sweet Virginia", "Let it Loose" or personal favorite "All Down the Line"

While Bowie is not directly on this list, his fingerprints are all over it (see #5 and #6)

Fat, cheesy Elvis was worth it for the joy of "Burning Love"

In all honesty, "Lean on Me" or "I Can See Clearly Now" are probably better choices for #10 below, but I just love the ridiculousness of "Jim" too much too leave off the list.


Top 10 Songs of 1972

1. "Rocks Off" / The Rolling Stones / Exile on Main St.
   "the sunshine bores the daylights out of me"
2. "Thirteen" / Big Star / #1 Record"I won't make you" 
3. "Superstition" / Stevie Wonder / Talking Book
   "when you believe in things / that you don't understand / then you suffer"
4. "Stuck in the Middle With You" / Stealers Wheel / Stealers Wheel
   "clowns to left of me / jokers to the right"
5. "All the Young Dudes" / Mott the Hoople / All the Young Dudes"and my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones"
6. "Walk on the Wild Side" / Lou Reed / Transformer
   "and the colored girls say / doo doo do do do doo doo"
7. "I'll Take You There" / The Staples Singers / Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
   "I know a place"
8. "Burning Love" / Elvis Presley / single
   "'and you light my morning sky"
9. "The Harder They Come" / Jimmy Cliff / The Harder They Come
   "I'm going to get my share now / what's mine"
10. "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" / Jim Croce / single
    "and when the bad folks all get together at night / you know they all call big Jim boss"

Rewind: Top Songs of 1967

The plan, in advance of a December post on the top 100 of 2012, was to publish the top 10 songs of every five year increment from 1962 to the present . That implies ten lists. Since it is currently late August, I should be posting about Radiohead and Dr Dre. by now with seven posts behind me. Instead I've got 1962 behind me and that's it.

So let's get on with it...

Top 10 Songs of 1967

1. "I'm Waiting For My Man" / Velvet Underground / Velvet Underground and Nico
   "Hey white boy / what you doing uptown?"
2. "Underdog" / Sly & the Family Stone / A Whole New Thing "...and you've got to be twice as good" 
3. "Daydream Believer" / The Monkees / The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees
   "The shaving razor's cold / and it stings"
4. "I Second That Emotion" / Smokey Robinson / single
   "And a taste of honey's worse than none at all"
5. "Respect" / Aretha Franklin / I've Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You "Give me my propers / when you get home"
6. "Sweet Soul Music" / Arthur Conley / Sweet Soul Music
   "He's the king of them all, yeah"
7. "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" / Jackie Wilson / Higher and Higher
   "But then you / came and he soon departed / and he never showed his face again"
8. "Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis" / Otis Redding & Carla Thomas / King & Queen
   "Just your touch / sets my soul on fire"
9. "For What It's Worth" / Buffalo Springfield / Buffalo Springfield
   "Nobody's right / if everybody's wrong"
10. "Ruby Tuesday" / The Rolling Stones / Between the Buttons
    "Still I'm going to miss you"

Rewind: Top Songs of 1962

(dusts off some cobwebs)

Now that the year-end list has been completed and the suitable break has been taken from the blog, we'll start up again with semi-decennial (still not a word) march to the best songs of 2012. Last year we started in 1966 because while 1961 had some all-timers ("Stand By Me", Coltrane's "My Favorite Things"), I struggled to get to 5 tracks that wouldn't be somewhat embarrassing to list. While 1962 was still a struggle, there was enough good stuff to justify a list that goes to ten.

Also, Sam Cooke was awesome.

Top 10 Songs of 1962

1. "Bring It On Home To Me" / Sam Cooke / single
   "I tried to treat you right / but you stayed out, stayed out late at night / but I'll forgive you"
2. "Green Onions" / Booker T. & the MGs / Green Onions
   <instrumental> 
3. "Boom Boom" / John Lee Hooker / single
   "I'm gonna shoot you right down / right offa your feet"
4. "These Arms of Mine" / Otis Redding / single
   "And if you / would let them hold you / oh how grateful I would be"
5. "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" / The Miracles / The Fabulous Miracles
   "I don't like like you / but I love you"
6. "Up On the Roof" / The Drifters / single
   "and if this world start's getting you down / there's room enough for two"
7. "Duke of Earl" / Gene Chandler / single
   "And when I hold you / you are my duchess"
8. "Misirlou" / Dick Dale / Surfer's Choice
   <instrumental>
9. "Beechwood 4-5789" / The Marvelettes / single
   "...any old time"
10. "Desafinado (Off Key)" / Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd / Jazz Samba
    <instrumental>

2011 Songs: The Top Twenty

The mildly disappointing finish!

After having 95% of the first 80 tracks on the list, Grooveshark holds to form with 19 of the 20 below, with a youtube link provided for lone holdout.

 

20. "Powa" by tUnE-yArDs (from w h o k i l l)

"I need you to press me down before my body flies away from me"

Merrill Garbus' second album of experimental and discordant music shines when it all comes together (like on "Powa", as well as "Gangsta", "Doorstep" and "Killa") but is somewhat brutal when it doesn't.  

19. "Marathon" by Tennis (from Cape Dory)
"Coconut grove / is a very small cove"

Good thing you can't judge an album by its cover.   

18. "Mysterious Power" by Ezra Furman and The Harpoons (from Mysterious Power)"Call me up right now / I'd call you but I don't know how"

Furman's vocal similarities to Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah may not win him favor with most listeners as readily as it did with me (see #11).  

17. "Jeopardy" by Dan Mangan (from Oh Fortune)

"Have I always been filled with questions?"

A: A 2011 top 20 song not on grooveshark (listen here)
Q: What is the Dan Mangan song in which every lyric is posed in the form of a question?

16. "Sweet Release" by Wugazi (from 13 Chambers)
< Method Man + Fugazi mashup >

Another year, another song in the top 20 featuring an old Method Man track mashed together with an even older rock track. Like last year's "Uh Huh", "Sweet Release" replaces the original beat (not one of RZA's best) with something faster, giving an otherwise unremarkable song new life.  

15. "Don't Let It Get To You" by Rostam (single)
"I want you / even when it don't make sense / actually, I want you more when it don't make sense"

Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij released two singles in late 2011 that have aspects similar to his full-time gig (this song samples Paul Simon, for example) while also layering in additional elements to create his own sound.  Taken together, it could result in the most entertaining solo album by a non-frontman since Little Joy.

14. "Prophecy" by Adam & The Amethysts (from Flickering Flashlight)
"They say / try not to get worried / try not to turn on to / problems that upset you"

Like #53 on this year's list, "Prophecy" is elevated from being a good song to a great one through the creative repurposing of a well known tune over the closing minute. 

13. "So American" by Portugal. The Man (from In The Mountain In The Cloud)
"They sing / everyone of you will never try to lend a hand / when the policeman don't understand"

Here we have a band named Portgual singing about being American while the lead singer, who sounds a lot like a woman, is The Man. None of this is as strange as the mid-name punctuation.

12. "Serve the People" by Handsome Furs (from Sound Kapital)
"Saying / oh / my god / waiting here so long I feel a change"

An anthem for the disillusioned. Life post-Wolf Parade is manageable as long as both Dan and Spencer (at #6) are releasing music this good on their own. 

11. "Maniac" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (from Hysterical)
"Maniac / statue of marble / and I don't want to touch your dark thoughts any more"

After a beloved debut and a maligned followup (which nevertheless had my #1 song of 2007), CYHSY broke-up. "Maniac" is not their best track, but it and a few others on Hysterical were still vintage CYHSY, which feels like a miracle given that the band was no longer an active entity at the start of the year.

10. "You" by TV on the Radio (from Nine Types of Light)

"You / threw your hands up and walked away"

A second appearance on this year's list for Tunde and Kyp (they are also on the Tinariwen album). A very hard decision between this and "Second Song", but the weariness of the chorus on this track puts it over the top. One of my favorite bands.

9. "Never Quite Free" by The Mountain Goats (from All Eternals Deck)

"It's all good to know that from right here the view goes on forever"

This standout from a middle-of-the-pack MG album  has a hopefulness that is partially tempered by the song's name. For my money, no one in music history does a better job naming songs (most of which don't come directly from the lyrics) than John Darnielle. 

8. "Montana" by Youth Lagoon (from The Year of Hibernation)

"I looked back and turned into salt / A pillar with a hat"

Youth Lagoon's debut is so consistently excellent and each song follows a familiar enough pattern (indecipherable lyrics, slow build) that picking one song from the album is a challenge. Ultimately, I chose the first one I heard, the one which made me want to learn more. I highly recommend the whole album.   

7. "Barnes' Yard" by The Rural Alberta Advantage (from Departing)

"We're broken down lovers on the side of the road / we're broken down lovers in a city of oil"

Unlike Of Montreal, Architecture in Helsinki, Beirut, Boards of Canada and others, this band's lead singer is actually from rural Alberta.  Canadians are just completely without guile.

6. "Return to the Violence of the Ocean Floor" by Moonface (from Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped)

"Said I got a spirit / made out of sand"

Some quick history. I've been doing this list for 7 years now. Spencer Krug has made the list 3 times with Wolf Parade (#1 in 2008), 3 times with Sunset Rubdown (#1 in 2009), 2 times with Swan Lake (#1 in 2006) and now with Moonface. That is nine appearances in seven years, all of which were in the top ten. So, yeah, I kind of like the guy. 

5. "Holocene" by Bon Iver (from Bon Iver)

"I was not magnificent"

I love the way this song, even upon a first listen, sounds like a song you have been listening to for years. This is not because Bon Iver's sound is derivative or unoriginal (which it is, a little bit), but simply because it is so comfortable and lived-in. "Skinny Love" held the same spot in 2008 and I'd have a hard time choosing between the two.

4. "Under Cover Of Darkness" by The Strokes (from Angles)

"I'll wait for you / will you wait for me?"

Upon release as the advance single for Angles, this song was damned with great praise as sounding like a lost single from Is This It.  After disappointing attempts to evolve their sound on First Impression of Earth and elsewhere on Angles can't we just celebrate how great anything that sounds like an essential cut from Is This It is?  

3. "Belong" by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (from Belong)

"But no one else / can make me know there's no one else"

I have never had a song climb the chart throughout the year like this one. I enjoyed elements of their 2009 debut album, but it didn't make the year-end list. When Belong came out I thought the title track would be a strong contender to make the list, but had it pegged in the back 50. As time progressed and the play count rose, it climbed and climbed, until I finally realized that the song was a good as anything released during the year. Great fuzzy guitars a la MBV coupled with lyrics that could be heard as "it is hard / but we still belong" or "it is wrong / but we just don't belong" depending on your mood (it is the latter, but I wish it was the former).

2. "East Harlem" by Beirut (from The Rip Tide)

"And sound of your breath in the cold / And oh, the sound will bring me home"

Like with Youth Lagoon, it is exceptionally hard to choose between the best songs on The Rip Tide, but unlike YL it is not because the songs are eerily similar. The best tracks on The Rip Tide ("Goshen", "Santa Fe", "The Rip Tide", "East Harlem") are unique, with different tempos and mood. Instead, it is hard because they are all just so damned good. Faced with this challenge and no obvious #1 for awhile (see below), I lighted upon with the idea of breaking the "one song" rule and just voltroning several songs together to create a dominant #1. Instead, with Beirut at #2, I drew on my experience of having to play favorites among my own children and selected the more classically "Beirut" of the standout tracks. But any of the above could be here.

1. "Law of Gravity" by Rubik (from Solar)

"Had I fought in a war without you /  I’m sure / I would be dust and bones in a faraway corner of the world / we made all the difference / we were all that mattered / just like an apple around its core / then it finally happened / we got old "

As noted above, this is the 7th year of this list. In the prior six years, the #1 slot has been occupied by three Spencer Krug bands (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown and Swan Lake), Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. These are inner circle bands that I truly love; bands I have seen live and own their complete discography of LPs and EPs.  A year ago I had never heard of Finland's Rubik and until December (when I bought a digital download of the rest of Solar) I owned only one of their songs. The prior #1s averaged over 5 minutes long, while "Laws of Gravity" comes in at a brisk 3:26. If none of those make this a surprising top choice, there is also the fact that this is basically a cheesy 80's retro pop song by a bunch of guys singing in their second language. You may hate it. But, at the end of the day, there was no song I listened to more in 2011 and there is no song I want to listen to right NOW more than this wonderful little slice of happiness (especially 1:45 - 2:10).