Is it really too late to apologize? : The Top 100 Songs of 2007

Because I’m borderline ADD, I tend to prefer songs to whole albums. Because of that I generally enjoy compiling this list more then I do my Top Albums of the Year list. And unlike my top albums list, this is something I actually felt like finishing. As always this list is just a way for me to show all 12 of my readers how much music I listen to.

Anyhow, in an effort to save everyone time, I’m going to be going to try and be short and sweet on this one. In fact some I’m only going comment on a few songs, so it should be a lot shorter. Also, in another effort to save time I also going to assume that all of you are at least vaguely familiar with all of these songs. If you never heard of one of the songs might I suggest a simple google or myspace search of the band and you should be able to find it. Or if that doesn’t work just illegally download it. So I’ll spend no more then 2-3 sentences on each song and I’ll do my damndest not to make those sentences run-ons. Obviously I’ll have more to say about some songs then others, but all of these tracks are worth listening to in my opinion. Anyhow let’s get straight to the list.

2,345,167. Dan Decon – Wood Woodpecker: F*ck that guy. (Deacon, not Woody)
101. Colbie Cailat – Bubbly: While I’m growing more and more negative towards the idea of guilty pleasures*, I can’t in good conscious put this on my list. Nor can I help but feel at least a little guilty when I know every word to this song and passionately sing along whenever it comes on the radio. Let’s just move on.
100. Panda Bear – Comfy in Nautica
99. Snow Patrol – Signal Fire: Have I ever mentioned that I have a gigantic soft spot for songs with boisterous chorus and slowed-down piano, driven bridges? Well I do, and I still fall for Snow Patrol’s shtick every time.
98. Ingrid Michelson – The Way I Am
97. Illinois – Alone Again: Illinois, on this song especially, reminds me of the days when Death Cab for Cutie was good. An unlike Death Cab, Illinois doesn’t appear to be so overtly emo, nor do they appear to be 40 year old men singing about high school kids’ problems. Anyhow, this song is awesome, as is the rest of Illinois debut EP.
96. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Under Water You and Me: If it wasn’t for Bloc Party the new Clap Your Hands would have been the most disappointing album of 2007. However this song is still really good, even if it is about 2 minutes too long.
95. Great Lake Swimmers – I Became Awake
94. Polyphonic Spree - Running Away: Is Polyphonic Spree just a one-trick pony and if so does it really matter because that one-trick is still legitimately awesome? While neither of these questions is fully answered on their new album, The Fragile Army, Polyphonic Spree does prove that their ‘one-trick’ may have more layers then anyone would have ever imagined, especially on this track. This song accomplishes what they spent their entire second album trying to do: Have one of their trademark twee-pop songs turn into a legitimate rock song.
93. Wu-Tang Clan - Take It Back: After one listen through to the new Wu-Tang album this was my favorite song. It also might have the line of the year delivered by Inspectah Deck: “Son, I've seen hell, fell into the palms of Satan arms. Don that I am made 'em bow in the face of God”
92. River Cuomo – Crazy One: This song alone has convinced me to buy, or at least illegally download, Weezer’s next album. Whenever it comes out.
91. The Good Life - 30 Year Evaluation
90. Charollotte Gainsbourgh - The Songs That We Sing
89. Bright Eyes - Four Winds: The more things change, the more they stay the same. No matter what I do, I still like Bright Eyes. And I absolutely love this songs music. So much that I’m willing to listen to it and ignore what’s probably the worst lyrics of Conor Oberst’s career^, which is truly saying something.
88. The Broken West – Down in the Valley
87. Bishop Allen – Rain
86. Iron & Wine - Resurrection Fern
85. The Clientele - Here Comes the Phantom
84. Immaculate Machine – Jarhand
83. Modest Mouse - March Into the Sea
82. Pella Carlberg - Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls: This one easily wins the song title of the year award. It also sounds like a great Belle and Sebastian song, which makes it a winner in my book.
81. Travis - My Eyes: In spite of all their flaws and limitations, of which there are many, I still love Travis. Perhaps just nostalgia, since they were one of my favorite bands in high school, or perhaps that no matter how much my musical tastes have ‘matured’ over the years I still love a perfectly orchestrated brit-pop song, which Travis can do in their sleep.
80. Tegan and Sara – The Soil: I just recently found out that Tegan and Sara are lesbian sister who hail from Canada. Oddly this doesn’t change the way I feel about or interpret this song. Although regardless of their sexual orientation, I still find Tegan’s voice mildly irritating. Or is it Sara’s voice? Frankly I don’t know, and I’m too lazy to find out. This song is still excellent in spite of whoever’s singing voice.
79. The Mystery Jets - Diamonds in the Dark: I download an obscene amount of music. Sometimes I can’t even remember why I downloaded a certain album. Actually this happens quite a bit. The Mystery Jets record happens to be on of those albums, and for the most part it’s extremely forgettable. Except for this, the albums first song. Out of nowhere this completely average band writes arguably the best post-punk song of the year.
78. Kings of Leon - On Call
77. Kevin Drew - Gang Bang Suicide: While this song may have the most disturbing title of any non-rap song ever, the music thankfully doesn’t fit. And the lyrics are just extremely vague, so I think Drew was just trying to be dichotomous when he chose this songs title. Or he wanted to scare the hell out of me the first time I listened to this album and went to check out this tracks title because I liked it. I guess we’ll never know.
76. The Kim Richey - Jack and Jill
75. Matt Pond PA – Sunlight.
74. The Killers feat. Lou Reed – Tranquilize: As much as I like The Killers, I’ll never understand why Lou Reed agreed to do a song with them. However I’m thankful he did because this song sufficiently awesome. This song also leads me to believe that Lou Reeds’ voice would sound cool over any type of music.
73. Jill Cunniff - Lazy Girls
72. National - Fake Empire: Aside from the fact that this song should be the theme song for Alcoholics Anonymous, it also perfectly captures a huge aspect of life in the 21st Century (or any Century for that matter). The fact that much of life is tedious repetition is perfectly captured here by the music and the lyrics. I could probably spend a couple of paragraphs writing about this song, so let’s just move on before I do.
71. Albert Hammonds Jr. – Scared
70. Spoon – You Got Your Cherry Bomb: I know at some point in the near future I’m going fall in love with the new Spoon album and feel foolish for not listening to it sooner. Every time I listen to this song I actually get nervous about listening to the rest of the album because of how foolish I’m going to feel.
69. Shout Out Louds – Tonight I Have To Leave It: The best Cure song since Disintegration was released. Wait, you’re telling me this isn’t a Cure song. Could’ve fooled me. Well I still like it.
68. Ryan Adams – Oh My God, What ever, Etc.
67. Okkervil River – Our Life Is Not a Movie
66. Bruce Springsteen – The Girls in Their Summer Clothes
65. Wilco - Impossible Germany
64. Lucky Souls - One Kiss Don’t Make a Summer
63. Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day: Don’t judge me, or at least don’t knock it tell you’ve heard it. I’ve always found Linkin Park’s music to be really bad an equally annoying. This song however sounds nothing like them. In fact it kinda sounds like someone trying to rip off U2. I’m not sure if that descriptions helps my cause here, but who cares. It’s actually a really good song, just listen to it.
62. Band of Horses – The General Specific
61. Bill Callahan - Sycamore
60. Cloud Cult – Chemicals Collide
59. Essie Jain - Glory Master: Regardless of how or when I die, I want this song played at my funeral, along with “Ladies and Gentleman We’re Floating in Space” by Spiritualized, Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” and “The Nothing Song” by Sigur Ros. It’ll be a sad funeral.
58. Black Kids - I’ve Underestimated My Charms (Again): Even if this song wasn’t awesome I’m still probably put it on my list just for the “What’s Your Man Got to Do With Me” reference.
57. Apples in Stereo – Energy
56. Andrew Bird – Fiery Crash
55. The Go! Team - Patricia's Moving Picture
54. Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills
53. Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining: I’ve probably mentioned this before, but if I was blind and could only differentiate people by their voice I’m pretty certain that I’d believe that Jenny Lewis, Rilo Kiley’s lead singer, would be the most beautiful person in the world. This songs pretty good too.
52. Club 8 - Jesus, Walk With Me
51. Pella Carlberg - I Love You, You Imbecile
50. Patrick Park - Life is a Song
49. Oh No! Oh My! - The Party Punch: According to Itunes I’ve listened to this song 38 times. Even with all those listens I still don’t have the slightest idea as to what the hell this song is about. None the less it’s still a great song.
48. Radiohead - Nude
47. Loney Dear - I Am John: Swedish Twee Pop and Brit Rock. What are two musical genres that Calvin loves a little too much. (I did this one Jeopardy style in honor of Alex Trebek’s heart attack in 2007)
46. Josh Rouse - Sweetie: According to Rouse’s podcast, this song is based off “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling”. I feel like you should know this.
45. Aqueduct - Broken Records
44. Tokyo Police Club - Cut Cut Paste
43. The Broken Family Band - Love Your Man, Love Your Woman
42. Modest Mouse - Little Motel
41. The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbor: When I first heard this song I think I played it 20 straight times, I literally couldn’t get enough of it. Now, especially after hearing it every shift I work at Starbucks, I’m a little sick of it. It’s still great though.
40. Lavender Diamond – My Shadow is a Monday: When I saw Lavender Diamond live I nearly fell asleep they were so boring. Then they played this song and it completely changed my perspective on the band. Actually no it didn’t, they’re still boring. This song however is amazing.
39. Blitzen Trapper - Country Cavern
38. Jose Gonzales - Cycling Trivialities: Jose Gonzales is one of the most talented guitarists and song writers out there, but I can’t seem to listen to one of his albums all the way through. This says nothing about his music, but you get the idea that even singing the happy birthday song for this guy is a morose occasion.
37. The Frames - Falling Slowly
36. The Figurines - Let’s Head Out
35. Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping
34. Dinosaur Jr. - Crumble: If I hadn’t downloaded this myself, anyone could have convinced me that this song was off one of the Dinosaur Jr. records that came out +10 years ago. I feel like calling it a throw back or retro is unfair, because it sound just like the music they were making oh so long ago. And quite frankly that’s a good thing.
33. Do Make Say Think - In Mind:
32. Coconut Records - West Coast: Coconut Records is Jason Schwartzman’s new band. In light of that I’m nervous that one of MTV’s beach-based ‘reality shows’ will use this song as it’s seem song and ruin it like The O.C. ruined “California” by Schwartzman’s old band: Phantom Planet.
31. Kanye West - Can’t Tell Me Nothing
30. Feist - So Sorry
29. Of Montreal - Trouble (Lindsey Buckingham Cover): While I’ve never liked Of Montreal that much, they’ve always had their moments. This cover of my favorite Lindsey Buckingham song that they did for a Minnesota radio station maybe the best thing they’ve ever done.
28. Albert Hammonds Jr. - Cartoon Music for Superheroes: This song is aptly title. It actually does sound like cartoon music for superheroes. I don’t think I ever could have envisioned a member of The Strokes putting out a song like this.
27. Jens Lekman – The Opposite of Halleluiah: I feel like the sentiment of this song’s title alone give reason for it’s inclusion on this list. However this song is just a perfect tongue and cheek track that truly showcases Jens’ talent as a song writer.
26. Franz Ferdinand - All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem Cover)
25. Panda Bear – Ponytail: Tragically this song is under two minutes and 30 seconds long. Every time I listen to it I wish that it would keep on going and never end. The ironic thing is that anyone who’s ever driven in a car in which I controlled the music will tell you is that I have a sever case of music ADD and can’t listen to more then 2 minutes of any song. The lesson here: I’m hard to please.
24. LCD Soundsystem - New York I Love You: LCD Soundsystem has never been a band that’s done much for me. So I guess it’s not too surprising that the first song of theirs that I truly love is a song that ditches all the electornica they’re know for and pretty much acts as a straight up folk-rock song.
23. Beirut – A Sunday Smile: Is it just me or does this song sound like the best drunk sing along tune ever? I feel like I could walk into any pub in Ireland and find a bar full of locals singing this song as passionately as Jevohs Witness share their gospel. And that’s pretty much why I like this song.
22. Dntel feat. Jenny Lewis – Roll On
21. Jens Lekman – A Postcard to Nina: I’m not sure any other artist currently making music could write a touching song about pretending to be a lesbian girls’ boyfriend so her father won’t find out she’s gay. Well played Jens, well played.
20. Black Kids – I’m Not Going Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You
19. Josh Ritter The Temptation of Adam: One of my unwritten rules for this list is that anytime you write a song about love blossoming an a pre-WWIII bomb shelter you get a spot in the top 20, hence this songs inclusion.
18. Bishop Allen – Middle Management
17. Rogue Wave - Harmonium: Don’t let this songs awesomeness fool you, outside of this and “Lake Michigan” the new Rogue Wave is pretty disappointing.
16. Lucinda Williams – Are You Alright?: The first time I ever heard this song was when I saw Lucinda live at Red Rocks this summer. Hearing the song then it was literally transcendent. I very nearly cried it was so beautiful, and I can in no way relate to its lyrics. So maybe I’ve over-valuing this song based on my own personal experience with it. But who cares, it’s my list anyway.
15. Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost?: The first time I heard this song I got so pumped up I immediately went out and punched the next person I saw. Well that’s not true, but this songs rockabiltiy is off the charts. Whatever the hell that means.
14. Ryan Adams - Theses Girls: This is Ryan Adam’s best song since “English Girls Approximately” off Love is Hell. It would also be about ten spots higher on this list if it, like the rest of this album, wasn’t recorded like Ryan was gunning for the top spot on the Adult Contemporary Charts. Still though it’s a remarkable song and I’m looking forward to the following years of his music if he continues to ape Neil Young like this.
13. Feist - 1, 2, 3, 4: Forget for a second that this song iS ridiculously over played and just take it at face value. I’m not sure any song has made me this happy or want to dance since the first Polyphonic Spree album.
12. Radiohead - Videotape: Only Thom Yorke would talk about Mephistopheles in a love song. Wait, is this a love song? Who the hell knows? That vague SOB.
11. Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
10. Animal Collective - Fireworks: Depending on my mood or the song, Animal Collective is either the best or worst band currently making music. This song is no exception to that rule, I just so happen to love this song. Its so layer and busy that it’s almost dizzying to listen to it. If my life depended on me clearly explaining why I love this song I sincerely doubt I could do it. So let’s just move on.
9. Andrew Bird - Cataracts: This song is a close second to my song of the year for the prettiest song I’ve heard in a long, long time. Also, I occasionally get misty eyed when the chorus kicks in after the whistling bridge.
8. The National - Slow Show: Arguably the most haunting and beautiful apology song I’ve ever heard**. If you listen to this song and you aren’t at least slightly moved you’re either deaf or you probably don’t have a soul.
7. Beirut - Elephant Guns: If Cameron Crowe were making this list he’d probably say something about how ‘Elephant Guns’ sounds like a story that he want to be a part of. While I’m not really sure what the songs about, and quite frankly the lyrics are so vague and cryptic I tend to believe it’s not really about anything, I’d kinda agree with that sentiment.
6. Josh Ritter - To the Dogs or Whomever: Did Josh Ritter write this song jut to prove that he can do a dead on Bob Dylan impression or did he merely want to prove to everyone out their that he’s better at doing folk music then everyone else? I don’t know the answer to that question nor do I really care to because this song is a stunning accomplishment regardless of the answer.
5. The Shins - Sleeping Lessons: Thanks to the miracle of illegal downloading, I first heard this song in mid-December of 2006. I was completely obsessed with this song in everyway and probably listen to it and nothing else for a good month and a half. And while I was disappointed with the new Shins album, this might be the best song they’ve ever done.
4. Radiohead - Recknor: I really wish this song was the soundtrack to my life. It’s been said that all great rock bands should aspire to recreate jazz, well Radiohead comes pretty damn close with track.
3. Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails: Not unlike Okkervil River, this song is almost too clever for its own good. I feel like calling this the sharpest and greatest gimmick track of all-time undermines its genius, but at its heart it really is a gimmick song. However Okkervil River is smart enough and talented enough to where you don’t really realize it.
2. Arcade Fire – (Anti-Christ Television Blues): One of the reasons I think that Neon Bible is the album of the year is because the music might be the best part of it. I feel like this song is a perfect example of that. This song is incredibly up tempo and it seems to be building and building to a conclusion that it never really reaches. Through out this entire song (and the entire album), the music is filled with so much friction and yet they never give you any release. To me that’s just astounding, since the music explains just as much of what they’re trying to convey as the lyrics do. Also the whole song is just one long pot shot at Joe Simpson, and you really can’t go wrong with that.
1. Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth: Simply put this may be the prettiest song I’ve ever heard. I didn’t think Sam Bean would ever write a prettier song than “Sodom South Georgia”. I’m thankful he proved me wrong.

Until We Meet Again
* I mean if you like something that isn’t morally wrong why should you feel guilty about it?
^ Yes the chorus of this song is so laughably bad that it somehow trumps the songs about suicide and heart ache he wrote when he was 12. Just stick to writing folks songs and quit embarrassing yourself by trying to be politically relevant.
** And that includes Timbaland and OneRepublic’s “Apologize”