Best of the Decade: Songs

Before we delve into the best songs of the decade, let's first review the criteria.

- Did I enjoy it? Did the movie/song/moment/etc. resonate with me personally?
- Did the people who's opinions really matter like it? Was the movie/song/moment nominated for an Oscar/Grammy/ESPY?
- How much does it typify the decade? In 20-30 years will people think of it when they think of the 00's?

I'll tell you now that there are a few songs on the list that I absolutely hate, but they made the cut because of how well they rate in regards to the other criteria.

Lastly, although I tried to be as thorough as possible, I'm sure that I forgot plenty of songs that deserved to be on this list. Feel free to let me know which songs I left out.

* signifies a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year or Song of the Year
** signifies a Grammy win for Record of the Year or Song of the Year

100.) Crazy Town- Butterfly (2000)

99.) Owl City- Fireflies (2009)

98.) Kenny Chesney- Young (2002)

97.) Gavin DeGraw- I Don’t Wanna Be (2004)- So what if I used to watch One Tree Hill. Sophia Bush is a smokeshow.

96.) M.I.A.- Paper Planes (2009)*- Check out this cool music video type trailer for Slumdog Milionaire (2008) that it was used for.

95.) Hoobastank- Crawling in the Dark (2002)- This might be the YouTube video that I've seen the most and now that Charlie's gone it just doesn't feel the same.


94.) Dave Matthews Band- The Space Between (2001)

93.) Incubus- Pardon Me (2000)

92.) Chris Brown- Forever (2008)- This song's popularity will always be linked to this and this.

91.) T.I.- Whatever You Like (2008)- Gotta love the one white kid in this video.

90.) Finger Eleven- One Thing (2004)

89.) Wheatus- Teenage Dirtbag (2000)- I will forever associate this song with the "friendship test." In the first few weeks of college my cousin and I, like most college kids do, had become friends with many of the kids that lived on our floor. In order to "test" the validity of these friendships we played this song for a few individuals (one by one) and asked them to either sing the first line of the song or to name the title and artist before the chorus began. In case you're wondering, a one Mr. Kyle Korver belted out, "Her name is Noel" almost instantly.

88.) Audioslave- Like a Stone (2004)- Is this song on Guitar Hero yet? The guitar solo is awesome so it better be.

87.) 3 Doors Down- Kryptonite (2000)

86.) JET- Look What You’ve Done (2004)

85.) Big and Rich- Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy (2004)- 2004 World Series of Poker commercials anyone?

84.) Timbland- The Way I Are (2007)

83.) Linkin Park- In the End (2001)

82.) T Pain featuring Young Joc- Buy You A Drank (2007)

81.) U2- Walk On (2002)**

80.) Creed- Higher (2000)

79.) Jimmy Eat World- The Middle (2001)- I wish I was kidding when I tell you that while on vacation in 2006 some kid told my cousin Kate that she had to go back to his room to hear an, "awesome, new song." She wanted nothing to do with this kid, but was too nice to break his heart so she brought me along because it was on our walk home. When he put this on, after hyping up this "awesome, new song", I literally almost lost it. To this day, Kate nor I can hear this song witout laughing.

78.) The Black Eyed Peas- I Gotta Feeling (2009)

77.) Kanye West- The Good Life (2007)

76.) Bruce Springsteen- The Rising (2002)*- This list wouldn't be complete without The Boss.

75.) Sara Bareilles- Love Song (2008)*

74.) Hinder- Lips of an Angel (2006)- Although my friend Matty K is probably wondering why JoJo- Too Little Too Late (2006) didn't make the cut, this should suffice.

73.) Howie Day- Collide (2005)

72.) Fabolous- This Is My Party (2003)

71.) Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow- Picture (2003)

70.) Katy Perry- I Kissed A Girl (2008)*

69.) Dave Matthews Band- Everyday (2001)- Judah Friedlander's breakout role. Can you think of anyone better to star in this music video? I can't.

68.) Green Day- Wake Me Up When September Ends (2005)

67.) Akon featuring Snoop Dogg- I Wanna Fuck You (2006)

66.) Train- Drops of Jupiter (2001)*

65.) John Mayer- Waiting on the World to Change (2006)- Fairfield's finest

64.) Kenny Chesney- I Go Back (2004)

63.) Coheed and Cambria- A Favor House Atlantic (2004)

62.) Nappy Roots- Awnaw (2002)

61.) Kanye West- Family Business (2004)-
I woke up early this mornin' with a new state of mind
A creative way to rhyme without usin' knives and guns
Keep your nose out the sky, keep your heart to God
And keep your face to the risin' sun

60.) John Legend- Ordinary People (2005)*

59.) Coldplay- Viva La Vida (2008)**

58.) The Black Eyed Peas- Let’s Get it Started (2005)*

57.) O.A.R.- Love and Memories (2005)

56.) Kenny Chesney- The Good Stuff (2002)- The lyrics of this song tell a great story.

55.) Beyonce- Single Ladies (2008)

54.) Gwen Stefani- Hollaback Girl (2005)*- My least favorite song on the list.

53.) The Killers- Mr. Brightside (2005)

52.) Warren Zevon- Keep Me in Your Heart (2003)


51.) Fabolous- Into You (2003)

50.) Kings of Leon- Use Somebody (2009)

49.) Amy Whinehouse- Rehab (2007)**

48.) Fall Out Boy- Sugar, We’re Goin Down (2005)

47.) The Roots- Seed (2.0) (2003)- If you've ever watched Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (is anyone else routinely awake at 1:30 a.m.?) you know that The Roots are incredibly talented.

46.) Nelly- Country Grammar (2000)

45.) Kelly Clarkson- Miss Independent (2003)

44.) Blink 182- Adam’s Song (2000)

43.) Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown- No Air (2008)- Her dad is a former New York Giant and the song was performed on Glee. Both positives if you ask me.

42.) Coldplay- The Scientist (2002)- Probably best known for the video in which everything is going in reverse.

41.) Usher- Burn (2004)

40.) Shakira- Whenever, Wherever (2001)- Right back at ya Shakira. Whenever, wherever.

39.) 50 Cent featuring Eminem- Patiently Waiting (2004)

38.) Dr. Dre featuring Eminem- Forgot About Dre (2001)- Detroit what

37.) Carrie Underwood- Before He Cheats (2007)*- Easily the hottest chick on this list. Did anyone else see her in those leather pants during her Christmas special?

36.) Gnarls Barkley- Crazy (2006)*

35.) Outkast- Ms. Jackson (2001)*

34.) Jay-Z and Linkin Park- Numb/Encore (2004)- Now batting, #13, Alex Rodriguez

33.) U2- Beautiful Day (2001)**

32.) Green Day- Minority (2000)

31.) Usher featuring Young Jeezy- Love in this Club (2008)

30.) Soulja Boy- Crank That (Soulja Boy) (2007)- The girls I went to college with made sure that everyone knew that they knew the dance to this song.

29.) Kanye West- Gold Digger (2005)*- Speaking of dances, Kanye's dance in this video where he throws his head back is hysterical.

28.) Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys- Empire State of Mind (2009)

27.) Rascal Flatts- Fast Cars and Freedom (2005)

26.) Chris Brown- Run It (2005)

25.) Justin Timberlake- SexyBack (2006)

24.) Beyonce- Irreplaceable (2007)*

23.) James Jones- We Fly High (2006)- Any song that references grey poupon and is adopted by the New York Giants defense is A-OK in my book.

22.) Kanye West featuring Jay-Z- Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix) (2005)

21.) James Blunt- You’re Beautiful (2006)- One day I was going somewhere with my mom and I was driving. Now I can't remember the exact song that was playing at the time, but it was from one of my CD's and the word "fuck" was in it. As soon as my mom heard the explitive she said, "Turn this garbage off. Can't we listen to something without any curse words. What about that James Blunt song? Can you play that?" Now of course she had only heard the edited version on the radio and didn't know that the actual lyric is, "She could see from my face that I was fucking high." You better believe that I let her know that Mr. Blunt wasn't as innocent as he seemed.

20.) Rihanna featuring Jay-Z- Umbrella (2007)*- The most overplayed song on the entire list.

19.) Alan Jackson featuring Jimmy Buffett- It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (2003)- From September 1st 2008-November 30th 2008 I had a desk job and I listened to this song just about every day.

18.) Kelly Clarkson- Since U Been Gone (2004)

17.) Beyonce featuring Jay-Z- Crazy in Love (2003)*

16.) The Black Eyed Peas- Where is the Love? (2003)*

15.) Vanessa Carlton- A Thousand Miles (2002)*- This song came on in the ESPN cafeteria the other day just as I started to stand up to go back to my work station. Obviously I sat right back down and waited until the song was over before returning to my work station.

14.) Taylor Swift- Love Story (2008)

13.) Nelly- Grillz (2006)- An underrated contender for Artist of the Decade.

12.) Avril Lavigne- Complicated (2002)*- If she wasn't Canadian this might have cracked the top 10.

11.) Alicia Keys- Fallin’ (2001)**

10.) Rodney Atkins- These Are My People (2007)-


An awesome song that makes me think of my friends from home. Let's go orange.

9.) R. Kelly- Ignition (Remix) (2003)

8.) Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland- Promiscuous (2006)*- I just found out that Nelly Furtado is Canadian, so I'm sorry Avril, but props to her for mentioning fellow Canadian celeb Steve Nash in this song.

Hey, is that the truth or are you talking trash?
Is your game MVP like Steve Nash?

7.) Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland- Cry Me A River (2003)

6.) 50 Cent- In Da Club (2003)

5.) Eminem- Lose Yourself (2002)

4.) Kanye West- Through the Wire (2004) -


I'm not so sure about his claim as the artist of our generation, but he could make a great case for artist of the decade. This is his 5th appearance in the countdown.

3.) Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland- Dilemma (2002)*

2.) Outkast- Hey Ya! (2003)*- Shake it like a polaroid picture

1.) Usher featuring Lil John and Ludacris- Yeah (2004)- Peace up, A-town down