The Top 110 Songs of 2005

Though my memory slips as awkwardly as a frat guy on a slip'n slide, I'm pretty certain is was Xmas 2004 when I got my first Ipod which led to 2005 being a huge year for music for me.  A buddy of mine also sent me a disc with several file folders with albums and even though it was 7 years after the fact, this was the first time I heard Neutral Milk Hotel.  Unfortunately, I couldn't include them on this list, but I include many other.  Like …

110.  The Naming of Things – Andrew Bird

109.  Precious – Depeche Mode

I have to admit, its fun hearing 80’s synthpop again.   If the 80s had the technology of the present day, it may have had a chance.  At the same time, it makes me wonder how today’s electronic music will sound 20 years from now.  My guess is not good.  Music fails when it relies on technology which is constantly changing and not instrumentation which has pretty much been the same for rock bands since the 1950s.  Those punk kids will never learn. 

108.  E-Pro -  Beck

107.  Pussy – Brazilian Girls

My friend Pete once loved this song because it not only appeals towards his love of marijuana, but also his love of something else (can’t remember what that is now).  Throw those two things over a reggae beat, and apparently you have a good song … well, at least you have something. 

106.  No Hits – Black Mountain

Drone rock is something I’ve never been able to endure, but this isn’t too bad, if it is indeed drone rock.  I’d say that it is because this song drones on and on.  That’s how you measure drone rock right? 

105.  The Other Side – The Strokes 

104.  The Engine Driver – The Decemberists

103.  Rock Bottom Riser – Smog

102.  Sister Jack – Spoon

This is Spoon’s break through, or at least it makes me want to buy a camera, or an ipod or something, can’t remember.  It’s a nice enough song but not even close to their best work, though Tom Petty would be proud. 

101.  Thrills – LCD Soundsystem

100.  Galvanize – Chemical Brothers w/Q-Tip

I remember in the 90s Q-Tip rapped with everyone, not so much in 2005. 

99.  Go It Alone – Beck 

Songs I’ve heard in Short Circuit Studio B have an unfair advantage. 

98.  You’re Little Hood Rat Friend – Hold Steady

97.  7/4 Shoreline – Broken Social Scene

I like songs with a weird mathematical time signature in the title, but aren’t in that mathematical time signature.  I promise you, if there was a song called 7/4, and it was in 7/4 only Rush nerds would like it. 

96.  What a Wonderful Man – My Morning Jacket

Is this song about Jesus? 

95.  Lose Control – Missy Elliott

A great thing about hip hop is once you’ve past your prime, you can find a good producer, who in turn finds a bad ass sound effect and you can throw lazy rhymes over it and it’s automatically good.  Rock ‘n roll doesn’t have the free out once musicians pass their prime.  They have to rely on talent.  Statements of mine like that remind me of how insecure us fans of the genre are over it's current state. 

94.  Hombre – MIA

93.  In the Morning – The Coral

92.  Eli, the Barrow Boy – The Decemberists

Eli, the Barrow Boy would beat Eli Sunday in a fight, however, they’d both lose to Eli Manning in a fight, and yes, I think Eli has a chance of being the best QB in the NFL next year. 

91.  Train Under Water – Bright Eyes

90.  Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem

89.  Hung Up – Madonna

There’s a  chance this may be Madonna’s best song ever, but due to the fact it’s electronic music, it could be outdated in another 5 years, so who knows.  

88.  The World May Never Know – Dr. Dog

87.  The Predatory Wasp … - Sufjan Stevens

86.  On the Bus Mall – The Decemberists

85.  Powers – Blackalicious

84.  On Repeat – LCD Soundsystem

83.  Addiction – Kanye West

82.  Random  - Lady Sovereign

Remember the SOV?  I barely do, but like Lily Allen, it was a fun ride for a bit. 

81.  Easy Beat – Dr. Dog

80.  We Both Go Down Together – The Decemberists

79.  Girl – Beck

78.  Grounds For Divorce – Wolf Parade

77.  Hornets! Hornets! – The Hold Steady

76.  Egosonic War Drums – Blackalicious

75.  Waters of Nazareth – Justice

74.  From My Own True Love – The Decemberists 

73.  Decatur – Sufjan Stevens

Every song that’s not an interlude on this album is incredibly good. 

72.  An Honest Mistake – The Bravery

71.  Same Ghost Every Night – Wolf Parade

It’s hard to judge these indie bands that you once loved based on their potential, but now realize they’re already gone. 

70.  I See Colors – Edan

69.  Charlemagne in Sweat Pants – The Hold Steady

I think I need to meet Charlemagne, but I’m not concerned about what’s actually in her sweat pants (when you say that sentence like I do, it sounds like an awful David Letterman bit). 

68.  Disco Infiltrator – LCD Soundsystem

67.  The Man From Metropolis Steals Our Hearts – Sufjan Stevens

66.  Arc of Time – Bright Eyes

65.  Dare – Gorillaz

I think I’m a fan of electronic new wave disco. 

64.  Rock and Roll – Edan

63.  Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens

62.  Over and Over Again – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

61.  My Doorbell – White Stripes

60.  You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son – Wolf Parade

59.  Anytime – My Morning Jacket

58.  Skin is, My – Andrew Bird

This guy is just in a world of his own.  It’s very hard to compare his music to others because he seems superior, yet, that doesn’t make him better necessarily, just superior. 

57.  Easy/Lucky/Free – Bright Eyes

I’m Wade Awake It’s Morning was so good that I’ve pretty much always kept Digital Ash in a Digital Urn off of playlists.  Some of this stuff sounds pretty good, it’s just a matter of how much electronic music one can take. 

56.  Hate it or Love It – The Game

It’s hard to find good gangsta rap nowadays.  This isn’t so bad. 

55.  My Mathematical Mind – Spoon

54.  The Infanta – The Decemberists

Aside from it being a little over-dramatic in a progrock sense, it’s a darn good tune even though it fails (or maybe passes) the “could I listen to this song whilst drinking a beer out of a stein with the Knights of the Round Table” test. 

53.  Que Onda Guero – Beck

52.  Heart In a Cage – The Strokes

I doubt it ever happened, but Julian should have thanked Nick and Albert for badass guitar on this album so it didn’t historically flop, merely only completely flopped.   Julian Casablancas has some Axel Rose in him, and I mean that in a bad way because I don’t think anyone would ever compare someone to Axel in a charming light. 

51.  Knot Comes Loose – My Morning Jacket

50.  I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab For Cutie

Apparently, Gibbard is great at either being by himself, or someone else he has no jurisdiction over (unlike his band mates).  Great tune. 

49.  Jacksonville – Sufjan Stevens

48.  Land Locked Blues – Bright Eyes

47.  Give It To You – Blackalicious

46.  Measuring Cups – Andrew Bird

45.  Blue Orchid – White Stripes

44.  Juicebox – The Strokes

With Julian’s voice being so pale on this album, they probably should’ve done more arena rockers and let him scream. 

43.  I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor – Artic Monkeys

Even though it’s punk, it’s great to find great guitar driven rock nowadays, and this is now 7 years ago.  Higad. 

42.  Lua – Bright Eyes

41.  You Only Live Once – The Strokes

40.  They Never Got You – Spoon

This almost sounds like an 80s throwback song.  For instance, I feel like I could watch the kids of The Breakfast Club dance to this during Saturday detention. 

39.  Fumbling Over Words that Rhyme – Edan

I haven’t heard from Edan since this 2005 album and on Wikipedia I just found the reason why.  He hasn’t released anything else than “mix-tapes”.  It’s nice that one has achieved such clout that they can release a mix of other people’s recordings and people care, but I don’t. 

38.  Diamonds from Sierra Leone – Kanye West

Late Registration is noticeably better than College Dropout which I had to drop out of my ipod. 

37.  They Are Night Zombies – Sufjan Stevens

Some of his previous work is decent, and some stuff that came out after this album is pretty good, but Illinois is another level. 

36.  Another Travelin Song – Bright Eyes

I’m hunched over a type writer

I guess you call it painting in a cave

35.  The Beast and the Dragon – Spoon

I get why people don’t like Spoon, but for those of us who do, we’re just better people. 

34.  Torture Chamber – Edan

This tune really throws it back.  I could play this song along an Eric B and Rakim song and they’d sound like they came out at the same time, which is a compliment to both artists. 

33.  The Mariner’s Revenge Song – The Decemberists

Colin Meloy earns this 8 minute plus gem in the same manner Dylan earns his songs that never end, phenomenal tales. 

32.  Daft Punk Is Playing in My House – LCD Soundsystem

I doubt it’d be anywhere near as cool if I wrote a song called “Phish is Playing in my Condo.”

31.  Fire Fire – MIA

The first time I tasted this, it was sampled with “Walk Like an Egyptian” so it has a little bit of an edge other songs don’t, after all, what song wouldn’t be better if it wasn’t mashed up with “Walk Like an Egyptian?” 

The Top 110 Songs of 2005

Though my memory slips as awkwardly as a frat guy on a slip'n slide, I'm pretty certain is was Xmas 2004 when I got my first Ipod which led to 2005 being a huge year for music for me.  A buddy of mine also sent me a disc with several file folders with albums and even though it was 7 years after the fact, this was the first time I heard Neutral Milk Hotel.  Unfortunately, I couldn't include them on this list, but I include many other.  Like …

110.  The Naming of Things – Andrew Bird

109.  Precious – Depeche Mode

I have to admit, its fun hearing 80’s synthpop again.   If the 80s had the technology of the present day, it may have had a chance.  At the same time, it makes me wonder how today’s electronic music will sound 20 years from now.  My guess is not good.  Music fails when it relies on technology which is constantly changing and not instrumentation which has pretty much been the same for rock bands since the 1950s.  Those punk kids will never learn. 

108.  E-Pro -  Beck

107.  Pussy – Brazilian Girls

My friend Pete once loved this song because it not only appeals towards his love of marijuana, but also his love of something else (can’t remember what that is now).  Throw those two things over a reggae beat, and apparently you have a good song … well, at least you have something. 

106.  No Hits – Black Mountain

Drone rock is something I’ve never been able to endure, but this isn’t too bad, if it is indeed drone rock.  I’d say that it is because this song drones on and on.  That’s how you measure drone rock right? 

105.  The Other Side – The Strokes 

104.  The Engine Driver – The Decemberists

103.  Rock Bottom Riser – Smog

102.  Sister Jack – Spoon

This is Spoon’s break through, or at least it makes me want to buy a camera, or an ipod or something, can’t remember.  It’s a nice enough song but not even close to their best work, though Tom Petty would be proud. 

101.  Thrills – LCD Soundsystem

100.  Galvanize – Chemical Brothers w/Q-Tip

I remember in the 90s Q-Tip rapped with everyone, not so much in 2005. 

99.  Go It Alone – Beck 

Songs I’ve heard in Short Circuit Studio B have an unfair advantage. 

98.  You’re Little Hood Rat Friend – Hold Steady

97.  7/4 Shoreline – Broken Social Scene

I like songs with a weird mathematical time signature in the title, but aren’t in that mathematical time signature.  I promise you, if there was a song called 7/4, and it was in 7/4 only Rush nerds would like it. 

96.  What a Wonderful Man – My Morning Jacket

Is this song about Jesus? 

95.  Lose Control – Missy Elliott

A great thing about hip hop is once you’ve past your prime, you can find a good producer, who in turn finds a bad ass sound effect and you can throw lazy rhymes over it and it’s automatically good.  Rock ‘n roll doesn’t have the free out once musicians pass their prime.  They have to rely on talent.  Statements of mine like that remind me of how insecure us fans of the genre are over it's current state. 

94.  Hombre – MIA

93.  In the Morning – The Coral

92.  Eli, the Barrow Boy – The Decemberists

Eli, the Barrow Boy would beat Eli Sunday in a fight, however, they’d both lose to Eli Manning in a fight, and yes, I think Eli has a chance of being the best QB in the NFL next year. 

91.  Train Under Water – Bright Eyes

90.  Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem

89.  Hung Up – Madonna

There’s a  chance this may be Madonna’s best song ever, but due to the fact it’s electronic music, it could be outdated in another 5 years, so who knows.  

88.  The World May Never Know – Dr. Dog

87.  The Predatory Wasp … - Sufjan Stevens

86.  On the Bus Mall – The Decemberists

85.  Powers – Blackalicious

84.  On Repeat – LCD Soundsystem

83.  Addiction – Kanye West

82.  Random  - Lady Sovereign

Remember the SOV?  I barely do, but like Lily Allen, it was a fun ride for a bit. 

81.  Easy Beat – Dr. Dog

80.  We Both Go Down Together – The Decemberists

79.  Girl – Beck

78.  Grounds For Divorce – Wolf Parade

77.  Hornets! Hornets! – The Hold Steady

76.  Egosonic War Drums – Blackalicious

75.  Waters of Nazareth – Justice

74.  From My Own True Love – The Decemberists 

73.  Decatur – Sufjan Stevens

Every song that’s not an interlude on this album is incredibly good. 

72.  An Honest Mistake – The Bravery

71.  Same Ghost Every Night – Wolf Parade

It’s hard to judge these indie bands that you once loved based on their potential, but now realize they’re already gone. 

70.  I See Colors – Edan

69.  Charlemagne in Sweat Pants – The Hold Steady

I think I need to meet Charlemagne, but I’m not concerned about what’s actually in her sweat pants (when you say that sentence like I do, it sounds like an awful David Letterman bit). 

68.  Disco Infiltrator – LCD Soundsystem

67.  The Man From Metropolis Steals Our Hearts – Sufjan Stevens

66.  Arc of Time – Bright Eyes

65.  Dare – Gorillaz

I think I’m a fan of electronic new wave disco. 

64.  Rock and Roll – Edan

63.  Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens

62.  Over and Over Again – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

61.  My Doorbell – White Stripes

60.  You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son – Wolf Parade

59.  Anytime – My Morning Jacket

58.  Skin is, My – Andrew Bird

This guy is just in a world of his own.  It’s very hard to compare his music to others because he seems superior, yet, that doesn’t make him better necessarily, just superior. 

57.  Easy/Lucky/Free – Bright Eyes

I’m Wade Awake It’s Morning was so good that I’ve pretty much always kept Digital Ash in a Digital Urn off of playlists.  Some of this stuff sounds pretty good, it’s just a matter of how much electronic music one can take. 

56.  Hate it or Love It – The Game

It’s hard to find good gangsta rap nowadays.  This isn’t so bad. 

55.  My Mathematical Mind – Spoon

54.  The Infanta – The Decemberists

Aside from it being a little over-dramatic in a progrock sense, it’s a darn good tune even though it fails (or maybe passes) the “could I listen to this song whilst drinking a beer out of a stein with the Knights of the Round Table” test. 

53.  Que Onda Guero – Beck

52.  Heart In a Cage – The Strokes

I doubt it ever happened, but Julian should have thanked Nick and Albert for badass guitar on this album so it didn’t historically flop, merely only completely flopped.   Julian Casablancas has some Axel Rose in him, and I mean that in a bad way because I don’t think anyone would ever compare someone to Axel in a charming light. 

51.  Knot Comes Loose – My Morning Jacket

50.  I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab For Cutie

Apparently, Gibbard is great at either being by himself, or someone else he has no jurisdiction over (unlike his band mates).  Great tune. 

49.  Jacksonville – Sufjan Stevens

48.  Land Locked Blues – Bright Eyes

47.  Give It To You – Blackalicious

46.  Measuring Cups – Andrew Bird

45.  Blue Orchid – White Stripes

44.  Juicebox – The Strokes

With Julian’s voice being so pale on this album, they probably should’ve done more arena rockers and let him scream. 

43.  I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor – Artic Monkeys

Even though it’s punk, it’s great to find great guitar driven rock nowadays, and this is now 7 years ago.  Higad. 

42.  Lua – Bright Eyes

41.  You Only Live Once – The Strokes

40.  They Never Got You – Spoon

This almost sounds like an 80s throwback song.  For instance, I feel like I could watch the kids of The Breakfast Club dance to this during Saturday detention. 

39.  Fumbling Over Words that Rhyme – Edan

I haven’t heard from Edan since this 2005 album and on Wikipedia I just found the reason why.  He hasn’t released anything else than “mix-tapes”.  It’s nice that one has achieved such clout that they can release a mix of other people’s recordings and people care, but I don’t. 

38.  Diamonds from Sierra Leone – Kanye West

Late Registration is noticeably better than College Dropout which I had to drop out of my ipod. 

37.  They Are Night Zombies – Sufjan Stevens

Some of his previous work is decent, and some stuff that came out after this album is pretty good, but Illinois is another level. 

36.  Another Travelin Song – Bright Eyes

I’m hunched over a type writer

I guess you call it painting in a cave

35.  The Beast and the Dragon – Spoon

I get why people don’t like Spoon, but for those of us who do, we’re just better people. 

34.  Torture Chamber – Edan

This tune really throws it back.  I could play this song along an Eric B and Rakim song and they’d sound like they came out at the same time, which is a compliment to both artists. 

33.  The Mariner’s Revenge Song – The Decemberists

Colin Meloy earns this 8 minute plus gem in the same manner Dylan earns his songs that never end, phenomenal tales. 

32.  Daft Punk Is Playing in My House – LCD Soundsystem

I doubt it’d be anywhere near as cool if I wrote a song called “Phish is Playing in my Condo.”

31.  Fire Fire – MIA

The first time I tasted this, it was sampled with “Walk Like an Egyptian” so it has a little bit of an edge other songs don’t, after all, what song wouldn’t be better if it wasn’t mashed up with “Walk Like an Egyptian?” 

30.  Nervous Tick Motion – Andrew Bird

When songs have really long titles, you have to make up your own title at some point because the musician has failed you.  

29.  Word of Vibrations – Blackalicious

Though The Craft was hardly half as good as its predecessor, it did have two songs that rival anything on it. 

28.  Lay Low – My Morning Jacket

This one is tough for me to rank because the solo kicks so much ass, and one does not say that about solos in 2005, but what happens before that sounds borderline uninspired. 

27.  Sixteen Military Wives – The Decemberists

With further Dylan comparisons, what Meloy does a very good job of is being political via showing versus telling, something Dylan was a master of.  While the Beastie Boys are telling you how much they hate George Bush, the Decemberists aren’t trying to pull you into their politics. 

26.  Can I Have It Like That? – Pharrell

You got it like that. 

25.  Dondante – My Morning Jacket

I’m not sure why the sax comes in at the end, but it works. 

24.  I Turn My Camera On – Spoon

I almost want to put this in my disco song group, like I do the Scissor Sisters, but it would stick out like a sore thumb despite its mellow cool. 

23.  The Skin of My Country Yellow Teeth – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

One of the things that made their debut album so good was its humility.  This song has to be loved by non-smiling faces people across the nation, well, aside from the fact that that’s usually rednecks who wouldn’t listen to a band like this in a Brazilian years. 

22.  Gold Digger – Kanye West

Though I hate the gratuitous use of the N word, almost rendering this great song unlistenable, I have to give it props, though I'm pretty certain in a manner similar to my mom saying the word "diss" the other day, "props" probably don't exist anymore aside from being on movie sets. 

21.  Bucky Done Gun – MIA

20.  First Day of My Life – Bright Eyes

Between Colin Meloy and Coner Oberst, I’m making Dylan comparisons for 2005 and that’s a good thing.  As much as I love this song, and this album, perhaps Coner reminds me of Dylan at times because a song like this sounds so much like “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”.  Oh well, I still would rather be working for a paycheck, then waiting to win the lottery. 

19.  Broken Drum – Beck

The laser beam does chime in at a specific time, contrary to popular belief, maybe just not a particular beat. 

18.  Oh La La – Goldfrapp

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.  That’s why I think every time I hear this song. 

17.  Upon this Tidal Wave of Young Blood – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

What I always thought was a David Byrne rip off seems more like a whoever the singer of Television is ripoff.  Either way, it’s done well, so it’s borrowing and not stealing. 

16.  It Beats For You – My Morning Jacket

15.  The Sides of Monsieur Valentine – Spoon

14.  Fake Palindromes – Andrew Bird

Not that this song is commercial or anything, but it’s a HUGE crossover for the man.  It’s almost like him trying to go pop.  The results are amazing. 

13.  Stevie Nix – Hold Steady

12.  John Wayne Gacy, Jr. – Sufjan Stevens

I play this song on Anxiety some times, but Suffy’s vocals are pretty impressive so I may stop. 

11.  Is This Love? – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

I’m tired of laying this pretty head in the ground. 

10.  Road to Joy – Bright Eyes

I get why one would hate Coner Oberst.  It’s easy, but the lyrics he has on this album are some of the best I’ve ever heard. 

9.  Come on Feel the Illiniose! – Sufjan Stevens

There aren’t too many changes as good as the one during the jam part of this one. 

8.  We Are Nowhere and It’s Now – Bright Eyes

The Knocked Up crew almost ruined this private treasure, but fortunately, it was a good enough movie for this song to remain awesome.  It did however ruin its intimacy … kinda like a newborn baby. 

7.  Cattle and the Creeping – Hold Steady

This is the song that made me fall in love with the Hold Steady. 

6.  Off the Record – My Morning Jacket

This is that “song Zach learns on guitar 1^st so he falls in love with the band” song of theirs for me.  It also kicks ass live.  This may not sound complimentary to some, but seeing them play this live makes you feel like you’re at a good Phish show. 

5.  Wordless Chorus – My Morning Jacket

I’ll never forget the moment I threw this album on, heard this song kick it off and immediately think, “Wow, I can’t believe pawned their last album!”  Also, seeing Jim James sing this live kicked major ass. 

4.  Side to Side – Blackalicious

This is probably the best rap song ever that people probably don’t know.  Blackalicious in general is pretty unpopular so it’s a fair bet most people haven’t heard them.  This is their best song.  It’s not too much more complex than that.  I love the phrase “I think you need Jesus” even though … you know. 

3.  Chicago – Sufjan Stevens

This is a great post wedding drinking a Bloody Mary in a Milwaukee airport remorseful song.  Some of these songs on Illinios I can’t imagine seeing live.  Chances of Sufjan coming to Tampa I’d say are worse than Tampa winning the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and World Series all in the same calendar year.  That’s the downside of Florida.  You miss the acts sometimes.  The upside?  If he did come to Tampa, like 6 people would go and you’d have a very personal show.  It’s getting to the point where I can no longer count on one hand acts I’ve seen with hundreds while the night before the same band was playing in front of tens of thousands. 

2.  Pull Up the People – MIA

Less than a year after I heard the MIA/Diplo “mix tape” which was basically making it seem like she was so confident in her album that’d come out the following year that she could lend it to a mash up.  It didn’t work, but it did.  I didn’t want to get this album because I figured I had heard it already.  For one reason or another, this one wasn’t included in the mash-up and led off what I thought would be a new era of music.  Ultimately, I’m not sure if she’ll be remembered for anything other than wearing a cheer leader outfit and giving football fans the bird during the Super Bowl, but I didn’t start listening to her because she was that idiot.  There’s something very unique going on here. 

1.  At the Bottom of Everything – Bright Eyes

Years later, I’d go on to find out that that’s Jim James from My Morning Jacket providing back-up vocals. 

So there was this woman and she was on an airplane, and she was flying to meet her fiance seaming high above the largest ocean on planet earth.  She was seated next to this man she had tried to start conversations, but the only thing she had really heard him say was to order his Bloody Mary.
She was sitting there and she was reading this really arduous magazine article about a third world country that she couldn't even pronounce the name of.  And she was feeling very bored and despondent.  And then suddenly there was this huge mechanical failure and one of the engines gave out, and they started just falling thirty-thousand feet, and the pilots on the microphone and he's saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh my god... I'm sorry" and apologizing.  And she looks at the man and says "Where are we going?" and he looks at her and he says "We're going to a party.  It's a birthday party. It's your birthday party.  Happy birthday darling. We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much."
And then he starts humming this little tune, it kind of goes like this: 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

Yes, the intro to this, where Coner Oberst uses the word arduous is possibly the most pretentious intro to an album in the history of life, but he backs it up with a magnificent piece of work.  If I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning is anything but an A+ of an album, this would fail.  Fortunately, it’s an A++ and everything that follows is immaculate.