Call for Nominations: Pop Song of the Year

It’s more or less traditional for magazines and tv shows to do some sort of year-end wrap-up. As this blog is now hosted by a magazine, I suppose I ought to follow suit. Of course, compiling “Year’s Best” lists is a highly subjective business, requiring a lot of information gathering, so I’ll throw this open to my readers before compiling my own highly biased list.

The previous posts have been for the geeks, but here’s one for the non-physicists:

In your opinion, what is the best pop song of 2006?

I have my own opinions (I just switched the shuffle play on iTunes over to the four-and-five-star songs of 2006, in order to get a better feel for the year in music), but I’m interested in what other people think. So, leave your suggestion for the song(s) of the year in the comments, and I’ll compile a list.

27 comments

  1. Sorry. There has not been a good “pop” song since about 1979.
    At least not one I’ve heard here, under my bridge.

  2. Have to think about this one a bit, but I’ll throw out “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars.

  4. “Crazy” is certainly the inescapable, defining pop song of 2006, in the same way that “Hey Ya!” was the inescapable song of 2003-4. But that doesn’t necessarily make it the best song of 2006…

  6. I generally use a fairly expansive definition of “pop,” which actually includes a lot of people who would be offended at being called “pop.” Pretty much anything that isn’t classical or country would qualify.

  7. Yeah… to follow up #3 and #4… “Crazy” is the only answer, and it’s because it is “inescapable and defining”… that makes it the best POP song, since the main criterion for good “pop” in my mind is universal mainstream appeal. That is different from the “best song”, though.

  8. Not that I listen to a lot of new music, but I’m willing to vote for “Crazy” as best as well as defining. It’s got a really timeless feel that I think will hold up well.

    (And I didn’t like “Hey Ya.” Still don’t.)

  9. Yeah, ditto that. It was certainly inescapable, but I think it deserved its fame. It’s witty, bright, and catchy as hell. Pure pop!

  12. “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” is a good song, but it’s from 2005.

    I would say “Wolf Like Me” by TV on the Radio. Runner-up: “Rough Gem” by Islands.

  13. Oops. Well I bought it in 2006….

    Nothing’s really blown me away this year. Best thoughts so far are “When You Were Young” by The Killers, “Breathe Me” by Sia or “Sex Changes” by The Dresden Dolls.

  14. As great as “You Ex-Lover Is Dead” is, it came out in 2005.

    My Top 5, after a quick peruse through iTunes, would be:

    Bishop Allen, “The Same Fire”
    Marit Bergman, “No Party”
    Drive-By Truckers, “Feb. 14”
    Rhymefest, “Devil’s Pie”
    Headlights, “Put Us Back Together Right”

  15. The best pop song of 2006: “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley.

    The pop song of 2006 I liked best: “Cellphone’s Dead” by Beck.

    The best un-pop of 2006: The album “Drum’s Not Dead”, by the Liars.

  18. I just think it’s funny that, at the time of this posting, this post has 17 comments, while the physics and astronomy posts both have 2 each.

  19. Dennis – while I would be more interested in the astronomy or physics answers… I’m much less likely to have an informed opinion.

    So for the pop, I’ll have to stretch the definition because I don’t hear most of the new stuff. But I’d pick from one either “See The World” by Gomez or “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” by Arctic Monkeys. But I just don’t have a lot of 2006 music for some reason. Hrm.

    I had never heard “Crazy” until I just iTuned it. I am officially Out Of The Loop.

  22. I just think it’s funny that, at the time of this posting, this post has 17 comments, while the physics and astronomy posts both have 2 each.

    I can’t really say I’m surprised. Science is Hard, after all, while everybody gets music.

    I’m hoping the physics and astronomy posts will pick up some comments more slowly, and maybe get some links from other physics blog types. Otherwise, the science wrap-up will be really short…

  26. Two songs that weren’t on many people’s radars:

    “Gotta Have You” by The Weepies

    “Brighter Discontent” by The Submarines

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