ILM Top 100 2005-2009: TRACKS

When the redheaded best friend, Abigail, is disappointed by a boy, Swift drops back, underplaying a sorrow that probably felt like surgery without anesthesia: “Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind, and we both cried.” In weaker hands, this song would be littered with broken hearts; Swift’s boy just “changed his mind.”

^^love this - love the way this motif recurs on "breathe" even more. "people are people and sometimes we change our minds/but it's killin' me to see you go after all this time" - such an awareness of how breakups happen all the time, to everyone, for the most insignificant reasons, and her pain isn't special, it's just what being human entails - but how that doesn't stop it hurting.

lol "hollaback girl", the quintessential "so much silly fun at the time, haven't thought about listening to since" song. got a lot of affection for it.

~ain't no houellebecq girl~

hahaha

the quintessential "so much silly fun at the time, haven't thought about listening to since" song.

Kinda like Robyn, then, eh?

I remember back around the time it came out, but before I'd heard it, all my friends were punctuating just about every statement with "that shit is bananas" and I had NO IDEA what they were talking about.

it was just weird, have a friend over to watch the tennis and we were JUST talking about michel houellebecq

When the redheaded best friend, Abigail, is disappointed by a boy, Swift drops back, underplaying a sorrow that probably felt like surgery without anesthesia: “Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind, and we both cried.” In weaker hands, this song would be littered with broken hearts; Swift’s boy just “changed his mind.”

Right, because I've never heard that euphemism for breaking up used before. Ever. What insight, what genius.

it is a pretty misogynistic paragraph now that i re-read it

Er, what?

taylor swift is like the polar opposite of GAPDY on the ilm lovefest spectrum, seems like you can't enjoy both without enjoying absolutely everything else too

never really got into "Oh," to me it's a dope hi-hat pattern in search of a good tempo/melody/synth/vocal/etc.

54. STUDIO "Out There" (2006) [269.5 points, 12 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StkvW5v2tVQ

classic there

today's run has been really great

dog latin, the best "explanations of what makes taylor swift special" are these singles jukebox reviews of "you belong with me" - http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=596 - and this sasha frere-jones profile of her (scroll down to where he starts discussing "our song') - http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/11/10/081110crmu_music_frerejones

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, July 2, 2010 3:33 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"You Belong With Me" is quite a track and like SFJ says a lot of us would like the tune if it were played by a bunch of greasy guys with guitars. Just don't hear it with the one just posted here though, and to a lesser extent "Our Song". "YBWM" is much more complex musically than either of those, both in the songwriting and production. The buildup to the chorus is great and there are lots of effective, unexpected chords and instrumental choices. "Our Song" especially feels thrown-off, I-ii-IV-V wham bam thank you ma'am with almost no rhythmic interest until the very end of the chorus. "Love Story" is kind of half hearted and weak all the way through. IMHO.

"You Belong With Me" is quite a track and like SFJ says a lot of us would like the tune if it were played by a bunch of greasy guys with guitars.

A lot of us would also really dislike the tune if it were played by a bunch of greasy guys with guitars. Myself included.

'Oh' is good, just in a very average way

i'm pretty sure it wouldn't be hard to illustrate this point

you look like David Bowie
but you have nothing new to show me
babyyyyyyy
you belong with me

here you go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_D37Gap6vA

Out There is 100% solid gold and everything from the soppy synth chords midway through is 150% solid gold. Amazing piece of music, every section is better than the one before.

Never heard this before, really good stuff.

"walking the streets with you and those skinny jeans"

"he wears polos i wear t-shirts"

YOU ARE ALL WEARING POLOS IN THAT PICTURE

had I voted I would probably have gone for "Life's A Beach" over "Out There" but it's a toss-up, really. Album would have definitely been top 2 for me though.

53. R. KELLY ft. T.I. & T-PAIN "I'm a Flirt" (2007) [275.5 points, 14 votes, 1 first place vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPr4F8dplFg

niiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeee

ooooooo 28's

r. kelly's verses in "i'm a flirt" have always been my least favorite by a wide margin

the soca remix of "i'm a flirt" with lady saw is classic 4eva

(xp)

Yay, my second vote! (Studio was my #5)

Everything so far today is pretty good, but Golddigga was better as George Bush Don't Like Black People.

seandalia, are you intentionally trying to be a racist or?

some loser called The Legendary K.O. did a Pazz & Jop-baiting version of "Gold Digger" called "George Bush Don't Like Black People"

r. kelly's verses in "i'm a flirt" have always been my least favorite by a wide margin

― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, July 2, 2010 12:18 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is insane, R.'s last verse is amazing and T.I. is easily the weak link of the song

"gold digga"

T.I. is the weak link on most tracks he's on, tbh.

i know about the legendary K.O.

well t-pain has by far the best verse

ban ilxor of course

Ok, sorry about how that came across. As some dude points out (xp) I was referring to the post-Katrina takeoff of Golddigga which I remember thinking at the time was powerful (from my desk in England), but obviously it brings in issues that make "better" in an ILM poll context pretty irrelevant.

52. RADIOHEAD "Reckoner" (2007) [280 points, 12 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uofQD-N6UI

the thing with the legendary k.o. is that kanye saying "george bush doesn't care about black people" was already great, and "gold digger" was already great, and what on earth did they think they could add to either? it was so lame.

also lame: radiohead. ~HATE THIS BAND~~

really went off Radiohead after 2001 until that song. Quality stuff.

i intentionally left radiohead out of my album ballot to make room for less popular stuff but i still voted for that song, probably the best thing they've done in the past decade

some loser called The Legendary K.O. did a Pazz & Jop-baiting version of "Gold Digger" called "George Bush Don't Like Black People"

Cosign on the George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People > Gold Digger, but I also love the rock-crit self-aggrandizement here. "That dude only made that song for the criticsz!"

it wasn't a statement on the intent of the song, just that only corny critics gave a fuck about it

Ok, but that's not what you actually said.

yeah i'm probably playing a bit loose w/ language here but when i call something critic bait or P&J bait i generally am talking about its critical reception and am not second-guessing what the artist might've been thinking, because that's kind of impossible

tbf, he probably made the song for corny rock critics

"George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" (which I voted for) was one of those songs that I liked on its own, but gained appreciation for when I played it for a bunch of people in a car and they laughed at every punch line. Great litmus test for a song's actual effectiveness.

tbf, he probably made the song for corny rock critics

Dude, really? What were we *just* talking about?

51. PHOENIX "Lisztomania" (2009) [281 points, 17 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8e_n3qxg60