Over the final months of our fine decade, Intensities in Ten Suburbs will be sending the Naughty Oughties out in style with a series of essays devoted to the top 100 songs of the decade–the ones we will most remember as we look back fondly on this period of pop music years down the road. The archives can be found here. If you want to argue about the order, you can’t, because we’re not totally sure what the qualifications are either. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy.
I’ll be honest–I don’t really blame you if you’re a little disappointed here. I had a little trouble believing it myself when we were creating the final countdown from the shortlist, got down to #1 and found “Yeah!” there staring back at us. It just didn’t really feel like a slam dunk choice for the #1. It wasn’t the best single, it wasn’t the most influential single, and it wasn’t the most popular single, though it was pretty damn close on that last front. And I’d understand if you read through the last 99 (199 if you count the short write-ups) entries and expected something a little grander, something sweeping and undeniable, something simply more than Usher, Lil’ Jon and Ludacris. But all I can really say in our defense is that when I looked back over the rest of the top ten, weighing the pros and cons of every choice, “Yeah!” was the only one that made any sort of sense to me to rest at pole position. It is, for better or worse, my choice for the single of the decade.