# 20 songs of the 21st century? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867 "2008-03-10T19:38:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/1 "2008-03-10T19:38:16Z")
I basically stopped buying new music some time in the 1990s, but someone recently gave me a $20 iTunes gift card and I figured, instead of buying more golden oldies, I’ll try to bring my library a little more up to date. Anyone want to help? Of course you can make any recommendations you like, but I think it would be most helpful to follow these guidelines. - No more than 20 recommendations. - No more than 1 song per artist. - No one who received a recording contract as a prize on a TV show. - Nothing too obscure. If it’s not on iTunes, I won’t be buying it. - All songs should have melody and lyrics. - Rock, pop, and folk are all acceptable. - Rap is OK when interspersed with actual singing and not boasting how great the rapper is. - Country-western is borderline: I like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Hank Williams, but find most modern CW boring or annoying. - Opera is right out. - No recent works by artists who were big in the '70s or '80s. I can find those on my own, thank you. These artists are well represented in my music library: 60s Beatles, Velvet Underground 70s Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Peter Gabriel (NOT Genesis), Iggy Pop 80s Bauhaus, Blondie, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, Eurythmics, The Cure, Lene Lovich, Nine Inch Nails, Oingo Boingo, The Police, The Pretenders, Paul Simon, REM, Roxy Music, Sinead O’Connor, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Squeeze, Talking Heads, Tommy Petty, U2, Tom Waits 90s Nick Cave, Concrete Blonde, Cracker, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, They Might Be Giants ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/2 "2008-03-10T20:09:32Z")
I recommend most highly The Sugababes “Freak Like Me”, which was a huge hit in the UK in 2002. It’s a mash-up of sorts - combining the lyric from Adina Howard’s 1995 r&B hit “Freak Like Me” and the music from Tubeway Army’s (Gary Numan, really) 1979 synth classic “Are Friends Electric”. One of the best pop songs of that or any other year, and it will have you dancing around the room. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/3 "2008-03-10T20:17:06Z")
Our musical tastes seem to run along roughly the same lines. Here are some of my recent discoveries (all available on iTunes): **Muse** - _Knights of Cydonia_; this has also the [most awesomest video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV1bRfLHA3A) ever! **Wolfmother** - _Woman_ **Franz Ferdinand** - _Take Me Out_ **The Killers** - _All These Things I’ve Done_ **OutKast** - _Hey Ya_ **The Black Eyed Peas** - _Let’s Get It Started_ **The Fratellis** - _Flathead_ **Hard-Fi** - _Cash Machine_ **Broken Social Scene** - _7/4 (Shoreline)_ ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/4 "2008-03-10T20:24:10Z")
This hasn’t been iTunes-vetted, but all of these artists are on some kind of label. Beth Orton, “Daybreaker” The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife” Drive-By Truckers, “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac” Mountain Goats, “Dance Music” New Pornographers, “Graceland” Sleater-Kinney, “You’re No Rock and Roll Fun” Spoon, “The Underdog” Sufjan Stevens, “In the Devil’s Territory” Jet, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” The Gourds, “How Will You Shine” Stew, “Reeling” Belle and Sebastian, “Step Into My Office, Baby” Magnetic Fields, “California Girls” The Hold Steady, “Girls Like Status” Jenny Lewis, “Rise Up With Fists!” Kaiser Chiefs, “I Predict a Riot” Art Brut, “Formed a Band” The Figgs, “Gonna Get Out” Calexico, “Crystal Frontier” Long Winters, “Cinnamon” ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/5 "2008-03-10T20:52:56Z")
_Wilco \*\* - Jesus, Etc_ \*\*Guster \*\* - _Amsterdam_ \*\*Band of Horses \*\* - _Is there a Ghost_ \*\*Tegan & Sara \*\* - _I Hear Noises_ \*\*Athlete \*\* - _Street Map_ _The Arcade Fire \*\* - Keep the Car Runnin’_ **Andrew Bird** - _Heretics_ \*\*Amy Winehouse \*\* - _You Know I’m No Good_ \*\*Damien Rice \*\* - _Me, My Yoke, and I_ \*\*The Flaming Lips \*\* - _Do You Realize?_ \*\*Gogol Bordello \*\* - _Start Wearing Purple_ **Jenny Lewis** - _Happy_ **Jenny Owen Youngs** - _Fuck Was I_ \*\*Lilly Allen \*\* - _Smile_ \*\*Modest Mouse \*\* - _Dashboard_ \*\*Old 97’s \*\* - _The New Kid_ **The Decemberists** - _O Valencia!_ **My Morning Jacket** - _Off the Record_ \*\*Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova \*\* - _Falling Slowly (from “Once”)_ **The Raconteurs** - _Steady as she Goes_ ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/6 "2008-03-10T21:29:21Z")
Like the OP, I gave up on trying to keep up. That said, in the last few years the most significant album I bought would have to be “American Idiot” by Green Day. Favorite Artists: Michael Penn (Sean’s and Chris’s brother, married to Aimee Mann from 'Til Tuesday)…hits were on the album “March” (No Myth, Brave New World, This and That) Fastball: “All the Pain” has the initial hits (The Way, Fire Escape, Out of My Head); “Harsh Light” has more (You’re an Ocean and not sure which of the rest were hits). Both MP/Fastball are “Can’t miss” as far as LP selection goes. If you’re looking for a compilation type of thing… 1. Sister Hazel: Change your mind 2. Sister Hazel: All For You 3. Five for Fighting: 100 years 4. Silvertide: Ain’t Coming Home 5. Ten Years After: Wasteland More as I think of them, but you might consider looking up suggestions on youtube to see if it’s a style you’d like. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/7 "2008-03-10T21:59:53Z")
Wilco - Hummingbird Spoon - The Underdog Modest Mouse - Float On Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things Islands - Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby Bright Eyes - Train Underwater Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes Coheed and Cambria - A Favor House Atlantic The Strokes - Someday Interpol - Evil The Arcade Fire - (Antichrist Television Blues) Death Cab for Cutie - Blacking out the Friction The Postal Service - Nothing Better ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/8 "2008-03-10T22:30:11Z")
Belle and Sebastian - “Sleep the Clock Around” New Pornographers - “The Laws Have Changed” Rilo Kiley - “It’s a Hit” The Raveonettes - “Attack of the Ghost Riders” Bitter:Sweet - “The Mating Game” (although I love “Dirty Laundry” just as much and highly recommend both) Mike Ness (of Social Distortion) - “The Devil in Miss Jones” The Decemberists - “O Valencia!” (and I would argue against “The Crane Wife” because it is a three-part song that wraps around the album of the same name, starting with Part III and closing with Parts I and II) Muse - “Knights of Cydonia” The Postal Service - “Nothing Better” Jenny Lewis - “Handle With Care” Neko Case - “I Wish I Was the Moon” Imogen Heap - “Hide and Seek” Zero 7 - “In the Waiting Line” The Strokes - “Last Night” The White Stripes - “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” Amy Winehouse - “You Know I’m No Good” Lily Allen - “LDN” The Dresden Dolls - “Girl Anachronism” Britney Spears - “Toxic” (shut up, it’s awesome) Christina Aguilera - “Candyman” Outkast - “Hey Ya” Gnarls Barkley - “Crazy” Timbaland - “The Way I Am” Oh, when you make your final selections, you must return to this thread and tell us what you got and what you thought of it! ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/9 "2008-03-10T22:47:13Z")
Rounding it out: AC Newman - Miracle Drug The White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground Tool - Lateralis Fountains of Wayne - Mexican Wine Say Anything - Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too. I’ll close by breaking the rules :o . Okkervil River has a pretty extensive catalogue, which I generally despise, but they also recorded these two songs, which are both amazing and catchy: Okkervil River - Black Okkervil River - No Key, No Plan And of course, the Decemberists are awesome too. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/10 "2008-03-11T09:22:52Z")
Wilco - Jesus etc White stripes - Seven Nation Army Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes Tool - Schism (metal) Sufjan Stevens - Chicago Coldplay - Clocks Dandy Warhols - Godless Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out Gnarls Barkley - Crazy Green Day - Hmm tough one, I guess I’ll go with… Holiday Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day The Knife - Heartbeats The Strokes - Last Night Oasis - Go Let It Out Radiohead - There There Weezer - Hash Pipe Dropkick Murphys - Shipping Down to Boston Isis - Carry (metal) Kaizers Orchestra - Kontroll På Kontinentet Hives - Walk Idiot Walk Man, what a great list. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/11 "2008-03-11T13:46:54Z")
Some favorite picks of mine; not any sort of attempt to find the most definitive songs of the young century (which I would be unqualified to do): **Anais Mitchell** – Two Kids **Bruce Cockburn** – Put It In Your Heart **Damien Rice** – 9 Crimes **Dresden Dolls** – Delilah **Feist** – I Feel It All **Johnny Cash** – Hurt **Nizlopi** – Girls **Old Crow Medicine Show** – Wagon Wheel **Outkast** – B.O.B. **Patty Griffin** – Useless Desires **Regina Spektor** – Us **Rihanna** – Umbrella **Ryan Adams** – When the Stars Go Blue **Sufjan Stevens** – Casimir Pulaski Day **Tegan and Sara** – Back In Your Head **Tim Fite** – No Good Here **TV On The Radio** – Wolf Like Me **Willy Mason** – We Can Be Strong **World/Inferno Friendship Society** – Brother of the Mayor of Bridgewater **Wyclef Jean** – Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-songs-of-the-21st-century/440867/12 "2008-03-12T16:17:30Z")
I wrote a whole detailed post on this last night, but my computer rebelled and crashed my browser. At any rate, if I can recommend one song, it would be one by [Sons & Daughters](http://www.sonsanddaughtersloveyou.com/). Along with Spoon, Arctic Monkeys and Art Brut, they’re my favorite band making music right now. Their sound is a mixture of post-punk, country and Scottish folk. My favorite song by them is “Johnny Cash” (their first mini-album, _Love The Cup_, was somewhat of a tribute to the Man in Black). The only video clip I could find of it is [here](http://www.dominorecordco.com/site/player.php?fileID=585&trackID=3335&action=watch) [requires RealPlayer], but they have a clip at YouTube for the song [“Dance Me In”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=QqJazSEfVT4) which is also awesome. Really, you could pick a song at random and not go wrong. A few others, with videos so you can listen before buying: TV On The Radio - [“Wolf Like Me”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=GUB1xSAAADk) Franz Ferdinand - [“Take Me Out”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=x_9GR9kdZ3o) LCD Soundstystem - [“Someone Great”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=0iW5U4i-Z74) (there’s a more professional version of the video, but it speeds the song up weirdly) British Sea Power - [“Carrion”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=qu5AkyifUow)