# Best #1 Modern/Alternative Rock Song of the Year: 1997 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861 "2014-11-17T16:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/1 "2014-11-17T16:53:13Z")
Ugh. Believe it or not, this still isn’t as bad as it gets, but it’s still pretty bad. Not a single song here I can get truly excited about, though there are one or two that at least aren’t completely terrible. Not a great year for the charts - but looking through my iTunes library, there were plenty of good “alternative” songs that didn’t place: Spiritualized’s “Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space”, Yo La Tengo’s “Autumn Sweater”, Space’s “Female of the Species”, Elliott Smith’s “Rose Parade”, Conrershop’s “Brimful of Asha”, The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”, Stereolab’s “Miss Modular”, Morrissey’s “Lost”, Portishead’s “All Mine” - hell, even “Song 2” by Blur would have livened this list up. Still, my choice here was relatively easy (even if the song was overplayed to death - a good drinking song is always welcome). ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/2 "2014-11-17T17:00:08Z")
Yeah, pretty light list. I went with “Sex and Candy”, but only because it’s one of my karaoke favorites. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/3 "2014-11-17T17:29:46Z")
Agree… this list is only slightly better than the dreadful #1 Single of the Year lists from the same period. I have both Garbage’s first album and Version 2.0 on my iPhone (and some follow-on Garbage albums on CD that I haven’t wasted iPhone space on), but I had forgotten all about #1 Crush, from the Claire Danes _Romeo+Juliet_ movie soundtrack, no wonder. I probably haven’t heard this song since it dropped off the SF Bay Area’s Live 105 playlist sometime before the end of 2000 (presumably). It beats One Headlight by a nose, only because One Headlight is a horrible ear worm for me (not a bad song, it just sticks in my head). Thanks GEICO for putting in a commercial recently. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/4 "2014-11-17T17:56:31Z")
Went with Smash Mouth but could have with went with U2, The Vervepipe, Third Eye Blind, Garbage, etc. Oh and “One Headlight” has held pretty well all these years. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/5 "2014-11-17T18:19:46Z")
For whatever reason, I dislike 95% of Garbage’s discography after their debut album but I absolutely love this song. There were so many great and iconic albums released in 1997. None of their singles are on here. OK Computer, Homogenic, Dig Me Out, Lonesome Crowded West, Either/Or, Boatman’s Call. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/6 "2014-11-17T18:32:11Z")
In spite of all of their sports rock offenses, I still love that organ, guitar tone and groove. Smash Mouth wins for me this year, by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/7 "2014-11-17T18:34:09Z")
I voted “Semi-Charmed Life”, because if you have to pick a song about “First World Problems”\*, then you have to pick the one that mentions Crystal Meth. Woodstockbird already mentioned some of the great Also-Rans - so [here’s the Playlist Research link](http://www.playlistresearch.com/1990s/1997modern.htm) of them, including “Song 2” and “Bittersweet Symphony” which, along with White Zombie’s 1995 song “More Human Than Human”, seemed at the time to be the soundtrack of every third commercial (I exaggerate of course - it was every sixth commercial) At the time I realized that the peak performance of Modern Rock was coming to a sad close - at the time NY had 4 radio stations playing Alternative/Modern Rock music (even formerly classic rock stations, so you could often hear, for example, a Tom Petty song followed by a Alice In Chains song - most excellent), but I knew that wouldn’t last. Even worse for us Alternative fans on Long Island, the year before the Malibu nightclub in Lido Beach closed down :eek: (that emoticon does express the general feeling at the time). To quote a phrase from Smash Mouth that would increasing fit as the years progressed - “What The Hell Happened?” My favorite song of the year was a tender love ballad from the also-ran list - the Chemical Brothers’ “Block Rockin’ Beats” 😛 \*Don’t remember that phrase being in use at the time, but whatever, it works here. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/8 "2014-11-17T18:43:29Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Woodstockbird already mentioned some of the great Also-Rans - so [here’s the Playlist Research link](http://www.playlistresearch.com/1990s/1997modern.htm) of them, including “Song 2” and “Bittersweet Symphony” which, along with White Zombie’s 1995 song “More Human Than Human”, seemed at the time to be the soundtrack of every third commercial (I exaggerate of course - it was every sixth commercial) Lol, that list attributes “Why Can’t We Be Friends” to The Smashing Pumpkins instead of Smash Mouth. Close enough. 🙂 Surprised that “Song 2” only made the “Honorable Mention” list there. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/9 "2014-11-17T18:52:47Z")
Yeah, not a great year at all. For me, it came down to between Garbage and Everclear, and I went with Everclear - definitely not their best song, but still a very underrated band, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/10 "2014-11-17T19:14:13Z")
It’s a pretty solid year from where I stand. There are at least half a dozen songs that I can enjoy listening to, and I’d probably recognize some more if I had time to look them all up. For now, I’m going with Lakini’s Juice, which is one of my favorites from Live. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/11 "2014-11-17T20:05:53Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Lol, that list attributes “Why Can’t We Be Friends” to The Smashing Pumpkins instead of Smash Mouth. Close enough. 🙂 Surprised that “Song 2” only made the “Honorable Mention” list there. Yeah, the Playlist Research doesn’t always seem to have the greatest editing - they have my favorite Chemical Brothers song of the year titled as “Block Rock ‘n’ Beats” instead of the correct “Block Rockin’ Beats”. Oh well, at least they tried. As for Song 2, yes it peaked at #6 on the US charts, but consider (from wiki) “It has been licensed worldwide on numerous occasions” - and this time IIRC wiki is absolutely correct; It was just a wee bit overplayed at the time - just a bit, mind you. Woo Hoo! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/12 "2014-11-17T20:06:26Z")
Everybody’s dumping on this list, but I think this list would be a great compilation CD. So many songs that are linked in my mind to different facets of that year. There’s a few that I don’t recognize by name, but I’m sure I’d know them if I heard them. I’m going with “Fly.” This is the only Sugar Ray song I even like, but I absolutely love it. “Love can make you hostage, wanna do it again?” “All around the world, statues crumble for me, who knows how long I’ve loved you?” Yeppers. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/13 "2014-11-17T20:22:02Z")
The list of top alternative songs from SirRay’s link is interesting. SMASH MOUTH - Walkin’ On The Sun THIRD EYE BLIND - Semi-Charmed Life DAVE MATTHEWS - Crash Into Me SUGAR RAY - Fly FOO FIGHTERS - Everlong SUBLIME - Santeria JEWEL - You Were Meant For Me MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES - The Impression That I Get CHUMBAWAMBA - Tubthumpin’ MATCHBOX 20 - Push Obviously a lot of overlap with the alternative #1’s, and I’d forgive the presence of DMB (I always pronounce that acronym with a ‘u’ between the D and the M) because they hadn’t yet defined themselves as a frat boy’s idea of alternative. And the Bosstones’ song might’ve changed my vote if it had been a #1. Ditto the Squirrel Nut Zippers’ “Hell” which was a bit further down the list. But Jewel’s “You Were Meant for Me”? God, what a pathetic little song. I’m content to pretend she was a one-hit wonder with “Who Will Save Your Soul” and then joined an ashram or something. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/14 "2014-11-17T20:40:54Z")
I don’t see why so many people are so down on this year. OK, maybe there aren’t any ‘great’ songs here, but it’s filled with songs that are fun to listen to. I went with Smash Mouth, but it was a close choice over 5 or 6 other songs. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/15 "2014-11-17T22:53:00Z")
Tubthumping is one of the few songs on this list to penetrate into the clubs of Mexico, and I loved it as soon as I heard it. (I finally rented the Peter Posthlewaite coalminer’s brass band film a couple months ago, which provides the spoken intro). Looking over the rest of the list, I think we’re finally getting deep into the “frat boy music” woodstockybird had warned us about. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/16 "2014-11-18T00:34:21Z")
This is another year I’ll take the pop charts over the modern rock charts. If I have to choose, I think I’ll have to settle on the Smash Mouth song, but I really don’t like any of the songs on this list. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/17 "2014-11-18T00:59:15Z")
Garbage and The Wallflowers are about the only decent choices. I went with Garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/18 "2014-11-20T01:24:34Z")
I went with Chumbawamba, because the rest of this list is pretty fucking hand-wringingly awful. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/19 "2014-11-21T03:41:20Z")
I actually like 9-10 of these songs, though many of them might be in the “I will sing along to it when I’m alone but I know it’s not ‘cool’ for me to like” category. This was a time period when modern rock was pretty much pop (all these songs were legit pop hits or at least MTV video hits and/or airplay hits), and most of these songs still receive radio airplay. Many of them I heard first on top 40 radio. Or they did the whole massive MTV yet still “alternative” to VH1 soccer mom crossover thing. OK, I don’t really like those songs (Sugar Ray) that much, but they are fun in some ways. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861/20 "2014-11-21T03:44:52Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > but I had forgotten all about #1 Crush, from the Claire Danes _Romeo+Juliet_ movie soundtrack, no wonder. I probably haven’t heard this song since it dropped off the SF Bay Area’s Live 105 playlist sometime before the end of 2000 (presumably). I think I heard it yesterday on my local alternative station, but I hadn’t thought of it in awhile. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-modern-alternative-rock-song-of-the-year-1997/704861.md?page=2)