Who doesn't love lists? I sure do. VH1 pretty much bases 50% of their lineup on lists (the other 50% is dedicated to STDs). But even I have to ask if Pitchfork's Best 500 Tracks of the Decade is too soon. Whenever I put together a best of the year list, I try to wait until January to start it. Songs from November and December deserve just as much weight, but need time to settle.
Granted, we are mostly through the decade, but we're less than 2/3 of the way through 2009. So the potential number one song of 2009 may not even make the best of the decade. Nevertheless, this is purely for entertainment on P4k's part (don't tell me it's for journalistic value). They are unrolling a whole best of the decade slew of lists and articles, capping it off with the Top 200 Albums of the 2000-2009 era. That list however comes later. Right now they are jumping into the Top 500 Tracks of the 2000's. So far they've unveiled numbers 500-101, although they are pretty much consolation prizes. The real meat is in the Top 100, and knowing Pitchfork as any common reader does, I have what I think will be there Top 3 in my head. I'll wait until they get to the Top 100 to let that be known, but right now the list has been pretty solid. The only thing I noticed is two songs I thought would be easily Top 100, if not Top 50 are in 500-201:
#388: Sigur Ros - "Hopipolla"
This may be a bit biased since this is one of my favorite songs of all time (and I say this as Sugar Ray comes on my iTunes shuffle...shame). But let's be honest here. This is one of the most amazing and epic and beautiful songs of all time. I have it set as my alarm clock so I can wake up everyday knowing there is beauty in the world. To quote one of my favorite TV characters of all time: "COME ON".
#142 The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize??"
For this song, I'm shocked not only because it's a great song, but also because, knowing P4k, I expected this to be Top 50 easy. This threw my whole guesses for the list out of whack. And I know there will be more of Wayne Coyne and Co. on this list, but COME ON.
And as a side note:
Kudos Pitchfork, for including what I consider one of the most underrated Elliott Smith songs at #236, "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free (7" Version)". Although I prefer the album version, there is hope for this list yet.
Six years ago today, we lost an amazing man, musician, and songwriter. Elliott was 34 when he died and working on his most ambitious album of his career. We will never get to hear the undoubtedly amazing music that would have come from his future, but we have all the music he left behind to remember him by. Beautiful, fragile, heartbreaking, and hopeful; Elliott's songs captured all the emotions of life itself, putting them into short Beatles-esque pop songs and acoustic tunes. In my opinion, the best songwriter to ever live, we will never see a talent like his again, but I am just happy to have shared in his gift, his music.
