It is that time of year where everyone with an opinion releases his or her personal best lists, so here I go with mine, this time, my favorite songs of the year, counted backwards from 10 to 1.
My criteria, well, they had to be played many, many times on my Ipod, and most of them have their own stories surrounding on how they metamorphosed into songs that I came to love this year. They don’t have to be released as singles and some are not radio hits. Some also are personal picks from some CDs I did buy this year. So it’s an eclectic list of pop, dance, R&B, rock and a lot of sad songs. Pinoy talaga ang puso! I have placed here links to Youtube so you can check out the songs if they are unfamiliar to you.
The story why I like this song revolves around a guy (isn’t it always?) who I met earlier this year who became some sort of crush. Yes, it is forbidden to talk about these things since my heart already belongs to someone, but for me, it was just a harmless crush on a much younger guy. At the same time this was happening, Alicia Keys released her CD, As I Am, and as I was listening to it, this song came out to the fore. Check out the lyrics – it seemed like it was talking to me to make a move on him. Of course, I did nothing, as I just viewed him as a temptation, one that we mere mortals usually meet in our lives. It was a crush that lasted from February to October and eventually just died a natural death, as most attractions do.
9. Torch – Alanis Morissette
I was browsing in an SM North EDSA record shop when I glimpsed a CD from Alanis Morissette that I did not have yet. I immediately bought it and a week later, it debuted in the Top 10 in the Billboard US charts - one of the rare times I get a CD simultaneously as the US does. In this age of downloads, that is almost an impossibility. Anyhow, I love the CD, as I do, most of her work. This is the song from the album which touched me the most. A very poignant break-up song directed obviously to her former flame, Ryan Reynolds. How I wish one of my exes would write something as sweet as this, for me, hahaha!
8. Beat Goes On – Madonna / Kanye West
Like any Madonna fan, I immediately bought a copy of Hard Candy soon as it was released earlier this year and although the song spawned the worldwide hit, 4 Minutes, this is actually the song that I most love from this CD. Although not released as a single, this would be the song I would dance to the most, if I had the chance to see her Sticky & Sweet tour. The pulsating beat, the wonderful rap from Kanye and the solid support from Pharrell makes this a saucy song if given due airplay in Manila’s clubs. Get down, beep beep
7. Shake It – Metro Station
This song was already charting in both the US and the UK charts but I just ignored it or never fully “heard” it, as there were so many more popular songs in the charts at that time. However, in November this year, the movie House Bunny, starring the comedienne, Anna Faris was shown here in Manila, and in one scene of that movie, this song was played. Then and there, my brother and I were hooked. Kaya pala, “Shake it, shake it” ang title. Better watch the movie to know why, or just check the movie title - shouldn’t be too hard to know why. We love this song so so much, it was the lead song for our first ever FABE fashion show.
6. Sabihin – Zelle
In a busy year for OPM, this was the only homegrown song that made it to the final 10. I first heard this song on the radio and I immediately asked around as to who sang it. I then bought the CD of Zelle, the first OPM CD I bought for 2008. They did not disappoint. Of course, the influences of Alanis Morissette and Evanescence are obvious, however, I love the arrangement, the voice of the singer, begging, entreating, wanting -
5. Wow – Kylie Minogue
This was my dance anthem throughout most of the year. How could it not be? It’s pop-dance at its best and I only learned later on that there were more superior singles from her X album. However, this song has been embedded so much in this year’s events that there was no way it would miss my list this year. Interestingly, when she sang this song in her HK show, the response was not so hot, maybe because not many people knew it or liked it. Nevertheless, I love it and I’m still dancing to it -
4. Make You Feel My Love – Adele
I discovered this song by accident – I was listening to some CDs at HMV, and since Adele had some hits on the UK chart at that time, I decided to give her CD a spin. Lo and behold, I hear this song, and it nearly brought me to tears. I also knew, instinctively that it was not an original, that someone in my generation sang it. I discovered later on that both Garth Brooks and Billy Joel released versions of this song in the ‘90s and that, voila, Bob Dylan wrote it and it was from his Grammy-winning Album of the Year, Time Out of Mind. No wonder the academy voted for it. They were probably weeping while listening to this song. This is mush at its best! -
3. Parle à Ma Main – Fatal Bazooka / Yelle
T’was the beginning of 2008 and this song was the most played song in my I-pod. The translation in English is (Talk to My Hand), much the same way, you would ignore somebody in English – talk to my hand. The video is equally funny and the performer here cross-dresses in the video. The song’s beat borrows a lot from Gwen Stefani’s pop sound, but still, the cheerleader context of the song and the climax of the video works really well. I admit I don’t understand all the French here since it’s very “street” French. I even suggested to Alliance that they introduce a course that teaches “street” French. As in English, the rap songs you hear have words which have different meanings, if sung or spoken in rap or in the ghetto. Whenever I felt down and out, I just check out the video of this song in Youtube and I perk up a bit -
2. Je T’Oublierai – Isabelle Boulay
This is a French song sung by a Canadian singer from Quebec – Isabelle Boulay. I discovered this song through the I-pod of my good friend, Benoit, who incidentally, is from France. In English, it translates to “I Shall Forget You”, and it’s a sad love song about – what else – a break-up and the tortured and twisted road that leads from it. The song stuck to me so much that throughout the ferry trip from Tagbilaran, Bohol to Cebu, this was the only song I was playing. Benoit, who lent me his I-pod during the beginning of the ferry ride, asked me, what song I was listening too, and I said this one. An hour later, he checked the I-pod again, and still, I was listening to it! I was so hooked on it! The more I listened to it, the more I loved it – the nuances, the simple guitar playing, the aching voice of Isabelle. If I were in a karaoke bar in Paris or Montreal, this would be the first song I will sing, and I can sing it in French!! -
1. Das Hat Die Welt Noch Nicht Gesehen – Söhne Mannheims
It is interesting to note that this year, the most overplayed songs in my I-pod were not in English. That’s quite a rarity, but not an impossibility. Just goes to show that the cliché ‘music knows no boundaries’ – holds true!
It is not always that a non-English song would end up as my favorite song for the year, and that it would be in German - that indeed, would be a rarity, since German songs are never really played in our country. You’d have to go back 24 years ago in 1984, when Nena’s 99 Luftballons, became a hit here in our shores.
I discovered this song through the European charts of Billboard magazine. What it translates to in English, je ne sais pas (I don’t know), but there is an interesting twist towards the end of the song. It is beautifully sung and I wouldn’t want it translated, as sometimes, the original version, really would sound better, as it preserves the nuances of the song in its original written word. Just listen to the song and you will know why I love it so much -
Incidentally, I’m going back to my keyboard lessons in 2009, and this would be the first song I want to learn. I want to be able to sing it by Christmas 2009! The message of the song will still stand 12 months from now!
Postscript:
Well, if there was a Pinoy Top 5, aside from Zelle, my other favorite OPM songs this year were, “Yugto” by Rico Blanco, “Leap of Faith” by Hale, “Grateful” by Juliana and “Captured” by Christian Bautista and Sitti. This was also the year where there was renewed interest in the Eraserheads, probably triggered by us nearly losing Ely Buendia, earlier this year. Talk about the effects of mortality. However, their music will live on in the hearts of people like me, who happen to be their batchmates in UP. I remember clearly that Buddy Zabala was in Rayadillo way back in 1988-1989 ROTC, same as me. I never saw Ely, though, around the campus. Anyhow, since they were dormers, our paths never crossed. It’s good that today’s generation of composers and bands are enjoying their music as much as we did!
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