Listening to 80 years of Billboard: Part 7: 2000s

[cnoocy]

"You and me together through the days and nights
I don't worry 'cause everything's gonna be alright"
The 2000s

This decade is a mix of songs I'd never heard before and songs I associate with driving around Boston. And one with Tom Holland in lingerie.

“Turn Off The Light” and “Promiscuous” are indications that while I very much enjoyed all the new-folk I was listening to at the time, I should have been listening more widely because I only knew Nelly Furtado was a singer and not her actual music.

“Same Girl” is like an updated version of a Smothers Brothers take on “(Marie’s The Name) Of His Latest Flame” and of course I like the Atlanta references. The video also puts the joke on the guys, which is a nice touch. R. Kelly is credibly accused of horrific crimes. He’s probably not the only one in the list, but he’s one we definitely know about. I really like this take on R. Kelly’s career and its failure, connecting it to what we mean when we say "canceled" these days.

According to Wikipedia, the beat I so enjoy in “Never Leave You” is a modified version of the Diwali riddim which I think I first heard in Gil Scott-Heron’s “New York Is Killing Me.” It also appears in “Pon De Replay” by Rihanna.

I had actually watched Jordin Sparks’ season of “American Idol” but my only previous owned music from it was a track or two from her runner-up Blake Lewis.

“Womanizer” like “Strut” in the 1980s, is a song with feminist lyrics that the video works very hard to undercut.

I always confuse “Paralyzer” with “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand when it starts, but I’m usually okay with that because I like both songs.

“No One” came up while I was driving from Arlington to East Boston and trying to find music on the radio. I was a little stressed at the time, and Alicia Keys singing “everything’s gonna be alright” just extinguished that stress like cool water on a fire.

"All the Small Things" by Blink 182: #40 in 2000
"Turn Off The Light" by Nelly Furtado: #70 in 2001
"Play" by Jennifer Lopez: #72 in 2001
"Never Leave You" by Lumidee: #41 in 2003
"Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrel: #71 in 2004
"Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland: #3 in 2006
"Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz: #97 in 2006
"Same Girl (Feat. Usher)" by R. Kelly: #100 in 2007
"Umbrella" by Rihanna ft. Jay-Z: #2 in 2007
"No One" by Alicia Keys: #76 in 2007
"Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven: #98 in 2007
"See You Again" by Miley Cyrus: #31 in 2008
"My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson: #23 in 2009
"Womanizer" by Britney Spears: #39 in 2009
"Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks: #57 in 2009
"Say Hey (I Love You) [feat. Cherine Anderson]" by Michael Franti & Spearhead: #97 in 2009