Top 10 Best Song Lyrics

USA Weekend and Billboard recently had a poll to determine the best song lyrics of the past 13 years. The results are:

1. "We Belong Together," Mariah Carey (2005)
2. "Smooth," Santana, featuring Rob Thomas (1999)
3. "Fallin'," Alicia Keys (2001)
4. "Lose Yourself," Eminem (2002)
5. "Hey Ya!," Outkast (2003)
6. "Stay," Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories (1994)
7. "Gangsta's Paradise," Coolio (1995)
8. "Missing," Everything but the Girl (1994)
9. "No Scrubs," TLC (1999)
10. "Family Affair," Mary J. Blige (2001)

I tried to make my own list, and as usual, had a hard time coming up with a definitive top 10! This is just a top-off-my head list, but for now, this will do. =)

My Own Best Song Lyrics (in random order):

• Black (Pearl Jam) – The last few lines alone is enough to justify the inclusion of this song in the list (not to mention Eddie Vedder’s kickass singing. You can feel his own heartache, hear it in his growls!).
  
  “…I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life, I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky, but why, why, why can’t it be, why can’t it be mine?”

• That I Would Be Good (Alanis Morissette) – the lyrics aren’t that profound, but the song’s beauty lies in the simplicity of its words. (Alanis’ haunting delivery also helped in making this one of my fave songs)
  
  “…that I would be loved even when I numb myself, that I would be good even when I am overwhelmed, that I would be loved even when I was fuming, that I would be good even if I was clingy…”

• Polly (Nirvana) – This might strike some as an odd choice, since this song is about rape from the rapist’s point of view. I like how the story was told, and I like the story behind the song. Again, the words are not profound, but considering the song’s sensitive theme, Kurt was able to tell the story without grossing you out.
  
  “…let me take a ride, don’t hurt yourself, I want some help to please myself…”

• Somebody (Depeche Mode) – I guess the song speaks for itself. Not your ordinary cheesy love song!
  
  “…though my views may be wrong, they may even be perverted, she’ll hear me out and won’t easily be converted…”

• Lightning Crashes (Live) – Another odd choice, a song about childbirth. It’s not everyday that you hear a man's song with a, well, womanly theme. It makes for a nice change from the usual love-themed songs you hear on the radio.
  
  “…ooh, now feel it coming back again, like a rollin’ thunder chasing the wind, forces pulling from the center of the earth again, I can feel it…”

• The Unforgiven (Metallica) – Typical of most hard metal songs, this is as doom-and-gloom as you can get. I don’t really know why I like this song in the first place, because the song is not one with a redeeming arc. Maybe because I empathize with the singer’s struggles, but unlike him, I don’t want to die regretfully.
  
  “…deprived of all his thoughts, the young man struggles on and on he’s known a vow unto his own, that never from this day his will they’ll take away…”

• Best I Ever Had (Vertical Horizon) – Ehem. Probably a controversial choice. Setting aside personal history, this is arguably the most depressing break up song I ever heard. How can your heart not go “ouch…” when you hear the words “but it’s not so bad, you’re only the best I ever had…”?
  
  “…and it may take some time to patch me up inside, but I can’t take it so I ran away and hide…”

• Fly (Jars Of Clay) – I love this song even before I knew what it alluded to, and I love it even more for its meaning. And like I often say, I like the word “Fly” because it means a lot of things for me: power, freedom and happiness.
  
  “…my tears like rain fill up the sky, oh, my love, I’m not letting go, I won’t let you go…”

• The Freshmen (Verve Pipe) – For the life of me, I cannot understand why I still listen (repeatedly) to a song that puts a sizable lump in my throat every time I hear it!
  
  
  “…for the life of me, I cannot remember what made us think that we were wise and that we’d never compromise…”

• Crash Into Me (Dave Matthews Band) – This song made voyeurism fascinatingly sexy! Its appeal lies in how the singer strings the words together to make it sound like a sweet love song. Which it probably is, but I feel it is too sexy to be considered sweet. But maybe sexy can also be sweet? I don’t know, all I know is that this is a sweet, sexy rock song!
  
  “…you wear nothing but you wear it so well, tied up and twisted the way I’d like to be…”
  
  

Go post your own top 10 and tell me about it!