The Soundtrack to Your 2010

I wrote a note on my Facebook page recently where I decided to come up with 17 songs that encapsulated 2010 in my opinion. I've since added an 18th song as a "bonus track."

While some people choose year-end song compilations based on songs that hit it big or made a new mark during a particular year, I decided to take a somewhat more personal approach. Sure, there are a bunch of songs that are in my list because they became popular during 2010, but there are also a number of songs on my list that are much older.

In some cases, the songs that are on here are there because I encountered them on the radio, they frequently popped up on iTunes or somehow wormed their way into my brain and wouldn't let go. Most of the time, they did so because they somehow symbolized a moment in time. They somehow had a message.

My challenge to you is this: If you had a chance to pick anywhere from 12 to 18 songs that you think reflected 2010 for you, which songs would they be? They can be profound statements or fun songs, great music or simply the flavor of the month.

If you choose to expand on any (particularly any that didn't debut in 2010), feel free. Again, the songs do NOT have to be songs that were made popular in 2010. They just have to symbolize something for you in 2010.

Here is my list, with the reasons I picked each song below.

1. "According to You" -- Orianthi
This song is all about not letting someone else's perceptions of you define who you are as a person. It was a powerful anthem of independence for me at a time when I was still wrestling with breaking free from mental chains that bound me, and it was incredibly catchy.

2. "Every Dog Has Its Day" -- Toby Keith
Yes, I know all the song's faults. Yes, it's schlocky. Yes, much of it is clichéd. But damn if it isn't a fun as hell song to rock along to! On a more serious note, it was one of the songs I think of as a rejoinder to certain someones who need to heed the message behind the song.

3. "Shots" -- LMFAO
Just a song about gettin' drunk, but it was a song that served as an undercurrent for some of my most memorable fun times this year at two of my favorite hang outs, both of which served their last customers in 2010.

4. "My Give A Damn's Busted" -- Jo Dee Messina
I bet most of you didn't know her version is actually a cover. Stevie Nicks fans who hear it for the first time might remark about how similar it sounds to "Whole Lotta Trouble." It's just another anthem for independence from someone who could bind you to him or her.

5. "TiK ToK" -- Ke$ha
Nothing profound about this song, just a song that gets in your head and stays there, for better or worse. If there's only one reason for me to like the song, it's the shout out to Mick Jagger.

6. "Uprising" -- Muse
This song has powerful political overtones, but it can also be a self-empowerment anthem. One of my favorite messages of the year.

7. "Work Hard, Play Harder" -- Gretchen Wilson
This song symbolizes how I used to be before I decided to grab hold of some restraint this year and stopped going out nearly as often as I used to. I can certainly still throw down with the best of them, but I also know when to say when.

8. "There You Go" -- Heart
This doesn't have Stevie Nicks singing harmonies, but some parts of it certainly sound like she's there. It's just a great mid-tempo rocker that fits in well with some of Heart's classics from the past.

9. "Welcome To The Future" -- Brad Paisley
Technological marvels, history and societal change, all of them in a fun package. My favorite part of this song is the third verse.

10. "Halfway Gone" -- Lifehouse
The band became one of my new favorites this year. I could have picked any of four songs from Smoke & Mirrors but decided to go with their first single since it was the first song that really caught my attention in 2010.

11. "Pants On The Ground" -- Gen. Larry Platt
This song went absolutely viral earlier this year thanks to his American Idol audition and Brett "Drama Queen" Favre.

12. "The House That Built Me" -- Miranda Lambert
This song was actually NOT written by Lambert, although it sounds incredibly auto-biographical. It's one of those songs that can send anyone's mind for a spin thinking about where they grew up and the memories they leave behind.

13. "Whipping Post" -- The Allman Brothers
This song grabbed hold of me in a way it hadn't in years during 2010. It was a song that symbolized some of the desperation of my darker moments in 2009 when echoes from that past began to creep back in. It became one of my staples at karaoke for a time.

14. "Face The Promise" -- Stevie Nicks (Bob Seger cover)
Seger's title track for his 2006 CD is all about leaving limitations behind and "facing the promise" of the promised land ... be it literal or figurative. Nicks sang the song with impressive conviction, especially considering her spotty record singing covers. I use one of her live versions as inspiration on a Facebook community page devoted to fitness.

15. "I.G.Y." -- Donald Fagen
Fagen's known for his sarcasm, and this song has a little bit of it, even though the lyrics suggest a surprisingly sunny optimism. The song was one of the songs that played in my father's car on days when I drove it around.

16. "Listen To The Music" -- The Doobie Brothers
For a couple of weeks in September, my life took a dramatic turn for the better, and I got to spend quality time with both my parents for the first time in years. This song played in my head and on the radio repeatedly during that period. I sang it live at my usual karaoke bar one night and a guy motioned me over with a "I've gotta be blunt" demeanor ... to tell me how much he loved my singing.

17. "When The Levee Breaks" -- Led Zeppelin
I considered "Kashmir" as my Led Zep song of choice, but went with this one since "Kashmir" was all over my brain last year and losing a couple of places that were near and dear to my heart were symbolic levees breaking in my mind. This actually is a re-interpretation of a song from the 1930s and far predates Hurricane Katrina, although a YouTube video with Katrina images set to this song is a powerful mix of song and pictures.

18. "You Wreck Me" -- Stevie Nicks (Tom Petty cover) - Bonus track
During her five-city "This Is Not A Tour" tour, Nicks decided to sing this Tom Petty song instead of her usual "I Need To Know." And now "You Wreck Me" is going to be her new usual Tom Petty cover. I fell in love with the song when Petty first sang it, and I love it still now that Nicks sings it.

 

I have one song that would sum up the year nicely.

Memories-Kid Cudi and David Guetta.

"I'll the crazy shit I did last night. Those would be the best memories."

I always hear it at the bar or at a party and have it stuck in my head during my two day hangovers.