I AM MIKE! ALWAYS! You're not the only Michael S around, you know.
And here we are, down to the final 2. These two songs happened to singlehandedly define the year. Their utter greatness let them cross over all sorts of geographic and demographic lines, making them resonant for everyone?
Here's the thing, we started out friends ... it was cool but it was all pretend, yeah yeah, since u been gone
Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
Here's the thing
We started out friends
It was cool but it was all pretend
Yeah yeah, since you been gone
you dedicated,you took the time
Wasn't long till I called you mine
Yeah yeah, since you been gone
And all you'd ever hear me say
Is how I pictured me with you (you)
That's all you'd ever hear me say
But since you been gone
I can breath for the first time
I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah
Thanks to you now I get what I want
Since you been gone
How can I put it? You put me on
I even fell for that stupid love song
Yeah yeah, since you been gone
How come I never hear you say
I just wanna be with you (you)
Guess you never felt that way
But since you been gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on, yeah yeah
Thanks to you now I get
I get what I want
Since you been gone
You had your chance you blew it
Out of sight, out of mind
Shut your mouth I just can't take it
Again and again and again and again
Since you been gone (since you been gone)
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on yeah yeah
Thanks to you (thanks to you)
Now I get I get what I want
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so movin' on yeah yeah
Thanks to you (thanks to you)
Now I get (I get)
You should know (you should know)
That I get I get what I want
Since you been gone,
Since you been gone,
Since you been gone...
When this song was first released (in November 2004), it seemed like such a non-event. A zippy, if cliched pop-"punk" number from an Idol, that wasn't as cheesily good as her top 5 single Breakway. But if there is any track that defines the term "grower", it is Since U Been Gone. In a little over 13 months, it's managed to become a cascading roll of girl-power that becomes completely cathartic. Everyone can sing along and lose themselves in upbeat anger - a rare emotion to pull off. Thanks must go to two people for creating this gem - svengali Max Martin, and Kelly herself. No one else could've pulled it off.
As for number one, what else could it be?
ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh ohh
sweet love yeah [yeah]
]Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
I didn’t mean it when I said
I didn’t love you so
I should have held on tight
I never should have let you go
I didn’t know nothing,
I was STUPID I WAS FOOLISH
I was lying to myself
I couldn't have fathomed
I would ever be without your love
never imagined I’d be sitting
Here beside myself
Cause I didn’t know you
Cause I didn’t know me
But if I knew everything
I never felt
The feeling that I’m feeling
Now that I don’t hear your voice
Or even touch and kiss your lips
Cause I don’t have a choice
Or what I wouldn’t give
To have you lying by my side
Right here cause baby
When you left I lost a part of me
It’s still so hard to believe
Come back baby please cause
We belong together
Who else am I gonna lean on when times get rough
Who’s gonna talk to me on the phone
Till the sun comes up
Who’s gonna take your place
When there aint nobody better
Oh baby baby
We belong together
I can’t sleep at night
When you are on my mind
Bobby Womack’s on the radio
Singing to me “If You Think You’re Lonely Now”
Wait a minute this is too deep [too deep]
I gotta change the station
So I turn the dial tryin’ to catch a break
And then I hear Babyface
“I Only Think Of You” and it's breakin’ my heart
I’m tryin’ to keep it together but I’m falling apart
I’m feeling all out of my element, throwing things, crying, trying
To figure out where the hell I went wrong
The pain reflected in this song
Ain’t even half of what I’m feeling inside
I need you, need you back in my life baby
When you left I lost a part of me
It's still so hard to believe
Come back baby please cause
We belong together
Who else am I gonna lean on when times get rough
Who's gonna talk to me on the phone
Till the sun comes up
Who's gonna take your place
When there aint nobody better
Oh baby baby
We belong together baby
When you left I lost a part of me
It’s still so hard to believe
Come back baby please cause
We belong together
Who am I gonna lean on when times get rough
Who’s gonna talk to me till the sun comes up
Who’s gonna take your place
There ain’t nobody better
Oh baby baby
We belong together
Hot and cold. That's how Mariah plays us in We Belong Together, and that's why we all fell for it. Our Mimi starts off calm, if visibly shaken recounting her lost love. Her vocal grows in intensity trhoughot the song unitl the last minute, wherein she lets out a rip-roaring plea to her ex-lover to come back to her. IT's this sheer emotional vulnerability that made it so enticing to the whole nation, and it's the power of the song that makes it the best single that was released in the year 2005. To paraphase the legend ODB, Mariah's on fire.
Thanks to all that have read and enjoyed my list! And special thanks to NG for creating the nifty images that have enhanced this little chart show. I hope 2006 can give us, and me, so many singles to love that it seems impossible to whittle them down.
