Cosmic's Top 27 Songs of 2011

[Cosmic Harmony]

Another year draws to a close so I'm going to take the next month(ish) to highlight what I think are the greatest songs of the last 12(ish) months. And "why 27 songs exactly" you might ask, "that seems like such a random number".....and the reason is because the title had a nice ring to it with 27 songs. That's why.

#27




1953
Artist: Dropkick Murphys
Album: Goin' Out In Style


On this most recent album the Dropkick Murphys have explored their Celtic side far more than they ever have before and I absolutely love it. They've stretched their style from punk with hints of the Irish to songs that seem to be snagged straight from the song books of The Pogues or their closest peers, Flogging Molly and perhaps no songs exemplifies this more than "1953".
Kicking off with a drum roll and a running bagpipe riff that carries on through much of the song "1953" takes it's time telling the story about falling in love with the most beautiful and special person in the world. It's a very touching sort of tale and because of the mention of cold December air and through the use of chimes in the background the song almost has a Christmas like vibe to it, which to me is a great song to kick of my countdown with. After all, tis the season. ​

 

[Sunny]

Top Song Harmony!! A great one to sing along to - gets my Celtic blood going!

 

[AboutAGirl]

Oooh you beat me. I'm doing a top 50 list but I'm still working on it.

Good start, Dropkick Murphys are cool.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Top Song Harmony!! A great one to sing along to - gets my Celtic blood going!

It gets my Celtic blood going too and I don't even have any.

Oooh you beat me. I'm doing a top 50 list but I'm still working on it.

Good start, Dropkick Murphys are cool.

50 is too many for me to want to break down song by song and I hate to just do a list with no explanations for my personal projects.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

#26




Shake Me Down
Artist: Cage The Elephant
Album: Thank You, Happy Birthday


Cage The Elephant's entrant on this countdown is one of the most unpredictably structured on the whole shebang. Jumping from the general bummers of life in the verses to some good ol' sunny day optimism in the chorus. It has a well crafted use of dynamics with light guitar playing that quickly explodes with unusual drum sounds that I've heard are from a toy drum kit and goes in and out of these shifts in fresh ways throughout the entire song.​

 

[AboutAGirl]

It gets my Celtic blood going too and I don't even have any.



50 is too many for me to want to break down song by song and I hate to just do a list with no explanations for my personal projects.

Oh I'm going to be breaking it down song by song. That's why the list isn't done yet!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Touche. I'll be sure to swing by once you start posting it.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

#25

If I Had A Gun
Artist: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Album: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds


While they were still around Oasis was constantly getting attacked by critics for doing the same thing over and over again and with the band's main songwriter branching into the solo waters of his High Flying Birds project it's pretty predictable that Noel Gallagher would follow his proven formula. The predictability aside however Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds has some of the most sincere songs he's writing in years. Unlike the Oasis songs of their later years where Noel learned too well what it took to make a hit this solo venture is him writing these songs because that's how he wants them to be written instead of how the charts expect his songs to be written. All of this is epitomized by the song "If I Had A Gun" which sounds like it would fit in beautifully with the material on "What's The Story?" or "Be Here Now" and that means it's simply a wonderfully crafted song.​

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

#24



Blue
Artist: R.E.M.
Album: Collapse Into Now



There is far more to this song than meets the eye (or ear). On paper "Blue" by R.E.M. is a song with some singing in the background and some spoken word poetry and that's it. But with deeper analysis "Blue" has a vast level of layers that turn it into a very chilling, powerful piece of music.
The song is rather dark musically and has some moody guitar playing from Lenny Kaye (of the Patti Smith Group) and focuses strongly on Michael Stipe's free verse poetry reading while intertwining with guest vocals from Patti Smith. One thing that Michael does that makes him one of the greatest lyricists to rise to fame both in and since the early 90's alternative boom is that he is able to lead you to exactly the place he wants you to be with the way he lays out his lyrics.
On top of this the song has even deeper meaning since the band knew it would be their last song together so it's very reflective and somber with Patti singing the words "naked and blue" which I interpret as the line not meaning just being sad (blue) but as being naked and blue as the band's death. And all of this already makes the song powerful but at the end the song goes into a reprise of "Discover", which is the opening song to the "Collapse Into Now" album, to symbolize everything coming around to where it began and that with every death comes new life.​

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

#23




How Long
Artist: Charles Bradley
Album: No Time For Dreaming


More anachronistic than probably any other song on this countdown is Charles Bradley's "How Long". Unlike so many singers he doesn't try to make his voice sound a certain way, it just comes out however it it comes out and oh me oh my is it smooooooth. His voice isn't soulful, his voice is soul. ​