Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

El Salvadoreno · Post by **El Salvadoreno** » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:20 pm

Lose Yourself is way underseeded.
All the rap songs on here are excellent, but there is something attractive about Eminem’s raw nature that makes it a cut above the rest for me.

Auroni · Post by **Auroni** » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:45 pm

No "Escape From The City," bracket invalid

Good Goblin Housekeeping · Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:56 pm

Auroni wrote:No "Escape From The City," bracket invalid

ryanrosenberg · Post by **ryanrosenberg** » Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:22 pm

No "New Slang", "Promiscuous", or anything off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot seems wrong.

Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:29 pm

Mad your favorite tunes of the 2000s weren't considered for this bracket? Write a packet about it and read it to your friends instead!

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:55 pm

Granny Soberer wrote:No "New Slang", "Promiscuous", or anything off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot seems wrong.

I really don't think YHF has aged well. Also, Promiscuous is actively bad.

rylltraka · Post by **rylltraka** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:09 am

While I am fine with "Wake me up when September Ends" as the selection off American Idiot, I probably would have gone with "Holiday".

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:11 am

rylltraka wrote:While I am fine with "Wake me up when September Ends" as the selection off American Idiot, I probably would have gone with "Holiday".

That was a hard one for sure. Either one would have been a fine choice.

Quinctilius Varus · Post by **Quinctilius Varus** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:27 am

Both "All My Friends" and "Lose Yourself" are very underranked (although I think Stan is a better Eminem song), but I'm really pulling for "All My Friends", which has my pick for best song of the 2000s*. This list, especially in the Round 0 matchups, is really lacking in hip-hop. I'm very surprised "In Da Club" and "Drop It Like It's Hot" are nowhere to be found, and I would have also included "Ante Up'" and "Int'l Players Anthem" as well. So in conclusion, this is why my team should be ranked higher. (Seriously though, this bracket is fun and thanks for running it)

*My second favorite song would be "Since I Left You" by The Avalanches, but I wasn't expecting that to be included in the first place

Irreligion in Bangladesh · Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:48 am

The octant of the bracket led by Seven Nation Army is stacked. The worst song in that set (probably Idioteque, maybe Cry Me a River) is better than everything except 99 Problems in Jay-Z's octant.

I look forward to Wake Up knocking out Kanye*, because I live close enough to Dylan Minarik that I'll be able to pick up the pieces of his exploded head in the aftermath.

*Unless Coldplay does it first!

Also, Fred, you missed a song.

Charm Bison · Post by **Charm Bison** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:51 am

Also, Fred, you missed a song.

That's not even the best Barenaked Ladies song of the 2000s.

Irreligion in Bangladesh · Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:32 am

sambrochin wrote:
Also, Fred, you missed a song.
That's not even the best Barenaked Ladies song of the 2000s.

That's not even the best Barenaked Ladies song of the half of the album it's on. (It is in a dead heat for second, though, with Helicopters.)

heterodyne · Post by **heterodyne** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 2:20 am

Quinctilius Varus wrote: *My second favorite song would be "Since I Left You" by The Avalanches, but I wasn't expecting that to be included in the first place

Seems eminently reasonable to assume that one of the lead singles from one of the most acclaimed albums of the decade would make it on over some of the more inexplicable picks here (Electric Six, really? They're a novelty band with reasonable talent).

Red Panda Cub · Post by **Red Panda Cub** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:09 am

how is "Blind by the Lights" or, heck, anything from A Grand Don't Come for Free missing. stupid america.

tksaleija · Post by **tksaleija** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:42 am

Alright, at risk of sounding like some edgy teen, I'm surprised that there isn't at least one (1) song by Fall Out Boy here. All of their best songs fall into the 2000s. "Dance, Dance" was well-received and still liked today, "I Don't Care" is just good and catchy (though if we're going by how the album fared, I guess I can understand why it isn't here). "Thanks for the memories" (I wasn't going to fight autocorrect there) and "Saturday" are also fairly popular. I'm not saying that they would've or should've won, but I think FOB should've been given a chance at least.

El Salvadoreno · Post by **El Salvadoreno** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:58 pm

Irreligion in Bangladesh wrote:
sambrochin wrote:
Also, Fred, you missed a song.
That's not even the best Barenaked Ladies song of the 2000s.
That's not even the best Barenaked Ladies song of the half of the album it's on. (It is in a dead heat for second, though, with Helicopters.)

Come on, we all know this is obviously the best Barenaked Ladies song of the decade.

MorganV · Post by **MorganV** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:14 pm

AKKOLADE wrote:Also, Promiscuous is actively bad.

Promiscuous suffers from the fact that it instantly dates itself to Steve Nash's MVP years

rylltraka · Post by **rylltraka** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:49 pm

Yes, let us all quote deep album cuts as "best songs of the decade" from bands that 99%-100% of people don't care about, except for the singles; that is the purpose of this exercise; get it out of your blood.

Potentially unpopular opinion: The Killers' "Spaceman" is by far their best song, including the trifecta of hits from their first album.

jonpin · Post by **jonpin** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 2:11 pm

I'm a pop enthusiast, so I'm unfamiliar with a surprisingly large number of these selections.
I've already (vociferously) complained in another locale about the absence of "A Thousand Miles", and I see that there's no Michelle Branch either, so I guess the female singer-songwriter genre's going to have to rely on Adele here.
Ben Folds, Rilo Kiley, "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, "Boston" by Augustana are sad absences.
It would've been nice to have some Maroon 5 to remind us of a time when they didn't suck.
I'm a bit thrown off by "September" as Green Day's entrant. Other cases where I'd have picked a different candidate are "What Goes Around" for JT and "Umbrella" for Rihanna, but I'm OK with the two in the bracket.
"Hips Don't Lie" and "Mr. Brightside" are waaaaaaay underseeded.

Those are all the gripes I can think of at moemnt.

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 2:30 pm

heterodyne wrote:
Quinctilius Varus wrote: *My second favorite song would be "Since I Left You" by The Avalanches, but I wasn't expecting that to be included in the first place
(Electric Six, really? They're a novelty band with reasonable talent).

I wouldn't call Electric Six a novelty band outside of "Gay Bar."

I considered "Since I Left You" and "Frontier Psychologist" among the 400+ songs I didn't include.

The Favourite · Post by **The Favourite** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 4:45 pm

jonpin wrote: "Boston" by Augustana

This.

Also, "Hurt" as a seven seed is bad. The GOAT of Music Videos. It should be the 2010 Butler Bulldogs of this tournament

merv1618 · Post by **merv1618** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 4:57 pm

I'm more upset about how the two best pop songs of the past twenty years are in the same eighth.

Also, Shakira's entry should 100% be Suerte instead of Hips Don't Lie.

MiltonPlayer47 · Post by **MiltonPlayer47** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:09 pm

I am also disappointed by no Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis and no Ben Folds. And this one doesn't come as a surprise, but I am also sad that a Fiery Furnaces song was not included. As a guilty pleasure I would have also picked a Blink 182 song off of Take off Your Pants and Jacket. I don't listen to a lot of rap but I would probably have included a Cam'ron song--either More Gangsta Music or Down and Out.

On the plus side I love the choices of Chop Suey, Idioteque, and Bad Romance. And I also appreciate no Wilco or Kings of Leon!

Auger recombination · Post by **Auger recombination** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:47 pm

Not having Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger vs. Stronger is a crime against bracketology.

Victor Prieto · Post by **Victor Prieto** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:51 pm

Spotify playlist (explicit versions were chosen over clean). Jay-Z is not on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/user/122079391 ... hrIATN9jJ3

jonah · Post by **jonah** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:21 pm

I begged Fred for Rilo Kiley and he said if I could pick one song he might include it. But who can pick one song? Sorry, Jon, Steven, and others of fine taste!

I actually have a handful of questions about the work of Rilo and Jenny Lewis that I wrote for absolutely no good reason at all, since I doubt there's any real audience for a whole packet on them, but maybe I'll get it to 10/10 one day and a very small group can have a bit of fun.

The Real Master of Flémalle · Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:53 pm

Auroni wrote:No "Escape From The City," bracket invalid

AKKOLADE · Post by **AKKOLADE** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:00 pm

Okay, let's move on from the meta commentary.

Also, I'll no longer be voting, since I have hard seeds where I didn't really before.

Song: Crazy
Artist: Gnarls Barkley
Album: St. Elsewhere
Year: 2003

Song: Machine Gun
Artist: Portishead
Album: Third
Year: 2008

Song: Wake Me Up When September Ends
Artist: Green Day
Album: American Idiot
Year: 2004

Song: Beautiful
Artist: Christina Aguilera
Album: Stripped
Year: 2002

Song: SOS
Artist: Rihanna
Album: A Girl Like Me
Year: 2006

Song: Mr. Brightside
Artist: The Killers
Album: Hot Fuss
Year: 2003

Song: Chop Suey!
Artist: System of a Down
Album: Toxicity
Year: 2001

Song: Since U Been Gone
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
Album: Breakaway
Year: 2004

Song: Jesus Walks
Artist: Kanye West
Album: The College Dropout
Year: 2004

Song: Clocks
Artist: Coldplay
Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head
Year: 2002

Song: Wake Up
Artist: Arcade Fire
Album: Funeral
Year: 2004

Song: Danger! High Voltage
Artist: Electric Six
Album: Fire
Year: 2002

Song: The Rat
Artist: The Walkmen
Album: Bows + Arrows
Year: 2004

Song: Toxic
Artist: Britney Spears
Album: In the Zone
Year: 2003

Song: Get Ur Freak On
Artist: Missy Elliott
Album: Miss E… So Addictive
Year: 2001

Song: Chasing Pavements
Artist: Adele
Album: 19
Year: 2008

And your ballot:

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

You'll have, hypothetically, 48 hours for voting. That may be extended by my possibly lacking meaningful Internet access, but we'll see.

tksaleija · Post by **tksaleija** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:07 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down

Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire

Toxic - Britney Spears

Chasing Pavements - Adele

1.82 · Post by **1.82** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:08 pm

For what it's worth, Jonah, I would definitely play that Jenny Lewis packet. I remember at Maryland practice we failed to pay attention and ended up reading one specific Harvard International packet at least three times, and each time I was really excited to power the tossup on Rilo Kiley.

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

I have a hard time imagining an album in the future as big as American Idiot was in 2004. I don't have strong feelings about either of these songs, though. I wouldn't seek either of them out.

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

The weekend before my last birthday in October, I was with some friends at Dark Horse in Atlanta, home of the stickiest floor I have ever encountered in my life (this despite my having lived for three and a half years of my life in College Park). We were bemoaning Dark Horse's ridiculous karaoke rule banning men from singing songs written for women (a category that includes every good karaoke song), when it was announced that it was pop punk karaoke night. The white folks then spent the next hour or so singing all the lyrics to songs that I only vaguely recognized at best. One of the songs I did recognize was "Mr. Brightside", which came on abut halfway through and got my friends very, very excited. I love those people but I don't love pop punk, so this is a demerit for The Killers.

On the other hand, while I don't remember ever being particularly impressed by "SOS" (it's no "Disturbia", which was somehow even more inescapable my first semester of high school than "American Boy"), I'm surprised listening now to find that it's just not very good. Obviously the title suggests a much superior ABBA song, and likewise the beat evokes "Tainted Love" for a song that is not nearly as interesting as "Tainted Love". It just all feels limp. I wasn't expecting to vote for "Mr. Brightside", but here we are.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

This was the easiest vote of the bracket. "Since U Been Gone" is good and System of a Down is bad.

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

I wish I could articulate what bothers me about Coldplay so much, but fortunately plenty of other people have.

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

Arcade Fire is my favorite band and I'll vote for Arcade Fire until they lose, but even though Wake Up is their most recognizable song, it's also in the bottom half of songs on Funeral, the best being "Rebellion (Lies)" and "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)". It's hard to forgive "Wake Up" for all the mediocre hipster bands of this decade that sound just like that. The best Arcade Fire song is "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)", but that didn't come out in the 2000s.

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

A few years back Isaac Hirsch made a science-themed mixtape for Dan Puma, where all the songs related to science in some way. Dan must have loved it, because he played it every time we went on a road trip for quizbowl. It wasn't a long playlist—there weren't more than a dozen songs on it—and Dan would skip what seemed like half the songs, so it repeated itself very quickly. On US 29 in rural Virginia, you could fall asleep in the middle of "Electric Feel" and wake up in the middle of "Electric Feel" and the surroundings would be exactly the same and you would have no idea whether you had fallen asleep for a minute or for an hour.

One evening we were driving back to College Park from Charlottesville (after 2016 ACF Regionals, perhaps) and because Dan had graduated, we were without Isaac's musical wisdom to guide us. Instead, we decided to flip through some radio stations to see what the vicinity of Fauqiuer County had to offer. Probably the third station we turned to was playing "Toxic", and we stopped there, because we knew we weren't going to do any better than that. All of us already liked the song, because Maryland quizbowl is full of cultured and right-thinking people, but I don't think that any of us remembered until hearing it again just how good it was.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

Dantooine is Big! · Post by **Dantooine is Big!** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:12 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

(The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears)
Abstain

(Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele)
Abstain

heterodyne · Post by **heterodyne** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:15 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day

Mr. Brightside - The Killers
While Mr. Brightside is obviously underseeded, I don't like it as much as some seem to. If the Rihanna song had been Disturbia I probably would have voted for it, but oh well.

Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West

Wake Up - Arcade Fire

Toxic - Britney Spears
One of the most iconic bops of the millennium so far tbh

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott
No contest here for me.

High Dependency Unit · Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:31 pm

Crazy
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Mr. Brightside
Since U Been Gone
Clocks (plz knock out Kanye)
Wake Up
Toxic
Chasing Pavements

ryanrosenberg · Post by **ryanrosenberg** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:32 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead
Snoozer of a matchup here, so I'll take the time to plug the non-"Crazy" songs on St. Elsewhere, especially "Smiley Faces" and "Gone Daddy Gone".

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
Not my favorite song on American Idiot but the clear pick here.

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
What Alston said.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
What Naveed said.

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay
As Paul Moschetti once said in a discussion of Coldplay snobbery, "I would never hate on A Rush of Blood to the Head." Still, it falls to a classic Kanye song here.

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-PqqifyjA

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
"The Rat" is very good mid-decade rock but ultimately not as unique or catchy as "Toxic".

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

Post by **Susan** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:53 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay
Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

women, fire and dangerous things · Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:17 pm

Crazy

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Mr. Brightside

Since U Been Gone

Jesus Walks

Wake Up

Toxic

Get Ur Freak On

Auger recombination · Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:24 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Abstain

Wake Up - Arcade Fire

Toxic - Britney Spears

Chasing Pavements - Adele

ProfessorIanDuncan · Post by **ProfessorIanDuncan** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:28 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Briefly considered Machine Gun here, but going against Crazy here is, well,crazy

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

I was gonna go with Mr. Brightside here, but I'm surprised how much I enjoyed SOS on hearing it again.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

No doubt in my mind here. Chop Suey! deserves to be a sleeper, but I guess people don't like System of a Down?

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

I don't really expect Coldplay to win out here, so this is just me being a bit contrarian to break the tie.

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

Danger!High Voltage doesn't deserve to be on this list.

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

Toxic is probably the best Britney song.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

EDIT: My fingers are fat.

Steeve Ho You Fat · Post by **Steeve Ho You Fat** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:53 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead One of the best sets of chords I've heard. Danger Mouse is the Midas of a decade, and brought out Cee Lo's best work.

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera Life will never be long enough for me to want to hear another Green Day song.

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers Actually tougher than I expected, since this isn't one of my favorite Rihanna songs. Mr. Brightside is really good for what it's trying to be, but it has too many fratty white fanboys for me to really be able to appreciate it.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson Still a classic, still criminally underseeded.

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay Every time I get a rental car at Hertz I always wish it were Avis so I could ask what comes in the trunk.

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

MorganV · Post by **MorganV** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:59 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
Beautiful is just kind of a generic female ballad (where is the Mariah on this list Fred) whereas American Idiot is iconic

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
What Ryan said.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

These are two guilty pleasure songs from very different areas of my life. I'm marginally less angsty now so we'll go with the one that's more fun

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay
I was convinced for a while that Iggy Azalea's Fancy lifted the bassline from Jesus Walks, but after another listen realized that I was wrong. Shout out to clocks for being one of the first things I learned to play on piano

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
Fred made some weird picks for this, I guess he'll just have to adjuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
How can anyone not get pumped when this comes on

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

Its not gonna win but I have to vote for Adele out of nostalgia here

Post by **halle** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:01 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
This was super close for me, because I sort of like both these songs but don't feel strongly about either.

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
I wish I wasn't voting against Rihanna in round one, but Mr. Brightside is an absolute jam and I guess that's how it's going to be.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
I wasn't expecting this to be close, but I was surprised by how much I liked The Rat. Not enough, though! It'd take a lot to beat Toxic.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele
Get Ur Freak On is extremely great. Adele's voice deserves a shoutout for elevating a less interesting song into one I seriously considered voting for, though.

Post by **Auks Ran Ova** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:34 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

Well, this was easy.

Red Panda Cub · Post by **Red Panda Cub** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:41 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

El Salvadoreno · Post by **El Salvadoreno** » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:41 pm

Crazy
Beautiful
S.O.S (through Brightside, fratty as it may be, is better than a lot of the songs above it, namely Chop Suey and Danger!)
Since U been Gone
Jesus Walks (in your dreams Kanye Haters)
Wake Up (There is a serious issue if you think Danger! High Voltage is anywhere close to the top 5,000 songs of the 2000s)
Toxic
Get Ur Freak On

Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:54 pm

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

"Crazy" is a really deserving one seed: I like it a whole lot even if I don't have too much to say about it.

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

"Beautiful" reminds me of Mean Girls, which I guess is good. But I find it pretty boring and have never been a fan of Christina Aguilera's voice. "Wake me Up" is good if not great, I was never super into American Idiot-era Green Day but I can appreciate it.

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

"Mr. Brightside" is great but has been kinda ruined for me by overexposure, so I figured I'd give "SOS" some love. It was quite possibly the first song that I ever noticed a sample in, and I think it's better than people give it credit for, even if some of Rihanna's mature work is probably superior.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

This is like a tossup for me, so I'm gonna give the edge to the song that I anticipate will get blown out. I'm not super crazy about either of these!

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

There's very little wrong with "Jesus Walks" besides the fact that it's a bit cookie-cutter as far as Kanye songs go, and we already know how I feel about Coldplay.

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

Funeral is one of my top albums of the decade, and this is one of the best tracks on it imo- I absolutely adore the part when the piano comes in near the end. "Gay Bar" is a fun song but other than that I don't really see why Electric Six are on this list.

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

The only upset I've got in this quadrant! "Toxic" is a nearly perfect pop song, and that hook is inescapable. "The Rat" was... okay? It was the only song in the quadrant I had never listened to and it felt very much like replaceable 2000s altrock to me.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

"Get Ur Freak On" feels a bit overseeded, but I like it plenty, mostly due to the Punjabi beat going on in the background. As much as I do like "Chasing Pavements", the fact that it's not really a go-to Adele song hurts it here.

Remembered Guy · Post by **Remembered Guy** » Fri Dec 22, 2017 12:21 am

Crazy
Beautiful
Mr. Brightside
Since U Been Gone
Jesus Walks
Wake Up
Toxic
Get Ur Freak On

MiltonPlayer47 · Post by **MiltonPlayer47** » Fri Dec 22, 2017 12:35 am

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead
I don't like either one, but I'll pick the one that hasn't been overplayed.

Wake Me Up When September - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
Green Day was my favorite band when I was in high school but I rarely listen to them anymore. The albums that they recorded before Nimrod are still okay, but nothing that they have recorded since deserves to be in any "best of" bracket. Plus I kind of like "Beautiful."

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
The former was one of my favorite songs when I was in high school and listening to it always takes me back.

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
I'm not the biggest Arcade Fire fan, but they win easily here.

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
This one isn't even close.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

Wartortullian · Post by **Wartortullian** » Fri Dec 22, 2017 1:06 am

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead
No contest.

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
I've mostly outgrown my angsty pop-punk phase, but there are very few cases in which I would not vote for Green Day.

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
I just never got Rihanna.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Since U Been Gone is admittedly a great song, but I'm not sure why System of a Down is getting such a bad rap in this thread. Hell, I normally hate nu-metal, but SOAD has put out some great stuff.

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay
Coldplay is ... Coldplay.

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
Danger! High Voltage is good too, but for a very different reason.

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
Abstain. Not really a fan of either.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele
Adele is a treasure. Fight me.

Off To See The Lizard · Fri Dec 22, 2017 1:36 am

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six

I like Arcade Fire but I agree with Naveed that Wake Up is one of the worst songs from Funeral. Still better than its opponent though

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele

Aaron's Rod · Post by **Aaron's Rod** » Fri Dec 22, 2017 1:51 am

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley vs. Machine Gun - Portishead

Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day vs. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
I just have a deep, abiding distaste for songs by or for people of any gender where the point is convincing someone that they're beautiful, c.f. One Direction or any other example. I know, weird hill to die on. (♫Does that make me crazy? Probably!♫)

SOS - Rihanna vs. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
I wish this wasn't the Rihanna song on here, but I missed my opportunity to complain earlier this week.

Chop Suey! - System of a Down vs. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
I had never heard "Chop Suey" before and was not prepared for this to be a hard call! Ultimately I went for Kelly Clarkson because I thought the song was a more coherent whole rather than a couple of different ideas put together.

Jesus Walks - Kanye West vs. Clocks - Coldplay
I unironically really like "Clocks," but "Jesus Walks" blows it out of the water any day. ("You know what the Midwest is?/Young and restless" could easily replace the bit about midwest [collegiate quizbowl] in my signature.

)

Wake Up - Arcade Fire vs. Danger! High Voltage - Electric Six
I didn't know either of these songs before this, but I loved "Wake Up"! Really gorgeous and emotional. I agree with Dylan, I love the little piano ditty near the end. "Danger! High Voltage" is fun, but I'm not a huge fan of half-singing half-rapping/yelling style--uh, sprechstimme? Maybe? No?

The Rat - The Walkmen vs. Toxic - Britney Spears
"The Rat" didn't seem like any thing particularly special to me. "Toxic" is iconic. "Toxic" made me who I am today (gay).

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott vs. Chasing Pavements - Adele
Great, now that hook's gonna haunt me for the rest of the night.