There were other tracks, like ''Serpents' by Sharon Van Etten, or 'Poison & Wine' by The Civil Wars, 'Husbands' by The Savages, 'Wrath of God' by The Crystal Castles, a new song by the Stones, several by returning heavy-hitters Public Image Ltd., ZZ Top, Soundgarden, Sinead O'Connor, Dexys, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Bill Fay, Blur, Bobby Womack, Scott Walker, and Leonard Cohen, as well as universal hits from Gotye, Carly Rae Jepsen, Usher, or Taylor Swift, as well as songs by Jack White, that might have found a place in Eyewear's Top 40 affections at the end of 2012; and each came very close to slipping in.
However, at the last moment, it seemed utterly essential to include Willy Moon's outlandishly upbeat pop song, 'Yeah Yeah'. The song is preposterously in-yer-face, and entirely joyous - it celebrates musical entertainment as the purest form of instant gratification, and does so with the simplest, perhaps most classical of all words in the pop-rock canon, those "yeah yeahs". Its simple, immediate Yes and again Yes, to life and love, and dancing, makes the song and video - for all its silliness - brilliant - and frankly, at the dark edge of this violent, difficult year - something mindlessly positive to hold on to, as we brim over into the next year. I cannot guarantee that if you listen to all these forty songs you will have heard all the great songs of the year, but you will have heard a very strong sliver of the best.
However, at the last moment, it seemed utterly essential to include Willy Moon's outlandishly upbeat pop song, 'Yeah Yeah'. The song is preposterously in-yer-face, and entirely joyous - it celebrates musical entertainment as the purest form of instant gratification, and does so with the simplest, perhaps most classical of all words in the pop-rock canon, those "yeah yeahs". Its simple, immediate Yes and again Yes, to life and love, and dancing, makes the song and video - for all its silliness - brilliant - and frankly, at the dark edge of this violent, difficult year - something mindlessly positive to hold on to, as we brim over into the next year. I cannot guarantee that if you listen to all these forty songs you will have heard all the great songs of the year, but you will have heard a very strong sliver of the best.
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