An Imaginary Conversation with My Son on the Best Songs of 2010

Me: Hey Coop, what did you think of 2010, as far as music goes?

Cooper: 2010 was rad as far as everything goes.

Me: Really?

Cooper: I just felt like everyone—everything—was super innovative. I saw a lot of stuff this year I'd never seen before.

Me: To be fair though, you're 11 months old.

Cooper: True enough. Maybe my perspective is off.

Me: Don't let me rain on your parade.

Cooper: I mean, right there, those are two things that just flat out amazed me this year—rain, and parades.

Me: It's only when the two go together that it kind of sucks.

Cooper: Really? I guess I could see that.

Me: But getting back to music. I have to be honest that I didn't hear a lot of individual songs that really knocked me out. Songs that truly blew me away and that I had to listen to over and over.

Cooper: I did. I totally did.

Me: Like what?

Cooper: Probably my two favorite songs I heard this year are Cat Stevens' "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" and Low's "Peanut Butter Toast and American Bandstand."

• Cat Stevens: If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
• Low: Peanut Butter Toast and American Bandstand

Me: But neither of those songs came out this year.

Cooper: On a purely conceptual level—talking cognitive fundamentals here—I don't get what you're saying. Everything came out this year.

Me: Well, you came out this year, but those songs are old. The Cat Stevens song is older than me, and the Low song is more than a decade old.

Cooper: I don't know Dad, this is all seeming like some weird technicality to devalue my opinions on music.

Me: No, it's just you're not getting the whole point of talking about music at the end of the year.

Cooper: No Dad—I think you're missing the point. Those were my favorite songs of the year. Period, full stop.

Me: Okay, okay. You win. Props for picking a Low b-side, by the way.

Cooper: Thanks. I know pretty much all that band does is lullabys, but this is the one that really speaks to me. I look forward to peanut butter some day. And bandstanding.

Me: You don't... never mind.

Cooper: Frankly I'm surprised these aren't your favorites too, since you sing them to me as often as you do.

Me: I love those songs! They're just not new to me.

Cooper: Right, they're "not from this year" or whatever. So what were your favorites?

Me: Yeah, well like I was saying—

Cooper: —nothing knocked you out. Right. But it couldn't have all been average, could it?

Me: Just to give you an idea of my feelings on the matter: I have this compulsion to rate every single song in my iTunes library. Out of nearly 13,500 songs, 13,250 of them are rated.

Cooper: Intense.

Me: Yeah, a little. But it really helps with the smart playlists.

Cooper: You're digressing into territory I don't understand.

Me: Sorry. Anyway, for some perspective on my feelings toward music released this year, I have 504 songs in my iTunes that are from 2010. Of those, I only gave 21 songs a five-star rating.

Cooper: What is that, like 4%?

Me: Something like that. I'd need a calculator for that.

Cooper: It's 4%.

Me: Okay. And those 21 songs were written by 11 different artists or bands. I mean, it's really a small number. By contrast, I have 460 songs from 2009, and 38 are rated five stars, by 16 different artists.

Cooper: You're looking at around 9% there. Definitely a better ratio.

Me: Right?

Cooper: But Dad, you've got to stop sucking the pleasure out of this with all your statistical analysis.

Me: No, the analysis is fun!

Cooper: So weird. So what were the best songs?

Me: Should I rank them?

Cooper: Jesus Dad. I've got a nap scheduled later this afternoon. Can you just pick a few of your favorites and list them? They're all five stars, so ranking seems a little much.

Me: Okay.

• Emeralds: Candy Shoppe
• Broken Social Scene: Sweetest Kill
• Spoon: Who Makes Your Money
• Vampire Weekend: White Sky
• Richard Catwrangleur: Little Witch
• Josh Ritter: The Curse
• The Walkmen: Stranded
• LCD Soundsytem: I Can Change
• Arp: From a Balcony Overlooking the Sea

Cooper: Wow.

Me: What?

Cooper: Can't believe Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song" isn't on this list. That song is so good.

Comments

[Richard]

Awesome.

[lara]

I was just wishing music critics would post end-of-year lists of the best music they encountered that year, not just the best music that came out. Your kid's on to something.

[Andrew]

Tell your son when I was his age, my dad used to sing me "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor all the time. He should check that song out, I'll bet he'd dig it.

[mh]

very nice.

That kid, with his critical acumen, has got a very bright future indeed.

You've done well.

[Jon]

This is cool. You should keep it up. What's his next new favourite song. He's got a few years before the Curious George soundtrack takes over his life :)