Reflections on the Music of 2007

As I am wont to do on occasion, I would like to take this opportunity to write down some of my thoughts on the popular music I liked the best for the year of 2007. Music is rather important to me, as I tend to strongly associate certain situations and experiences and powerful emotions with specific songs that, in effect, say what happened or what I am thinking or feeling. Overall, I was not particularly pleased with the music on the radio, as much of it struck me as rather repetitive. In fact, the music I really liked this year was unusually odd and obscure (I usually like relatively mainstream music). Without any further ado, I will reveal my favorite songs of the year, and explain why they struck me as particularly noteworthy.

Mattafix - Living Darfur

Perhaps the most obscure of my favorite songs of the year, I first heard this song while watching MTV Europe on the Israel extension tour after the Feast of Tabernacles. This uplifting and yet deeply emotional song about the benighted area of Darfur, with its plaintive chorus ("You shall rise...you may never know if you lay low lay low") and other touching lyrics ("See tears that flow like rivers from the skies"..."There's disaster in your past, boundaries in your path...sooner or later we must try living," and so on) gave this song a deep personal meaning for my own life, as well as the struggle of the millions in Darfur who, to this day, face the ferocity of the Sudanese government-supported janjaweed.

Sara Bareillis - Love Song

Perhaps the most upbeat song among my favorites of a rather tense and stressful and not particularly enjoyable year, this song is still rather bittersweet, probably the reason it was a favorite of mine. In a driving piano beat (I am most fond of piano ballads), Miss Bareillis sings a song to a lover about not being able to write love songs on cue based on requests or threats. Love songs must flow from within, from genuine emotion, and are not trophies or commodities. With lyrics that are much more biting and bitter than the peppy beat would indicate, the song reflects fears about love and creative talent being exploited by those who do not really feel the same, a frequent concern of mine.

Robyn & Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat

Another obscure song among my favorites, this song (like "Living Darfur") was not released as a single in the United States, and I also first heard it while in Israel. This song is a sad techno song about bravely facing heartbreak and the pain that takes place with every heartbeat. The song is, obviously, not a happy one as a relationship faces its definitive ending with the knowledge of the suffering that is occurring. "So I don't look back...it hurts with every heartbeat..." Sometimes a song like this expresses one's feelings, and this one did.

Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song

Another song whose upbeat music masked rather dark lyrics, this particular number follows the trend of the last two songs in reflecting upon a troubled relationship nearing its terminus. With lyrics as sarcastic as "you're not winning until you're winning me" and "let me repeat that, I want my stuff back," this song lets the deadbeat partner know that his time of taking his girlfriend for granted is nearing a close. Obviously, this was a year of endings more than beginnings.

Hilary Duff - Stranger

Like many of the songs I watched on Rotana while in Jordan (the Arabic music television channel), this song has an Middle Eastern dance beat, and is also about the ending of a relationship. In this particular case, the song is about a dysfunctional relationship falling apart where one of the people pretends to be friendly and affectionate in public while being dark and hostile in private. Indeed, the difference between public and private appearance is probably what makes this one of my favorite songs of the year, especially given the autobiographical importance of the material (given the falling apart of her relationship with Joel Madden, lead singer of Good Charlotte).

Miley Cyrus & Billy Ray Cyrus - Ready, Set, Don't Go

I never thought that a song by Billy Ray Cyrus (most famous for "Achy Breaky Heart") would be on any list of my favorite songs, ever, but this particular song about children growing up and leaving home touched a particular nerve for me. It is a foolish parent that tries to hold on to children after they are ready to go. Wise parents train their children well and give them legacies and equip them to succeed on their own. Foolish parents heap burdens upon their children and try to sabotage their independence. Obviously this is a point that needs to be learned better in some families.

Bucky Covington - A Different World

One of the less polished members of the 2004 (I believe) American Idol finalists, Bucky Covington did an excellent job with this viewpoint of a young GenXer (which I happen to be) musing on the different world now than it was for us growing up without as much technology or as much protection from the dangers of the real world. It is interesting, nonetheless, to reflect upon the results of a different childhood and upbringing. Reflecting on the generational difference between the GenXers and the Millennials of a useful thing. It also helps that most of this song applies to my own childhood.

Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call

This song is a rather biting reflection on a hot-tempered discovery of cheating. The video to this song is not very morally appropriate, but the material of the song itself if something I find grimly humorous given my own fierce (if seldom expressed) temper. With a chorus like "Wakeup call, caught you in the morning with another one in my bed, don't you care about me anymore, don't you care about me, I don't think so..." what is not to like/appreciate?

Overall, my favorite songs of the year are a combination of country songs, dance pop songs, rock songs, worldbeat songs, and adult contemporary songs, a pretty fair cross section of the music that was actually good this year. There were a couple of humorous rap novelty songs, and some pretty good R & B songs ("No One" by Alicia Keys deserves special mention, which avoids being on this list only because "no one" was present all year as that special someone, and that song is crying out for a devoted lover). No album was as excellent from start to finish this year as Keane's "Under The Iron Sea" was in 2006, but we shall see if next year has more consistent musical material.