Favorite Songs of 2000

The first year of the new millennium (or the last year of the old millennium, depending on how "nitpicky" you are) saw me listening to a wide range of popular music, from contemporary Christian to Top-40 to hard rock. You may also notice that the first three songs listed are from the ancient band The Monkees. Specifically, they are from their sixth studio album Head, released in 1968 right after their TV series was cancelled, and bought by me in late 1999, to be listened to for the very first time. So, I place it and its songs in my memories for 2000 instead of 1968! Incidentally, one of the album’s tracks (Porpoise Song) actually “appeared” on the brilliant Tom Cruise/Penelope Cruz movie Vanilla Sky a few years ago! And the version of Daddy’s Song (there were two on the CD) that I liked was the one sung by Michael Nesmith. Head was the album with which Peter Tork really broke out and showed his musical songwriting ability. Unfortunately, he quit the group soon thereafter. The Monkees were one of those groups that were belittled and underrated by many as not being legitimate enough. But they impressed me (and the late Frank Zappa) with the quality and diversity of their music when they cranked out SIX studio albums in the span of one and a half years from late 1966 to early 1968! Here is my favorite song list for 2000:

Circle Sky (Monkees)
Can You Dig It (Monkees)
Daddy’s Song (Monkees)
You Can't Erase It (Jars of Clay)
Go Let It Out (Oasis)
I Will Remember You (Sarah McLachlan)
There She Goes (Sixpence None the Richer)
Kiss Me (Sixpence None the Richer)
Natural Blues (Moby)
Someday (Sugar Ray)
Otherside (Chili)
Lord Of The Boards (Guano Apes)
Stupify (Disturbed)
South Side (Moby & Gwen Stefani)
Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Pass The Flame (John Elefante)
Loser (Three Doors Down)
Take A Look Around (Limp Bizkit)
Hemorrhage (Fuel)
With Arms Wide Open (Creed)
Are You Ready (Creed)
Why Pt. 2 (Collective Soul)
Headwires (Foo Fighters)
Broken Home (Papa Roach)
Rollin' (Limp Bizkit)
Music (Madonna)
Renegades Of Funk (Rage Against the Machine)
Minority (Green Day)
Warning (Green Day)
One Armed Scissor (At the Drive-In)

My favorite song of 2000 was the big hard rock hit (at least in Germany) Lord of the Boards by the Guano Apes, a song touching upon the profound subject of…snowboarding. Right up there with it was Disturbed’s disturbing Stupify, complete with the trademark Disturbed “barks”. The thoroughly obnoxious rap-rock band Limp Bizkit came out in 2000 with my favorite of theirs in Take a Look Around. And speaking of rap-rock, the band Rage Against the Machine went out in a blaze of glory with their swan song, a cover of Renegades of Funk. It’s too bad they split up, because I felt that they were about to become a “supergroup”. Madonna, whom I personally find even more obnoxious than Limp Bizkit, does have an uncanny pop sense for likeable music, and she didn’t disappoint with her song Music. Sixpence None the Richer, usually a contemporary Christian music band, crossed over into the mainstream with their sweet Kiss Me. And the tearjerker of the year award has to go to John Elefante, another contemporary Christian artist, with his touching ode to his father in Pass the Flame.