During the last 12 months, these 50 songs from 50 different artists brought us or joy or enveloped our sadness. These are the melodies that stayed stuck in our heads, the words that spoke to us, even if it simply was with a vitriolic epithet that somehow still made us grin ear-to-ear, as was the case with our #1 song of the year. Some of these were radio hits, but most either made their mark on the Internet or among those few who heard them. In our humble opinion, here are the 50 Best Songs of 2010:
50. Local Natives – “Sun Hands”
49. The Tallest Man on Earth – “Burden of Tomorrow”
48. April Smith and the Great Picture Show – “Colors”
47. Beach House – “Norway”
46. Free Energy – “Free Energy”
45. Joanna Newsom – “Good Intentions Paving Company”
44. BLK JKS – “Zol!”
43. Sarah Jaffe – “Clementine”
42. Deerhunter – “Helicopter”
41. The Walkmen – “Stranded”
40. Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”
39. Dr. Dog – “Stranger”
38. Belle & Sebastian – “I Want the World to Stop”
37. Jamey Johnson – “Poor Man Blues”
36. New Pornographers – “Crash Years”
35. The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”
34. Avi Buffalo – “Truth Sets In”
33. Freelance Whales – “Hannah”
32. Magic Kids – “Hey Boy”
31. Surfer Blood – “Floating Vibes”
30. Gorillaz – “Stylo”
29. Suckers – “It Gets Your Body Movin’”
28. Vampire Weekend – “Horchata”
27. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”
26. Stornoway – “Zorbing”
25. Josh Ritter – “Change of Time”
24. Justin Townes Earle – “Harlem River Blues”
23. Lil Wayne – “6’7”“
22. Mark Ronson & The Business International – “Bang Bang Bang”
21. Band of Horses – “Laredo”
20. Big Boi – “Shutterbug”
19. Florence & The Machine – “Dog Days Are Over”
18. Jónsi – “Go Do”
17. Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II”
16. Broken Bells – “The High Road”
15. Lissie – “Little Lovin’”
14. Robyn – “Dancing on My Own”
13. Caribou – “Odessa”
12. Phosphorescent – “It’s Hard to Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)”
11. The Middle East – “Blood”
10. Kanye West – “Runaway”
9. Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”
8. Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Tom Waits – “Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing”
7. The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
6. LCD Soundsystem – “Dance Yrself Clean”
5. Frightened Rabbit – “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”
4. Sleigh Bells – “Tell ‘Em”
3. Janelle Monae – “Tightrope”
2. Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
1. Cee Lo Green – “Fuck You”