20 Best Music Singles of Decade

They may subsequently have written better songs (for proof, listen to the singles from 2009’s “Tonight Franz Ferdinand” ), but this sharp-suited rallying cry, with Alex Kapranos’ urgent yelp and THAT riff, remains Franz Ferdinand’s defining moment.

The Nashville quartet’s arena-rock tendencies, which would eventually see them descend into full-blown stadium mode on 2009’s “Only By The Night” , were already very much in evidence on their third album. Ironically, its best track was a furious, metallic blast of ragged blues-rock, with a screaming chorus of which Black Francis would be proud and not a waving cigarette lighter in sight.

So, here’s what you do. Point your index fingers, make a fist with the remaining fingers and bend your thumbs in the middle. Then – regardless of your age, surroundings or embarrassment threshold – you shoot your finger-guns at the appropriate moments in the chorus. Easy!

Catapulted into the mainstream by 2004’s “Somebody Told Me” and its world-conquering parent album “Hot Fuss” , the Killers’ sophomore release saw a shift in influences from New Wave and Duran Duran toward 80s-era Bruce Springsteen and the rock theatrics of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. And it didn’t suck. Especially not in the case of its first single, which combined Brandon Flowers’ overwrought vocals with huge “Born To Run” keyboards to stir the soul in a way that their previous synth-pop confections could only dream of.

When I first started writing this article, I promised myself I wouldn’t include any of the songs from my Top 20 Singles of 2009 list. Because that just wouldn’t be any fun, would it? But “Cheat On Me” , which chimes as gloriously as anything Morrissey ever wrote with current Cribs member Johnny Marr, found its way in here regardless. It’s that good.

Black Eyed Peas mastermind Will.I.Am may have provided the chorus, but really it’s all about the smooth-as-silk vocal interplay between Rhymes and guest vocalist Kelis, which produced 2006’s best commercial hip-hop track.

Before 2007’s massive “Ta-Dah” , Jake Shears & co’s debut album featured, among other things, this soft-rock ode to the joys of introducing one’s mother to gay bars, complete with a strident 1970s guitar solo.

File under: songs never to listen to on public transit, unless you’re all right with the attention you’ll get for busting ill-advised seatbound dance moves. Because you will dance. The first release from 2005’s “Fishscale” , “Be Easy” ‘s thumping brass sample (courtesy of 1970s American soul group The Sylvers) and swaggering rhymes made it the Wu-Tang alumnus’ best single yet.

Of all the Chili Peppers’ sporadic “comeback” singles in the last ten years, this was the most convincing; the conclusion to the story of recurring character Dani California, introduced in 1999’s “Californication” , told to their best chorus in ages and closing with one-and-a-half minutes of vintage John Frusciante guitar squall. Accompanied by possibly the music video of the decade.

Because everyone knows that the best response to ‘I want my mommy and daddy!’ (as sniffled by Princess Superstar’s unfortunate charge) is ‘I want your daddy as well!’ And, while the track may close with the daddy in question declaring his intention to take a raincheck and see her next week, with her awesomely cocksure flow and laugh-out-loud rhymes he doesn’t stand a chance.

The best song to emerge from the sea of post-Killers synth-rock, The Bravery’s highest-charting single to date replaced the flashiness of Flowers & co with something entirely darker, while maintaining the sort of grandiose melody that saw it provide the backdrop to a dramatic moment on teen soap “Gossip Girl” . Somewhere, Robert Smith is kicking himself for not writing it first.

‘All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom! All the girls standing in the line for the bathroom!’ The remainder of 2007’s ubiquitous club anthem, the brainchild of uber-producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, was just as memorable as its distinctive chorus, with chaotic drums and synths that almost sound like they’re throwing up after a long night on the tiles.

A haunting whistled introduction, animated video and sugar-sweet chorus earned “Young Folks” a place on numerous soundtracks, as well as numerous end-of-year “Best Of” s. Despite 2009’s excellent “Living Thing” album (and its equally catchy first single, “Lay It Down” ) the song remains the band’s calling card.

It’s safe to say that the New Yorkers’ debut album satisfied the listening public’s hunger for “something different” ; its tripped-out psychedelic pop, made by two men who on their album’s cover shunned tweed jackets and skinny jeans in favour of animal pelts and neon boardshorts, sounded like nothing before. While it spawned three gigantic singles, the falsetto-driven funk of “Electric Feel” made for 2008’s most distinctive hit.

The third and best single from 2000’s wonderful “Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia” made the preceding two – including the still-beloved “Bohemian Like You” – look positively throwaway in comparison. Five minutes of delicately-layered guitars, woozy horns and the Dandys’ trademark gorgeous harmonies, it announced the album’s opening trifecta of downtempo jams which remained in the memory long after the faster, self-consciously ironic moments had faded.

Yes, this album was part of Sufjan Stevens much-mooted concept of producing an album to honour each US state. No, it never eventuated. He later suggested that it may have been a joke. But who cares, when “Illinois” produced this euphoric rush of galloping strings and a chorus that sounds like a choir of hipster angels giving praise.

There wasn’t one bad song on the London-based duo’s long-awaited commercial breakthrough, but this sneering, sinister duet slinks like a modern-day Nancy and Lee transplanted to a late-night world of cheap restaurants and dive bars.

With its pounding one-note riff and unmistakable chorus of ‘C-c-c-c-c-cocaine!’ Queens Of The Stone Age’s third single may not have been their most serious but it was easily their most fun. Banned by US retailed Wal-Mart for its drug references (did I mention that the remainder of its lyrics comprise a list of addictive substances?), it nonetheless remains a fan favourite and – let’s face it – one of the best songs in the world to blast while stopped at traffic lights with the windows down.

While 2004’s “The College Dropout” album may have marked out Atlanta rapper Kanye West as a talent to watch, 2005’s “Late Registration” cemented his status as one of the best in the game, helped in no small part by this massive, Ray Charles-sampling single. The combination of West’s bravado, Jamie Foxx’s spot-on Charles impersonation and an irresistibly danceable beat was both innovative and commercially viable; with a Grammy win for Record of the Year, the music world would soon be his for the taking.

OK, I promise I didn’t arrange #1 and #2 purely so I could make a “Yo Kanye, I’m really happy for you, and I’ma let you finish, but” joke. In fact, I had considerable difficulty choosing between the two positions, but in the end the best single from the New York garage rockers’ seminal debut, “Is This It” won out in terms of sheer influence; its distorted, choppy guitars and simple but astonishingly effective chorus, one of the best of the decade, elevated The Strokes to the position of indie-rock deities. No individual band in the last ten years has inspired such a slew of imitators.