Singular Sensations
From Kanye West to Green Day, Songs That Proved the Power of One

By J. Freedom du Lac
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 31, 2005

It's a singles world, and we're just iTunesing in it -- not to mention ring-toning, Clear Channeling, BitLording, mix-taping, BearSharing, etc.

With that in mind, We at The Washington Post are shoving the traditional Top 10 albums list to the back of the stage. (Or, at least, to another page.)

Now hogging the spotlight: a 21-popgun salute to the best singles of 2005. "Best" being roughly equal to those singles that got the most spins on my various music-playing gizmos, which appear to be procreating at an alarming clip. (And 2005 being the year in which said singles made their mark, even if they were released earlier.)

The envelope, please. . . .

1. "1 Thing," Amerie : Listen to the girl. "It's this 1 thing that's got me trippin'," Amerie coos over a thundering drum break on loan from the Meters' "Oh, Calcutta." Producer Rich Harrison's crafty use of Zigaboo Modeliste's insanely funky drumming was the thing in 2005 pop that tripped me out the most. A creative triumph from two of Washington's brightest stars.

2. "Trapped in the Closet," R. Kelly : Talk about keeping it surreal. Narrated by R&B's sex-obsessed sultan of strange and set in a more perverse version of "Peyton Place," "Trapped" is like a wickedly trashy telenovela that was drawn up for an after-hours slot on pay cable but somehow became a prime-time hit. Hide the women, children -- and Rufus!

3. "Hate It or Love It," The Game featuring 50 Cent : Bicoastal gangsta-rap summit results in a soulful, if lamenting, hip-hop-Hooray-tio Alger anthem.

4. "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today," Gretchen Wilson : Everybody's favorite redneck girl is disgusted by her dude's behavior; says she'll stand by her man, anyway. Just not for the next 16 hours.

5. "Welcome to Jamrock," Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley : Reggae legend's progeny paints a harrowing, hypnotic sociopolitical picture of a gang-infested Caribbean battlefield. Jamaican Chamber of Commerce cringes.

6. "Gold Digger," Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx : Success breeds predatoriness. So Kanye -- possibly on advice of counsel -- serves up the funkiest, funniest call-and-response of the year: "We want prenup!"

7. " Alcohol," Brad Paisley : A boozy, down-tempo ode to That Which Can Help White People Dance? I'll drink to that.

8. "Mr Brightside," The Killers : Brandon Flowers spooks himself silly over his number-one crush before swelling new-wave synths and guitars come crashing down, hopefully putting him out of his obsessive misery in the process.

9 . "Lua," Bright Eyes : Conor Oberst sings an elegiac indie-folk ballad about, like, getting sidetracked on the road to rehab.

10. "Heartbeat," Annie : The delightful Norwegian disco-pop jam that Madonna wishes she'd made.

11. "Hung Up," Madonna : The delightful Abba-sampling disco-pop jam that Annie wishes she'd made.

12. "Do You Want To," Franz Ferdinand : The sexually deviant disco-punk jam that Madonna and Annie will never make. (They're not arty, pert or Scottish enough.)

13. "Go Crazy" remix, Young Jeezy featuring Jay-Z : So just why do "the dope boys go crazy" over this brassy, brazen hustlers' anthem? It's the Jeez!

14. "Stay Fly," Three 6 Mafia featuring Young Buck and 8 Ball & MJG : Tennessee rap titans toast the thug life while remarkably chopping "fly" into a nine-syllable word. Just imagine what they'd have done with, say, "unconscionability."

15. "Holiday," Green Day : And now, for a power-chordy pop-punk message from the bastard children of Joey Ramone and Pete Townshend.

16. "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" remix, Kanye West featuring Jay-Z : With a sampled assist from Shirley Bassey, Kanye ponders the fairness of his trade (a mineworker's arm for an iced-out Jesus piece to be worn later); discovers that conflict-diamond guilt is forever.

17. "Hollaback Girl," Gwen Stefani : Marching-band beats, sassy playground chants, dippy spelling-bee shout-outs -- it's as if the Neptunes and Gwen crashed the Nickelodeon control room.

18. "Gasolina," Daddy Yankee : The jittery, galloping sound of a tanker's worth of fuel being added to reggaeton's fire. Also the song that inspired gringos everywhere to chant, " Dame mas gasolina! "

19. "Kerosene," Miranda Lambert : The other torch song of the year, this fiery country number by the former "Nashville Star" finalist confirms that hell hath no fury like a matchbook-bearing woman scorned.

20. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," Green Day : Billie Joe Armstrong's arena-rockin' solitary man takes a walk on the desolate side.

21. "Lose Control," Missy Elliott featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop: The electro-rap flashback most likely to inspire decrepit B-boys to pull their Chess King parachute pants out of storage and bust an ill-advised backspin.