Monday, December 16, 2013

CoolDad's Top 5 Favorite Choruses of 2013

All For "One"

The chorus is the most important part of any pop song. If it's a good one, then you remember the song and turn up the radio every time the song comes on, waiting for your chance to sing along when the chorus comes around. I'm not talking about silly earworm type things like, "I live for the applause, applause, applause. / I live for the applause -plause. / Live for the applause -plause." For me, a great chorus comes from either setting some clever wordplay to a memorable melody or from getting a big idea into, maybe, just a few words that stay with you.

I'm gonna come right out and confess something: This list is really just a vehicle designed to let me tell you how much I love my number 1 chorus of 2013. I think, though, that building a list just so that you can have something sit at number 1 is a useful exercise. It made me think about all of the other great choruses from this year and why number 1 stood out from the crowd.

Oh, and there won't be any Katy Perry or Maroon 5 on here. Nothing against them, but I really only hear those things in the minivan. I'm gonna stick to the stuff I really loved.

5. "Life" -- Modern Hut

"I'm not proud of the things that I've done in this life. / But that's alright / 'Cause I will die."

Joe Steinhardt and Screaming Females' Marissa Paternoster take turns on this line both to open the song and after each of the verses. I guess -- like most of the record -- it's kind of a downer.

This can be read as, "I'm worthless, but that's ok. Eventually the world will be rid of me." I prefer to take the slightly more upbeat angle of, "Life is short, so I'm gonna keep plugging away, doing the best I can, even though I kinda suck at it."



4. "I Need My Girl" -- The National

"I need my girl. / I need my girl."

It makes sense that one of Matt Berninger's simplest, most easily understood songs would contain this very simple statement about missing his wife. I know that when I'm separated from CoolMom for any length of time -- even though I keep myself busy with the kids and other things -- I find myself saying the same thing to myself in the quiet moments.



3. "Runner" -- Laura Stevenson

"The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts! / The summer hurts!"

Stevenson's Wheel isn't about the cycle of life or the changing of seasons. Instead, it's often about futility, plodding, and dealing with life's relentless beat downs. When it first comes around, this chorus is preceded by the phrase, "Like a steady beating."

I think we can all remember periods characterized by personal lows from which we thought we'd never dig ourselves out, and this chorus captures that for me.



2. "Ohm" -- Yo La Tengo

"'Cause this is it for all we know / So say goodnight to me / And lose no more time / No time. / Resisting the flow."

This chorus is, basically, the mission statement for Fade. Indie rock veterans, Yo La Tengo, made an album about aging and the passage of time. To me, anyway, Fade tells us that life is really just a collection of moments. Some of the smallest can be the most special, and it's important to recognize and remember them.



1. "Step" -- Vampire Weekend

"The gloves are off. / The wisdom teeth are out. / What you on about? / I feel it in my bones. / I feel it in my bones. / I'm stronger now. / I'm ready for the house. / Such a modest mouse. / I can't do it alone. / I can't do it alone."

Maybe, for my money, the best song in the Vampire Weekend catalog. There's a lot going on here, but I love this chorus. When Ezra Koenig says that "What you on about?" I smirk every time. I'm not even sure why -- just the way he says it, maybe.

"Step" and its chorus contain all that people love and hate about Vampire Weekend: The precious chamber pop, the overly literate lyrics, and a density of references. I tend to like all those things.

Ezra and the band are older now. They're not kids anymore, and Modern Vampires of the City really has them exploring some of life's bigger issues. "Step" harkens back to some of the stuff on their first record, like "M79," and almost makes fun of that product of the younger Vampire Weekend while improving upon it by leaps and bounds.



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