The Greatest Singles of My Life #1-2

Another list! The plan is to have several of these going at once, so that I always have something to update on those days I'm feeling listless and uninspired: you know, most days.

This is a list of what I consider the greatest music singles to be released during my lifetime, or at least during the time that I was aware of current music. This list, as all of my ongoing lists, is NOT in any particular order, so don't try to read anything into the numbers. All right, let's go.

1. "Seven Nation Army," The White Stripes

Regardless of your feelings re: Jack White, and regardless of whether you think he's overrated, pretentious, or plays guitar like an orangutan (some people actually think this stuff), this track is an undeniable masterpiece. Built around a simple but powerful riff, this marries together all the elements that make The White Stripes such a unique musical personality: spare instrumentation, Cro-Magnon drums, Jack's amazing voice, and the result is their biggest hit and quite possibly the song that will render them immortal. It's just that good. If you hate this song, you're an asshole.

Favorite Lyric: "And the stains coming from my blood/Tell me go back home."

Favorite Musical Bit: When the ever-present riff switches into searing guitar wails toward the end.

Video: Here.

2. "Mama Said Knock You Out," LL Cool J
The title song from LL Cool J's "comeback album" (don't believe him when he says it's not a comeback), this song was ever-present during it's time on the charts, and rightfully so. On an album full of immaculate jams, this was the one destined to worm its way into everybody's ear. And worm it did. The beat is undeniable, the rhymes are vicious, and this is such a raw statement of intent to kick your fucking ass, that it became even more of a disappointment when LL immediately pissed away all of the good will this album engendered with his subsequent shitty ones. Oh, well. Nobody's ever always as good as their greatest single, right? When LL performed this on Unplugged with an all acoustic backing band, I thought it was the start of a bold new direction for both him and hip-hop. Turns out that The Roots picked up on that whole live instrumentation thing and left LL and his contemporaries in the fucking dust. But OH! What a fucking song.

Favorite Lyric: "I'm going insane/Starring a hurricane/Releasing pain/Letting you know, you can't gain or maintain/Unless it's in my name."

Favorite Musical Bit: The old-school drum loop.

Video: Here.