111. U Can’t Touch This (MC Hammer)
Following in the wake of the similar-sounding “Ice Ice Baby” (Vanilla Ice, 1989), “U Can’t Touch This” was a 1990 smash hit single from the album Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em. After the song’s release, Rick James sued Hammer for copyright infringement, as “U Can’t Touch This” prominently samples the opening riff of “Super Freak”, for which James was–in a settlement outside of court–credited as the song’s co-composer and, by default, granted a big cut of its earnings. Fun Fact: Matthew Wilkening (of AOL Radio) remarked to the late Rick James: “If someone did this to your wonderful work of music (referencing MC Hammer’s copyright infringement of “Super Freak” to make “Can’t Touch”), you might choose crack, too.
Meaning of the Song: The lyrics describe Hammer as “touring the world, from London to the Bay” and as being “magic on the mic”, which Hammer says mixes with Rick James’ well-known “beat that you can’t touch”.
Accolades: Grammy for Best R&B Song and Best Rap Solo Performance; peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100; became No. 1 in Australia, the Netherlands and Sweden and a No. 3 single in the UK; No. 26 on VH1‘s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop list and No. 16 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the ’90s; No. 6 on AOL Radio’s list of the “100 Worst Songs Ever”.
112. Bitch (Meredith Brooks)
Oregonian, singer, and guitarist Meredith Brooks recorded and released “Bitch” (a.k.a. “Nothing In Between”) 1997 as the lead single to her debut album entitled Blurring the Edges. Despite the fact that Brooks had been in the music industry since she was 15 years old, she was–surprisingly to many–it wasn’t until she was 39 when she released “Bitch”. In it, the complexities of being a female are ‘examined’ and Brooks implies that no single label can define her.
Meaning of the Song: “Bitch” examines both the complexities of being female and how one label cannot define her. In another popular, albeit similar, interpretation, it implies that for all that is positive about me (the artist), the negative(s) tend to weigh-in equally and that that’s ‘just the way it is’.
Accolades: Grammy-nominated; peaked at No. 2 in the U.S.; debuted and peaked at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and clung to the top ten there for four weeks; reached No. 2 in Australia, No.4 in New Zealand; ranked No. 79 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 1990s; No. 15 on Billboard‘s 1997 Hot 100 year-end chart.
113. Torn (Natalie Imbrulia)
“Torn” was originally an alternative rock song by the band Ednaswap for their debut album (1995) of the same name. However, the cover of the song that was performed by Australian sensation Natalie Imbruglia (for her debut album Left of the Middle) in 1997 tends to be the most well-known. It’s also the song that effectively launched Imbrulia’s singing career.
Meaning of the Song: “Torn” is one of those songs whose meaning is largely up for interpretation. Whatever the case, it’s obviously about a relationship that goes sour and was only based on an ‘illusion’. The man, whether an actual or ‘imaginary’ character, is exposed, as the narrator finds herself torn without this entity she so built her world around.
Accolades: Grammy-nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Singles (Australia) chart, as well as Italy and the U.K.; No. 1 on the Hot 100 Airplay for 11 weeks; topped Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 charts; peaked at No. 1 in Canada, Spain, and Belgium; has sold over four-million copies globally.
114. Sweet Dreams (Marilyn Manson)
“Sweet Dreams” is originally the brainchild of the two-person British band Eurythmics and debuted in 1983 as the title track to the album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). It became one of their biggest hits and led the group to more commercial success. Marilyn Manson covered “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” for his first single from the studio album, Smells Like Children. In addition to becoming something of a staple on MTV, the song helped Manson bring his often-bizarre and esoteric (“Sweet Dreams” very much included) music and style into the mainstream. The song also appears on Manson’s greatest hits album entitled Lest We Forget.
Meaning of the Song: While open for interpretation,”Sweet Dreams” is presumptively about the nature of lusting and craving. Its lyrics seem to imply that people don’t really love one another, they only use each other in hedonistic ways.
Accolades: RS/500, No. 356 (original Eurythmics version); Eurythmics’ signature, most successful song; the Manson version rated “scariest (accompanying) music video ever made” by Billboard.
115. Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Debuting in 1992 as the second single from RHCP’s fifth studio album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, “Under the Bridge”‘s success was bolstered practically tenfold when its accompanying video (a cable/satellite music channel-favorite) debuted. Many also consider the song as the ticket that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ needed to go mainstream. As David Fricke of Rolling Stone put it, the song “unexpectedly drop-kicked the band into the Top 10”
Meaning of the Song: Lead singer Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics to “Under the Bridge” to express his feelings of loneliness and hopelessness, as well as to reflect upon how his drug addiction affected him. Based one of his alleged experiences, “Under the Bridge” references his efforts to infiltrate a gang under a bridge in order to get drugs. Kiedis, under duress, had to pretend that one of his family members belonged to the gang to get inside. Although successful in netting the drugs, he considers that moment as one of the worst of his life, as it shows how far he was willing to sink to feed his addiction.
Accolades: Spent 26 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 2; RIAA-certified platinum; Kerrang! magazine’s (Bauer Media Group, 2002) No. 6 six on its “100 Greatest Singles of All Time”; No. 15 on VH1‘s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s chart; No. 54 on Rolling Stone and MTV‘s compilation of the “100 Greatest Pop Songs Since The Beatles” (2000); No. 98 on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time” compilation.
116. All I Want for Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey)
In an attempt by Columbia Records to expand Carey’s popularity with a wider audience, the American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey recorded and released “All I Want For Christmas Is You” in 1994 for her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas.
In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You, titled “All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)”…The Daily Telegraph hailed “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as the most popular and most played Christmas song of the decade in the United Kingdom
Meaning of the Song: An uptempo love song, the instrumentation includes bell chimes and heavy back-up vocals, as well as use of synthesizers. The song’s lyrics declare that the protagonist does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to be united with her lover for the holidays.
Accolades: Was the nineteenth best-selling digital single of the 20th century; the highest-charting entry by a female or holiday song on the list; No. 4 on Rolling Stone’s Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list; peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary; marks the first holiday-based ringtone to be certified double-platinum by the RIAA; of songs recorded before 2000, it is the 19th best-selling digital single and the best-selling digital single by a woman; sold an estimated 2,120,000 digital downloads (according to Nielsen SoundScan); has garnered global sales of over 10 million copies.
117. Always Be My Baby (Mariah Carey)
“Always Be My Baby” is a 1996, mid-tempo ballad, which incorporates pop and contemporary R&B genres, by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and made for her fifth studio album, Daydream. Released as the third US single to the album, it was written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal and became Carey’s 11th chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, tying her with Madonna and Whitney Houston for most number one hit singles for a female artist. “Always Be My Baby” also appears in Carey’s compilation albums, Number 1’s (1998), Greatest Hits (2001) and The Ballads (2008).
Meaning of the Song: “Always” describes the emotion of attachment and unity the narrator feels for her estranged lover, even though they’re no longer ‘one’. She explains that, regardless of their relationship status, she’ll always be here for him and will “always be her baby”.
Accolades: Carey’s 11th song to top the Billboard Hot 100; spent two weeks at No. 1, nine weeks at No. 2; became Carey’s eight chart topper on the Canadian Singles Chart, where it ascended to the No. 1 position on the Canadian RPM Singles chart in 1996; certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA); debuted and peaked at No. 5 in New Zealand, spending three consecutive weeks at that spot; debuted and peaked on the UK Singles chart at No. 3; UK sales were estimated at over 220,000.
118. 99 Problems (Jay-Z)
“99 Problems”, the third single on rapper Jay-Z’s 2004 album The Black Album, was originally penned by rapper Ice T in 1993 for his “99 Problems” from the album Home Invasion. The song featured Brother Marquis of 2 Live Crew. The original tended on the more profane side and describes a wide range of sexual conquests. Parts of Ice-T’s original lyrics were similarly quoted in a song by the rapper Trick Daddy on a track also titled “99 Problems” (Thugs Are Us, 2001). Jay-Z initiated the song’s third verse singing lyrics directly from Bun B’s opening line from the song “Touched” from the UGK album Ridin’ Dirty.
Meaning of the Song: Throughout the song Jay-Z tells a story about dealing with a racist cop who wants to illegally search his car, dealing with rap critics, and dealing with an aggressor. While the song’s meaning is widely debated, the chorus “If you’re having girl problems, I feel bad for you son/I’ve got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one” was defined in Jay-Z’s book, Decoded Jay-Z wrote that in 1994 he was pulled over by police while carrying cocaine in a secret compartment in his sunroof–Jay-Z refused to let the police search the car and the police called for the drug sniffing dogs. However, canines never showed up and the police had to let Jay-Z go. Moments after he drove away, he wrote that he saw a police car with the dogs drive by.
Accolades: Jay-Z performed the song with the band Pearl Jam at the Made in America festival in Philadelphia; No. 14 on Pitchfork Media’s top 500 songs of the 2000s; No. 2 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 songs of the 2000s; on the updated list of the Stones’ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the song was added at No. 172; won Best Rap Solo Performance at the 47th Grammy Awards; NME placed it at No. 24 on its “150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years” list; peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
119. What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye)
A 1971 Tamla (Motown) hit that was initially inspired by police brutality, the first “official” was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland and Gaye, as well as produced by Gaye. “What’s Going On” abounded in sounds comprised of jazz, gospel and even classical music orchestration and has largely been received as a reflection on the world’s problems. It also marked Gaye’s departure from the ‘Motown Sound’ towards more personal sounding. The song has since sold over two million copies, becoming Gaye’s second most successful song to date.
Meaning of the Song: Titled the song.
The inspiration for “What’s Going On” came from Renaldo “Obie” Benson (of the Motown group the Four Tops) after he and his tour members arrived at Berkeley in May 15 of 1969. While there, Benson witnessed police brutality and violence in the city’s People’s Park during a protest held by anti-war activists in what was hailed later as “Bloody Thursday”. Upset by the situation, Benson said to author Ben Edmonds, “I saw this and started wondering ‘what the fuck was going on, what is happening here? One question led to another. Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets?” In 1970, Benson presented the then-untitled song to Marvin Gaye, who worked up a new melody and revised the song with his own lyrics. According to Benson, Gaye “added some things that were more ghetto, more natural, which made it seem like a story than a song… we measured him for the suit and he tailored the hell out of it.”
Accolades: RS/500, No. 4; RR/HoF induction; No. 14 on VH1‘s “100 Greatest Rock Songs”; topped Billboard‘s Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks; peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
120. Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly)
Recorded by Holly’s The Crickets in Clovis, New Mexico, in 1957, “Not Fade Away” is undeniably, irrevocably a Buddy Holly staple song. Its rhythm pattern is a variant of Bo Diddley’s then-unique beat, itself then an update of the ‘hambone’ rhythm (a.k.a. the Africa-originated “shave and a haircut, 2 bits” beat). It was initially released as the B-side to the hit “Oh, Boy!” and also appeared on the album The “Chirping” Crickets (Brunswick). And despite a popular misunderstanding, this wasn’t the last song that Buddy Holly performed the night before he was killed: Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”, it’s been since determined, would get that distinction.
Significant covers of Not Fade include that by The Rolling Stones’ (1964), Black Sabbath, The Grateful Dead, and Rush, the latter as their 1973 debut single.
Meaning of the Song: While open for interpretation (and boy has it ever been interpreted), “Not Fade Away” is famous among many fans partly for two lines in the Stones’ version that sound virtually identical to those in Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.” (I.E. Rolling Stones: “Your love for me has got to be real
Before you’d have noticed how I feel”
Black Sabbath: “Your Love for has got to be real
Before you know the way I’m going to feel”).
Accolades: RS/500, No. 107; marked Holly’s last hit and the second-to-last song he ever performed.
