Top Ten Songs of 2011 – #1
As much as I’d like to throw out a wild card and not echo the sentiments of countless music critics the world over, I can’t see not putting Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ at the top of this list.
I first heard this song performed live on David Letterman nearly a year ago and I knew, when she reached the first chorus, that it would be a monster hit.
But I never could have predicted exactly how monstrous a hit it would become. It quickly ascended to the #1 spot on Billboard’s charts not long after that performance and stayed there for nearly two months. The album, 21, set all kinds of records, rarely leaving the top five throughout 2011 and becoming ingrained in the public consciousness.
Most remarkable of all is that, despite how ubiquitous it has become, I have never tired of hearing this song. It is so well-constructed and so well-performed that it remains an adrenaline-pumping rush each and every time it escapes my speakers.
Adele has said that she wrote this song just hours after the break-up that inspired 21 and that the thumping drum was introduced to match her own angry heartbeat.
You can tell. This is a primal scream turned into gorgeous, soul-stirring music and easily the best song of 2011.
Reaching a fever pitch, it’s bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go ahead and sell me out and I’ll lay your shit bare
See how I’ll leave with every piece of you
Don’t underestimate the things that I will do
There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch
And it’s bringing me out the dark
The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it to the beat
Baby, I have no story to be told
But I’ve heard one on you
And I’m gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Make a home down there
As mine sure won’t be shared
The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it to the beat
Could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
But you played it with a beating
Throw your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold
You’ll pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow
We could have had it all
We could have had it all
It all, it all, it all
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it to the beat
Meet Me In Montauk 
This song is flat out phenomenal and a no-brainer pick for top song of the year. Even Maddie, who otherwise doesn’t care for Adele, concedes that this song is wonderful. And, as you said, no matter how many times one hears this song (and we’ve obviously all heard it A LOT), it never becomes stale and never loses its impact.
This is probably the only song on your top 10 list with which we would have agreement. That is probably because most of your songs are picked from albums you own by artists you love, as opposed to songs that populated the airwaves in 2011
But since fair is fair, here is my top 10 (note that some songs may have been technically on albums in 2010, but were released as singles and became hits in 2011):
1. Rolling in the Deep – Adele
2. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
3. Rewrite – Paul Simon
4. Someone Like You – Adele
5. Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5
6. Last Friday Night – Katy Perry
7. Perfect – Pink
8. Super Bass – Nicki Minaj
9. Paradise – Coldplay
10. Good Feeling – Flo Rida
Interesting list. I’ve featured three of those on the blog already, and two others (Adele and Paul Simon) would break my rule of only one song per artist in the top ten, so we indirectly have a lot of overlap.
I’m surprised by the preponderance of pop songs on your list, as you are normally dismissive of the genre. And I’m really surprised to see Coldplay there… don’t you hate them?
I was one of the few who didn’t know this song until we received it as a Christmas gift from Amy and Dana. But then we really don’t listen to anything on the radio except NPR. Anyway, it’s a great song!
Yeah, I assumed you may have gone with some different songs but for the no repeat rule–although it tends to distort the whole idea of a true top 10 songs list to not include them.
As for the prevelance of pop songs, the truth is that, with the exception of Paul Simon’s album, I haven’t really delved into new albums for 2011, so most of the songs I know and like come from hearing them on the radio.
And as for Coldplay’s song–I knew that would catch your eye:) I’ve actually done a bit of a reconsideration on them. I still find some songs a bit annoying or just lame U2 knockoffs, but I recently heard something on the radio where they were playing a number of Coldplay’s more known songs and I found myself saying,”I really kinda like that one….oh, I like that one too…oh, I didn’t realize that was them, I like that one too.” So then, when I first heard “Paradise” played by the band on The Colbert Report, I really liked it, and I’ve then enjoyed it as it began receiving radio play.
Incidently, I almost included “Hell on Heels” as I really liked that song a lot when you featured it, but I haven’t heard it much since. It would be a worthy addition to the list, and I suspect it would be the one you would have included but for the no repeat rule.