Music By The Numbers: Our 25 Favorite Songs "Numbered" 1 To 25
Everyone loves a good old fashioned music video countdown, but we thought we'd turn the tables and do a countup...with a twist. The 25 songs on our list aren't bound together by musical genre or release date. It's just that when you listen these 25 songs in order, you're not just listening to great music, you're also counting from 1 to...25.
Or in the case of Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, "22" to "23".
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1)"…Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears
Yeah, sure, tons of songs start with "one," but we wanted to kick off the countup with music video. This classic pop song doesn't just harp on the word "one," it's also the song that jumpstarted Britney Spears's career. Oh, and it just had a 15th anniversary.
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2) "Song 2" by Blur
Hey, we just couldn't resist making our "Song 2" our song 2. Plus, this Blur song is one of our favorite accidental rock anthems of the '90s.
[Photo Credit: Big Machine & Interscope]
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3) "3 A.M. (Unplugged)" by Rob Thomas (Originally performed with Matchbox 20)
Now we're getting into the "time" themed portion of our countup. Starting first with this Unplugged Rob Thomas performance of Matchbox 20's "3 A.M." and continued with...
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4) "4 Minutes" By Madonna (featuring Timbaland & Justin Timberlake)
...Madonna's "4 Minutes." Fun fact: this track clocks in at 4:04, and not 4:00 minutes on the dot.
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5) "2+2=5" by Radiohead
Everyone arrives at the number 5 by adding 2 and 2 together, right? Oh, just Radiohead? Okay. That's cool. Radiohead can do what they want to.
Look, we don't know exactly what a "Six Underground" is. Maybe it's a subway line? A cool '90s trip-hop club? Something involving blue eyeshadow? We don't know!!! But we love this song!
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7) "Seven Nation Army (Pop Up Video)" by The White Stripes
Have you ever listened to "Seven Nation Army" and thought, "I wonder why The White Stripes always liked to wear red, white and black?" Well, it's to remind people of peppermints. That's why!
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8) "8 Days Of Christmas" by Destiny's Child
We've heard of "12 Days of Christmas," but not 8. However, we're interested in learning more about these "8 Days of Christmas" if Destiny's Child is involved.
(Oh, and they're wearing sexy Santa costumes.)
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9) "Nine In The Afternoon" by Panic! At The Disco
Thanks to Panic! At The Disco, I've started thinking more seriously about why the afternoon ends at 5 PM and our abstract restraints on time.
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10) "10X10 [Live]" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
If you multiple 10 times 10, you're technically supposed to get 100, but you only get the number 10 on our countup.
11:11 is a very symmetrical looking time.
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12) "12:51" by The Strokes
12:51 is an only slightly symmetrical looking time.
Thirteen might be an unlucky number for some people, but we can't help but still like this beautiful song from the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.
If you don't know who Cazwell is, I feel as though it's my duty to warn you that he's pretty much the polar opposite of Johnny Cash. Meaning that he's a gay rapper who buys his socks on 14th Street.
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15) "Fifteen" by Taylor Swift
"Fifteen" is Taylor Swift's first numeric outing on our countup chart. It's also the song that taught us that when a girl's fifteen years old, she's likely to believe anything you say to her.
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16) "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me'" by Fall Out Boy
Taylor Swift isn't the only one experiencing a lovelorn high school experience. Fall Out Boy presents the boys' point of view in "A Little Less Sixteen Candles."
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17) "Seventeen" by Ladytron
Ladytron's haunting "Seventeen" takes us from when a girl is desired by the men around her all the way three years into the future when she's a dried up old hag.
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18) "Hangar 18" by Megadeath
If you thought there wouldn't be metal on this list, you'd be wrong.
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19) "19-2000" by Gorillaz
Our number 19 song doubles as a fun song about getting cool shoeshine.
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20) "20th Century Boy" by Def Leppard (T. Rex cover)
Def Leppard covered this T. Rex song in the 21st century, which makes it not only a cover, but kind of an homage to a whole other century.
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21) "21 Guns" by Green Day
Green Day got really political in "21 Guns." It's a song where they make the bold declaration that war is bad.
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22) "22" by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is back! The good news is that even though Ladytron thinks that the difference between being 17 and 21 is horrible for a woman, Taylor Swift seems to be more upbeat and happy at 22 than she was at 15.
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23) "23 ft. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J" by Mike WiLL Made It
Mike WiLL Made It continues his takeover of the music scene in this video that also includes Miley Cyrus doing more Miley Cyrus stuff. You know what Miley Cyrus stuff is...it's that thing where you lick hammers and apparently walk around in public wearing a jersey as an adult diaper.
Welsh songstress Jem's "24" is one of those catchy songs that has shown up in a variety of television shows and movies, but was weirdly never released as a single. Is it weird to call a song by someone called Jem a "hidden gem"? Well, it is.
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25) "25/8" by Mary J. Blige
And rounding up our countup is Mary J. Blige with "25/8," a song that teaches us that 24 hours and 7 days aren't enough time to love someone. You've got to stretch the laws of time for love.