#lo34

Paramore - Misery Business 2007

"Misery Business" is a song by the American rockband Paramore, released as the lead single from their second studio album, Riot! (2007) and is considered the band's breakthrough hit. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 26 and at number three on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also was a commercial success in many countries including Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

In 2020, lead singer Hayley Williams finally revealed that it was about bandmate Josh Farro. She told Vulture, "When I was 13 or 14 and I had a crush on Josh, he didn't like me back. He would go hang out with his girlfriend, who I wrote "Misery Business" about because I was a dick." Williams no longer sings the line where she refers to the girl as a whore in the second verse of this song because of both the controversy it had produced and Williams since evolving in her views. Speaking on the controversial line, she said, "What I couldn't have known at the time was that I was feeding into a lie that I'd bought into, just like so many other teenagers — and many adults — before me."

"Misery Business" is a playable track in the games Guitar Hero World Tour, in which Hayley Williams is also a playable character, as well as Saints Row 2, Rock Band 3, and Metal: Hellsinger.

"Misery Business" received a total of 89,6% yes votes!

Green Day - Holiday 2005

"Holiday" is an anti-war protest song by American rockband Green Day. It was released as the third single from the group's seventh studio album, American Idiot (2004), where the song is a prelude to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". The song achieved considerable popularity across the world and performed moderately well on the charts. It reached number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. It debuted at number 11 in the UK and reached the top 20 in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.

"Holiday" was inspired by the music of Bob Dylan. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wanted to write something stronger than "American Idiot", with harsh language to illustrate his points. The song takes aim at American conservatism. Armstrong felt that Republican politicians were strategic in alienating one group of people — for example, the gay community — in order to buy the votes of another. He later characterized the song as an outspoken "fuck you" to then-President George W. Bush. The chorus's refrain — "This is our lives on holiday" — was intended to reflect the average American's apathy on the issues of the day. The song was included on the set list for the Revolution Radio Tour in 2016, where the songs lyrics were adjusted to protest against Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

"Holiday" received a total of 94,6% yes votes! Previous Green Day polls: #47 "Basket Case", #264 "American Idiot".

Bastille - Pompeii 2013

"Pompeii" is a song by British indie pop band Bastille. It is the fourth single from their debut studio album Bad Blood and was released on 11 January 2013. The song's title and lyrics refer to the Roman town of the same name that was destroyed and buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. "Pompeii" became the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and became the eleventh best-selling song that year and, until June 2014, was the country's most streamed single of all time. It was also successful worldwide, reaching the top ten in fifteen countries, including number one in Scotland and Ireland, number two in Italy, and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards.

According to lead singer Dan Smith, the song is written as a conversation between two victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, stating in an interview, "I was reading a book that had some picture of the people who got caught up in the volcanic eruption. And it's just such a kind of dark powerful image, and it got me thinking about how boring it must have been emotionally after the event. To be sort of stuck in that same position for hundreds and hundreds of years. So, the song is sort of an imaginary conversation between these two people who are stuck next to each other in their sort of tragic death pose."

Belgian singer Heleen Uytterhoeven recorded a cover version in Latin. Bustle magazine noted that the Youtube video contained commenters arguing in Latin over the accuracy of her translation. The "eheu" chanted throughout the song is a Latin interjection commonly used by ancient Roman authors to express sorrow, grief, pain, or fear. It translates to "alas" or "oh no", or in the words of the Youtube commenters, "oh shit".

The lyrics are referenced in an in-game achievement for the video game Civilization VI, as part of the Gathering Storm DLC. The achievement requires the player to lose a city's population from Vesuvius' eruption while playing as the Romans. In August 2020, the song's chorus became an Internet meme involving a before and after shot of countries, states or provinces viewed on a map, usually disappearing or changing after the line "But if you close your eyes" is sung, as well as a major meme in the NASCAR and Formula One community over similar events that look almost exactly the same, such as finishes or crashes. The cast of Glee performs "Pompeii" as the closing number of the season 5 finale.

"Pompeii" received a total of 84,7% yes votes!

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 1990

"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a 1953 novelty song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. It was written on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans. The lyrics humorously refer to the official renaming of the city of Constantinople to Istanbul. The song was originally recorded by Canadian vocal quartet The Four Lads in 1953. (Listen to it here!) It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard magazine charts, and was certified as a gold record.

Numerous cover versions have been recorded over the years, including by Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bette Midler. One of the best-known versions of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is the cover by American alternative rockband They Might Be Giants, who released it as the second single on their album Flood in 1990. The single reached number 61 on the UK Singles Chart in 1990. They Might Be Giants later recorded an electronic version of the song for their 2011 compilation album, Album Raises New and Troubling Questions.

The song is prominently featured in the 1991 episode "Tiny Toon Music Television", of Tiny Toon Adventures, for a music video segment featuring Plucky Duck trying to find a missing statue. It was used as the theme in the 1992 TV movie Black Magic. It plays as an ending to the 2005 episode "Mobile Homer", of The Simpsons, and it plays during a donut shop fight scene in the 2019 series premiere, "We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals", of The Umbrella Academy.

"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" received a total of 93,1% yes votes!

Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia 1979

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and recorded by American music group Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections. The song's verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung (i.e., recitation), and tell the story of a young man named Johnny, in a variant on the classic deal with the Devil. The performances of the Devil and Johnny are played as instrumental bridges. The song was the band's biggest hit, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Daniels was inspired to write the song when he realized that the album he and his band was recording was lacking a song that featured fiddle. He wrote the song on the spot at the Woodland Sound Studios where the band was recording. In 2026, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation's recorded sound heritage."

In 1993, a sequel to the song, "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia", was released by master violinist Mark O'Connor on his album Heroes. The song featured Daniels on fiddle, with Johnny Cash as the narrator, Marty Stuart as Johnny, and Travis Tritt as the devil. The song peaked at #54 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1994. In the sequel, the devil, still furious ten years after being beaten, decides to take up Johnny's challenge to "c'mon back if y'ever wanna try again". Johnny is now grown with a wife and infant son, and the devil believes that Johnny's sinful pride will be his undoing, so he takes back the golden fiddle, forcing Johnny to practice with his old fiddle before their rematch – the same one he played when he defeated the devil. Though the song reiterates Johnny's bold claim that he is "the best that's ever been", the lyrics do not reveal who won the rematch. But in the video, the devil is shown defeated by Johnny again.

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" received a total of 90,5% yes votes!

Boney M. - Rasputin 1978

"Rasputin" is a song by Germany-based Afro Caribbean pop and Eurodisco group Boney M. It was released as the second single from their third studio album Nightflight to Venus. The core of the song tells of Grigori Rasputin's rise to prominence in the court of Tsar Nicholas II during the early 1900s, referencing the hope held by Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna that Rasputin would heal her hemophiliac son, Tsarevich Alexei of Russia, and as such his appointment as Alexei's personal healer.

The song claims that Rasputin was Alexandra's paramour, a widespread rumour in Rasputin's time, with which his political enemies intended to discredit him. It accurately states that the conspirators asked him "Come to visit us", and then recounts a widely popular account of the assassination in Yusupov's estate: that Rasputin's assassins fatally shot him after he survived the poisoning of his wine.

"Rasputin" rose to the top of the charts in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Australia, and went to No. 2 in the UK, Argentina, Finland, Spain and Switzerland. It enjoyed great popularity in the Soviet Union, however it was omitted from the Soviet pressing of the album and Boney M. were barred from performing the song during their ten performances in Moscow.

It's pretty safe to say this song put a impressive and unbeatable record in the amounts of votes and reblogs! 💖 This is currently the most liked song on this poll blog with a whooping 94,8% total yes votes.

The Offspring - Self Esteem 1995

"Self Esteem" is a song by American punk rock band the Offspring. It was released as the second single from their third studio album, Smash (1994), in 1995 and was a worldwide hit, reaching number one in Iceland, Norway, Latvia, and Sweden. "Self Esteem" was nominated for the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Song.

"Self Esteem" remains one of the Offspring's popular videos. Its popularity on MTV helped launch the song to success on mainstream radio. According to Nielsen Music's year-end report for 2019, "Self Esteem" was the sixth most-played song of the decade on mainstream rock radio with 131,000 spins. The song was released as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band, in an Offspring pack which was released on October 7, 2008, along with "Gone Away" (poll #143) and "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)". It also appears in SingStar Rocks!, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and The Darkness II.

"Self Esteem" recieved a total of 80,8% yes votes! Previous Offspring polls: #143 "Gone Away", #355 "Come Out and Play", #688 "The Kids Aren't Alright".

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 1983

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British synth-pop duo Eurythmics. It was released in January 1983 as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 1983, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later; it was their first single released in the US. According to Dave Stewart, their record label RCA Records did not think the song was suitable as a single in the US as it lacked a chorus. After a radio DJ in Cleveland kept playing the song from the album, and it generated a strong local response, RCA decided to release it in the US. The song also peaked at number one in Canada, and reached the top ten in a number of countries including Australia, West Germany, Spain, and South Africa.

With Annie Lennox appearing with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's business suit in the accompanying music video, the BBC stated Lennox's "powerful androgynous look" was the music video that "broke the mould for female pop stars". In 2020, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2023, it was selected by the US Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart wrote the song after the Tourists had broken up and they formed Eurythmics. Although the two of them also broke up as a couple, they continued to work together. They became interested in electronic music and bought new synthesizers to play around with. According to Stewart, he managed to produce the beat and riff of the song on one of their new synthesizers, and Lennox, on hearing it, said: "What the hell is that?" and started playing on another synthesizer, and beginnings of the song came out of the two dueling synths.

According to Lennox, the lyrics reflected the unhappy time after the breakup of the Tourists, when she felt that they were "in a dream world" and that whatever they were chasing was never going to happen. She described the song as saying: "Look at the state of us. How can it get worse?" adding "I was feeling very vulnerable. The song was an expression of how I felt: hopeless and nihilistic." Stewart thought the lyrics too depressing and added the "hold your head up, moving on" line to make it more uplifting.

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" received a total of 96,7% yes votes and is the new most liked song on this poll blog, beating A-ha's long reign! 🥳