TOP 20 TRACKS OF 2010 number one track announced

Here it is folks. ShoutAboutMusic's finest track of 2010...

1. THE ARCADE FIRE ‘suburban war’

I make no apology for choosing three Arcade Fire songs in the top 20 tracks of 2010. After all, The Suburbs is one of the most outstanding albums of the past 10 years, let alone this year. ‘Suburban War’ takes the prize as the finest song from that record, and also the finest song released by anyone in 2010.

Musically, the track owes more than a little to The Byrds (in particular ‘Everybody’s Been Burned’ from 1967’s Younger Than Yesterday). It’s built around the jingle jangle of a Rickenbacker guitar, with harmonies floating in and out of focus at various points. But elsewhere, the song is unmistakably The Arcade Fire (see the gradual climb into a crescendo of skittering drums and impassioned vocals towards the end).

For lyrical inspiration, Win Butler returned to the town where he grew up (for the first time in several years). The ensuing flood of memories and recollections provided fertile ground for his songwriting. 'Suburban War' is a requiem for the lost time between childhood and adulthood. Butler recalls teen gangs and sub-cultures (“The music divides us into tribes, you grew your hair so I grew mine”) and killing time (“Let’s go for a drive, let’s see the town tonight, there’s nothing to do but I don’t mind when I’m with you”).

As he wanders his old stomping ground, Butler crosses paths with former classmates (“All my old friends they don’t know me now. All my old friends are staring through me now”) and reflects on how different their lives have become (”Now the cities we live in could be distant stars and I search for you in every passing car”).

I could go on but really, no amount of words can do justice to the ones written by Win Butler himself on ‘Suburban War’. Quite simply, it’s the best track of 2010.

Listen to it here. 

Read the lyrics here.


The best of the rest
Oh, and in case you missed it before, here is a quick rundown of the rest of the ShoutAboutMusic's Top 20 Tracks of 2010...

20. BAND OF HORSES 'older'

19. THE LOVETONES 'city meets the stars'

18. CRYSTAL CASTLES 'not in love' (single)

17. OLD MAN RIVER 'religion'

16. CROWDED HOUSE 'amsterdam'

15. EDWARD DEER ‘tie up the birds’

14. TEENAGE FANCLUB ‘baby lee’

13. THE CHARLATANS ‘your pure soul’

12. ARCADE FIRE ‘the suburbs’

11. RICHMOND FONTAINE ‘a letter to the patron saint of nurses’

10. EVIL EDDIE ‘queensland’

9. THE TONGUE & JOYRIDE crazy

8. CROCODILES ‘sleep forever’

7. FOALS 'spanish sahara'

6. THE DRUMS 'let's go surfing'

5. VAMPIRE WEEKEND 'diplomat's son'

4. THE ARCADE FIRE 'we used to wait'

3. LITTLE RED 'rock it'

2. GORILLAZ 'stylo'

1. THE ARCADE FIRE ‘suburban war’

Thanks to everyone for their comments, posts, emails and messages in 2010. Happy New Year!