Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2008

Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2008

Now that I’ve gotten through the Worst of 2008, I think it’s time for the Best of 2008! 2008 set the new high score for modern (post-2000) years, and much of that was due to the 21 songs that scored a 5/5, plus one more than entered into the Mount Olympus of Pop Music and scored a 6/5 (take a wild guess as to which one that was. These songs represented a wide variety of genres and sounds, from the emerging Club Boom to laid back Adult Contemporary to the last remains of Rock N’ Roll. There’s no better way to make this clear than to start the list, so without any more hesitation, here are the Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2008, starting, of course, with our Honorable Mentions:

Honorable Mention: Dangerous by Kardinal Offishall ft. Akon (Peak: #5, Year-End: #29)

Part of the emerging Club scene that dominated the Late 2000s and Early 2010s, Dangerous is a rather simple song about fawning over a seductive lady. Sure, Kardinal Offishall sounds a lot like Ludacris (and Flo Rida), but that’s by no means a problem, as Luda is one of the most unique and fun rappers in the history of the genre. While the song’s theme is rather played out if I’m being honest, it’s still a really fun song to listen to.

Honorable Mention: Live Your Life by T.I. ft. Rihanna (Peak: #1, Year-End: #37)

No, this isn’t just here because it samples the Numa Numa song, it’s actually a really interesting song about staying true to yourself through all of your successes and challenges (or at least that’s what I think it’s about). Sure, the production is pretty of it’s time, but that’s not necessarily a problem when the rest of the song is this good.

Honorable Mention: Love Song by Sara Bareilles (Peak: #4, Year-End: #7)

Now this is a clever way to assert your artistic integrity. You see, Sara Bareilles’ label was demanding she write safe, radio friendly love songs, so she fulfilled their request… by saying that she won’t write them a love song if she didn’t want to. However, that’s far from the only reason it’s on the list, as it’s well written, well performed and has aged much better than most songs from this year have, even ones I like. I also remember hearing it a lot as a kid, so there’s the nostalgia factor as well. While it does seem a little bit impressed with itself, that’s not too much of a drawback from a song with this much going for it. 

Honorable Mention: Feels Like Tonight by Daughtry (Peak: #24, Year-End: #95)

Hey, speaking of nostalgia. Yeah, my childhood memories with this song is the main reason this makes the list. When I was on my way home from my senior prom last year, I heard this for the first time in a good decade, and I got the biggest chill down my spine that I can remember. Sure, it’s pretty basic Pop Rock, and it’s not a hill I’ll die on defending (unlike some of their other singles, as you will eventually see on any future Best of 2007 and 2009 lists), but I still can’t let this song go without a mention. Just give me this one, please.

Honorable Mention: Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade (Peak: #21, Year-End: #58)

Aww, this is sweet… and also a little bit Emo. While there are a few lyrics that could’ve used a rewrite, it’s all in all a good song about having the will to push through a troubled relationship, hoping that tonight might be the night you fall in love All Over Again. I also once saw someone perform this at a high school talent show, so that may play into my liking for this song as well.

Honorable Mention: American Boy by Estelle ft. Kanye West (Peak: #9, Year-End: #39)

Dang, I’m a total sucker for Disco grooves. An Electro-Funk bop, Estelle sings about this American boy, wishing to travel around the U.S. of A with him. Kanye assumes the role of the American boy, wanting to travel to the U.K. with Estelle. Estelle’s performance is smooth and classy, while Kanye is… well, Kanye. Also, the line “Don’t like his baggy jeans, but I’ma like what’s underneath them” makes me giggle every time.

Honorable Mention: Realize by Colbie Caillat (Peak: #20, Year-End: #67)

Yeah, I can imagine many people wanting to take my man card for this pick (and believe me, this is not the last embarrassing pick that you’ll see in this countdown), and for understandable reasons. It’s slow, sappy and made for 30 or 40-something moms bringing their kids to soccer practice. However, I’ve put many slow, sappy songs on my lists before (This I Promise You being a prominent example), so go ahead and take my man card if you want, but I stand by this being a sweet song.

Honorable Mention: Superstar by Lupe Fiasco ft. Matthew Santos (Peak: #10, Year-End: #63)

This’ll probably restore a lot of the credibility I lost from that last pick, although I’m sure quite a few of you are disappointed that this didn’t make the list proper. The best Hip-Hop hit of 2008, Superstar details the struggles that come with being famous, all over a simple yet effective beat and with one of the most iconic Pop-Rap hooks of all time. While it may not have made the list, I still like it a whole lot more than the autotuned gunk that made my Worst list.

Honorable Mention: 7 Things by Miley Cyrus (Peak: #9, Year-End: #92)

Annnddd there goes the last of any shred of respect you guys had for me. I’ve seen this appear on multiple Worst of 2008 lists, and yet it’s the final cut from my Best List. I am actively embarrassed to like this song as much as I do, but please allow me to explain. It has a mix of Country Pop verses and explosive Pop Punk hooks where Miley lists the seven things she hates about her ex, rumored to be Nick Jonas. However, the final chorus is her listing the seven things she likes about her ex, making her complicated feelings for him clear. Sure, it’s total teenage drama, but there’s a place for that, but unfortunately, there wasn’t a place for it on the list proper. So, what could have made the list ahead of one of my biggest guilty pleasures? Well, how about the only non-Taylor Swift country hit of 2008?

#10: You’re Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins (Peak: #12, Year-End: #93)

While 2008 was on whole a pretty varied year for music, there were very slim pickings for Country. However, the one Country hit not by Taylor Swift on the Year-End list was right up my alleyway. In case y’all haven’t figured out, I’m a real sucker for songs about nostalgia and reflection on one’s past, and this hits it to a tee. The song follows the story of a girl growing up, from high school in the first verse to a starry-eyed newlywed in the second and a mother of two young kids in the third verse, with someone reminding her in each verse to savor the moment, because even if she doesn’t know it at the moment, she’ll end up missing the good ol’ days. While it didn’t quite click for me at first, it’s grown on me a fair deal since I made the order of the list, so you could probably bump this up a few spots, but I’m not changing the order, so #10 it is.

#9: Hate That I Love You by Rihanna ft. Ne-Yo (Peak: #7, Year-End: #62)

In my Worst Hit Songs of 2010 list, I stated that I was not a huge Rihanna fan. I will now take this opportunity to rephrase that: I think she’s inconsistent. She’s definitely made some bad songs like Rude Boy (the song I was talking about when I said that I wasn’t a fan), S&M and a certain atrocity I may be talking about in the near future, she’s also had more than a few great hits, and this is definitely one of them. Her other two solo hits in ‘08, Disturbia and Don’t Stop The Music, were both pretty good (EDIT: I completely forgot about Take A Bow, derp! It's pretty good too), but it was this, her R&B duet with Ne-Yo that really stood out to me.

The instrumental is a simple acoustic guitar paired with a clap percussion track, a lot more stripped-down and refined than the over-the-top club bangers that were beginning to take over Pop Music around this time. Riri and Ne-Yo are both using their voices to their best effect, and they work together really well. As for the lyrics, they’re just about the love-hate relationship they have, and that as much as they both want to call it off and end it, neither of them will ever have the heart to do so. Riri, more stuff like this and less like… that one song I’ll talk about soon.

#8: Our Song/Love Story by Taylor Swift (Peak: #16/#4, Year-End: #41/#81)

Yeah, Country Taylor is the best Taylor. While she has made some good Pop songs (Style for example), most of my favorite Taylor Swift songs are from her earlier Pop Country days, and Our Song and Love Story are no exceptions to that trend.

First up, Our Song. This is one of the countriest songs Taylor has ever made. The instrumentation is full of Country instruments like Banjos, Fiddle and Acoustic Guitar, and Taylor’s putting a pretty good Southern drawl. The lyrical content is straight-up adorable, being about how Taylor noticed that she and her boyfriend didn’t have a song, only for her boyfriend to respond that their song is the things they do together.

Speaking of adorable, her other hit falls into that category too. Love Story is one of T-Swizzle’s most iconic songs, and that’s saying something considering how many hits she’s accrued over the past 13 years. Based off of the story of Romeo and Juliet, Taylor sings about her love that her family disapproves of, except unlike the original story where they both commit suicide, this one ends happily, as Taylor’s family comes around on the relationship, and the end up tying the not and riding off into the sunset. Is it straight out of a teenage girl’s diary? Yes. Do I care? No, this song is great.

#7: Hot N’ Cold by Katy Perry (Peak: #3, Year-End: #36)

Speaking of music associated with teenage girls, this is yet another guilty pleasure. This might be even more embarrassing than the time I put California Gurls in the Honorable Mentions of my Best of 2010 list, at least it didn’t actually make the list proper. Meanwhile, Katy can barely sing this song live, why is this bubblegum making my Top 10 in a year with much cooler stuff? Well, allow me to explain.

Hot N’ Cold may be total, complete bubblegum, but dang it sure is some tasty bubblegum. The song opens up with one of the best burns ever, “you change your mind like a girl changes clothes”, which is pretty much all you need to know about the lyrical content, a rip into her indecisive boyfriend, before exploding into that monster of a hook. The production isn’t anything special, just typical Late 2000s Pop Rock, but dang is it a blast. As with Realize, you can go ahead and take my man card for liking this song, but I ain’t gonna change my mind, this song is awesome!

#6: It’s Not My Time by 3 Doors Down (Peak: #17, Year-End: #52)

Hmmm, maybe I can keep my man card after all. The Late 2000s were the last time that Mainstream Rock was still relevant, and 3 Doors Down was one of the mainstays of the genre during that decade. Kryptonite is awesome, and would’ve been awfully close to making my Best of 2001 list had it not been a repeat from 2000 (spoilers for when I get to that year, and I will 100% do that, it’s my birth year), but this might just be even better.

To start, the instrumentation kicks ass. The song opens up with a crunchy guitar riff, dies back down into restrained verses, before unleashing again on the chorus and eventually on a killer solo. 2000s Rock was oftentimes sludgy and depressing (cough cough It’s Been Awhile), but this is that era of Rock done right. 

Lyrically, the song is about overcoming adversity and pushing on through hard times, keeping hope through it all, perfectly encapsulated through the line “This life we live is not what we have, it’s what we believe”, one of the best lyrics of the entire year. Sure, Brad Arnold’s vocals are pretty standard Post-Grunge stuff, but he puts enough passion and intensity into his performance to get this past the finish line as a 9/10 Hard Rock banger. Let’s all hope for a Rock revival in the decade to come, I’d love to see more stuff like this on the charts.

#5: Bleeding Love/Better In Time by Leona Lewis (Peak: #1/#11, Year-End: #2/#53)

These next two entries on the list are part of the “why the heck didn’t we keep her around” category, and for the first of them, we have British singer Leona Lewis, who briefly blew up in 2008 before fading into irrelevance by 2010 (although she did stay big in Europe until about 2013), and I’ve just got to ask, considering the quality of the two singles I’m about to discuss: why?

First off, we have Bleeding Love, one of the biggest hits of the entire decade. The instrumentation is basically the same as in Blank Space by Taylor Swift, a hit from seven years later. Lyrically, it’s about Leona opening herself up to falling in love with the subject of her affection, even as those she’s close to and even herself think it’s a bad idea to fall for him. Leona’s performance is typical for female vocalists in the mould of Mariah Carey, incredible range and versatility, but can also get a bit pitchy at times. If I wasn’t doing ties, this would’ve made the Honorable Mentions, but not the list proper.

Fortunately for her, the next single, Better In Time, was a much better showing of her talents. The instrumental is a mix of piano, strings and percussion, both from drum machines and actual drums. The lyrics are about her getting over an ex, even if she still has feelings for him, knowing that “it’ll all get better in time”. The vocals are really what set this above Bleeding Love (let me make this clear, that song is still great), as she avoids sounding pitchy, while still showing off her strong range. This is a hidden gem, and I’m glad that I found it. We could’ve used a little more Leona than just these two singles if this was anything to go off of.

#4: Tattoo/One Step At A Time by Jordin Sparks (Peak: #8/#17, Year-End: #30/#61)

For Part 2 of the “why the heck didn’t we keep her around” series, we have Jordin Sparks, an American Idol winner who was briefly big in the Late 2000s before seeing her luck dry up in the decade to come. She had three hits in 2008, including the Chris Brown duet No Air, and while that song is perfectly fine, it was her two solo hits that year that stood out to me.

To begin, we’ve got Tattoo, her first hit after American Idol. The production is fairly standard for the time, a mix of Synths, Acoustic Guitar and Strings, albeit very well done. Lyrically, it’s about Jordin making the tough decision to end a relationship, even though she still has feelings for him. As for her vocals, I can 100% see why she won American Idol, her voice is clearer and cleaner than a freshly washed window.

How about her other solo hit in 2008, One Step At A Time? Well, that’s pretty dang good too. The lyrics are about not hurrying life and taking things, well, One Step At A Time, something that resonates for this 19 year old that graduated High School last year. The instrumental is built around a funky backbeat and piano line, and Jordin gets a free pass to showcase her pipes in the backing vocals (everything else about her performance is basically the same as in Tattoo). Overall, I don’t see any reason why she faded away from the spotlight after 2009, it’d have been good to have kept her around in the 2010s, but how about an act who broke out around this time and did stick around in the 2010s?

#3: Stop And Stare by OneRepublic (Peak: #12, Year-End: #33)

Let me get my own bias out of the way: I’ve got memories with this song. Heck, I’d probably call myself a fan of OneRepublic, albeit with a small f. Sure, they’re by no means a Rock band, and they’re probably one of those bands associated more with soccer moms than with anything Rock related, but I like ‘em anyway.

However, I’m pretty sure that this, along with Apologize (which would’ve likely ended up in a tie with this had it not been a repeat from 2007) and Counting Stars (a likely contender for an eventual Best of 2013 list) are songs that everyone agrees to be great. First of all, this is probably the most Rock than OneRepublic has ever gone. The song opens up with acoustic guitar, adds in percussion in the pre chorus and then finally lets it all loose in that monster of a hook. Heck, there’s even a bit of a solo.

Lyrically, it’s about feeling like your life is going nowhere and feeling like you don’t have much of a reason to keep going, yet pushing on anyway, even if you don’t think it’ll get you anyway (or at least that’s my guess, the lyrics are pretty vague and there’s barely anything on the Lyrics Genius page). Frontman Ryan Tedder gives possibly the best performance of his entire career, and he ain’t even half bad in the first place. Overall, this is probably my favorite OneRepublic hit, and it earns the bronze medal on this list.

#2: Shadow Of The Day by Linkin Park (Peak: #15, Year-End: #55)

Now for a band that I know significantly less about, but still know that this does not match up with most of their discography. I’m mostly ambivalent towards Linkin Park, at least from the stuff of theirs that I know, but there’s no denying that this is absolutely fantastic. The lyrical content is about overcoming the loss of a loved one, which is powerful in it’s own right, but with the later context of Chester Bennington’s unfortunate fate, it hits even harder. The sound of the song is absolutely fantastic, a mix of slow, chugging bass and guitar, twinkling synths and elegant strings that build up to the climax of a simple yet powerful solo. This is one of the best sounding songs I’ve ever heard, and it’s no surprise that I liked this so much… because it’s been done before.

Yes, this is obviously inspired by With Or Without You by U2, thus making this the fourth best list in a row that I’ve praised U2, either directly or by proxy. You’ll have to wait for a future Best of 1987 list to hear my full thoughts, but I’ll just say that With Or Without You is one of the most objectively perfect songs ever made. However, the added context of Shadow Of The Day makes it very hard to choose between the two songs, so I’ll just say that they’re two sides of the same amazing coin. R.I.P. Chester Bennington, 1976-2017.

However, Shadow Of The Day was never going to be my #1, because there is one song that I have gone through the entire list without mentioning. One that pretty much everyone agrees to be not just a great song, but a song that has already cemented itself as a legend among mortals, one that will stand the test of time for as long as Popular Music is a thing, and really, was it ever going to be anything else?

#1: Viva La Vida by Coldplay (Peak: #1, Year-End: #13)

Surprise, everybody! Yep, there was no way that this song was going to be dethroned. It’s the obvious choice for #1, but sometimes something is obvious because it is correct, because Viva La Vida by Coldplay is one of the greatest songs of all time.

To start, that instrumentation is absolutely breathtaking. It’s quite possibly the most elegant composition of any hit song I’ve ever heard, and yes, that is counting November Rain. It’s not just any regular production, but a full on symphony, which lines up pretty well with the lyrics.

Inspired by the rise and fall of numerous historical figures such as Napoleon and chalk full of religious references, the song tells the tale of a king who was once immensely powerful, but who has since fallen from grace. Then again, that is just one of the endless interpretations of the lyrics, which are probably the single best set I have ever heard in my entire life. Add in Chris Martin’s superb vocal performance and you have quite possibly the single best Billboard #1 Hit of all time, and easily, without question, The Best Hit Song of 2008. I could not do the song justice if I tried, so I’d recommend you guys go back and rediscover this masterpiece in all its glory.

Up next, I’ll go back to 2012, one of the most fondly remembered years in recent pop music history, and see if it was really so good after all, but until then, have a great day!