Best songs -- I guess

Here in Aussie-land, there's a t.v. show called ''20 to 1'', where they count down the twenty best ''whatever'': best celebrity scandals; events that shaped Australia; biggest political blunders; whatever. Sometimes I watch it, sometimes I don't: my decision is usually based on whether it's about music (e.g. ''20 best love songs''), or it tells me more about Australia (as I'm still getting a feel for things...).

This week, it was ''the 20 best songs of the decade'' (essentially 1998-ish to 2008).

I'm not sure how they judge ''best'' -- but out of the twenty songs, I'd **knew** five; one that I hadn't ever heard was worth my chasing up sometime; and the remaining fourteen I was indifferent to.

There were all top-ten singles, number-one hits, or bazillion-sellers. But, for me: ''meh'' to most of them.

Not sure if that means (1) I'm old; (2) popular musical tastes have shifted; or (3) there haven't been any truly innnovative, amazing songs that have been unleashed on the mainstream public in the last ten years. If #3 is true, then that might explain why record sales are down: it's not that people are illegally downloading mp3 files; it's that the recent crop of songs have been fairly lacklustre and uninspiring.


--GG