10 songs that defined the 2010’s- A walk down the memory lane

     By Dana Chatterjee

 

      1. BABY

Talk about nostalgia. This song by Justin Bieber was released on January 18, 2010. The track featured a verse from guest rapper extraordinaire Ludacris. I’m sure we’ve all tried learning that one rap at some point. The song’s schoolyard romance and hypnotic chorus was a hit on impact, immediately becoming Bieber’s biggest hit yet with its No. 5 debut on the Hot 100.

2. ROLLING IN THE DEEP

Who isn’t a fan of Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”? It was such a powerful song, so real and raw. Percussionist Leo Taylor did a wonderful job. You can hear how he slowly taps the cymbals before an impactful drum roll comes in around the one-minute mark.

A line like “we could have had it all” reads confident on paper, but when you play the song, all you hear is her voice drenched in pain and regret.

3. SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW

First of all, let us just appreciate the music video. It looks like a magical piece of abstract art that is just so aesthetically pleasing! This song by the Australian singer-songwriter Gotye is a duet with New Zealand pop artist Kimbra. The last 1 minute of the song is an absolute musical treat as the 2 singers harmonise.

4. UPTOWN FUNK

Little did Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars know that a little jam session would turn into one of the decade’s defining pop hits, “Uptown Funk”. This song gets your feet tapping and the beats make you want to dance right from the get-go. It’s four and a half minutes of pure fun with memorable hook lines. The song is a serious vibe.

5. WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL

This song was the start of a legacy. Yes, we all miss One Direction. This is one of those songs we all have memorized from start to finish.

This masterpiece served as their debut single and lead single from their debut studio album, Up All Night. The harmonies were crisp; the guitar in the background was like the cherry on a cake; and then there was Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson, singing about a girl’s unknowing goodness with a combined charm that would take over the world.

6. BLANK SPACE

“Blank Space” has got to be one of the most iconic songs by Taylor Swift. This was the first time she had ever used songwriting as a humorous coping mechanism for an overly harsh depiction of her in the media. On Nov. 29, 2014, “Blank Space” ousted 1989 lead single “Shake It Off” from the top spot, making Swift the first woman in the chart’s 56-year history to succeed herself at No. 1.

The famous one-liners in her song like “Darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream” and “You look like my next mistake”, have been used in several T-shirts and memes.

7. SHAPE OF YOU

In 2017, Ed Sheeran’s pop song “Shape Of You” blew up the Billboard charts. Sheeran penned this dancey song with Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid and pop producer Steve Mac. The song is about falling in love with a girl that he meets at a bar. The music video is a visual treat and the simple xylophone beat in the background makes you groove.

8. SOMEONE LIKE YOU

“Someone Like You” by Adele is hands down still one of my favourite songs. The lyrics of this song is literal poetry. She wrote it with Dan Wilson. It is the second single off of Adele’s sophomore album, 21. The track was inspired by the broken relationship that inspired most of 21. As the closing track of the album, lyrically, it speaks of Adele coming to terms with it. The song won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012.

9. JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

“Just the Way You Are” is the debut solo single by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010). The Pitch Perfect version of this song has got to be our favourite after the original. This number with its memorable melody and meaningful lyrics is a love anthem for generations to come.

10. DESPACITO

In 2017, the song by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee climbed No.1 on the Latin Songs chart and stayed there for multiple weeks. It became so famous that even Justin Bieber jumped on the remix.

The traditional cuatro (Puerto Rico’s national instrument, a kind of guitar that looks like a violin) at the start of the song gives it the authentic Puerto Rican feel. I know we have all sung along to this song with our own made-up Latin lyrics. Some of us even managed to actually learn the lyrics. This song is the definition of a party anthem.