[exclusive] | Top 100 Songs Of 2008

(A soulful return to form for Keys)

"Just read your article. You made "Bleeding Love" sound almost okay." top 100 songs of 2008

"Just scroll through the list and call it a mess," his editor, Jen, had said over a crackling Skype call. "Say it was the year the wheels fell off." (A soulful return to form for Keys) "Just

He stared at the screen. For all his cynicism, he couldn't write the dismissive, ironic takedown Jen wanted. He couldn't call 2008 a mess. It was a mess. The housing market had cratered. He owed forty thousand dollars. The last Bush administration was limping to a finish. But on the dance floor, for three minutes and fifty seconds, nobody cared. For all his cynicism, he couldn't write the

The hours melted. The basement grew dark. #22: "Disturbia" by Rihanna. #18: "Love in This Club" by Usher. Each song wasn't just a track; it was a time-stamped photograph. The sticky floors of the club. The smell of cheap vodka. The feeling of a flip phone buzzing in his pocket. The absolute, terrifying, beautiful uncertainty of being young before the economy collapsed.

According to Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 , these were the most defining tracks that shaped the sound of the year. The Top 10 Songs of 2008