Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Habitat_Against_Humanity]

Hey Ya!

[Unicolored Jay]

heeeeeeyyy yaaaaaaaaa
heeeyy yaaaaaaaaa

1. I hadn't actually watched the music video Fred has linked each round until now, because why would I need to. And I get what they're going for with the Beatlemania thing, but I wish they hadn't layered a cheering and screaming crowd over the entire song. Very distracting.

Yeah this definitely bothers me too. It's so difficult to hear the song at times and it takes away from all the other stuff going on in the video.

[The Favourite]

"Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy is the best song of the decade, but since I'm stuck with these two, I'll take Hey Ya! because it is the obvious winner in this matchup.

[Make sure your seatbelt is fastened]

brightside

[Auger recombination]

brightside

I'm glad at least one other Midwest player has correct taste.

Mr. Brightside by The Killers

[tksaleija]

brightside

I'm glad at least one other Midwest player has correct taste.

Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Make that two.

Mr. Brightside

[Votre Kickstarter Est Nul]

Hey Ya!

[Who Cares About Nausinous]

In the spirit of trashy frat parties, I'll go with Mr. Brightside.

[Dirty Water]

In the spirit of trashy frat parties, I'll go with Mr. Brightside.

Cornell '21

signature checks out

[Alejandro]

Hey Ya

[Crazy Khan Tech]

Hey Ya!

[Muriel Axon]

Hey Ya!

[Panayot Hitov]

Hey Ya! because good god people

[sephirothrr]

Hey Ya! because good god people

[Gemistus Pletho]

Since I have pretty much voted for it every round: Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

[jsugrue]

Hey Ya!

[eliza.grames]

Mr. Brightside

[Fat Lip]

Hey Ya!

[Good Goblin Housekeeping]

Hey Ya! because good god people

[rylltraka]

To start off:
Mr. Brightside – The Killers

But also, here’s some general takeaways from my experience of participating in the bracket, just ‘cause I thought it was a neat experience, and I got to witness some music that was new to me, and quite a bit that was old. So here’s some categories:

Most Unexpectedly Similar Musical Taste
Out of 79 possible decisions, the person who made the most that were akin to mine was – some guy named Ricky Rivera, whom I’ve never met before. Guess if I have to go on a road trip with anyone, it’s with Ricky. We had 50 matches – right behind was another guy named Dustin Austin (49), then Auroni (46) and Alex Vulfson (45).

This took far too long to tally.

Similarity score by round (8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,4,2,1) – 79 possible

Auroni – 5 – 4- 7 – 6 – 5 – 7 – 4 – 3 – 4 - ? – 1 (46)
Alex Vulfson – 5 - 5- 6 – 4 – 8 – 5 – 5 - ? – 5 – 1 – 1 (45)
Dustin Austin – 5 – 3 – 6 – 6 – 8 – 4 – 2 – 7 – 4- 2 – 2 (49)
Ricky Rivera – 6 – 4 – 5 – 4 – 6 – 5 – 5 – 6 – 5 – 3 – 1 (50)

Least
I’m not going through all this again.

Brand New Songs (to me) I Enjoyed
Standing in the Way of Control
Not Ready to Make Nice
Little Lion Man
The Fear
Mykonos
American Boy

Songs I Don’t Remember Even Hearing
1234 - Feist
Love Story – Taylor Swift
Slow Jams
Dashboard – Modest Mouse
Blind – Hercules and Love Affair
Fireworks – Animal Collective
The Rat – The Walkmen
SOS - Rihanna
Supermassive Black Hole
The Funeral – Band of Horses (I had this winning a round)
1901 (same)
All My Friends

Top 10 Faves
1. Mr. Brightside
2. Bad Romance
3. Hurt
4. Dog Days Are Over
5. Standing in the Way of Control
6. Chop Suey!
7. 99 Problems
8. Take Me Out
9. Lose Yourself
10. Hey Ya!

Songs I Knew Before And Liked More On Repeat Listening
Mr Brightside
Since U Been Gone
Family Affair – Mary J. Blige
Jesus Walks
99 Problems
Last Nite
Take Me Out

Songs I Knew and Liked Less On Repeat Listening
Hey Ya (note: It’s fine, but we listened to it four times)
Best of You
Independent Women Part 1
Rehab
Yeah!
Paper Planes

Many thanks to Fred for putting on this whole show, which probably took more work than we realize.

[Steeve Ho You Fat]

Hey Ya might or might not be the best song of the decade, but it is one of the best choices for the song of the decade. It's iconic, fun, and impossible to hate - even my Mom, who is determined to have all rap-adjacent music, likes Hey Ya!

[db0wman]

Mr. Brightside

[AKKOLADE]

Hey Ya wins, 45 to 19!

[Monstruos de Bolsillo]

It's been real.

[El Salvadoreno]

That’s Ice Cold

[tksaleija]

Fake, fake fake. I'm creating a vote fraud commission to investigate the dozens of fake accounts that voted in this poll. It'll just prove what the American people already know!

[Auks Ran Ova]

Congratulations to all the competitors, except the ones I didn't like.

[merv1618]

inb4 hey ya wins

but I enjoy this idea

oh look

[heterodyne]

inb4 hey ya wins

but I enjoy this idea

oh look

my god, what sort of modern nostradamus could have foreseen a one seed winning

[merv1618]

inb4 hey ya wins

but I enjoy this idea

oh look

my god, what sort of modern nostradamus could have foreseen a one seed winning

this guy

[alexdz]

Alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright

[Sam]

The local public radio pop music station had a "Most Essential Songs since 2000" vote recently. Listeners sent in top 10 lists and they drew up a ranking based on that. Since my theory is that the listener demographics of 89.3 FM are the demographics of quiz bowl aged fifteen years, I thought it would be interesting to compare the top 10 (ignoring songs which came out after 2009, which this poll considered but ours did not). They were:

1. Seven Nations Army by the White Stripes [My guess this was number 8 on almost all voters' ballots and number 1 on no one's]
2. Hey Ya! by Outkast
3. Mr. Brightside by the Killers
4. Wake Up by Arcade Fire
5. Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
6. Rehab by Amy Winehouse
7. Float On by Modest Mouse
8. The Story by Brandi Carlile
9. Skinny Love by Bon Iver
10. Is This It by the Strokes

versus

1. Hey Ya!
2. Mr. Brightside
3. Paper Planes by M.I.A. [15 on other list]
4. Hurt by Johnny Cash [21]
5. Toxic by Britney Spears [301]
6. Chicago by Sufjan Stevens [39]
7. American Boy by Estelle featuring Kanye West [not ranked]
8. Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand [23]
9. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley [26]
10. Jesus Walks by Kanye West [500]

I was most surprised that Mr. Brightside ranked so highly in both this poll and the forum's. I like the song and I guess it's good for karaoke, but musically it doesn't seem super interesting. Maybe it captures a mood that a lot of people between the ages of 13 and 23 feel frequently? I'm not really sure. Beyond that, quiz bowl seems to have more eclectic and less Minnesota-specific taste than 89.3 listeners.

[Auks Ran Ova]

Maybe it captures a mood that a lot of people between the ages of 13 and 23 feel frequently?

That mood, of course, is "being Mr. Brightside".

[Sam]

Maybe it captures a mood that a lot of people between the ages of 13 and 23 feel frequently?

That mood, of course, is "being Mr. Brightside".

It's a testimony to my lyric comprehension (and, I guess, my suitability in talking about music at all) that I had to look up the lyrics to remember whether the singer or the guy he's talking about is Mr. Brightside. (It's the singer.)

[jonpin]

Maybe it captures a mood that a lot of people between the ages of 13 and 23 feel frequently?

That mood, of course, is "being Mr. Brightside".

Well once you get past the age of 23, it's a lot harder to say that you're "doing JUST FINE"

[Whiter Hydra]

Maybe it captures a mood that a lot of people between the ages of 13 and 23 feel frequently?

That mood, of course, is "being Mr. Brightside".

Well once you get past the age of 23, it's a lot harder to say that you're "doing JUST FINE"

But you start asking yourself, "How did it end up like this?" a lot more often.