Songs from the Year 2002

In tonight's edition of Music Thursdays here at Luke's Ponderings, I'll be going back to the year 2002 in music. That year in particular was a great one for music, in my opinion. I was in the midst of my sophomore year of college, soon to be followed by my junior year that fall. That year also ended up being the final year I spent long periods of time at my high school. During the summer of '02, I held a custodial/maintenance job there for $5.75 an hour. I really enjoyed the experience, yet the pay was so ungodly poor. However, to this day, I am thankful for the opportunity they gave me. But that story is for another blog entry.

I searched for the Top 100 songs of 2002 and instantly, I came upon some great ones. At the very top of the list was a Vanessa Carlson song called "A Thousand Miles." This proved to be the breakout song for Vanessa as the song soared to the top of the charts and helped propel her album "Be Not Nobody" to go double platinum. It's a gentle song with a quick beat, powered along with the rhythm of a piano. Another song from that album released by Carlson was "Ordinary Day," which in my opinion, was the best from the album. I don't know quite exactly why I became so enamored with that particular tune - it just seemed to speak to me. I remember quickly learning the words to that song and to this day, I still do. The sound of the piano is so strong in this song and Vanessa's vocals are extremely powerful. The lyrics hold such a great message. 2002 proved to be a very big year for Vanessa in her music career, probably a feat she'll likely never be able to repeat.

2002 also saw the Counting Crows release a new album titled "Hard Candy." They smartly covered Joni Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi" which proved to be a big hit for the group. And the woman who's already been mentioned in this blog, Vanessa Carlton, provided backing vocals for the Counting Crows rendition of the song. But it wasn't that song that became my favorite from the "Hard Candy" album (but don't get me wrong, they made a classic song sound contemporary with their remake). My favorite 2002 song from the Counting Crows was titled "American Girls." It's a radio-friendly tune that's catchy as heck and fun to sing along to. I remember staying at my grandmother's house while at college and listening to my CD player singing along to this song. It provided a much more upbeat sound to the band - I know I was more familiar with their earlier works such as songs like "Cold December," although they did provide some hit upbeat songs earlier on as well. However, back in 2002, it was fun to see the Counting Crows back on the radio charts. And during that decade, that wasn't the last we'd see of the group either (that in a future blog entry).

As for other tunes from the year 2002, it was also a breakout year for Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne. She's been mentioned in my "Songs I Dig" blog in the past and 2002 was the year we heard songs like "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi". She definitely brought a new sound to the radio that year. Canadian rock group Our Lady Peace released an epic single titled "Somewhere Out There" that provided powerful lyrics and a wonderful message. It has remained their largest selling song to date. And a song that is probably known very little here in the United States became a favorite of mine in 2002. "Insatiable" is sung by Darren Hayes, formerly the lead singer of Savage Garden and is a love song in the truest fashion. It's passionate, emotional, and speaks of the true forms of intimacy. It's actually quite baffling to me why that particular song wasn't as big in the United States as it could've been. 2002 was also a big year for Pink, as "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Just Like a Pill", and "Family Portrait" all charted. Other songs of note in '02 that were favorites of mine were "My Sacrifice" from Creed, "Whenever, Whenever" from Shakira, "Hands Clean" by Alanis Morisette, "Gotta Get Through This" by Daniel Bedingfield, "A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion, "Everyday" by Dave Matthews Band, and "Soak Up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow.

It's hard to mention every song from a particular year that was a favorite of mine. In fact, I'm sure there are a few that I missed, especially those that charted below the top 100. Still, seeing that these songs came out of 2002 just shows how big of a year it was for music, especially in my life. Hopefully for those of you out there reading, maybe you had similar feelings as well.