NPR Music - Our No. 1 songs: 2000-2004

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

A nostalgic look back at the most memorable songs that defined All Songs Considered in its first five years. Note: This is a recurring feature in celebration of the show’s 25th anniversary. A version of this episode originally ran on March 4, 2025See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Well, it's been a pretty big year for all songs considered. Stephen Thompson here. Hello, Robin. You turn 25 years old. The show turned 25 years old. The show can rent a car. The show can rent a car. Exactly.

That is sort of the last big thing that you can do, right? Isn't it like at 25 you can finally rent a car? It's until the senior discount. Yes. And then the next thing, around 50, 55, if you're lucky. But if you've been following along, we have been marking this occasion, the 25th anniversary, by looking back at our number one songs from across the past quarter century. We started off with a look at the first five years of the show 2000 to 2004.

And then we did a different year at the end of every show, or nearly every show, the Tuesday episodes, all through the spring and summer. We just wrapped those little segments up last week, our number one songs from 2024. Those segments were criminally short. I think anyone can agree, right? The public was clamoring. Yeah, you played literally two songs for each year. Thank you, sir. May I have another?

We really did. We only focused on a couple of songs from each year. So what we're going to do now is we're going to break those years, those segments out into their own little episodes, and we'll expand them to include some more songs from across the years. You are going to find these in the All Songs Considered Feed every Monday. We will feature a different year every Monday through the end of the year. but we're going to start here with the original first five years that we did 2000 to 2004. And to clarify, these are not Billboard number one songs from each year or whatever. These are songs that have helped define the sound of all songs considered,

songs that were big for us that shaped the show and our lives. I thought it would be fun if we just sort of play some stuff for each other. We can say what our number one song is, but there's so much other stuff. we can test the limits of our pea-sized, dust-filled brains and see what we remember. The calcified remains of our synapses. And I thought we could start with the song that we've been listening to, and I bet you don't know what it is.

I'm going to bail you out. Yeah, I have no idea. This is the first song ever played on all songs considered. Wow. So when the show first started in January of 2000, it was all instrumental music. It was music that Bob Boylan, who started the show, that he played between stories on all things considered. He was the director of all things.

That was the original concept of the show, was it was the interstitial music from the news magazine. Right. That was the whole premise, to play full versions of those little snippets between stories. Eventually, I started working here about a year after the show started. And we just started covering all kinds of stuff, mostly indie rock and pop, you know, regardless of whether or not it was ever played between stories and all things. considered. And this was a big one. I don't think I said it, Gustavo Santo Alaya. The song is Gaucho from his album, Ron Roco. What were you doing 25 years ago, Stephen? What do you think of when you think of 2000 in music? Well, in the year 2000, I was

working at The Onion. Right. I was editing the AV Club and copy editing the comedy. When I think about that particular era in my life, I mean, I was probably listening to an album from 1999 called Your Favorite Music by Clemsnide. I was a Clemsnide superfan. Still am a Clemsnneid super fan. But if I were picking what music defined the late 90s early aughts for me, that's probably the band I was obsessing over to the point where I was like collecting bootlegs on the internet and stuff. I mean, in every single one of these years, we could go 50 different directions. Sure. Right. I mean, I was going to play Thong song by Cisco. I could have played higher by Creed. Oh, God. You know, when we're

talking about the biggest hits of the year 2000. But I think a song that encapsulates, I think part of where all songs considered is coming from and where indie pop and rock and quote unquote alternative music kind of all came together, a band that has since become something of a punchline. Okay. But that made, I think, an absolutely perfect song as its introduction to the world. Come on, brain. This is actually, this has continued to be one of your. favorite bands. Am I... Of course. Oh my God.

Coldplay, let me tell you, those first couple Coldplay albums are foundation. Coldplay reached a point, and Coldplay's relationship with the internet is really wild, where it's somewhere along the way, probably around like X and Y, it felt like the internet just turned on this band and just

decided that Coldplay was hot garbage. And I think the weakest moments of Coldplay on their records that have come out in the 25 years since yellow came out, have some pretty shaky moments on them. But as you say, foundational records, parachutes, and a rush of blood to the head are phenomenal albums. This song in many ways is kind of a fulcrum that leads us into a lot of the music that was really resonating throughout the 2000. Yeah. And when we talk about the era that we're

hearkening back to here, the first time I heard Coldplayed was from downloading songs on Napster. Napster was a file sharing program where people... Sorry, you got to do the NPR. The Batman is a crime fighting. So, and then eventually they hugely took off in the U.S. Yellow became this big hit. But it speaks to the era of like,

right at the turn of the century, we were suddenly starting to get into music in completely different ways than we had ever gotten into music before. What's an MP3? Right. What is file sharing? What is this Napster thing? Yeah, I remember the first time I ever heard someone say,

I got that for free. I just downloaded it from Napster. Right. What are you talking about? Why? Yeah. What? And that's something I also found as I went through all this music from the past.

It really took me back to the way listening habits have changed, the way discovering music has changed. And, yeah, file sharing, that is such a great thing to track right around 2000. Well, I'm so glad you picked that because I was thinking of playing Coldplay a little later around when we get to 2002, because that's when a rush of blood to the head came out. And that was also a really huge album. Yeah. We did a version of the show in 2016 when all songs considered turned 16. And this was the song that we played for 2000.

Oh, come on, you should have this instantly. Oh, this is the Moby record. Moby, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. This record and NPR. Yeah, this is NPR. So the song's Porcelain from Play.

Like, every song on that album was used. As interstitial music. Yeah. Exactly. But I'm going to pick one for 2000. I think you'll also get this one pretty quickly. But let's see here. This is another band that I think of right around that time as being kind of foundational. No, it's air.

It's air. Oh, air. I'm like, because I'm like, I bet Robin's picking something from K'd A. Oh, no, that's a good pick. I had been unable to shake the thought that you were going to play Radiohead. Air, yes. This is this from the Verde-Safari? No, this is the one that came after, their soundtrack to the film,

Virgin suicides. Virgin suicides. And this is the song, High School Lover. Early aughts, that whole moody, kind of drifty, but still hooky,

electronic music that was being made then. So many we could play from 2000. I was thinking maybe Grandaddy, the software slump, that album came out. Talk about foundational records

for what makes a Robin Hill. Oh my God, yeah. That album was huge for me. I certainly could have played something from Kid A, maybe like National Anthem or something.

Radiohead was really big then too. Yeah. Yeah, well, if we're just going to play our favorite songs. I will give you one more from 2000, and then we need to move on to 2001. All right. This is going to take us, like, 17 hours. Oh, new pornographers. Yes.

New pornographers. Mass Romantic came out in 2000. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Of course. This was my favorite album of 2000. Mass Romantic. It continues to absolutely rule.

Yeah. In many of the 25 years that we're talking about, if you just, said, pick a song you love from this year. There's a very good chance. I'm just going to go ahead and play a new pornographers. Yeah, I saw a lot of Nico case. I saw a lot of new pornographers. I saw A.C. Newman. He had some great stuff. Oh, yeah. Oh, great pick. Let's go 2001. I mentioned that we did a version of the show in 2016. Here is the song that we picked in 2016. Oh, Bjork. It's Bjork, yeah. So this song is hidden place. It was the opening track to her album that came out that year. Vespartine.

Great thing. Such a good record. It was absolutely incredible. And I remember thinking, what is happening with music? I found that through a number of these years, especially in the early odds, where it felt like things were constantly shifting and moving in new directions. And I think it was because technology was changing so rapidly. And musicians, artists were finding new ways to turn sound inside out, come up with strange polyrhythms in ways that they had never done before. I think you really hear that on this Bjork record.

But honestly, in retrospect, I don't know why we didn't pick this. Oh, sure. Was there a bigger song in the indie pop world than New Slaying by the Shins that year? I mean, this really defines so much of the music that I was listening to around 2000, 2001, 2002, kind of garden state core. Right, right. So you've got the Shins, you've got Death Cab for Cutie, you've got Iron and Wine. Well, maybe we didn't pick it for 2001 because even though it came out, you mentioned Garden State. Garden State, the movie, it had this incredible indie pop and rock soundtrack and this was included on it.

That came out in like 2004, something like a few years later. So maybe this just wasn't on our radar for that year. But this is definitely what I'd pick now. All right, so I'm going to play something completely different. You will be able to figure out what it is in approximately one second. When it's on a party, we will party hard. This is Andrew WK. It sure is.

Who else? No, no, Robin. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you give me so much grief for Robin core music that I, I like. There is no band that says Stephen Thompson more, or I should say artists than Andrew W.K. Maybe weird out, but yeah, Andrew W.K. I mean, this record I get wet is one of my favorite albums of all time.

And I, I interviewed Andrew W. about it for the AV club when this record came out. And he was talking about his process and what he wanted to do with music. And the way he described it, he's an extremely passionate, kind of voluble guy. And he was sort of saying, like, my goal was for each second of this record to lead into the next second and that next second is even better. Right. Like, he's trying to top himself. I thought you're going to say one party is going to lead to another party, and that party is going to be bigger and better than the party that came before.

I mean, he would tell you. that as well. I mean, the fact that this record has three different songs with the word party in the title, Party Hard, Party Till You Puk, It's Time to Party, and they're all so good. This record, this record has given me so much joy and so much life. The number of times that I've, you know, been on a road trip where I'm like about to fall asleep, and then all of a sudden, I'm like, I need something, I need to pick me up. I could pull over to a truck stop and get some God for an energy drink that will give me a rapid heartbeat, or I could just put on I Get Wet by Andrew WK. So I know we're technically picking a number one song from each year, but there's so many

things that I keep thinking of from each year, and there's some really big ones that I feel like might take people back right away if they hear it. This is actually another one that I think of whenever I think of 2001. Oh, sure. Alicia Keys. I was going to try to do the vocal run and bailed out for the last second. Thank you for not doing that. Her debut songs in A minor, the song Fallen. I remember seeing her play this. It might have been at the Grammys, I think,

and just being absolutely blown away. As much as Moby's play was made for NPR, Alicia Keys was made for the Grammys. Yeah, totally. I'm going to do one more before we get to the end of this year. A song that has, frankly, only some, how improved with age. Jimmy Eat Whirl.

Very good. The middle. Yeah. Yeah. I remember when I was in high school, somebody brought up the band Boston, and I kind of heard of Boston. I didn't really know Boston.

And my friend, in trying to explain what Boston was, what the band was, said, Boston's that band that literally everybody loves. Right. I would say the same thing, at least about this song, if not Jimmy.

The Red Bleed American record, which was later changed to self-titled in the aftermath of September 11th, is just wall-to-wall bangers. And the middle is a banger that doubles as a collection of really good advice. What a great song. And they did this at their tiny desk when they came to play. They did. They did. And people lost their minds. Yeah.

All right, 2002. We have clawed and scratched our way all the way to 2002, Stephen. It's going to, it's going to reconsidering whether this was. a good idea. For those who are still with us, as we've catapulted our way to 2002, see if you remember this one. Is this Daff Punk? No.

Days go by. Days go by. Dirty Vegas. Dirty Vegas. This was their self-titled debut. I was sitting here like Mint Royale. Oh, wow. Yeah, Dirty Vegas.

Yeah. This had the best video from around that time. I'm not even going to bother explaining what happens in the video. It's this, oh, it's incredible. Dirty Vegas. I was absolutely obsessed with this song when it came out. There's some incredible dancing in the video, and all I wished more than anything in the world

is that I could dance like the dude in that video. Oh, my God. Wow. That one had gotten lost in the recesses of my brain. That's something else that happened as I was going through these. years is, oh, right, oh my God, of course, Dirty Vegas. I haven't listened to this song in 20 years, but it was so huge in my life when it came out. Culturally speaking, we have such a strange relationship with the past in this country. And like, there's so much retro radio and retro playlists

and like, think back to the, you know, the, we're playing all 80s, but then they're playing like the same six songs. Right. And so it's like, oh, the 80s, that's summer of 69. Girls just want to have fun, thriller, and that's it. Yeah. And so it's so easy for great stuff, stuff that you loved every time you heard it on the radio, stuff that you played in your car, to have totally evaporated from your world.

And so, like, Dirty Vegas. But it's in there somewhere. I had not thought about Dirty Vegas in 20-plus years. Yeah. What do you got? All right, well, I'm going to go, you're going to get this. What am I talking to?

You're going to get this in point. Don't say that because then I'm going to feel like a complete idiot. Robin, there's no way. Okay, yeah, all right. Everyone knows this is Avro Levine's Complicated. Also a great song. It came out in 2002. So one of the things that was amazing about this song,

do you realize it came out on Yoshimi Battles, the Pink Robots, is that when it came out, when the Flaming Lips put this out, they had been making music at that point for like 25 years or something. I mean, just some ashw me. phenomenal, yeah. You know, and then they finally strike gold with this huge hit. Well, they had a moment. She don't use jelly.

It was a big hit. Yeah, but I don't think it had to reach the song did. And it's sort of like, what do you call it? Like crossover, right? It was getting its hooks and people who had never listened to Flaming Lips before. And the other one, She Don't Use Jelly was a little more out there. It was more of a 90s, ironic kind of vibe. I mean, one thing that this record is not is ironic.

Right. And for me, in terms of when this album came out in my life, this is, you know, 2002 is the year I turned 30. I had an infant son at home. And what a time to find a record that puts you instantly and deeply into your feelings. And I know there were people who were like, oh, it's a, it's mockish, it's too, but it's like, oh, I'm sorry, the heart is mockish to you? What a great pick. I'm glad you picked that one. That was on my short list of ones that I might have picked for 2002.

For the 2016 show we did, Wilco's I'm trying to break your heart. Yankee Hotel Fox Trout had come out. That was certainly huge. But when we think back to, you know, you said, wow, Dirty Vegas is a band I hadn't thought of in a really long time. There's another artist who put out an incredible record that year, and I thought we're going to get something from him every year or every couple of years, and it will always. be amazing and this is one of the songs from the record he put out in 2002. Damien Rice. Very good. Wow, you got that fast. Don't hold yourself like that, because you hurt your knees. Well, I kissed your mouth and back,

but that's all I need. Don't build your world of smelt you down. And What I am to you Is not real? Is that Lisa Hanig out with him? Yes. Oh my God. So good. When those harmonies kicking this song Volcano from the album, O, from Damien Rice,

he only put out two more records after that. The first was like, like follow-up was in 2006 and then another one in 2014, and that was it? Yeah. I mean, I don't think he necessarily had commercial ambition. Yeah. I don't think being a big rock star was. was what he necessarily wanted from life. He was a big one for me.

Yeah. My Irish moaps, Damien Rice, the Frames. Yeah. But I want another record. I'm very greedy. Okay, one more. Okay, so I really thought about doing Lose Yourself by Eminem here. I wrote that down on my short list, too.

That is peak Eminem. But I'm going to go with a different one. It's one of my favorite songs of that year, but I wonder if you know it. It sure sounds familiar. I don't know it. This is The Seed 2.0 by The Roots. Wow. With Cody Chestnut.

And this was my introduction to Cody Chestnut, who's another artist like Damien Rice, who I would have assumed was going to put out 20 classic albums. Right. And slowed way down. This for me is just like a perfect marriage of what the roots do, what Cody Chestnut does, into this just big, grand, timeless anthem. I just, when I think of the roots, this is not what I think of. Right. Now.

Right. Well, I mean, one thing about the roots is they can be any band you want if they decide to be that band. Very cool pick. I should also know for 2002, that was the year Nora Jones put out, Come Away With Me. Oh, wow. That album and the song Don't Know Why, that was a really huge one on all songs considered. Siguroses, the parentheses. That album came out. That was a huge one. But we should move on to 2003. And when I look back at what it was like, listening to music then and working on this show. It felt like we were entering this kind of new golden age of pop and rock music,

if you want to call it indie pop and rock music. And the last time we did an anniversary show, the 2016 one, this is the track that we picked as our number one song for 2003. The district sleeps alone tonight. Yeah, I mean. The Postal Service. It named that tune, I can get that in one half of one time. Stephen, name that tune.

We talk about how music felt like it was changing and entering this new era. And one of the things I don't really think I'd heard before was something like this, which is these sort of disjointed beats, polyrhythms, set against a voice that sounds like, and melody, that sounds like it should be alongside a piano or a guitar strummed or something, right? Two entirely different sonic universes working together so perfectly here. Yeah, what a year, Ben Gibber. had in 2003. He's the singer-songwriter on the Postal Service,

and he's working with Jimmy Tamborello and Jenny Lewis. That's a brilliant record. But Death Cab for Cutie made transatlanticism in 2003. There are several Death Cab for Cudy records that one could describe as masterpieces, and I think transatlanticism is probably the one that stands out the most. I mean, the fact that he made two of the very best albums of the year in 2003.

And 2003, man, this is a very hard year to narrow it out. Incredible year, like I said, for indie rock. My Morning Jacket releases, it still moves. That album came out that year. The White Stripes had Seven Nation Army. Seven Nation Army, which is now basically their signature song. But this song, have you seen Death Cap do this specific song, the title cut to Transatlanticism Live?

Yeah. Oh my God, when it builds at the end, I've seen them in massive, like music. festivals playing this. I've seen them in small venues playing this and without fail, everyone in the room is levitating by the time they get to this moment. Levitating is exactly the word that I was searching for. There's just this sense that you're being lifted. Light is bursting from your chest. Yeah. And what a great batch of music to have when you're discovering how to articulate your feelings for the first time, which for me was like new parent, early 30s, waking up to some stuff, learning how I fit into the world, and like having stuff like the Flaming Lips record, or transatlanticism, or the Postal Service record, these records that are going for something really big and grand and are all about pulling feelings out of the person listening to them.

It's just a beautiful, beautiful record. It was a big time for Gen Xers because like right around then, late 90s, early 2000s, they're all starting to turn 30, going through these. big life changes and this music soundtracked it so perfectly. But I have a long list here from 2003. Where do we even begin? I mean, let's just... I mean, you had to play Outcast, right? I mean, that record was so huge.

This song from Speakerbox, The Love Below. Hey, yeah. I mean, Crazy in Love by Beyonce came out in 2003. I mean, Beyonce is going to come up again later in these discussions. Yeah, and we're just, we're just, talking in a way, like there are some years where you just have to talk about what were the most important songs. What were the songs that defined the year. And you can't talk about 2003 without talking about, hey, ah, you know, you can't, or crazy in love. Seven Nation Army. Seven Nation Army.

Like some of these songs that have never stopped reverberating. So good. And just such, just like such a forward thinking sound. I kind of feel like, I know we should move on to 2004, but Can I play something from the world of hip hop and rap that stands out for me from that year? Absolutely. Little pretty boy, here I come. Pumps in a bunk make you want to hurt something. I can take your man, I don't have to sex some. Hang him out the window for me Michael Jackson.

Oh my God. Missy Elliott is another one. We talked about Damien Rice and Cody Chestnut. People that I wanted to put out like a dozen more albums than they have. Yeah, exactly. But my God, this is not a test. That album, in 2003 Missy Elliott album. I remember when I first heard this beat on

past that Dutch. I was just starting to get into making music at home, like with the home recording system, and I had a drum machine. And I remember trying to imitate this beat because it is just so sick. That chick or that fat. Don't stop getting to your clothes get wet. Number one, drums go bump, bum, bum. This beat here will make you home, boom, jump. If you use a fat one, put your clothes back on before you start putting pot holes in my lawn. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I'm under attack like my name was Saddam. Oh my God, just like such a then, Jeffrey Dawn.

Oh, my God. So good. Just such a forward-thinking sound. I guess we're up to 2004, and this is where we were going to end this episode. I'm going to go with a big fat pitch down the middle and one of the songs that truly defines 2004 in a good way. I think I know the band, but is it The Killers? Yes.

Oh, of course. Okay, yeah. Robin, my God. I didn't listen to a lot of the killers at the time. Interesting. But, Mr. Brightside. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. To this day, this song comes on the radio and the dial does not, cannot move farther to the radio. I will crank this song every single time I hear it. Undeniably huge in 2004. I guess I just wasn't really listening to a lot of them then. And there's so many others that I think of first when I think of 2004. Like this one. Oh, this is Keene.

Yeah. So I'm just as incredulous that you wouldn't know this one immediately. Okay, it took me like three seconds. Okay. Oh, man. This and Snow Patrol. Yeah. I feel like I'm on my couch watching Grey's Anatomy all over again.

That's something I actually meant to say about the death cap for Judy. Totally. Because we talk about what was happening in, in the world of music. Streaming services hadn't launched yet. How are we discovering music? How are we listening to music? And there were a handful of TV shows

back in the very early 2000s that were pushing all of this music onto the world in wonderful ways. The OC. Totally the OC. Yes, Graze Anatomy. Six feet under, the Transatlantis, that was on six feet under.

Also, Saturday Night Live just had its 50th anniversary of that big special. And everyone on the music team started reflecting on their favorite performances. I ended up writing about Pearl Jam, their 1994 performance. But King's performance of this song actually was one that I thought of when I think back

of really great performances. It was a pretty simple performance, but it was the first time I'd ever seen the band do this song live, and I realized, they don't have a guitarist. Like, it was such an unusual setup to me, the keyboardist, the drummer, the singer, and such an incredible, incredible sound.

There's such an interesting confluence of cultural influences going on here, right? Like we're talking about the blog era. We're talking, you know, early internet era. We're talking about the O.C. and six feet under and TV shows that really became known for the musical stamp that they put on each episode. But also, you're hearing some of the, a little bit of the influence of, like, American Idol. I thought the same thing. I started seeing all these releases, like, oh, wow, all the American Idol winners and running. up are all starting to put out records.

And that's, and that's a big part of kind of the, the, the soup of what we're hearing in the early aughts. And obviously, as we get into the late aughts and into the teens, you know, we're going to get into the Hoheera. Right. We're going to get into the stomping, the stomp and clap. And how many drummers does your band have? Fewer than three? Right. You know, but, but this, this era really is, you know, we're talking about, you know, we're roughly past the 20th anniversary of this era, this was a really sweet and special time, musically speaking, you know, when a lot of these, a lot of these bands were rising up and had extremely commercially accessible sounds, but were tapping into indie music

that hadn't necessarily reached this gigantic audience before. Yeah. So the number one song that we picked back in 2016 when we did this was from Arcade Fire's funeral album, the song Neighborhood, number one. I think I would probably pick the King song somewhere. only we know. But let's just do one more from this year, from a band that I think you're going to know this one right away. This was another one that was really big for all songs considered when it came out. This hollaback girl? Oh no, this is Go team. Go team. You're right. Go team

from Thunder Lightning Strike. The power is on. Again, going back to how was music changing, this collageist music that we started hearing. You know, like somebody's really chopped all this really, really brilliantly. So fun. Okay, obviously tons more that we can play, but we're going to end it here. For now, as I mentioned, we'll keep the conversation going by looking back at a different year every Monday. Well, we'll do 2005 this week. It'll be on Thursday, and then we'll do every Monday after that, and they'll run through the end of the year. Until then, thanks as always, Stephen. Thank you, Robin. For In-Care Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's All Songs Considered.