The 100 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century... So Far (Ranked by Martin Canine)

Year: 2004
Length: 10:02
Album: Once

A ten minute epic, the orchestral “Ghost Love Score” takes you on a journey that provides the excitement of a full length feature film: the joyous voyage has segments of quiet beauty, yet also tragedy, horror and sheer glory. Tuomas Holopainen composed a piece of rock music that equals the great classical symphonies, brought to life by Tarja Turunen’s soprano vocals and the majestic instruments of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Nightwish have repeatedly delivered great masterpieces of modern symphonic rock music ever since their debut album, but this song is where all their potential climaxed.

Year: 2001
Length: 4:32
Album: Mutter

That Rammstein can also deliver poetic and melodic music next to their trademark cleverly provocative Neue Deutsche Härte songs has already been hinted at on their two previous albums, but it was the title track of their third record that first showed the extent of Rammstein’s emotional depth. The story about a clone that was artificially born and feels utter sadness and rage for the mother he never had, leading to a tragic end including a symbolic act of a murder-suicide (you should know that “Muttermal” means “mole” in German, but literally it’s “mother’s mark”) was inspired by Till Lindemann’s and Richard Kruspe’s own troubled relationship with their mothers.

Year: 2006
Length: 5:11
Album: The Black Parade

Often, a concept album has a very strong opening song or ends up in one grand finale, but the best moment on “The Black Parade” is the semi-title track that kicks in at number five on the tracklist. Possibly the ultimate emo song ever written, “Welcome To The Black Parade” has the triumphant aesthetics of a marching fanfare, the rock and roll spirit of punk and a chorus that can compete with every pop tune. The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Queen are cited as major influences for the album. Especially the latter’s impact can be felt on the song, while still sticking to My Chemical Romance’s own personal style. An important moment of depth in the storyline, the Patient (the album’s protagonist) re-lives a childhood memory of him having visited a parade with his father.

Year: 2013
Length: 4:02
Album: Hozier (2014)

Hozier wrote “Take Me To Church” as a response to religiously motivated hatred towards LGBTQ+ people. The song itself can be attributed towards all kinds of loathing aimed at couples that don’t get the appreciation of closed-minded people and are despised as “sinful”. Hozier makes very clear what he thinks of that: his idea of a church is based around embracing all kinds of love and views sex as something natural. Like every great song with amazing lyrics, it’s supported by astounding music - this is modern soul at its most perfect.

Year: 2003
Length: 4:57
Album: American Life

Long before Gaga, long before Kanye, Madonna showed that a single can be both most experimental and challenging in its content and still be a huge hit - except for the USA, where Madonna’s songs were prohibited from the radio after her harsh words towards George W. Bush. In 2003, the Queen of Pop unleashed an angry arsenal of unpredictable siren-like synths, folk guitars, bizarre vocal filters and one of the best rap verses ever performed by a non-rapper, while lyrically destroying the modern zeitgeist that is more bothered by superficial status signs than the ongoing chaos and destruction in the era of the Iraq war.

Year: 2005
Length: 3:41
Album: Fantastic 4 - The Album (compilation)

Often, great movies and great soundtracks go hand in hand. In this case, the theme song outdoes the mediocre film it originates from by universes. Former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody wrote the angsty ballad about a woman feeling suppressed, that will ultimately demonstrate her power to the world, and also performed a part of it, but the spotlight belongs to Anastacia’s gripping voice that seems to contain every bit of feeling she sings about.

Year: 2005
Length: 3:33
Album: Ich + Ich

In 2005, the singer-songwriter of a legendary German 80s new wave band teamed up with a former member of a barely successful, short lived boyband and enchanted the music world of the second half of the 2000s with a wide spectre of influences (most notably soul and indie rock) and poetic lyricism. “Du erinnerst mich an Liebe” is one of the most honestly bittersweet songs of the century, being about a man who has been depressed for a long time and lost all joy in his life, who meets someone that reminds him of a time when he knew love. The heavy strings and Adel Tawil’s alternating between apathetic and desperate vocals make it hard not to shed a tear.

NOTE: The audio sample is an acoustic live version, the original studio recording was not available.

Year: 2011
Length: 4:37
Album: Mylo Xyloto

Sometimes, we wish we were somewhere else. The world just grows too difficult for us to handle. So we start dreaming. “Paradise” captures this intense feeling of letting it all go and losing yourself in imagination like no other song. Not only due to its lyrics (“life goes on, it gets so heavy / the wheel breaks the butterfly / in the night, the stormy night, she closed her eyes”), but because its vivid, fresh soundscape of strings, pianos and synths paint a truly mind blowing picture for us, no matter how we envision our own paradise.

Year: 2014
Length: 3:04
Album: Conchita (2015)

When a song single-handedly revolutionizes the LGBTQ+ representation and acceptance of an entire country and becomes a highly symbolic Europe-wide hit after its Eurovision Song Contest win, you are sure to have an iconic moment of the decade. But even if all of this never happened and the tune went by unnoticed - damn, did you hear what a massive song this is? Elegant and classy, it starts with a vulnerable verse sung by a beaten person, and evolves into an anthemic arrival of the almighty phoenix, with full blown orchestra and strength is every note - all within three minutes. But fact is, it WAS a hit, and when the queen entered the stage, it moved the European LGBTQ+ groups. “You threw me down but… I’m gonna fly! ”