The Ten Best Selling Songs in Austria in 2001

This was one of the first songs I knew as a child, and I remember having been fully mesmerized by the video with Kylie in her different extravagant dresses.

Years later, I still love both the song and the video all the same. It may have a disco beat, making it dancable, but doesn't it sound mysterious still? Both the electrifying beat with its subtle layers of unusual synthetic elements and Kylie's slow, drawn out, and calm "won't you stay" vocals have that certain aura that well casted and directed film noir femme fatales also have. Stands out very much between the other pop songs of the decade.

Peak position: 1
Having spent 8 weeks on top of the charts, the disco pop song is also the biggest number 1 hit of the year, tied with Shaggy's & Rayvon's "Angel".

It's not as good "La passion", which I so highly praised in my last list, or his hit "L'Amour Toujours", but the oriental main motif definitely has something. It's a fine techno banger, no more no less.

Peak position: 1

A harmless, light and positive little pop song by the foremost German girl group, whose big success started the decade long craze for talent search shows (or casting shows as they are called in German), as they were formed in the show "Popstars". You will definitely see many more winners of such shows in the lists to come.

Peak position: 1

Theme of the movie "Loser", also used in "Dawson's Creek".
College rock riff, edgy lyrics, indie acoustic guitars and scratches - this is as turn-of-the-millennium as it gets, and for getting into the zeitgeist of its time this is really fine.

Peak position: 1

I am not so much into this song. I can't really tell you why, but I guess as a love song, it has not enough emotion, and for a summer hit, it's not fun enough. It's somewhere in between, but not enough to convince as each.

Peak position: 1
Having spent 8 weeks on top of the charts, the reggae song is the biggest number 1 hit of the year, tied with Kylie's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head".

Hands down the greatest hip hop song AND the song with the best lyrics, ever. Yes, I used the superlative. I could write an entire essay on the depth and different levels this song works on, and maybe I will, but for this list, let me simplify it. It can be broken down to three major qualities. Firstly, this is a song filled with a character complexity not even feature length films have often. Stan's issues, his relationships, his inability to differentiate between reality and fiction, his clinging to one thing to prevent his emotions that have been boiling underneath from a lifetime of suppression from bursting out violently, his way of not thinking things through and acting impulsively... this is all fleshed out, credible and nuanced. Secondly, there is the build up that causes the emotion to cut so very deep. This is done at first by the telling of some of the positive things that would have been: Stan has a little brother and a pregnant girlfriend, he could have been happy if he ...more

Peak position: 1

Another light, positive pop song by a girl group. Back then, most of them were very pleasant to listen to as they had such an easy going feeling to it that brings a smile to your face. They did not need to overflow with kitsch, they did not need to be annoyingly happy and fit for a dance party, they simply felt like a warm summer breeze during sunset.

Peak position: 1

This song is so lengthy and boring. There's this German word called "dahinplätschern", which describes it perfectly. It is a verb used to describe when (mostly) music or (sometimes) movies go on and on with little evolution or excitement going on.

Peak position: 1

A beautiful new age song by a beautiful artist who managed to mantain a musical style over decades that only she and no one else has made, and after all this years still manages to have a hypnotic, fantastic attraction.

We all know why this was so successful in 2001, but remembering it solely for that reason really wouldn't do Enya's graceful, magical music justice.

Peak position: 2