1 (5) JUST A DAY - FEEDER

[-,3,2,2,5] **NEW NUMBER ONE**
(not on any UK album... single: Dec 2001
#1 in my chart: 5 weeks in 2001/02)

"How come it ended up like this?
And who's gonna catch me when I'm coming down to hit the ground again

ALL. BY. MY. SELF.
(Waking up at 12, in my clothes again)
'Cos I don't wanna drag you down, hold you dooown
'Cos you're a friend
I'LL. BLAME. MY. SELF.
(Feel my head explode, from a lot of gin)
I guess you think it's funny now, FUNNY NOW..."

The best first minute of ANY song, let alone a rock song. Quite frankly it's got the best rest-of-song too, hence its lofty placing. Heretofore (is that a word?) always the bridesmaid, now the main attraction, and the only reason why the #2 isn't #1.
Feeder become the first band to have three songs in the top 10. This is the first song to get FIVE years in a row in the top five, and it's one of only three songs (in 8 years of my chart) to get five weeks at #1.
Oh, and it's amazing live.
Once I watched them from the seats at Hammersmith Apollo, and after wanting to stand for most of the set but feeling self-conscious and not wanting to block the view of the people behind me... they played this as the last song of the encore. Grant even gave us a little wave of acknowledgement when we stood up.

"Do do-do do, Do do-do do, Do do-do do, Do do-do dooo......"

2 (1) Newborn - Elbow

[-,-,14,4,1]
(Asleep In The Back, 2001)

"My badly-strung declaration"

This time, many of the lyrics are repeated, but the music behind them has three different sections... the first, radio-friendly (it was going to be a single but was pulled by radio 1 after 9/11 because of the "corpse in the bathtub" opening line) section... the second, laid-back part (with its slow poem - three syllables per line ('cept for the last one), 8 lines, little rhyming... "Nothing's changed / Nothing could be wrong"), slowly, swooningly building to a crescendo in the 7th minute, with its frantic guitar and lyrics delivered much, much quicker... very much a unique song, very much a brilliant song...


....very slightly eclipsed by something entirely different (namely the new #1) that'll get you out of your seat and onto the dancefloor.

3 (16) Switching Off - Elbow

[-,-,-,7,16] **PEAK**
(Cast Of Thousands, 2003)

"You, the only sense the world has ever made"

Very, very simple musically, this love song is the focal point of the (generally upbeat) second Elbow album. Just a slow repeated drum-beat and occasional piano doodlings. Simple but effective.

4 (4) Citizen Erased - Muse

[-,-,9,9,4] **Non-Mover**
(Origin Of Symmetry, 2001)

"For one moment, I wish you'd hold your stage
With no feelings at all
Open minded, I'm sure I used to be
So free"

Finally gaining 'best Muse song' status in its fourth year in the top 10, this is also the only song in the top 10 that wasn't released as a single. Lovely live, when they actually play it (you'll know it because the dum-dum drum beats that feature in the album version's intro are repeated without guitars for a little while - see Hullabaloo's live disc.)

5 (26) Insomnia - Feeder

[-,-,52,43,26] **PEAK**
(Yesterday Went Too Soon, 1999)

"My brain, my poor brain"

Another example of what Feeder do best. This was the 2nd single from YWTS, and the sixth different Feeder song to get into the top 10.

6 (6) Teardrop - Massive Attack

[-,-,-,34,6] **Non-Mover**
(Mezzanine, 1998)

"Love, love is a verb
Love is a do word
Fearless on my breath..."

And now for something completely different: swoonful chillout. Some slightly odd lyrics ("Water is my eye, most faithful mirror"), and a heartbeat-like bassline throughout.

Stumbling a little... just the top 5 to go, tomorrow...

Raiiiiin down, rain down

Come on, rain down on me
From a great height... from a great height... (height...)

That's it, Sir
You're leaving
The crackle
Of pig skin
The dust and
The screaming
The yuppies networking and
The panic
The vomit
The panic
The vomit

God loves his children...
God loves his children...

...Yeah.

7 (3) Paranoid Android - Radiohead

[-,-,81,5,3]
(OK Computer, 1997)

"When I am king, you will be first against the wall"

What a great year 1997 evidently was for music.

8 (HN) Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters

**Highest New Entry**
(The Colour and the Shape, 1997)

"I never wanted any more than I could fit into my head"

Where has this song been all my life? If I'd done last year's chart post-Reading instead of pre-Reading, it'd have been one of the highest new entries.

9 (19) Burn Baby Burn - Ash

[-,4,4,6,19]
(Free All Angels, 2001)

"Vicious bitter words, becoming more and more cruel
But you always take me back, let me lick your wounds"

Rising back into the top 10, this song has an incredible chart run - five successive years in the top 20! I'm actually charting the 'Intergalactic Sonic 7"s' version, because of the last 'tumbling like the leaves' bit, right after the quoted lyric.
On the other hand, I'm charting the 'Free All Angels' version of Shining Light, because of the longer instrumental in the middle.

10 (45) Seven Days In The Sun - Feeder

[34, 87, 83, 83, 45] **EVER-PRESENT** **PEAK**
(Echo Park, 2001)

"You really light me up"

And so the top 10 begins with one of the truly great summer songs. Strange that it should rise into the top 10 the one year I complete my rundown in Winter instead of Summer.