Mix Tape of the Day: March 19, 2015 - The Best of 2004

I'm bringing this weekly retrospective a day early because tomorrow is the first day of spring, so we'll be busy dealing with that.  For now, enjoy your Outkast.

1. Yeah! - Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris (2004) In the mid-00s, you could not avoid a high school dance (or any dance-like setting) without hearing these first three songs.  Usher, Ludacris, and Lil Jon's "yeahs" were the perfect mix for popular hip hop and "crunk" music.

2. Hey Ya! - Outkast (2003) Sorry.  This is the peak.  It doesn't get better than "Hey Ya!"  This is high school for me.  Did anyone ever use the phrase "Shake it like a Polaroid picture" before this song?

3. The Way You Move - Outkast ft. Sleepy Brown (2003) I honestly couldn't bring myself to leave this song out.  I like giving everyone a chance by only allowing one song per artist on these mixes, but these two Outkast songs just belong here.  But maybe this is more a Sleepy Brown song, yeah?  That's what I'll go with.

4. Milkshake - Kelis (2003) 2004 was the best year for music.

5. Lose My Breath - Destiny's Child (2004) 2004 was the year that Beyonce really broke away from Destiny's Child.  She was all over the charts.  But I still found the sole Destiny's Child song on the list to be her best.  Funny.

6. Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson (2004) Finally, we made it to "Breakaway."  We now enter the soul-searching heartbroken woman phase of this year's mix.

7. White Flag - Dido (2003) Hey, it's Dido!  I didn't expect to see her so soon.  Breakups are tough on you too, I see.

8. My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne (2004) I like how Avril Lavigne is always there for me on these charts when I'm struggling to find good songs to round things out and I don't feel like apologizing for Nickelback again.

9. My Immortal - Evanescence (2003) I actually managed to not hear this Evanescence song until today, at least to my knowledge.  I'm making up for my blind spot in their career.

10. Live Like You We're Dying - Tim McGraw (2004) I heard this song on the radio one day as a teenager.  And although it's a very...obvious song, teenagers like their music to be obvious.  So it became a part of my life.

11. Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet (2003) This song sounds like "Lust for Life."  I don't like "Lust for Life."  I like this song.  Thank you, this song.

12. One Thing - Finger Eleven (2003) This was my token "That song was a hit song?! Well isn't that a pleasant surprise!" song for this mix.

13. 100 Years - Five for Fighting (2003) And finally, it's only right for a nostalgic mix such as this to end with a song about how fast life can pass you by.

Mix Tape of the Day: January 30, 2015 - The Best of 2011

Oof, I had trouble coming up with a complete mix for 2011 without resorting to multiple tracks from the same artist.  I even had to include a song that wasn't on the Hot 100.  But I think you'll forgive me because it's Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday!

1. Friday - Rebecca Black (2011) Haha! No regrets! I love this song! Not a Friday goes by that this song doesn't go through my head.  And without it, Bad Lip Reading might not even continue to exist today!

2. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry (2010) Katy Perry was certainly lucky that Rebecca Black got as big as she did or else no one would have noticed her Friday song.  My enjoyment of Kate Perry comes in waves and this seems to be the latest song of hers that I regularly enjoy.

3. F**k You - Cee Lo Green (2010) This song started gaining traction in 2010, but since it's not on 2010's chart, we get to feature it here.  Sorry if you have sensitive ears, but "Forget You" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

4. F**kin' Perfect - Pink (2010) Two pop songs with the F-word in the title in the same year?  What would our forefathers think?!  Actually, I was so used to the radio edit, that I never realized there was a more...mature version of the song.

5. Price Tag - Jessie J (2011) Um, the only reason I included this one is because it sounds exactly like "F**king Perfect."  Thank Goodness It's Four Chord Progression.

6. What the Hell - Avril Lavigne (2011) I know I've included an Avril Lavigne song on one of my previous mixes, but I don't think you quite grasp how deep my Lavigne devotion goes...

7. Born This Way - Lady Gaga (2011) I debated between this and "The Edge of Glory."  I picked this one because it goes with that whole self-empowerment theme that all great songs should employ.

8. More - Usher (2010) I'm not one for these type of songs.  But if they were all like this, then I'd probably conquer my fear of dance clubs.

9. Lighters - Bad Meets Evil ft. Bruno Mars (2011) I really like the Eminem part and I really like the Bruno Mars part.  Fortunately, they were strong enough for me to include the song here.

10. Good Life - OneRepublic (2009) Thanks to it's use in Disney Parks promotions, I just want to go to Disney World whenever I hear this one.  That is where the good life is, after all.

11. Back to December - Taylor Swift (2010) It's time for my annual Taylor Swift song.  She was feeling a bit somber this year.  Aww, Tay! You'll learn to shake it off soon!

12. Someone Like You - Adele (2011) Yeah, I'm really ending this mix on a devastating note.  Adele really took hold of our emotions in 2011.

13. Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri (2010) "Someone Like You" might be technically better than "Jar of Hearts," but to me, this is like 15 "Someone Like You"s.  It's so heart-wrenching.

Mix Tape of the Day: January 18, 2015 - Midnight Confessions

When I saw that today marked the "Confession of Peter," I took the idea of confessions and ran with it.  Unfortunately, song confessions tend to fall into two main categories: confessing love or confessing infidelity.  The more sinister confessions are admitted in cartoon villain songs, but we'll save that for another day.

These are my confessions...

1. Secrets - One Republic (2009) It's time to give all our secrets away.  Sometimes it's fun to share your secrets.  Sometimes, it hurts.  Secrets can bring people closer together, or it can drive them apart.  Secrets secrets are no fun, unless they're shared with everyone.

2. Confessions Part II - Usher (2004) When it comes to infidelity, there is only one confession song that hits you in the gut, feeling bad for everyone involved.  Technically, this follows Part I, even though that is more of a set up for Part II and didn't become a full song until after Part II became famous.

3. Confessions Part III - "Weird Al" Yankovic (2006) Fortunately, Usher's two-part confession allowed for more confessions to follow.  And Weird Al picked up the story and took it to its logical conclusion.

4. Scotty Doesn't Know - Lustra (2004) On the flip side, here is a confession to adultery that just embraces the sinful indulgence.

5. The Reason - Hoobastank (2003) But when your confessions hurt the ones you love, you have to confess something new.  You have to confess how much someone truly means to you.  Someone who...bastank.

6. Crush - Mandy Moore (2001) Alright, the rest of this mix will be about owning up to your crushes.  You have been warned.  We start with a fluffy, harmless, Mandy Moore song.

7. Tell Him - The Exciters (1962) Sometimes, you just gotta straight up tell him.  Ah, what a simpler time.

8. Why Don't You Kiss Her? - Jesse McCartney (2004) So, I was introduced to this song at the dawn of Youtube, when someone made a Jim & Pam Office fan video.  And I took this song to heart, as I greatly identified with Jim at the time.

9. Why Can't I? - Liz Phair (2003) Sometimes the difficulty of admitting you're in love is realizing it yourself.

10. Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon (1984) But then, it all comes out.  You can hold it in for so long and then you know, you have to tell the truth...

11. Shiver - Coldplay (2000) ...and you just have to hope that they feel the same way.

12. Midnight Confessions - The Grass Roots (1968) The fact that sleep deprivation is life's truth serum means that I should probably not be blogging at midnight...

13. Creep - Radiohead (1992) So, I was totally going to end with a song that was basically a sign to a certain person (if they even follow these posts).  But I ultimately decided it would be too obvious for them.  So, instead, let's end with a confession song about how miserable unrequited love can make you feel.