15. Hiding Tonight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2q6oLZwl9o Artist: Alex Turner Album: 'Submarine EP' Year: 2011 Best lyric: "Tomorrow I'll be stronger, running colourful / No longer just in black and white / And I'm quite alright hiding tonight." 'Submarine' is a lonely film, but it's a lonelier book. Ayoade's Oliver mostly narrates to himself, but author Joe Dunthorne's Oliver doesn't even end up with the girl. It's sort of fitting that Alex should write him a friend. 'Hiding Tonight' is an arm around your shoulder. It's the mantra that though your life's not what you imagined, it could be tomorrow. And it's alright to wait until you draw the curtains to pull yourself together. It's understanding, empathetic, and it's so fantastically written, that anything more than a single acoustic would distract from such a lovely message.
14. Love Is A Laserquest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaNwcrEPW4I Artist: Arctic Monkeys Album: 'Suck It And See' Year: 2011 Best lyric: "And do you look into the mirror to remind yourself you're there / Or have somebody's good-night kisses got that covered? / Well when I'm not being honest, I pretend that you were just some lover." Every brilliant British songwriter bleeds a strange poignancy: it's what we're famous for, those dazzlingly beautiful melodies that all sound just that little bit sad. It's probably the rain, and maybe the fact that as a country, we bask in grey areas, bones of contention and irony. We're walking contradictions living in a watercolour landscape, and we wouldn't trade it for summer all year round: that's not our style. 'Love Is a Laserquest' is Alex Turner's defining bid to join the Melancholic Legends' Lounge . No, it's not the best song he's ever written, but it's, let's face it, bizarre how confident a man can sound in his own sorrow. This is a lyricist who can pinpoint a feeling engraved in his very being with incredible accuracy; Lennon was longing for peace, Morrissey was longing to be taken anywhere (he didn't care) and Turned longs for the girl. 'Love is a Laserquest' is the face of his genius.