10. Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78oSuSMmFsE This was a really tough top 10 to compile, and 'Ride' knocks out certain songs, such as 'Born to Die' and 'This is what makes us girls' because it announced her second phase, the 'Paradise' edition of the 'Born to Die' album - that I would argue should have been released as an album in its own right it marked a change from a brilliant, unique talent to a brilliant unique and confident star. The word 'confident' is very important here, her early concerts and TV appearances not least the on the David Letterman show, where she found an unlikely ally in Daniel Radcliffe were widely derided. Her defence was that she was a songwriter, not a performer, but even to her most ardent supporters, that held little sway. But with 'Ride' she found her voice - opened her lungs and just screamed about living an existential existence the song hits its peak with the line 'I'm tired of feeling like I'm f'cking crazy'. Is that teen angst? No way everyone feels like that. If I have one quibble it's with the video, she's done the older man thing so much better with her words, the scene on the pinball machine was titillating rather than educational, but all great artists make mistakes. If you have a job interview coming up or just need to de-stress then you need to listen to this, it'll help.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
See more from
Ed