Popular Music 20 Years Ago

It's an interesting time in the world right now, to say the least. While the world is slowly burning into oblivion and probably going to end soon, we need to find escapes from the harsh reality. That's where entertainment comes in. This time I'll specifically be writing about music as I often do. But the popular music of today just isn't interesting enough to sit down and listen to right now. Actually, it's about as bad as it's ever been and it couldn't have happened at a worst time. So instead of that, I'm going back to the past, 20 years ago when the world had just started a new Millenium. The year 2000 was an interesting year where music was starting to transition slowly from the popular 90's trends to new trends that would continue for the next few decades. New stars were rising, stars that would go on to become household names and bring change to the landscape. Among those stars were plenty of one-hit wonders who would only make the slightest of dents in music history. Now let's begin looking at the most popular songs of March 2000, starting with a very familiar name...

Destiny's Child - Say My Name

Destiny's Child was an R&B group that hit it big in the late 90s. Though they had a few different members join and leave throughout their run, the group is mainly known for Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, and some nobody. Okay, that's not entirely true... the main member of the group was actually Beyonce Knowles, maybe you've heard of her? The group was all about Beyonce, and while the other members found mild success outside of this group, it was always Beyonce's show. I mean, her father did kind of start the group when she was young. In 2000 this song (Say My Name) hit number one on the charts and became their third biggest hit and most well-known song. 

The song seems to be about the singer's doubt about her significant other's faithfulness. She's asking her partner to say her name to prove himself and his love for her. Beyonce's vocals are of course on point and the music is also pretty great here. Two of the vocalist on this song weren't in the group much longer after the song became a hit, but their vocals will live on in the original recording I guess. Like I said before though, this is the Beyonce show, and she dominates the track here. As far as 2000s hits go, this is one I remember liking back in the day and it still holds up after twenty years. The production is solid and the music doesn't feel dated like a lot of early 2000s pop song do.

Overall grade for this one is a B+

Lonestar - Amazed

This was a big hit in the year 2000, but I've never heard of this song in my life. If I somehow did I must have erased it entirely from my memory. It's a strange mix of country and boy-band pop that kind of works but is ultimately pretty forgettable. I don't know, I think I'm just going to pretend this song wasn't even on the list.

Overall grade for this is a D+

Santana - Maria Maria 

A song about a girl named Maria Maria from Harlem. The singer spends the entire song talking about how great Maria Maria is without going into great detail. We know she's Latina, she wishes the violence in LA wasn't around and she's probably rich. But that's not why people listen to Santana songs. It's all about the Spanish style acoustic guitar throughout the verses and the Santana solos in-between those verses. The other notable part is the nice bass that plays throughout the song keeping the flow going while the guitar does its thing. Overall a very memorable song musically, and the vocals are pretty smooth as well. While the lyrics don't really feel that interesting they're still strangely memorably despite the lack of detail. Maybe that's only because I heard this song growing up a ton of times, but that's just how I feel man.

Overall grade for this is a B+

Faith Hill -  Breathe

A big pop-country star from the 90s, Faith Hill managed to keep herself relevant going into the new millennium with this big hit. "Breathe" is a pretty standard love song you'd expect from Faith Hill, but that doesn't make it a bad thing. It's not as catchy as say "This Kiss" (her most popular song), but I think it's overall a better song. Not that I'm a big fan of either honestly, but "Breathe" I think is just an overall better song. If only because it's far less annoying and the lyrics are far better. Sometimes a simple love song just works, and I think that's where this song falls. The vocals are great and the music is pretty standard pop-country stuff. 

Overall grade for this is a C+

*NSYNC - Bye Bye Bye

What many believe to be the quintessential boy-band song from the lesser group (Backstreet Boys are better).  It's always fun to go back and listen to the boy-band craze of the late 90s and early 00s. The music just has a very specific style that you don't really hear anymore. Of course, the music doesn't matter THAT much in this song. The things that drew people in were the melodies and the good-looking guys dancing and signing... AT THE SAME TIME?! Maybe I'm underselling it a little. Still, this is an iconic song and it's a really fun one too. Everyone who was alive remembers the music video with the puppet strings. There really isn't anything this fun on the charts these days, we could really use it. 

Overall grade for this is a B+... maybe A-

Backstreet Boys - Show Me the Meaning (of being) Lonely

An anthem for the self-quarantined. With a title like that, you know you're in for a good time. One thing I definitely remember from this song is the acoustic guitar playing the saddest riff ever. Then the boys take turns being sad because of the boy band craze only being a couple years from its death. Besides the memorable guitar, the rest of the song's music is pretty standard 90s pop song stuff. The vocals are something special though, and that's where the song actually stands out. Because outside of the vocals and guitar there's not much else here to really satisfy. 

Overall Grade: C+

Celine Dion - That's The Way It Is

After surviving the Titanic back in 1912, Celine Dion decided to use her new lease on life to become a huge pop star. At the age of 95, she had her biggest song that accompanied the film based on her life in "My Heart Will Go On". Throughout her career, she's had over 20 songs that have made it on the Hot 100 from the early 90s to the late 2000s. "That's the Way It Is" was one of ten songs to reach the top ten of the Billboard charts. It's safe to say that Celine had a pretty successful career in music. This song fits perfectly in the early 2000s pop scene with its production and music that sounds very similar to other pop artists at the time. Complete with those overused drum machines that seemed to be in every pop song at this time. The song itself is a very motivational upbeat song about the power of faith and never giving up on love or life or dreams... one of those. Celine's vocals are always a bright spot in any moment of time and it's nice to hear something a little more upbeat from her. 

Overall Grade: B+

Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You

Australia, the land of the... Australians. Two of those Australians being Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones of the pop duo Savage Garden. They came into the scene in the mid-90s and made it pretty big worldwide in the late 90s. With only two albums recorded in this project, this song comes from their second and also last album from 1999. I should probably mention how much I dislike this song. I don't really think I can even really explain why I don't like it. Maybe it's the soft, whisper-like vocals? Maybe it's how non-specific it is, not really saying much outside of just "I knew I loved you before I met you" and not really giving any specific reasons why. Does he have psychic abilities? Was it a prophecy that he was going to meet this person he loves? All things I would have loved to know. 

Overall Grade: Ugh

Montell Jordan - Get It On Tonite

Remember the guy who made "This Is How We Do It" in the early 90s? Yeah, this is him and this is nothing like that song. See because "This Is How We Do It" is a really great early hip-hop song that's always a fun listen to. "Get It On Tonite" has none of that charm and it desperately needs it. Now it's okay that he wanted to branch out into a new genre like R&B, but it had to be pretty damn good if it was to be a successful risk. Actually, that's not true, because it was an average song and it ended up being a pretty big hit for him... so I don't know what I'm talking about clearly. 

I will say this song isn't terrible, it's actually pretty decent. I like the music quite a bit actually, it's got a nice groove to it complete with some nice use of guitar and a cool bass line. Where it lacks is the vocals, Montell just doesn't have the charisma as a smooth R&B singer to pull this off. The results are a cool groove with weak vocals holding it back. 

Overall grade: C

Santana - Smooth (w/ Rob Thomas)

It's funny, every time I see this song on a list that I have to listen to I always sarcastically think "oh great, this song again". But what also happens every time I listen to it is me thinking "damn it, this song is pretty great isn't it?". That great mix of Latin rock with Rob Thomas' strange vocals just work in a way that it shouldn't. All the instruments sound like they are having so much fun while doing their own little riffs and it all works so well together. On top of all that you get some of the most iconic guitar work by Santana who is just making magic happen. While part of me hates this song because of the ridiculous amount of airplay it got for like three years, I still think it's a really fun song with some great music on top of a very strange performance by Rob Thomas. Also, what's with Santana's obsession with women from Harlem? 

Overall Grade: A

Blink-182 - All The Small Things

Without a doubt Blink-182's biggest hit of their entire career, also of their biggest album "Enema of the State". Not only their biggest hit but also one of the most iconic pop-punk songs ever created. Right from the start, the song kicks off in a very memorable way hitting that G-to-F note and kicking off right into the main riff. Then Tom's strange vocals kick in and it's a great time from start to finish. It's a short and sweet song that's a great introduction to pop-punk and a great band like Blink-182. Yeah, this song is nothing close to what the genre has to offer or even Blink-182 themselves, but that doesn't take away from how great the song is and how memorable it is even after twenty years.

Overall Grade: A

A Brief Summary

So yeah, the year 2000 was a mixed bag of hit songs and genres. This list alone featured some R&B, country, boy-band pop, pop-punk, Latin rock, and whatever the hell Savage Garden is. Lots of variety and lots of things I remember fondly that still hold up twenty years later. It's easy to say that it's all just nostalgia and that's why I still have a fondness for these songs, but I honestly think that in the context of the year 2000, these were great songs back then and still are really fun. I will say that I'm glad the production of pop music has gotten a lot better over the years. Who knows how we'll even look back at the early 2020s twenty years later or how the early 2000s music will be remembered forty years later. Thankfully music is so much easier to find these days, so we don't have to listen to the radio to find good music or really look too hard at all. While the charts might not be the most exciting, I'll still say the amount of good music we have today outside of the charts is still better than ever.