Top Songs — 2004
▶ Spotify PlaylistIn 2004, my life changed forever with the birth of my twin daughters. They arrived just before the baseball playoffs and the presidential election, bringing immense joy and a newfound sense of responsibility. Suddenly, the stakes of the world around me felt higher. I wasn't just following the election as a concerned citizen — I was thinking about the world I wanted my daughters to grow up in.
That fall, the Yankees were set to face off against the hated Red Sox in the ALCS. I desperately wanted the Yanks to win, but I was even more consumed by the election. I needed to be saved from another four years of George W. Bush. So I made a deal with the devil: I was willing to see the Yankees lose — humiliatingly, even — if it meant John Kerry would win the election.
When the Yankees painfully blew a 3-0 series lead and lost the ALCS at home, I consoled myself with the belief that this surely meant a Kerry victory was on the horizon. But then November came, and I watched in disbelief as Bush coasted to a second term in office.
Yet amidst the sports heartbreak and political disillusionment, there was a cultural lifeline: Green Day released American Idiot, an album that perfectly captured the frustration of liberal Americans. It became a rallying cry, a soundtrack for the frustration and hope that defined that year — a year that, despite its challenges, I'll always treasure because of the two incredible lives that began.
1.⭐ Bad Religion — Los Angeles Is Burning
2.⭐ Green Day — Jesus of Suburbia
3.⭐ Modest Mouse — Float On
4.⭐ Arcade Fire — Rebellion (Lies)
5.⭐ Iron & Wine — Love And Some Verses
6.⭐ Green Day — American Idiot
7.⭐ Bloc Party — Banquet
8.⭐ Iron & Wine — Naked As We Came
9.⭐ The National — About Today
10.⭐ Green Day — Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams
11.⭐ Snow Patrol — Run
12.⭐ Iron & Wine — Each Coming Night
13.⭐ The Killers — All These Things That I've Done
14.The Go! Team — Huddle Formation
15.Tegan and Sara — Where Does the Good Go
16.My Chemical Romance — I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
17.Arcade Fire — Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
18.Rilo Kiley — Portions for Foxes
19.Bad Religion — Atheist Peace
20.Keane — Somewhere Only We Know
21.Franz Ferdinand — Take Me Out
22.Modest Mouse — Ocean Breathes Salty
23.Morrissey — First of the Gang to Die
24.The Fiery Furnaces — Birdie Brain
25.Wilco — The Late Greats
26.The Walkmen — The Rat
27.The Killers — Mr. Brightside
28.Iron & Wine — Passing Afternoon
29.Johnny Boy — You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve
30.Ambulance LTD — Anecdote
31.Bloc Party — The Answers
32.Interpol — Evil
33.The Futureheads — Hounds of Love
34.R.E.M. — Electron Blue
35.Courtney Love — Mono
36.Arcade Fire — Wake Up
37.Belle and Sebastian;The Avalanches — I'm a Cuckoo
38.Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — O Children
39.The Concretes — You Can't Hurry Love
40.Kaiser Chiefs — I Predict A Riot
41.Elliott Smith — A Fond Farewell
42.Jimmy Eat World — Pain
43.The Von Bondies — C'mon C'mon
44.R.E.M. — Leaving New York
45.Bad Religion — Sinister Rouge
46.U2 — City Of Blinding Lights
47.Jimmy Eat World — Work
48.Interpol — Slow Hands
49.The Libertines — Can't Stand Me Now
50.Bad Religion — God's Love
51.Goldfrapp — Strict Machine
52.Arcade Fire — Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
53.Animal Collective — Who Could Win a Rabbit
54.Secret Machines — Nowhere Again
55.Taking Back Sunday — A Decade Under The Influence
56.The Divine Comedy — Our Mutual Friend
57.The Vines — Ride
58.Sufjan Stevens — To Be Alone With You
59.U2 — All Because Of You
60.Scissor Sisters — Take Your Mama