It was a year of turmoil for yours truly. And unlike the other difficult year of my single life (1998), this one wasn’t helped along by music. In fact, I started drifting away from newer rock and tried to gain some appreciation for pop. I stress the word “some”.
I doubt I will ever be a full pop music convert, but that year opened my mind up to it a lot more. It all started when my cat died in February. It was a tough day because this cat, Soldier, was like a dog. He really was. He came when you called, and he was very affectionate. Amazing cat. A Maine Coon. Highly recommend that breed. Anyway, that day made me reflect on my life. I was four-and-a-half years into a relationship with a woman… and I didn’t feel like she was the one. I assumed she was at that point, but I didn’t feel it. Meanwhile, at work, there was an amazing woman way out of my league. And in April I discovered that this beautiful colleague of mine got another job. In five weeks I would never see her again. I upped the intensity of evaluating my life. After a few days, I made a decision. I broke up with my girlfriend. And she really didn’t seem to mind greatly. She felt the same way. After a couple of weeks I then asked out the woman at work, feeling I had given the breakup enough time. That woman would become my wife and have my kids, so everything happens for a reason.
So in 2003 my life was upended. I looked hard for another job, because I wanted to move closer to my girlfriend. I got a job downtown that started in July, and got a place in North York. So within five months: cat died, long-term relationship ended (and she got the dog), got a new girlfriend, got a new job, moved to a new city. Stress!
Anyway, my future wife liked more upbeat, modern stuff and knew nothing about rock. Or the history of music at all. She didn’t know the Beatles (!), let alone Zeppelin. My commutes shifted to the subway (so bye-bye new rock music).
This was the year of SARS and the big concert in Toronto with the Stones, AC/DC, Rush, The Guess Who and Justin Timberlake. Michael Jackson got arrested and charged with child molestation. Napster relaunches as a legal pay service, and the iTunes store opened as well, each deciding that 99 cents for a song was the right price (should be 25 cents – so that everyone can afford to own 1000 songs and not just the rich or middle class) , which sets the pricing precedent for the future. And today it’s commonplace, accepted by all.
Anyway, all of these things are what shaped my musical tastes for 2003. Many of these songs I would discover and enjoy later, plus there are even a couple that I discovered while putting this piece together.
Unlike most rankings, I haven’t been tossing these up in a numerical order. We can agree that on some days, certain songs kick more ass than other songs – yet other days they do not. It depends on mood and situation. A song ranked 14th today could rank 1st tomorrow if it comes on the radio at the right moment. Instead, I group them rather than present a hard-and-fast order:
Awesome
Great
Solid
Not Bad
…with some inter-group splitting.
First, videos of the best from that year…
26 Great Songs from 2003
Diamonds on the Inside – Ben Harper
Behind Blue Eyes – Limp Bizkit
Love Is Only A Feeling – The Darkness
24’s – T.I.
Forever and Always – Shania Twain
From hip-hop to country, because that’s how I roll 🙃
Hey Ya – OutKast
Faint – Linkin Park
Give Up The Grudge – Gob
Stacy’s Mom – Fountains of Wayne
So Far Away – Staind
Someday – Nickelback
Jesus Walks – Kanye West
Crazy In Love – Beyoncé
Hit That – The Offspring
I Hate Everything About You – Three Days Grace
Where Is The Love? – The Black Eyed Peas
The Boys Of Summer – The Ataris
The First Cut Is the Deepest – Sheryl Crow
Don’t Walk Away Eileen – Sam Roberts
Brother Down – Sam Roberts
Where Have All the Good People Gone – Sam Roberts
This Canadian artist made a huge splash in ’03 (obviously, as you can see here). If you haven’t heard him before, give these three videos a watch/listen.
Butterflies And Hurricanes – Muse
Somewhere I Belong – Linkin Park
Calling All Angels – Train
Numb – Linkin Park
The Hardest Button To Button – The White Stripes
8 Truly Awesome Songs from 2003
It’s My Life – No Doubt
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
Let’s Get It Started – The Black Eyed Peas
One Thing – Finger Eleven
Mad World – Michael Andrews (feat. Gary Jules)
Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jet
My Immortal – Evanescence
Bring Me To Life – Evanescence
Follow me/my playlists on Spotify here.
The above songs are put together on a YouTube playlist for your listening enjoyment, here.
Here is the complete list of the best songs from 2003…
| Awesome – 1 | Bring Me To Life | – | Evanescence |
| Awesome – 1 | My Immortal | – | Evanescence |
| Awesome – 1 | Are You Gonna Be My Girl | – | Jet |
| Awesome – 3 | Mad World | – | Michael Andrews (feat. Gary Jules) |
| Awesome – 3 | One Thing | – | Finger Eleven |
| Awesome – 3 | Let’s Get It Started | – | The Black Eyed Peas |
| Awesome – 3 | Seven Nation Army | – | The White Stripes |
| Awesome – 3 | It’s My Life | – | No Doubt |
| Great – 9 | The Hardest Button To Button | – | The White Stripes |
| Great – 9 | Numb | – | Linkin Park |
| Great – 9 | Calling All Angels | – | Train |
| Great – 9 | Somewhere I Belong | – | Linkin Park |
| Great – 9 | Butterflies And Hurricanes | – | Muse |
| Great – 9 | Where Have All the Good People Gone | – | Sam Roberts |
| Great – 9 | Brother Down | – | Sam Roberts |
| Great – 9 | Don’t Walk Away Eileen | – | Sam Roberts |
| Great – 9 | The First Cut Is the Deepest | – | Sheryl Crow |
| Great – 9 | The Boys Of Summer | – | The Ataris |
| Great – 9 | Where Is The Love? | – | The Black Eyed Peas |
| Great – 9 | I Hate Everything About You | – | Three Days Grace |
| Great – 9 | Hit That | – | The Offspring |
| Great – 22 | Diamonds on the Inside | – | Ben Harper |
| Great – 22 | Crazy In Love | – | Beyoncé |
| Great – 22 | Jesus Walks | – | Kanye West |
| Great – 22 | Someday | – | Nickelback |
| Great – 22 | So Far Away | – | Staind |
| Great – 22 | Stacy’s Mom | – | Fountains of Wayne |
| Great – 22 | Give Up The Grudge | – | Gob |
| Great – 22 | Faint | – | Linkin Park |
| Great – 22 | Hey Ya | – | OutKast |
| Great – 22 | Forever and Always | – | Shania Twain |
| Great – 22 | 24’s | – | T.I. |
| Great – 22 | Love Is Only A Feeling | – | The Darkness |
| Great – 22 | Behind Blue Eyes | – | Limp Bizkit |
| Solid – 34 | P.I.M.P. | – | 50 Cent |
| Solid – 34 | Baby Boy | – | Beyoncé |
| Solid – 34 | Naughty Girl | – | Beyoncé |
| Solid – 34 | Down | – | blink-182 |
| Solid – 34 | Feeling This | – | blink-182 |
| Solid – 34 | I Miss You | – | blink-182 |
| Solid – 34 | Jerk It Out | – | Caesars |
| Solid – 34 | Serenity | – | Godsmack |
| Solid – 34 | Breaking The Habit | – | Linkin Park |
| Solid – 34 | In My Head | – | Queens of the Stone Age |
| Solid – 34 | Bad Day | – | R.E.M. |
| Solid – 34 | Fall Back Down | – | Rancid |
| Solid – 34 | 12:51 | – | The Strokes |
| Solid – 34 | Black Math | – | The White Stripes |
| Solid – 48 | F Me Pumps | – | Amy Winehouse |
| Solid – 48 | Show Me How To Live | – | Audioslave |
| Solid – 48 | Meant To Live | – | Switchfoot |
| Solid – 48 | Reptilia | – | The Strokes |
| Solid – 48 | Not Ready To Go | – | The Trews |
| Solid – 48 | Headstrong | – | Trapt |
| Solid – 48 | In Da Club | – | 50 Cent |
| Solid – 48 | Me, Myself And I | – | Beyoncé |
| Solid – 48 | I Stand Alone | – | Godsmack |
| Solid – 48 | Taylor | – | Jack Johnson |
| Solid – 48 | Dirt Off Your Shoulder | – | Jay-Z |
| Solid – 48 | Look What You’ve Done | – | Jet |
| Solid – 48 | California Waiting | – | Kings of Leon |
| Solid – 48 | Talihina Sky | – | Kings of Leon |
| Solid – 48 | Time Is Running Out | – | Muse |
| Solid – 48 | Away From Me | – | Puddle of Mudd |
| Solid – 48 | Fine Again | – | Seether |
| Not Bad – 65 | Figured You Out | – | Nickelback |
| Not Bad – 65 | Thugz Mansion | – | 2Pac |
| Not Bad – 65 | Creatures (For a While) | – | 311 |
| Not Bad – 65 | Stronger Than Me | – | Amy Winehouse |
| Not Bad – 65 | Toxic | – | Britney Spears |
| Not Bad – 65 | I Drove All Night | – | Celine Dion |
| Not Bad – 65 | White Flag | – | Dido |
| Not Bad – 65 | Through The Wire | – | Kanye West |
| Not Bad – 65 | Turn Me On | – | Kevin Lyttle |
| Not Bad – 65 | In a World Called Catastrophe | – | Matthew Good Band |
| Not Bad – 65 | Apocalypse Please | – | Muse |
| Not Bad – 65 | The Way You Move | – | OutKast |
| Not Bad – 65 | Changes | – | Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne |
| Not Bad – 65 | Go to Sleep | – | Radiohead |
| Not Bad – 65 | 45 | – | Shinedown |
| Not Bad – 65 | Legal | – | Snow |
| Not Bad – 65 | Zoe Jane | – | Staind |
| Not Bad – 65 | Hey Mama | – | The Black Eyed Peas |
| Not Bad – 65 | Thoia Thoing | – | R. Kelly |
| Not Bad – 84 | Go With the Flow | – | Queens of the Stone Age |
| Not Bad – 84 | Send the Pain Below | – | Chevelle |
| Not Bad – 84 | BOB | – | Weird Al Yankovic |
| Not Bad – 84 | Beyond The Gray Sky | – | 311 |
| Not Bad – 84 | All Of This | – | blink-182 |
| Not Bad – 84 | Breathe | – | Blu Cantrell |
| Not Bad – 84 | The New Year | – | Death Cab for Cutie |
| Not Bad – 84 | Tiny Vessels | – | Death Cab for Cutie |
| Not Bad – 84 | Life For Rent | – | Dido |
| Not Bad – 84 | Worker’s Song | – | Dropkick Murphys |
| Not Bad – 84 | Fields of Athenry | – | Dropkick Murphys |
| Not Bad – 84 | Everybody’s Fool | – | Evanescence |
| Not Bad – 84 | Bye Bye Boyfriend | – | Fefe Dobson |
| Not Bad – 84 | Hackensack | – | Fountains of Wayne |
| Not Bad – 84 | I Don’t Want To Be | – | Gavin DeGraw |
| Not Bad – 84 | Collide | – | Howie Day |
| Not Bad – 84 | Cookie Jar | – | Jack Johnson |
| Not Bad – 84 | Daughters | – | John Mayer |
| Not Bad – 84 | Everybody’s Changing | – | Keane |
| Not Bad – 84 | Molly’s Chambers | – | Kings of Leon |
| Not Bad – 84 | Why Can’t I? | – | Liz Phair |
| Not Bad – 84 | Hysteria | – | Muse |
| Not Bad – 84 | Savior | – | Skillet |
| Not Bad – 84 | Dare You To Move | – | Switchfoot |
| Not Bad – 84 | Gone | – | Switchfoot |
| Not Bad – 84 | I Believe In a Thing Called Love | – | The Darkness |
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