The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2008

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2008

In the following article, I take a look at one of the best years of the 2000s for the Hot 100 and take a look at some of the songs that make it so great.

Hey guys, welcome back to Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes for another year-end list. Today, we’re examining the top 10 best hit songs of 2008!

So 2008 is a year that is pretty damn strong all things considered, as I said in my worst list, crunk was on its way out and the club boom was sliding in, now I was far too young to remember anything about 2008, but I found a quote from Spectrum Pulse’s best of 2009 list that explains this transition between crunk on the club boom very well: “it was impossible to not see [2008] as a year of reckless abandon: the economy had crashed, most of [his] generation was broke, and if [they] didn't have money, [they] were going to party as if [they] did - it might have seemed bleak, but [he] [thinks] a lot of [them] were riding the contact high that came from a new president and a desperate desire to believe in hope... even if that contact high would lead to incoherent silliness and a hangover [they'd] only halfheartedly regret.” and post grunge had yet another pretty bad year, though it was pretty much on its last dying breaths this year, so that’s good news. And then country...once again, it was practically absent this year outside of Taylor Swift. So with that, let’s get this list started off, there were 74 songs on the Hot 100 year-end list for 2008 that I found good or better, including repeats from 2007 - and as a reminder of the rule as always, the songs had to debut on the year-end Hot 100 list for 2008 in order to qualify, so “Teardrops On My Guitar” by Taylor Swift and “Cyclone” by Baby Bash and T-Pain are unfortunately ineligible for this list. So let’s get this party started as always with our honorable mentions!

HM #1: Madonna f/Justin Timberlake & Timbaland - 4 Minutes (YE: #23, PEAK: #3)

I’ve said before a number of times that I don’t like JT. But I’ll give him this: when he’s good, he’s great, as shown here. “4 Minutes” is the last hit to date Madonna has had in the US, and this ain’t a terrible way to go out. “4 Minutes” is such a great song, where Madonna and JT have incredible chemistry with each other, but that’s not to discount Timbaland’s production which is awesome, built off of brass played so well and really adding a ton of swell to the track and doesn’t get tiresome. And then there’s the content, which is apparently about...saving the environment and having fun while doing it? I guess that makes the “tick-tock”’s and the “we only got 4 minutes to save the world” lines make more sense. Well regardless of what this song is about, it slaps, but a serious missed opportunity to go for another minute to make the track 4 minutes long. I kid obviously, but hell, it’s a great song, I’m not gonna discount it.

HM #2: Mary J Blige - Just Fine (YE: #82, PEAK: #22)

A bit of a surprising shift from Mary J Blige at least for me, but this slaps. The synths sound great and Mary is delivering an incredible vocal performance. My only real criticism of this song right now is that the repetition of the word “fine” does get a bit old rather quickly. But regardless, this is a breath of positivity when you need it and definitely deserves a revisit if you haven’t heard it in a while.

HM #3: TI f/Rihanna - Live Your Life (YE: #37, PEAK: #1)

...“Disturbia” is not making this list, it’s a good song no doubt about that, but that’s about all I could get from it, I never really understood why people consider it one of Rihanna’s best songs. That said, if you want a Rihanna song that I genuinely found great from 2008, it was “Live Your Life”. Admittedly, the sample of the Numa Numa song that opens up the song and continues throughout is kinda out of place here, but I can easily overlook that when the rest of the production sounds as good as it does here, with the synths, while sounding more than a bit dated, sound extremely triumphant to match the aspirational vibe of the song and the content which is about overcoming your challenges and that you’ll go far. Rihanna and TI both have a very encouraging tone in their voices, especially in that encouraging chorus - “You're gonna be, a shinin' star/In fancy clothes, and fancy car-ars/And then you'll see, you're gonna go far/Cause everyone knows, just who ya are-are”. And then you get the bridge, Rihanna just sounds amazing on it. This is a great reminder to keep going at whatever adversity you may be facing and that you’ll come out on the other side stronger than ever, great song!

HM #4: Rihanna f/Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You (YE: #62, PEAK: #7)

And the Rihanna songs aren’t stopping!! But, really, “Hate That I Love You” is a great song, from the production, which just sounds gorgeous, built off of a guitar melody that may remind me a bit too much of “Sweatshirt” by Jacob Sartorius, which I genuinely don’t hate at all for the record but point is, the guitar sounds really pretty and then there’s Rihanna and Ne-Yo, who have amazing chemistry with each other. And that matches the content too, which paints a picture of a love-hate relationship where neither party has the heart to end the relationship despite how much they want it to end, and both Rihanna and Ne-Yo sell the sentiment beautifully. Great song.

HM #5: Miley Cyrus - 7 Things (YE: #92, PEAK: #9)

Well, I guess the flaming hot takes are starting now. But fuck it, considering I genuinely really like “10 Things I Hate About You” by Leah Kate, so no duh I’d really like the song it arguably ripped off, and because I like that song, my opinion is probably irrelevant but whatever. “7 Things” squarely fits into the territory of Disney Channel teenage drama. Yeah, it’s pretty flailing in the chorus where Miley is listing 7 things she hates about this ex but the production is really doing a lot of heavy lifting here to make up for the fact that Cyrus isn’t giving a great performance, the production has a lot of energy while Miley is clearly angry, but it all cleanly transitions into the acoustic guitar-backed line “you make me love you” delivered with a lot of sadness to reflect that this is the thing Cyrus hates most about this guy. And then we get that final chorus which changes to Cyrus listing the 7 things she likes about this ex, even ending off with “you make me love you”, it’s surprisingly mature even if I do think the pop punk production doesn’t at all match the final chorus’s content. And I just really like the way the production sounds, the acoustic guitar bits are very warm and allow Miley to express her complicated feelings for this ex. And the pop punk bits have tons of energy, as previously mentioned. No, it’s probably not as good as “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo, but it’s still great. Yeah, I grew up with Disney shows like Phineas and Ferb, Jessie, and Good Luck Charlie, so it’s not really that much of a surprise that I think this is pretty potent.

HM #6: Colbie Caillat - Realize (YE: #67, PEAK: #20)

Is this as deep as a puddle? Probably. But what makes me really like this and hate “Say” by John Mayer, for example is that Unlike Mayer, Colbie Caillat’s voice actually sounds pleasant to listen to, yes the word “realize” may be repeated a bit too much, but I think the production sounds really pretty and it compliments Caillat really well, who also sounds great here and whose soothing voice helps this not feel boring to me. Great song, maybe I like this way more than I should, but eh, I still really like this.

HM #7: Ne-Yo - Closer (YE: #20, PEAK: #7)

A great house/R&B leaning cut, where Ne-Yo is delivering a great performance as per usual, what more could you want? From the opening notes that evolve into the coursing beat throughout the song to Ne-Yo’s whispering of the word “closer”, it’s a great song, but if I had to nitpick with this song, I’d have to say that I think it would've been better with more forceful production like that of maybe “Scream” by Usher from 2012 for example. As it is, it’s an underrated gem, definitely worth checking out if you haven’t had the opportunity to do so already.

Alright, now for the list proper!

10…Yes, “Disturbia” is still not making this list, because I think this is Rihanna’s best hit this year!...

10. Rihanna - Take A Bow (YE: #12, PEAK: #1)

Yeah, this is one of those entries where I can’t really say much about the song, I just really like the way this song sounds, from that beautiful piano melody that sounds devastated and Rihanna herself who sounds like she’s unwilling to rekindle this relationship with this unfaithful ex while her delivery has a tinge of sadness to it additionally, and it kinda shows she still has a little bit of feelings for this ex or is still feeling the hurt from this ex cheating on her, or maybe even both. “Baby, when I know you're only sorry you got caught/But you put on quite a show/Really had me going”, yeah great song without a doubt, maybe not as good as something like “Umbrella”, but still a simple, yet potent track, go on Rihanna, take a bow.

9...Taylor is once again a queen...

9. Taylor Swift - Our Song (YE: #41, PEAK: #16)

So, if you can’t tell from my past few lists by now, I’m a big Taylor Swift fan haha (and I’ll be seeing her in concert in July, yes, I’m flexing right now). And this track, while not one of my favorites from her, is still a great song. Yes, Taylor’s vocals aren’t technically as strong as they are in her more modern songs, but they are honestly a better fit for this country production than her more modern vocals. And that brings me to the production which is really nice too, with the banjos and fiddle sounding extremely warm, and then comes the adorable content, which is about how Taylor notices that her and this guy don’t have a special song, but the guy says the “song” they have is the wonderful experiences and memories they share, yes, it’s the living embodiment of the meme “maybe the true [object/subject] iS tHe frieNDs wE mADe aLonG ThE wAy”, but Taylor’s youthful vocals give this a vibe of innocence that make it not feel all that cliche to me, yeah great song, but spoilers, this still isn’t Taylor’s best hit this year.

8...Hopefully this is the last time this guy makes a best list of mine...

8. Kanye West f/Dwele - Flashing Lights (YE: #90, PEAK: #29)

I’ve said it before but Kanye West was genuinely on fire in the 2000s and “Flashing Lights” may well be his best hit of the 2000s, from the synths to the enticing sample of “flashing lights” as it works with the bass and kick to create an awesome atmosphere that I’m not sure I can properly describe,  yeah this just sounds great, not to mention Kanye sounds great here too, great song.

7...Yeah, I’m not sure I can correctly justify why I think this song is great...

7. MIA - Paper Planes (YE: #35, PEAK: #4)

This song is such a great one in a way I’m not sure I can explain, let’s see if someone else can do it for me, I’ll just steal someone else’s review and just paste it here...hey, here’s one from a now deleted user on Pulse Music Board! I think this one looks good, it’s highly intellectual:

“So basically shes bragging about how she is rich and how she can fly and go anywhere, she says everyone is a winner when she goes places but in reality not everyone can go and be as rich as her. And then she says all she wants to do and then gun shot sounds come and then cashing checks. Pretty much all she wants to do is go shoot at people and then brag about how much she checks. And then the annoying boom boom boom boom and the cash check noises. And then she says about how she wants to take our money like shes a thief like wtf. Then she goes to talk about poison and bombs and everything negative that could kill you or affect you. Then she says that no one in her corner has swag like her, again more bragging. She at least acknowledges that she will go to hell by doing all these negative things like bragging about how shes rich and how she wants to kill people and such and steal money from them. Then she talks about some people she wants to pretty much hurt and then some let go free.

But yea, this is not a good song. See, I do care about lyrics. The lyrics don't make sense at all and they are too negative, so all this makes it a horrible song. I don't get why all of you like it, smh.”

Okay, convincing, this song is officially topping my worst list. In this song’s place is now “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Damn, why did I put this song here in the first place anyway? I kid obviously, this song is great, I just wanted an excuse to use this copypasta for about a year now and this was my golden opportunity to do so haha. Don’t worry, I didn’t actually misinterpret the lyrics here, but let’s move on because this section is too long already.

6...Transitioning from that….review into this adorable hit...

6. Jordin Sparks - One Step At A Time (YE: #61, PEAK: #17)

This is freaking adorable, from Jordin Sparks herself having an amazing voice to the content being about taking life slow and well, one step at a time, a message that I think can resonate for many people, myself included, and Sparks’ delivery feels very genuine which helps this not feel too cliche. And then there’s the production, which sounds amazing too, it’s built off of a beat that resembles footsteps, I think? Well, if it is then it’s a very great fit haha. And it’s also built off of a piano line that sounds pretty amazing, yeah excellent and adorable song, it’s a shame it seems to have been forgotten, it’s an underrated gem that definitely deserves a revisit!

5...And yet, “One Step At A Time” wasn’t even Jordin Sparks’ best hit in 2008...

5. Jordin Sparks - Tattoo (YE: #30, PEAK: #8)

It’s the return of D major!! Well, that’s not the only reason I love this song, one of them being Jordin Sparks once again having a great voice to those “hey” backing vocals to the production being a perfect blend of synths and guitars, and strings, and this all comes together to elevate the content which is about Sparks being forced to make the difficult decision to end a relationship even when she still has feelings for this guy, every aspect of this song brings the despair and sadness this song needs with the production having an additional feel of some lovestruckness that indicates Sparks’s lingering feelings for this guy. Excellent song and yet, 4 songs ahead of this...

4...Honestly, it’s interesting how “deep as a puddle” can either be a drawback or have no effect on the song for me, with no real in-between, in the former category, you have “Say” by John Mayer, and in the latter you have “Realize” by Colbie Caillat and this!...

4. OneRepublic - Stop And Stare (YE: #33, PEAK: #12)

It’s kinda shocking how a song literally just about standing still works this well. Let’s start with the production: it opens with acoustic guitars and builds up into electric guitars in the chorus and then the percussion which has more power than you might expect! And then there’s Ryan Tedder himself, with his (I mean this in the nicest way possible) shaky delivery showing that he’s putting his all into this song. And I guess you could make the argument that the song’s content about standing still compromises the bombast, but here’s my counterargument: the production and Tedder’s emotive, powerful delivery makes this feel larger than life and weirdly, the vague lyrics help too, you don’t even notice that the song is just about standing still! Yeah, excellent song, and yet the excellence is still not stopping because this is only #4!

3..Yeah, there’s a reason this was so deservedly the biggest hit of the year!...

3. Flo Rida f/T-Pain - Low (YE: #1, PEAK: #1)

I’ll be the first to admit that I actually really like Flo Rida’s other hit this year, “In The Ayer”, which was actually a close cut from this list, but “Low” is undoubtedly the better song, and not just because of the memes I saw where someone sung the chorus of this song over the beat to “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” though that was a nice bonus haha. For starters, let’s just start with that iconic hook, I was hard on T-Pain in my 2007 worst list and probably too many other times before, let me just say this, T-Pain’s hook here injects the chorus with so much fun and personality. T-Pain and Flo Rida just struck gold with this chorus, “apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club was looking at her… is so hypnotically catchy, I love it. Yes, Flo Rida's verses are kinda forgettable here especially when they're adjacent to that legendary chorus, but they go a bit hard too if you just turn your brain off. And then you got that beat, which goes just as hard as the rest of the song, it’s a perfect bridge between crunk and the club boom, in a way, there was no way you could not have this song as the biggest hit of 2008, you got this one right, America, but ah well, it may have been the #1 song of 2008 but it just loses out on the race to be the #1 song on this list, CLEARLY the only list that matters am I right? Ok but seriously, “Low” is an absolutely iconic and legendary song, so what 2 songs could beat it?

2..I’ll admit that the first time I heard this song in around 2018, I didn’t think it was this good, don’t get me wrong, I liked it but that was kinda the extent of my fondness for it, and it took until when I listened through this year-end list last year to realize how amazing it actually is...

2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida (YE: #13, PEAK: #1)

This is one of those songs that’s so firmly cemented itself as a classic in pop culture today that I don’t know if there’s much I can say about this song that hasn’t already been said before. And having gone through every year-end list for the 2000s, I can say with the utmost confidence that “Viva La Vida” is one of the best #1 hits of the 2000s. From the production which may as well be an outright symphony, with the strings, the bells, the piano, and the guitar all coming together to create a magnificent sound that’s very hard to tire of listening to. And then come Chris Martin’s vocals, which are doing an incredible job at amplifying the cryptic lyrics and making them more cryptic, speaking of which, then we got the lyrics which look through the rise and fall of many historical figures intertwined with many religious references, now I’m not gonna get into the interpretations of the lyrics here because quite frankly, no one cares and I’m not talented enough to dissect all these interpretations. Nonetheless when the lyrics are combined with the superb instrumentation, “Viva La Vida” feels like it’s taking you on a journey, while I don’t personally consider it Coldplay’s best song - “Fix You” is a very very high bar to go over - it’s rightfully arguably Coldplay’s most acclaimed hit. And the reason the song isn’t topping this list comes down to pure subjective opinion, while I do think this song is objectively better than the song I chose for my #1, I just revisit that one more. Still, “Viva La Vida” is an amazing song, and a modern classic.

1...I mentioned with “Our Song” that I’m a big Taylor Swift fan but honestly, it wasn’t always like that, I mainly bring this up because this song is maybe a teensy bit related to that embarrassing time of my life haha So in like 5th or 6th grade I genuinely used to hate Taylor for reasons I don’t really remember, but it was probably for the petty reason of “I’m a boy, she’s a girl, ew I can’t enjoy her!!!!” but when I heard this song for the first time, well, either this or “Out Of The Woods”, I was blown away by how good it was and it was love at first listen and it’s topping this list!...

1. Taylor Swift - Love Story (YE: #81, PEAK: #4)

One of Taylor’s most iconic songs, and for good reason! And I’ll state what probably is a hot take but I prefer the original to the Taylor’s Version of this song; Taylor’s more youthful vocals are a better fit for the content than her more mature vocals, even if I still think the Taylor’s Version of this song is similarly excellent. Yes, the content is a maybe cliche version of Romeo & Juliet where it actually ends happily ever after, but Taylor’s youthful vocals give this a vibe of innocence that makes this not feel too cliche. And then there’s the other big aspect of this song: yeah it’s the return of D Major haha, it’s not in D Major the whole way through though, there’s a magnificently executed key change in the final chorus where it goes into E major, which may also be one of my favorite music keys haha. Then we have the production, which opens with an acoustic guitar and later in the chorus we get a fiddle, and yeah, maybe the production could’ve had a bit more body because at times in the chorus, it’s difficult to tell which instruments are playing. But yeah, maybe the fact that it was in D major was what originally won 5th grade me over? Eh, 8 years after I first heard this song, I can definitely appreciate this song for much more reasons than its music key. Yeah, amazing song, and “Love Story” by Taylor Swift is easily the best hit song of 2008!

Next and final stop before the lists for the entire decade on our journey through the 2000s is 2009! And as always, Spotify playlist is below this article and if you wanna comment your own lists of the best hit songs of 2008 or predict what my 2009 worst list could be, please comment below, I’m eager to see them! But until then, you’ve been reading Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes, and I’ll see you next time!

Spotify Playlist