The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1998

 

The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 1998

Hey y’all! It’s time to look at the top 10 best hit songs of 1998! As I said in my worst list, this year-end list was honestly quite a pleasant surprise of a listen. It was a very diverse year for the charts, with some great alternative rock, a stellar year for R&B, pop, and possibly one of the biggest years for country music ever just on the best list alone. There was an absurd amount of great songs here. I could make a top 40 of this list WITH honorable mentions and still have material to cut!! But also as I said in my worst list, arguably most notable of all, 1998 was the last year where only physical singles could chart on the Hot 100. Many of the biggest hits of 1998 were not allowed to chart on the Hot 100 since they did not have a physical release.

As such, my criteria for this list is just like the worst list - any song that debuted on the Hot 100 year-end for 1998 is eligible, but if the song made the list in a previous year, it had to outdo its position on this year-end to qualify UNLESS the repeat is in the top 20, where it’s eligible regardless of its position the previous year. In addition, any song that made the Hot 100 airplay year-end in 1998 and placed higher than it did the previous year plus top 20 year-end songs on that chart are eligible regardless of its position last year. I’m likely gonna use a list structure like this for any other 90s lists I do in the future, which, disclaimer, might not be very regularly, I kinda just do it based on what Hot 100 rankdowns are open on Pulse. But if you want the entire pool of songs in which I’m choosing from, you can check out this Spotify playlist right here. And as another disclaimer, information regarding Hot 100 Airplay year-end lists are extremely hard to find and scarce. I just did my best to exclude any ineligible airplay only songs, but I could’ve very easily missed one. So if I accidentally include an ineligible song here, uh, please cut me some slack. Anyways, with an expanded pool of songs to choose from, let’s get this party started with an ever so slightly expanded list of our honorable mentions!

HM #1: Barenaked Ladies - One Week (YE: #51, PEAK: #1)

I just really like that guitar riff and the melody here, not much to it. But sure, I’ll try and analyze this on at least a bit of a deeper level: the bass guitar supplies a really solid foundation and the rapping is oddly endearing to me haha. Lyrically, the song is about how the narrator is kinda a fuck-up who screwed up his chances with his girlfriend and the song just stitches pop culture references together without much of a coherent flow. Basically, this is 1998’s “Tonight Tonight” by Hot Chelle Rae - a song about how truly messed up (in a pathetic way, not a deranged way lol) the narrator is and stitches pop culture references together at random in an attempt to mask how much of a fuck-up he is and it winds up kinda adorable as a result, complete with a catchy as hell guitar riff to boot! Great song!

HM #2: Pras f/Ol' Dirty Bastard & Mya - Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are) (YE: #70, PEAK: #15)

I just really like an East Coast banger like this. I really like the bass here and Mya’s hook is really nice. I don’t know, that’s really it as to why I really like this.

HM #3: Next - Too Close (YE: #1, PEAK: #1)

This was so far and away Next’s best hit this year and it’s well-deservingly their biggest hit this year as well. The guys in Next actually seem like they’re putting personality into this song here. They don’t sound nearly as vacant as they did in their other hits in 1998 - hell, they somehow manage to use the word “grindin’” and make it work! I gotta give credit where it’s due. I also really like the production, the percussion isn’t too overbearing and restrained enough to make this feel really sexy. And as for the content, it’s about how the narrator has a boner. And it somehow works here because again, the guys in Next don’t sound nearly as vacant as they did in their other hits this year. But also, I think the woman on this song is what really elevates this for me, whoever she is (I literally can’t find anything about who she is anywhere), she has great chemistry with the guys in Next here and her expressive delivery make it clear that she’s into it too (take David Banner’s 2005 hit “Play” for comparison, the female vocals on that felt really lifeless and all we’re left with in that song as a result is Banner trying to live out his horny fantasies in that song). Yeah, this is a great song, it’s hot as hell.

HM #4: Elton John - Candle In The Wind 1997 (YE: #8, PEAK: #1)

Yup, it’s a really big one. It’s not possible for someone like me to quantify how big “Candle In The Wind 1997” felt when it dropped. The best comparison I can make with my current knowledge and experiences is to how huge “Hello” by Adele felt when it dropped. In fact, for this entry, I actually asked my family members how big “Candle In The Wind 1997” felt when it dropped and even they had trouble quantifying it. I can say that even my mom, who doesn’t know jackshit about pop music, heard the song a lot at the time. But anyways, I’ve talked a lot about how big the song was, but what about its quality? Well, I think it’s a very well-written rewrite/tribute for the late Princess Diana and Elton John sells this fantastically. When listening to this, I feel like I can physically feel the grief felt by many when Princess Diana tragically died. It doesn’t feel like a cheap recycling of one of his prior hits just for another quick buck/hit song (cough cough “Cold Heart” and “Hold Me Closer”). It’s a rewrite of an earlier hit, yes, but it feels like it came from a genuine place of sincerity. Yeah, this is a beautiful song, great stuff!

HM #5: Puff Daddy & The Family f/The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes - Victory (YE: #68, PEAK: #19)

Okay, I may have dunked on Puff Daddy a lot in my worst list for being behind much of the lazy sampling in music in the 90s, but “Victory” goes so hard. All the rappers here are on point, especially Busta Rhymes who sounds intimidating and like he earned his victory lap. And learning that apparently The Notorious B.I.G.’s verses here were the last he recorded prior to his death, what a note to go out on. Great song!!

HM #6: Sarah McLachlan - Adia (YE: #20, PEAK: #3)

Yeah, “Adia” is just a great singer-songwriter cut from 1998. The song is about the narrator feeling like she’s responsible for everyone in her life and the song is just a desperate plea for forgiveness. Sarah McLachlan sells this so earnestly and she lets you know that she believes she let you down. Great song!!

HM #7: Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On (YE: #13, PEAK: #1)

I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen Titanic and know basically nothing about it (please don’t spoil it in the comments lol), for all I know maybe this works even better in the context of the movie. But all I know is that I really like “My Heart Will Go On”, it’s a cheesy 90s ballad (complete with a key change) that actually pulls off its formula really well. And I can point the reason this song works so well for me at Celine Dion herself, she sounds genuinely gorgeous here and even if she admittedly feels a bit dramatic in her delivery at certain points, she’s still so technically skilled as a singer that I just focus on her vocals complementing the devastating production so well. Great stuff!!

HM #8: Jennifer Paige - Crush (YE: #21, PEAK: #3)

An adorable teen pop bop! “Crush” is a song about the narrator finding herself falling in love with a guy but she’s trying to convince herself that it’s nothing more than a crush. And I think it works really well. What immediately catches my attention is the lyrics that begin with “not like”, it seems to amplify Jennifer Paige’s sense of denial in this situation. And I just love the bridge, where Paige goes from imagining a “happily ever after” ending with this guy to just having to convince herself that this is nothing more than a simple crush again. Great song!

HM #9: Faith Hill - This Kiss (YE: #25, PEAK: #7)

Me liking Faith Hill’s music makes me feel like a white suburban mom. And yeah, this definitely does feel like a “white suburban mom”-type song, especially in Hill’s vocals. But that doesn’t diminish how much I really like this song. It’s honestly super cute, where Hill describes the feeling of true love’s kiss, it’s centrifugal motion, perpetual bliss, that pivotal moment, impossible, and unstoppable. Hill sounds genuinely lovestruck here and like she’s really feeling all these sensations with this kiss. Is it a bit lame? Yes. But is it still a great song? Yes.

HM #10: The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Jump Jive An' Wail (YE: #75 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

Well this is just a ton of fun. A flat out rockabilly banger that even incorporates some swing revival elements and frontman Brian Setzer is just having a ton of fun here, I feel like he’s literally jumping, jiving, and wailing while singing this (whatever that refers to lol). In a way, it feels like a leftover from the vibrant pop music scene of 1966, and that’s super high praise!! Yeah, this is an underrated little banger that definitely deserves to be better remembered today.

HM #11: Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (YE: #4 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

Well, it’s quite possibly the most infamous example of a song that didn’t get to chart on the Hot 100 because of the physical singles rule. Now, it did eventually chart and make the year-end in 1999, but it’s clear that it had much more impact in 1998. It’s just very well-composed, I really like the guitars, even if I think they could’ve afforded to have a bit more punch in the chorus. Our frontman also sings this so well. Everything about the production and vocals just work so well for me, to the point where I’ve never paid any attention to the lyrics. For the record, the lyrics are apparently written from the perspective of the Nicolas Cage character in the movie City Of Angels willing to give up immortality just to feel something more human. Which, yeah, it’s cryptic in a way many classics are. But I think you know why “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls is a fucking great song.

HM #12: Aaliyah - Are You That Somebody? (YE: #31 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

Timbaland’s production here is just masterful. I love the jittery production, with the guitar and the quicker percussion. It really puts Aaliyah’s vocals in the spotlight, and they are amazing, her voice is super expressive. Yeah, just an excellent R&B track, love it!

HM #13: Ben Folds Five - Brick (YE: #57 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

“Brick”’s songwriting is honestly...kinda heartbreaking. The song details frontman Ben Folds’s girlfriend having to go get an abortion. The chorus in particular is just really devastating:

“She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly”

Folds likens his care for his girlfriend to being tied to a brick that’s pulling him underwater, no matter how much he may not want to, he has to go down this path. After the abortion, Folds and his girlfriend are understandably devastated, and their parents sense something is going on as the weeks pass by. This all ultimately culminates in the bridge, when they have to tell their parents the truth finally because they were tired of lying. Couple that with the very somber piano melody that picks up a bit of power in the chorus, and you get a heartbreaking song. This is incredible.

HM #14: Natalie Imbruglia - Torn (YE: #2 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

I’ve always loved this song, maybe the production’s music key reminds me oddly of “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, but that song is one of my favorite hits of the 2000s so that’s a compliment more than anything. But while Natasha used the music key to create an uplifting atmosphere, Natalie Imbruglia uses the music key to create a devastating and incredibly hurt atmosphere. I love the guitar here and Imbruglia sells this so well, she sounds incredibly hurt and betrayed here. Incredible little song, deservingly very well-remembered today.

Alright, now for the real cream of the crop!

10…Over the years, I’ve grown to consider “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn one of the best pop songs of all time, a song that was criminally robbed of being a hit in the US and had that terrible Calum Scott cover overshadow it in the cultural memory, despite having the gold standard of songwriting in my eyes for taking an upbeat dance production and contrasting it with sadder lyrics to create the image of the narrator finding the courage to go back out on the dancefloor and dance after a breakup. Now, I was quite shocked to learn that Robyn actually had a couple US hits before she released “Dancing On My Own”!! So here’s one of those US hits!....

10. Robyn - Show Me Love (YE: #29, PEAK: #7)

This is obviously not anywhere as good as “Dancing On My Own” (the bar is in the Oort Cloud), but “Show Me Love” is still incredible, primarily for its sound. I love the synth melody and Robyn’s voice sounds really nice. And honestly, call me crazy if you want, but if Carly Rae Jepsen sung this, it might not have sounded all that out of place on E·MO·TION and that’s a high compliment because E·MO·TION is an incredible album! Yeah, “Show Me Love” is amazing, now let’s give “Dancing On My Own” the “Running Up That Hill” treatment already!!

9...Flaming hot take incoming, I think?...

9. Luke f/No Good But So Good - Raise The Roof (YE: #90, PEAK: #26)

Okay, but yeah, “Raise The Roof” is a Miami bass banger of a song that just sounds like it’ll utterly slap if someone were to throw it on at a party. I almost wanna say that I love this for the same reasons I love “Party Up (Up In Here)” by DMX, but let’s be real; there’s a whole different vibe to the screaming here. DMX’s aggressive barking delivery in “Party Up (Up In Here)” was meant to make him seem intimidating, but the delivery here is just meant to create a fun atmosphere. And I have to give props to whoever the MC is on here, he’s putting everything into this song, his energy is off the charts here! Excellent song, it’s definitely not a very smart one, but it still slaps so hard. What a banger!!

8...So admittedly art pop can tend to have a bit of an uphill battle for me to really love, partially because art pop feels to me like music you treat the same way as a valuable painting in the museum. You can look (hear) at it, but you can’t touch (sing/dance/whatever else you do with music) it in fear that you’ll mess it up. As a result, most art pop can feel a bit inaccessible musically. There are some exceptions to that, though, one of them being Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”, another being this!!...

8. Madonna - Frozen (YE: #32, PEAK: #2)

Granted, I wouldn’t necessarily call “Frozen” very accessible either, but it’s a song that works so strongly musically that I’m just drawn to it. I love the breakbeats and trip-hop production. The melody is haunting and ominous and Madonna’s vocals have a similar ethereal/ghostly eeriness to them that complements the production so well. And Madonna’s vocals here fit the lyrics well too. “Frozen” is a song about Madonna trying to urge a cold and emotionless person to give their heart to her and she can fix them. Madonna’s almost playing the role of a fairy godmother or genie in those old Disney movies, where she’s saying in a mysterious tone “If you give me your heart, I can fix you”. Yeah, phenomenal song!!

7...In my 2003 worst list, I put “Rock Your Body” by Justin Timberlake and in multiple of my other 2000s worst lists, I cited JT’s presence as the reason I hated his music generally. In hindsight, I think it was just pure coincidence I happened to dislike a lot of JT’s 2000s music. But when I heard this song, I instantly realized why I hated “Rock Your Body” so much - “Rock Your Body” is just a watered down version of this incredible song!!...

7. Janet Jackson - Go Deep (YE: #64 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

Yeah, for this entry specifically, I went back and listened to Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body” just to make sure I wasn’t hearing things. And yeah, “Go Deep” feels like it hits a lot of the same notes that “Rock Your Body” did with a funky beat to boot!! Which...knowing that Timberlake was arguably responsible for ending Janet Jackson’s career, that adds a new ugly layer to “Rock Your Body” that almost makes me hate it more...Anyways, onto “Go Deep” itself. The song is amazing, I love the funky beat here and Janet Jackson’s cooing works really well for me, it’s extremely playful and makes it clear that she’s having a great time here too. Awesome little track!!

6...Gee I’m so stunned this song is making this list (/s)...

6. Lauryn Hill - Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You (YE: #72 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

This is kinda embarrassing, but my first exposure to this song was when it was sampled in Drake’s “Nice For What” from 2018. Admittedly, I didn’t totally love “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” on first listen, but it only grew on me over time. Lauryn Hill’s vocals sound really smooth here and they ride this boom bap production really well. Not much else I have to say, I just love this song.

5...Let’s go back to what I said about “Iris”: “Well, it’s quite possibly the most infamous example of a song that didn’t get to chart on the Hot 100 because of the physical singles rule. Now, it did eventually chart and make the year-end in 1999, but it’s clear that it had much more impact in 1998.” It turns out that “Iris” is not the only occurrence of that on this list!!...

5. Third Eye Blind - Jumper (YE: #66 ON HOT 100 AIRPLAY)

I gotta be honest, my first exposure to this song was on the radio around 10 years ago and I liked it so I Shazam’d it and looked it up on YouTube when I got home and I read a comment that tried to twist the song’s meaning around into it being about telling someone on the brink of suicide to go jump off, and I believed it because what do you expect? I was a really dumb 10 year old. That said, embarrassing anecdote aside, I’ve always loved “Jumper” and if you asked me a few years ago, I might’ve said it was one of the best hit songs of the 90s. It’s a song where the narrator is trying to comfort a kid who’s on the verge of stepping off of a ledge to take his own life and frontman Stephan Jenkins sells it so well. He has so much agony in his voice to make it appear that he’s on his knees begging the kid to not take their own life letting them know that he cares for that kid. Couple that with three simple but very powerful chords and fantastic guitar solos and you have an absolutely incredible song.

4...Man, I just love when the top 2 biggest songs of the year also happen to be among the best hits of the year...

4. Brandy & Monica - The Boy Is Mine (YE: #2, PEAK: #1)

Let’s get the most obvious praise for this out of the way first, Brandy and Monica have chemistry and interplay between each other that’s damn near unmatchable. The song centers around the two of them arguing about whether a boy is Brandy’s or Monica’s. Todd In The Shadows jokingly said in one of his videos that Brandy and Monica probably had sex with each other after this song, and honestly with how well they play off each other here, I don’t think I’d be all that surprised if this were actually the case haha. This was honestly probably the biggest contender for my #1 on this list for a while. But what three songs topped this?

3..This is the second entry in a row I’m gonna reference Todd In The Shadows, but I watched a video of his earlier today (as of writing) of him reviewing “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar where he talked about the poptimism movement and how it coincided with the rise of people recognizing queer people as a marginalized community. Now, if you want the first genre I think of when I think of the rise in recognizing queer people as a marginalized community, it’d be house...

3. Janet Jackson - Together Again (YE: #6, PEAK: #1)

Yeah, “Together Again” is a light house bop that manages to rise up to being incredible in almost a slow burn kinda way. The production sounds light and breezy and complements Janet’s vocals really well as she transitions between cooing and being a dominant presence (she isn’t precisely belting, idk is there a better word to describe this?) seamlessly. Yeah, incredible song.

2..Well, from a light bop to a bop that just hits you head on…

2. Madonna - Ray Of Light (YE: #75, PEAK: #5)

This is a monster of a track, from the first note it just hits you with a constant energetic beat, it’s blending trance and house in a sense. It also helps that Madonna is just rocking this song out of the stratosphere. I love her presence here and then there are the guitars adding a bit of edge to this track. What an incredible song!! Just missed my #1 here though, so what got it instead?

1...I’m...still kinda stunned how much this song really worked for me when I listened to this year-end list. Don’t get me wrong, I always liked it, but I thought for a while it was a tad too annoying for me to outright love, but then, it just all clicked. You’re never gonna keep these guys down...

1. Chumbawamba - Tubthumping (YE: #35, PEAK: #6)

I 100% understand why someone might find this grating or annoying, it's definitely very repetitive and the song just won’t shut up with that repetitiveness which might make this wear on you if you have low tolerance for stuff that’s so in your face. But damn if “Tubthumping” doesn’t just slap harder than many songs I can think of right now. And the reason I love the song is pretty simple for me to explain. It’s a very energetic song where the guitars have tons of vibrant texture and the melody is genuinely really strong. It’s an anthem that can actually motivate you. You might get knocked down sometimes, but you’ll almost always be able to get back up again. No one can ever keep you down except yourself, so why stay down and sulk? I could also add that the horns sound way better than they have any right to, but honestly all that matters for right now is that “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba, despite their absurdly stupid band name, the best hit song of 1998!!

Alright, that’s 1998 done! I’m not gonna go on an exploration of the 90s decade, at least not yet, maybe one more year from the 90s in the near future, but my next articles should be my list reduxes for 2021!! Until then, Spotify playlist for this list is linked right here and if you have any predictions as to what my worst list for 2021 could look like or your own lists of the best hit songs of 1998, comment them down below!! I’m eager to read them!! And until next time, remember to keep it Fire!!