My friend Bob recently asked me about my top 10 songs of the year, and I realized that I was entirely unprepared. You see, every year of my life, well, at least since I was seven, I have done at least a top 10 for the year. This year, though, I seem to be falling out of quite a few of my habits.

I took a little time yesterday, looking at my iPod and what I've been listening to, and here it is, this year's list. A few comments first:

1) Notice: no American Idol contestants from this past year. I am probably not alone with this. I didn't download a single song from this season. Wait, that's not true. I downloaded some Siobhan songs. I liked her.

2) A huge Glee influence. At least four of the songs have a Glee link. I saw recently that the cast from Glee now has 70 charted singles, breaking the mark held since the 1970s by The Beatles for a musical group. Wild.

So here they are, in countdown form:

10) Marry You - Glee Cast
One of the happiest TV moments I can remember. What a great version of the Bruno Mars song.


9) Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Speaking of the devil... The Glee version is awesome, but gotta go with the original since it's also pretty great.


8) Any Which Way - Scissor Sisters
I wasn't around to stand in a dark club in 1979, but this song makes me feel a bit like I am there right now. Best dance song of the year. Actually, I did go to a kids' birthday party at Studio 54 when I was eight, but that's a story for a different day. Awesome, colorful video. Best spoken lyrics in a song, ever:

"You know, baby, when I was taking my panty hose out of their egg this evening,
I thought, I'm gonna find that man, with the right shade of bottle tan, a man that smells like cocoa butter and cash. Take me any way you like it. In front of your fireplace, in front of your yacht, in front of my parents. I don't care baby, just take me!"


7) Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
I was late coming to the Lady Gaga thing. For a while, I thought she was the lady from Dee-Lite (Lady Miss Keir). Anyhow. sometimes an artist hits it big, and they actually deserve it. They have that thing. She does.


6) F*** You - Cee Lo Green
It was bound to happen, sooner or later. A song called F*** You. I'm just glad it's this damn good. What an awesome song. The cleaned-up version, Forget You, is not quite the same.


5) Teenage Dream - Glee Cast
I never thought I'd see the day. The most popular primetime show on television, and you have a gay character singing to another gay character. Makes me cry, almost. Thank God for Glee, which is changing the world more than people even recognize. This was simply the best musical moment of many, many great moments this season.


4) Rocket - Goldfrapp
It's like Xanadu all over again! Love this song!


3) Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
If you don't like this song, you don't like pop music. Best pop lyric of 2010: "It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now." Simple and yet, yes. Totally. Plus the guy is really cute.


2) Fire With Fire - Scissor Sisters
I didn't get this at first, at all. But then I did. Great pop anthem that somehow never quite made it to pop radio. Could it be that Scissor Sisters are a gay group? As my friend says, we just need to wait for some people to die. "Now we're free to be number one, morning isn't far away. I had a dream we were holding on, and tomorrow had become today."


1) Whataya Want from Me - Adam Lambert
More than a year later, and this song still sounds fresh and new to me. If you don't have the whole CD, get it. Very, very good.