IT’S ALWAYS DISTRESSING when you realise that songs you assumed were five years old at the very most have, in fact, reached their 10th birthday.
Cue multiple existential crises as we frantically question how little we’ve achieved over the last ten years.
We’ll be honest, 2008 got off to a fairly dodgy start with Leon Jackson’s ‘When You Believe’ taking the top spot in the Irish music charts.
So, let’s all collectively hang our heads in shame before moving on with our lives.
Anyway, it gradually improved with Britney Spears, Duffy and Flo Rida spending time at #1, with ‘Piece of Me’, ‘Mercy and ‘Low’.
But the real anthems of the year started emerging once summer kicked in, and we’re all still struggling to believe that they’ll be turning ten this year.
Yeah, they’re a real mixed bag, but there was absolutely no escaping them in 2008.
1. Galway Girl
Mundy and Sharon Shannon spent five weeks at number 1 with a track we all buck-lepped to in Coppers at 4am.
A staple at every 21st, wedding reception and retirement party the length and breadth of Ireland back in 2008.
2. Take a Bow
Just like the previous summer when Rihanna took over the charts with Umbrella, Ri-Ri continued the momentum with Take a Bow.
Those lyrics, that haircut, those tattoos; we ate it up.
3. I Kissed a Girl
Yes, it’s been a full decade since Katy Perry burst onto the music scene with her debut single ‘I Kissed a Girl’.
And recently, the singer revealed that she has her fair share of misgivings when it comes to the track, saying she was uncomfortable with the number of stereotypes hidden among the lyrics of a song which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks in August 2008.
4. Sex on Fire
If you didn’t sing yourself hoarse to this Kings of Leon track back in 2008, you were on your own.
The first single released from the lads’ fourth studio album, it was the first number 1 the band earned in Ireland, and ultimately secured them their first Grammy nominations.
5. So What?
Whether you loved it or hated it, you definitely couldn’t escape it.
It’s easily one of P!nk’s most irritating songs, and yet there you were humming along to it during its three-week stint at the top of the Irish music charts.
And as was customary once winter started closing in back in the day, The X Factor started infiltrating every aspect of our lives; from our TV schedules to our radio stations.
Indeed, the final nine weeks of 2008 were devoted to offerings from past and present X Factor contestants, with ‘Hero’, ‘Run’ and ‘Hallelujah’ spending collectively more than two months at the top of the charts.
And as a nod to our (ill-advised) devotion back in the day, here’s Leona Lewis and her cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’.
You’re welcome.
