The 100 Best Songs of 2007

1 "Roc Boys"
Jay-Z
And the winner is. . . Hov! This is black superhero music, circa 2007: Jay-Z goes to the movies and comes back with an even better film in his head, with a song that plays like the Copacabana scene in GoodFellas translated into hip-hop. The most triumphant sound anyone came up with all year, this track makes you fly in more ways than one. After thanking his drug connection and tipping his hat to God, Jigga toasts the high life over a gritty Brooklyn funky-horns riff from the Menahan Street Band. It's a celebration, bitches. Drinks is on the house!

2 "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"
Randy Newman
"Let's drop the big one and see what happens." That was Newman's advice twenty-five years ago in "Political Science." But on this farewell to the American empire, it turns out we dropped the big one on ourselves: "The leaders we have/While they're the worst that we've had/Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen." Bush: not as bad as Stalin. Don't you feel better?

3 "Umbrella"
Rihanna
This year's "Crazy," as in the sleeper hit that becomes the world's favorite song. And then just keeps getting more popular, until everybody can hear that robot voice chanting "ella ella ella, ay ay ay" in their sleep. The guitars are prime Eighties studio rock, while the green-eyed lady on the mike sings like the Cranberries.

4 "D.A.N.C.E."
Justice
The breakout tune from the hypercool Paris dance label Ed Banger (run by Daft Punk's manager) is a blast of glitter-disco joy, with a rubbery bass line and an insistent children's chorus demanding that you "do the dance!" Just try to say no!