The 100 Best Singles of 2008

57

"Brooklyn Girls"   BY CHARLES HAMILTON

Just what New York needed: a smart outer-borough answer to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." Hamilton scores with this playful ode to his two great loves: his neighborhood and the outspoken girls who call it home.

58

"Bust Your Windows"   BY JAZMINE SULLIVAN

A revenge anthem at its most sultry: "You broke my heart, so I broke your car," admits the Philly crooner on a Fifties-style ballad swimming in strings and soul.

59

"Don't Forget Sister"   BY LOW VS DIAMOND

This elegiac tune from these L.A. newcomers is the year's best arena-rock anthem never to hit an arena. The chord progression echoes "Baba O'Riley"; the vocals are styled after Bono.

60

"Closer"   BY NE-YO

Amid thumping disco, the R&B playboy ratchets up his velvety crooning and remakes himself as the kind of old-fashioned gentleman we haven't seen since Michael Jackson's Off the Wall.

• View List: 2008 Singles of the Year