The 100 Best Singles of 2008

A wonderfully outlandish paean to expensive tastes. Like every other R&B diva, Ciara likes her Louis Vuitton togs. But she also likes her copy of Prince's "1999" — check out those freaky falsetto squawks.

74

"Dying is Fine"   BY RA RA RIOT

A miraculous feat: Sad-eyed indie balladeers set an E.E. Cummings poem to a jaunty violin groove and make it sound like a stadium-rocking anthem.

75

"Low"   BY FLO RIDA FEAT. T-PAIN

The hypnotic beat you heard bumping from every car on the road this summer. If scraping the club floor with your ample buttocks is wrong, we don't want to be right.

76

"Rising Down"   BY THE ROOTS

Philly's finest unleash a fiery tirade against greenhouse gases and dirty politics in Alaska, but their biggest selling point is that beat — a sleek funk groove even Sarah Palin couldn't resist.

• View List: 2008 Singles of the Year