Lists are fun. Lists are easy. I love to read lists. Order, hierarchy, analysis, choices, things left out. PopMatters presents the 100 best songs from 1977 to 2003. "Best", of course, is the refined critic's way to say "classic, influential, and you should own this" in one word.

Having read dozens of these lists, I know that the top of the list is the least interesting. Nivrana, The Clash...yawn, stretch, go back to sleep. If you want to make a list that keeps me reading, fill out the other 97 slots with choices that make me think back, smile, and go searching the net to get my dose of what I haven't had in awhile.

Since we're in the listy mood, here's 9 out of their 100 that I'd put on side A of this morning's mix tape:

• Where is My Mind? - The Pixies
• Waiting Room - Fugazi
• Creep - Radiohead
• Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
• Only Shallow - My Bloody Valentine
• Cannonball - The Breeders
• Heroes - David Bowie
• Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
• Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses