One-hit wonders can reveal a lot about a specific decade’s overall feeling and mood, and if these 2000s one-hit wonders show us anything, it’s that we were feeling a lot of feelings in the first ten years of the 21st century. Indeed, the turn of the millennium seemed to be wrapped up in equal parts nostalgia and curiosity, leaving us with ultra-sentimental and sappy hits that helped define this period.
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Oddly, it seems like some of the most emotional chart-toppers came out of 2004, 2005, and 2006, leaving us to wonder: were any of us okay back then?
“You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt
It doesn’t get more early 2000s sentimental than the “You’re Beautiful” music video, featuring James Blunt staring into the camera, slowly undressing in the snow, neatly lining the contents of his pockets (and ratty canvas sneakers) in a row in front of him, and then jumping off a cliff into the water. That’s peak 2000s melodrama, and no, we will not be accepting counterarguments.
The 2005 track peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and U.K. Singles chart, but its rampant ubiquity eventually led to the song’s massive decline in popularity. Kind of like re-reading a cringey diary you wrote as a teenager.
“Collide” by Howie Day
Another softspoken, folk-adjacent offering from the mid-2000s that boasts peak sappiness is “Collide” by one-hit wonder Howie Day. Indeed, you know things are about to get emotional when the introduction of the song features acoustic guitar, melancholy strings, and, in the music video, two people seemingly breaking up.
The song gained significant traction after The WB TV series’ One Tree Hill, another great example of early 2000s sap, included the song on the show. “Collide” peaked at No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Although still actively performing, Day has never replicated the success of this absolute earworm of a 2000s one-hit wonder.
“Bad Day” by Daniel Powter
For a brief moment in the mid-2000s, it seemed as though Daniel Powter was about to overtake Green Day’s “Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life)” as having the go-to sappy nostalgia song for every school, organization, or TV show’s photo montage. “Bad Day” captured some type of wistful malaise we all related to, as suggested by its record-breaking chart performance worldwide.
The song was virtually inescapable, becoming so popular that even Powter suggested he no longer felt like it was “his” song. In the end, it looks like he was right after all. We were all just trying to take a sad song and turn it around, you know?
“Listen to Your Heart” by DHT
Closing out our list of 2000s one-hit wonders that suggest we were absolutely going through it in 2005 is Belgian dance group DHT’s version of “Listen to Your Heart.” (The original version by Roxanne came out 17 years earlier in 1988.) Although there were multiple remixes of the DHT track, perfect for the party and club scene, the acoustic piano version was one of the most popular versions.
That’s not to say the message of the song is lacking. From top to bottom, it’s a great track. And if the rest of these 2000s one-hit wonders tell us anything, it’s that we all definitely needed some emotional support around that time, so, thanks, DHT.
Photo by Sodel Vladyslav/Shutterstock
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