The best song of 2011 came to us relatively early in the year, when 2010 was still fresh in our minds. There was still quite a bit of music to be released, including the album on which it was released. Hell, many of us even had the silly notion that despite the fact that the year as a whole had been a bit of a letdown, we might still pull through. Score one for optimism, right? Haha, yeah. About that.
But Robin Pecknold has a strange way of keeping one hopeful, despite what has occurred and what is yet to happen. How this occurs is anyone's guess, be it the good vibes his band emits or the generally upbeat music they create. But somehow, no matter how bad it got in 2011, we always had Fleet Foxes.
"Helplessness Blues," from the album of the same name, begins with the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar. Pecknold, his voice by now unmistakable after the runaway success of his band's debut record, sings of the uniqueness he was told he possessed as a youngster, before releasing that perhaps it is best to become a part of "some great machinery, serving something beyond me."
Fleet Foxes set the bar high for their second record, and "Helplessness Blues" far surpasses it. The song soon balloons into a more plugged-in affair, with drums and electric guitar complementing the sudden slash in tempo.
"What good is it to sing helplessness blues?" Pecknold asks, holding up the inherent optimism of the song. In an age where no one really knows where we're heading, Pecknold remains hopeful, and knows that doing otherwise will bring no good tidings. It's a lesson from which we can learn -- instead of pessimism reigning in our lives, why not have a healthier outlook on life? What good is it to live otherwise?
With beautiful harmonizing and instrumentation, Fleet Foxes created a song that may just define the decade with its message. It's tough to say where we're going, but perhaps if all of us had an orchard or two in our lives, we'd be a little happier.
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2011
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- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #1: "Helplessness Blu...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #2: "Midnight City" -...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #3: "Someone Like You...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #4: "Losers" -- The B...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #5: "The Edge of Glor...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #6: "Yonkers" -- Tyle...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #7: "Lonely Boy" -- T...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #8: "All of the Light...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #9: "Down in the Vall...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #10: "No Light, No Li...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #11: "June Hymn" -- T...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #12: "Get Away" -- Yuck
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #13: "Sail" -- AWOLNA...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #14: "Civilian" -- Wy...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #15: "November" -- Th...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #16: "No Church in th...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #17: "I Have Never Lo...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #18: "The Birds" -- E...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #19: "(Not So) Sad an...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #20: "Honey Bunny" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #21: "Goodbye" -- App...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #22: "Ice Cream" -- B...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #23: "Civilization" -...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #24: "Satellite" -- T...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #25: "Adeline of the ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #26: "Pumped Up Kicks...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #27: "Read All About ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #28: "Paradise" -- Co...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #29: "April Fool" -- ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #30: "White Limo" -- ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #31: "Changed the Way...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #32: "Barton Hollow" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #33: "Get it Daddy" -...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #34: "Colder Weather"...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #35: "Heartbeat" -- C...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #36: "The Lament of C...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #37: "MoneyGrabber" -...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #38: "Blind Faith" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #39: "Victory Dance" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #40: "Beth/Rest" -- B...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #41: "Always Gold" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #42: "Wings of Desire...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #43: "I Wanna Go" -- ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #44: "Firewall" -- Br...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #45: "Make Some Noise...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #46: "Dimming of the ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #47: "Novacane" -- Fr...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #48: "Michael Jackson...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #49: "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #50: "Super Bass" -- ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #51: "Beggars Will Ri...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #52: "Shakin' All Ove...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #53: "Hell on Heels" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #54: "Will Do" -- TV ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #55: "HOINFODAMAN" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #56: "Sabertooth Tige...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #57: "Truth" -- Alexa...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #58: "Youth Knows No ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #59: "The Insomniac's...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #60: "Several Shades ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #61: "Born to Die" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #62: "Good Feeling" -...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #63: "Blastoff" -- Re...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #64: "You and Tequila...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #65: "Lights" -- Elli...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #66: "Miami 2 Ibiza" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #67: "Sparrow and the...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #68: "Gangsta" - tUnE...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #69: "Rikki Tikki Tav...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #70: "Dazzling Blue" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #71: "Stereo Hearts" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #72: "Something to Be...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #73: "Promise" -- Rom...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #74: "Death of Commun...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #75: "Under Cover of ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #76: "Where's Eddie" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #77: "Devil is a Lady...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #78: "Jack Sparrow" -...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #79: "Post Break-Up S...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #80: "Second Chance" ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #81: "Ethiopia" - Red...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #82: "I'm a Goner" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #83: "Dear Father" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #84: "The Valley" -- ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #85: "He's a Mental G...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #86: "Afternoon" -- Y...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #87: "The Wait is Ove...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #88: "Benfica" - Pand...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #89: "Junk of the Hea...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #90: "Words" - The Fa...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #91: "Ode to the Boun...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #92: "Penny" - Duke ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #93: "Junior Dad" -- ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #94: "Sick of You" --...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #95: "Don't Fuck With...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #96: "Sunset in July"...
- Review: Childish Gambino - "Camp"
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 -- #97: "We All Go Back ...
- The Top 100 Songs of 2011 - #98: "We Are Young" - ...
- The Top Songs of 2011 - #99: "Dowrn" - Lotus
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