I separated the list into two sections: The first is a roundup of the common best albums and best songs list (from both mainstream media, and others).  The second is a list of lists with a twist, which put a healthy spin on their recap of 2008.

Whether you’re looking for new music to fill your shiny new ipod, or you’re in the mood to criticize the critcs (a favorite pastime for most songwriters), this list of lists should help you pass the time between the family roundups and the drunken holiday parties.  Enjoy…

The Usual Suspects (songs and albums):

Spin: The 40 Best Albums of 2008

Spin: The 20 Best Music Videos of 2008

AV Club: Best Music of 2008

Rollingstone: Albums of the Year

Rollingstone: Best Concert Photos of 2008

Rollingstone: Singles of the Year

iTunes: Top Selling Albums / Top Selling Songs of 2008

Pitchfork: Top 50 Albums of 2008

Pitchfork: Top 50 Tracks of 2008

Indiemuse: Top 10 Albums of 2008

NPR: Listeners Pick The Year’s Best Music

Last.fm: Best of 2008 – Albums

Last.fm: Best of 2008 – Tracks

New York Times: Top Choices of 2008 – Albums

Lists with a Twist:

Current.tv: Top 5 Mixtapes of ’08

AFI: Best Films and TV Programs of 2008

The Marquee: Best Shows of 2008

The Best of YouTube 2008 Montage

Advertising Age: Ad Songs of the Year

The Age of Consent: Top 5 Overrated / Underrated Albums of the Year

Ear Farm: Top Breakout Bands for ’08/’09

Ear Farm: Top 8 EPs of 2008

NPR: Best Classical CDs of 2008

NPR: The Year on Vinyl

NPR: Top 11 Debut Albums of 2008

Kitsune’s Thoughts: Best Anime Music 2008

Jazz Beyond Jazz: Ten Top of 2008 and more recommendations

NME: Cool Musicians of 2008

Guardian.co.uk: The Best Albums of 2008 by the artists

Pitchfork: The 20 Worst Album Covers of 2008

The Quietus: Reissues, Comps, and Mixes of the Year

Reel Around The Fountain: Guilty Pleasures of 2008

Sun On The Sand: Most Anticipated Albums of 2009

Vent Vox: Failed Musical Combacks of 2008

You Set The Scene: Top 20 Live Shows of 2008

The most popular method of giving your song a name is to use the lyric of the chorus. This is the standard in pop music, which makes for good marketing. Radio listeners who know the hook of a song can find it in iTunes quite easily. But this is not just for the mainstream and there’s nothing wrong with this route. One of my all-time favorite songs comes to mind here:

Since I’ve Been Loving You by Led Zeppelin
“Since I’ve Been Loving You.
I’m about to lose my worried mind, oh, yeah.”

Sometimes the chorus of the song is an extended phrase of many words. In this case it’s common to use the one or two words that grab the listener the most, or the ones that complete a metaphor. Here’s an example:

The Warmth by Incubus
“So don’t let the world bring you down.
Not everyone here is that fucked up and cold.
Remember why you came and while you’re alive
experience the warmth before you grow old.”

Many times you might choose not to use any of the song’s lyrics in it’s title. Maybe the song is so mysterious that you want to the title to hint at what it’s about. Or the opposite- use the title to add a curious twist to the story of the song.

Something I like to do on many of my songs is cut out a piece of a line from a verse and use that as the title. I like the idea of a song title drawing the listener in, before they understand it’s meaning. Once the listen to the complete song, the title sneaks up on them during the second verse, this time in context. It’s a bit of an ah-ha moment for those that catch it.

23 to Waste by Brian Casel
“…And the pundits play their game to a nation in a daze
one hour of news, 23 to waste.”

The main thing to take away from these ideas is that just as anything else in songwriting, there is no right and wrong way to title your work. Just stay creative and have some fun with it.

Over to you…

Use the comments section to share one of your song titles and where it came from. If possible, provide a link to where we can hear the song online.