But 1997 also gave us the anti-Spice Girl. At #20 was . A rock song with the chorus: "I’m a bitch, I’m a lover, I’m a child, I’m a mother." Radio played it constantly, often bleeping the title while playing the song. The cognitive dissonance was perfect. Battle 4: The One-Hit Wonder Graveyard This is where the chart gets weird. #10: "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" by Paula Cole . A feminist anti-cowboy song with a kazoo solo. #14: "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind . A bouncy, doo-doo-doo-doo’d pop hit that was secretly about meth addiction. #16: "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik . A song so quiet you had to turn your car stereo to max to hear it.
Then, 1997 happened. And it was the strangest, most chaotic, most beautiful car crash of genres ever assembled on a single year-end chart.
Then there was the outlier. At #19 was —a mopey alt-rock ballad about suicide and regret. It was the anti-Puff. No samples. No swagger. Just a singer staring at his shoes. It had no business being next to Mase and Busta Rhymes, yet there it was. Battle 3: The Teenage Mutant Girl Power At #13 was "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls . The song that introduced "zig-a-zig-ah" to the English language. It was chaos: shouting, laughing, a rap break from Mel B, and a key change that felt like a sugar explosion. Record labels had spent years trying to manufacture girl groups. The Spice Girls accidentally did it while being openly rude to their managers.
None of these artists would ever have a top 20 hit again. 1997 was a hit-and-run. You got your 15 minutes, then vanished. At #15 was "Everlong" by Foo Fighters . Wait, no—that's a lie. "Everlong" peaked at #3 on the Modern Rock chart, but on the Hot 100? It didn't even crack the top 40. The future of rock (Dave Grohl) was languishing while "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba (#17) was a massive hit. Yes, the song with "I get knocked down, but I get up again" was more popular than any Foo Fighters song in 1997.
But 1997 also gave us the anti-Spice Girl. At #20 was . A rock song with the chorus: "I’m a bitch, I’m a lover, I’m a child, I’m a mother." Radio played it constantly, often bleeping the title while playing the song. The cognitive dissonance was perfect. Battle 4: The One-Hit Wonder Graveyard This is where the chart gets weird. #10: "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" by Paula Cole . A feminist anti-cowboy song with a kazoo solo. #14: "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind . A bouncy, doo-doo-doo-doo’d pop hit that was secretly about meth addiction. #16: "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik . A song so quiet you had to turn your car stereo to max to hear it.
Then, 1997 happened. And it was the strangest, most chaotic, most beautiful car crash of genres ever assembled on a single year-end chart.
Then there was the outlier. At #19 was —a mopey alt-rock ballad about suicide and regret. It was the anti-Puff. No samples. No swagger. Just a singer staring at his shoes. It had no business being next to Mase and Busta Rhymes, yet there it was. Battle 3: The Teenage Mutant Girl Power At #13 was "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls . The song that introduced "zig-a-zig-ah" to the English language. It was chaos: shouting, laughing, a rap break from Mel B, and a key change that felt like a sugar explosion. Record labels had spent years trying to manufacture girl groups. The Spice Girls accidentally did it while being openly rude to their managers.
None of these artists would ever have a top 20 hit again. 1997 was a hit-and-run. You got your 15 minutes, then vanished. At #15 was "Everlong" by Foo Fighters . Wait, no—that's a lie. "Everlong" peaked at #3 on the Modern Rock chart, but on the Hot 100? It didn't even crack the top 40. The future of rock (Dave Grohl) was languishing while "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba (#17) was a massive hit. Yes, the song with "I get knocked down, but I get up again" was more popular than any Foo Fighters song in 1997.
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