Please Why

I was listening to Ladytron’s “Destroy Everything You Touch” today. The part right at the end of the intro where all the instruments come in is just so awesome. It made me try and think about other spectacular moments in songs I like. Here’s my list (it’s a little Radiohead-heavy, but what can you do — all times are for the linked youtube videos):

• Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch (0:10) — The pause before everything comes in on the first downbeat after the intro
• Radiohead - Everything in its Right Place (0:00) — The perfect first five notes of Kid A
• The National - Fake Empire (1:45) — The first half of the song builds anticipation, and the drums break from the monotonous beat and the sexy baritone says, “Turn the light out, say goodnight”
• Muse - Time is Running Out (1:47, 2:59) — The drumbeat over “Bury it, I won’t let you bury it”
• Rage Against The Machine - Killing in the Name (4:35) — “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me”
• Radiohead - Paranoid Android (3:35) — The start of the slow part that leads into “Rain down”
• Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (0:41) — The saw comes in for the second verse and the quintessential lyric for one of the best albums ever: “And one day we will die and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea”
• The Bloodhound Gang - The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope (0:11) — “Like a scrotum here it is in a nutshell” **CLAP**
• Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (4:15) — The climactic “Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind”
• The Killers - All These Things That I’ve Done (2:32) — Everything stops except for the minimum amount of guitar to keep the beat going, and finally we’re told,  “I got soul but I’m not a soldier”
• U2 - With or Without You (3:06) — The climactic wail after the final chorus
• Radiohead - Exit Music (For a Film) (3:12) — “We hope your rules and wisdom choke you … and now … we are one!”