Monday, Nov. 03, 2008
Ida Maria's Oh My God
A million songs have been written with these three guitar chords and a million more have used lyrics like "Find a cure for my life." So what makes "Oh My God" one of the best songs of the year? Ida Maria Børli Siversten. This 24-year-old Norwegian has a powerhouse voice — deep, commanding, a little masculine, exotic, too, like Nico, but with an abundance rather than an absence of feeling. As her taut band rips away at their instruments, Ida Maria turns her lyrics into epic drama; singing the word "God" in the chorus, she times the g to the crash of the snare and the roar of the guitar, just in case there's a deity who could ignore her.
Hear excerpts from all the top songs of 2008: