Anything You Want - Spoon - Girls Can Tell - 2000

Ok, so I have a category for perfect songs, and I can hardly think of a better entry for it than this little gem from Spoon. At a spry 2:17 it is unbelievably short, but still seems to pack the same punch as a longer song all the while managing to be both remarkably laid back and heartbreakingly romantic.

In terms of sound, this song prefigures the musical choices that would become more quintessentially Spoon on later albums, primarily in the use of sonic vacuums to suggest the space in which other instruments would later appear. Take the piano riff that serves as the songs primary bass line (There is a bass part, but it's pretty innocuous). The first measure is played at regular volume whereas the second measure is played in hushed and subdued manner...once you are somewhat familiar with the song this space in the second measure is identifiable as the place in which the guitar will appear in the second pass through. Spoon want you to see how their songs are put together, so they show you the place in between the instruments.

Beyond that...the lyrics are...that wonderful mix of nonchalant and lovelorn. Somehow, the line "I'll be in the back room drinking my half of the beer" ends up sounding like the sexiest come on line ever, and the amazing one-breath delivery of "You know you're the one and that that hasn't changed since you were 19 and still in school waiting on the light at the corner by Sound Exchange" becomes a pledge of eternal devotion.

Like I said, perfect song.