The best songs of the decade

Song: Permanent
Album: David Cook 2008
Songwriters: David Cook, Raine Maida, Chantal Kreviazuk
One of the best songs Cook has ever written, Permanent is beautifully painful to listen to. The lyrics are a bearing of the soul and the music is haunting. It's arguably the best song on the album and will go down as one of Cook's most memorable songs.

Song: Goodbye to the Girl
Album: This Loud Morning 2011
Songwriters: David Cook, Andy Skib, Neal Tiemann
Driven by pianos with lyrics that detail hopelessness, Goodbye to the Girl chronicles heart break in its most raw form.

Song: Buried Alive
Album: Nightmare 2010
Songwriters: Avenged Sevenfold
Haunting lyrics and a change of tempo that comes more than halfway through the song give this track the power it needs to stand out amidst the other amazing songs on the record.

Song: Seize the Day
Album: City of Evil 2005
Songwriters: Avenged Sevenfold
A metal ballad in its most original form, Seize the Day is powerful and dramatically emotional. Highlighted by themes of love and loss it easily became one of the bands best songs.

Song: Soaked
Album: For Your Entertainment 2009
Songwriters: Matt Bellamy
A beautiful melody combined with a showcase for Lambert's amazing vocals Soaked is the core of the more meaningful side of For Your Entertainment.

Song: Broken Open
Album: For Your Entertainment 2009
Songwriters: Adam Lambert, Greg Wells, Evan Bogart
Melancholic tones, emotional lyrics, and haunting vocals. The second to the last track eases the album to its end and gives the listener a calming and deep aftermath.

Song: Valentine's Day
Album: Minutes to Midnight 2007
Songwriters: Linkin Park
A song about loss, being alone, and dense misery. In an album full of Linkin Park's usual pain, Valentine's Day offers a deeper look into that darkness.

Song: Breaking the Habit
Album: Meteora 2003
Songwriters: Linkin Park
Addiction, pain, and opened wounds Breaking the Habit is one of the most in depth looks at sorrow Linkin Park has ever released.

Song: Absolution
Album: Absolution 2003
Songwriters: Muse
A soaring song with a hypnotic quality. A song of love lost and longing. Muse have mastered the depth in each lyrics and the power in each piece of music. The album (of the same title) is in itself amazing but the song is definitely a standout.

Song: Sunburn
Album: Origin of Symmetry 1999
Songwriters: Matt Bellamy
An earlier track from Muse and one of their best. A powerful song with references to hiding and the ever present word 'guilt' the song is provoking as much as it is amazing.

Song: Unhappy
Album: Thriving Ivory 2008
Songwriters: Scott Jason, Clayton Stroope
A song possibly about heartbreak and fear. Unhappy gives us gentle keys and mesmerizing lyrics. It tells a painful story as the song unfolds and offers an insight into what could be something breaking, fearing, and needing.

Song: Wait For You
Album: Congregation of the Damned 2009
Songwriters: Atreyu
A romantic piano based song, Wait for you is one of Atreyu's best. Dedicated lyrics and from-the-heart type of meaning make the song up as a whole.

Song: Down Poison
Album: The Better Life 2000
Songwriters: 3 Doors Down
A song possibly about the woes of addiction to anything at all, the song is almost hypnotic in the way it moves you.

Song: Loser
Album: The Better Life 2009
Songwriters: 3 Doors Down
Written about an old friend of frontman Brad Arnold, the song expresses hopelessness of addiction and the fall that ultimately takes place. It's haunting, meaningful, and entirely heartbreaking.

Song: Sorrow
Album: Flyleaf 2005
Songwriters: Flyleaf
A hopeful song of spiritual recognition and rest in the promise of rest and peace. Sorrow is full of beautiful lyrics and a hard rock base in perfect synch.