#36 Mika, "Lollipop"

Suckin' too hard on ya lollipop,
Oh love's gonna get ya down

Oh, how I wanted to put this song higher. It deserves it. And yet, when I look at each song ranked ahead of it, I can't say it's better--nor, though, can I necessarily say it's worse. Mika deserves a much larger presence on this chart, but the fact that so many of his songs have been around for so long (many were being legally given away free before the album even came out) somehow ended up hurting them and the deliberately small release of "Relax, Take It Easy" in 2006 means that it's not technically eligible for my chart, or else it would without doubt be on here. Mika's a very divisive singer, but I think he released one of the year's most enjoyable and consistent albums (it would be very high on a list of my favorite albums of the year, far higher than this singles list is going to make it seem). Still, if you don't like him at this point, nothing anyone can say is going to change your mind, so writing that "Lollipop" is one of the year's most infectiously happy songs of the year and even the should-be-kind-of-creepy fact that what sounds like a kids' choir is roped in to sing this innuendo-filled song doesn't hurt it in the slightest in my estimations--I love the chantiness of that part, in fact--isn't going to convince you of the song's merits.

I will say, though, that even if you don't usually like Mika's music, it's worth checking out "Relax, Take It Easy" and "My Interpretation." I imagine a lot of people have heard those from the album by now, though, so instead, here's one of my favorite remixes of the year, Swedish electro-pop duo Lo-Fi-Fnk's take on Mika's "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful). Yes, I realize that may very well be Mika's most hated song, but Lo-Fi-Fnk remix it into such a happy shiny electrofest, all squiggles and claps and chorus-y backing vocals. Pure joy.

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) (Lo-Fi-Fnk Remix)

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