I suppose I'm not unique in this respect, but I don't snatch up music like I used to. When I was younger, if a song caught my attention I would rush out and purchase the CD, but I don't do that so much anymore. I'm a little more discerning about the music I purchase these days, and I'm not especially driven to snatch up whatever the latest trend happens to be, whether it's music from the mainstream, or part of the underground.

I mention this because AdTunes recently came up with their list of the top songs used in commercials for 2006, and some of these bands I've never heard of. The list did, however, mention a couple songs from commercials that have annoyed me, and they're both covers: Cat Power's rendition of Cat Stevens' "How Can I Tell You" from his album "Teaser and the Firecat" and that wretched cover of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line" by Megan Wyler and Adem Ilhan. I have no qualms with underground artists like Cat Power making money by doing commercial work, I'll let others toss out words like "sell out" and bitch about such things. What I hate is this idea that great songs must be re-worked and "modernized" in some fashion. Cat Power's cover does nothing to improve the original song, and the idea of even trying to tackle a Johnny Cash song seems both egotistical and delusional.

My pick for best song from an ad this year? Jack White's song for Coca-Cola. I choose this one because it was made specifically for the commercial. It's not some attempt to make a classic song hip again, and it comes right out and says what so many of these commercial tunes try to avoid: the point of using music in a commercial is to sell a product. You can dress them up however you want, but in the end they all serve the same purpose. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but let's not adhere to the delusion that a few riffs from Modest Mouse has any greater purpose than a Sara Lee jingle.

[Thanks, JCA.]