Interpol — "NYC"

The song's combination of melancholy and optimism embodied the experience of post-9/11 New York — for me, anyway. The chorus, "It's up to me now, turn on the bright lights" applied so well to pulling ourselves out of the grief and horror and getting on with life again. And the combination of the lines "Subway is a porno/ The pavements they are a mess" and yet "New York cares" says it all about living in this city.

Michael Azerrad