The Top 10 Everything of 2009

The simplest song on U2's latest album also happens to be the best. "I know a girl," Bono screams on this muscular opener, thrusting us into the familiar cosmos of a U2 hit. There's the martial beat, the fickle female object of desire, the soaring inarticulateness in the bridge — "Ohhhhhh/ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh" — followed by the Edge's chugga-chugga-chugging away on his guitar, chasing Bono up the scale, note for note. The whole thing buzzes from beginning to end, proof that old tricks can generate new thrills.

See TIME's video about the best songs of 2009.