For all the venom of West End Girl, Lily Allen’s debut single “Smile” is still way up there as an insouciant, razor-sharp romantic dismissal. The distorted rocksteady rhythm and her deadpan vocal delivery make clear the depth of her contempt for her ex, who cheated on her then comes crawling back when she gets over him. Here, the best revenge is indifference: when she sees him cry, she might “feel bad for a while/But then I just smile/I go ahead and smile”.
6. Nancy Sinatra, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”
This might have come out 60 years ago, but that slowly descending, half-out-of-tune bassline goes harder than anything. Spare drums and guitar, and spare, witty lines—“You’ve been-a-messin’ where you shouldn’t-a-been-messing”; “You keep samin’ when you oughta be a-changin’” —make clear Sinatra’s displeasure at her former, no-good man. Her boots are made for walking, and they’re going to walk all over him, once she’s done giving him his due in song form. That chugging rhythm is the sound of her moving on.
5. Bob Dylan, “Idiot Wind”
