Finally, songs that move us

For all the dizzy exuberance of songs about gold diggers and candy shops, pop music was in an unusually reflective mood during 2005. In fact, songwriters such as Neil Young and Mary Gauthier gave us some of the smartest and most moving musical commentaries in ages.

No wonder.

Given the years of debate over such issues as the Iraq war, “my God is better than your God” and gay rights, an outpouring of thoughtful, soul-searching topical songs is long overdue.

The best of them are spotlighted in Calendar’s annual New Year’s Eve countdown of the year’s 10 most memorable singles or individual album tracks.

Topping the list is Young’s “When God Made Me,” a true sermon for these times and a song in the idealistic, brotherhood spirit of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

The opening lines:

Was he thinkin’ about my country

Or the color of my skin?

Was he thinkin’ about my religion

And the way I worshiped him?

Did he create just me in his image

Or every living thing?

When God made me.

But not all the reflection was in a social context. Jack White and Fiona Apple spoke in similarly absorbing tunes about finding the strength to overcome doubts and despair -- rallying cries that are helpful in any age.

However different in style and ambition, the recordings on this year-end Top 10 list share an individuality and vision that separate them from the passing parade of hollow, manufactured pop.

Before the countdown, here are some honorable mention choices.

Amerie’s “1 Thing” (Columbia). Purely entertainment, this witty R&B-pop; single reflects marvelously on the chaotic nature of romantic infatuation by pitting the young singer’s hyperactive vocal against an insistent, percussive beat.

LCD Soundsystem’s “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” (DFA/Capitol). Electronica may have failed as an MTV movement, but the genre is still filled with imagination and daring, and it sometimes delivers a work with enough pop sensibilities for everyone to embrace. This is as sharp as prime Talking Heads and as goofy as a Daffy Duck cartoon.

Coldplay’s “Til Kingdom Come” (Capitol). Coldplay’s beautiful “Fix You” is a pledge of devotion, but this bonus track on the “X&Y;” album is an even more intimate statement that may be played at weddings for years. Chris Martin wrote it with Johnny Cash in mind as the singer.

Damian Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock” (Tuff Gong). Maybe just the most liberating reggae recording by a Marley who’s not named Bob, “Jamrock” looks at poverty and crime in Jamaica with an intensity that reminds you why Damian’s father was such an influence on the Clash and other political rockers.

Now, the New Year’s Eve countdown:

10. Bright Eyes’ “When the President Talks to God” (Team Love). Here’s something guaranteed to raise your pulse rate, whatever your feelings about our president. The record, very much anti-Bush, isn’t so much reflective as angry -- a link with the energy and conviction of so much of the rock ‘n’ roll commentary of the ‘60s. Like his words, Conor Oberst’s vocal is filled with fury and contempt, and in his rage he sometimes sacrifices his usual, graceful craft for rowdy assault. It’s a record that demands reaction -- an attack also on the timid passivity of pop music in recent years.

When the president talks to God

Are the conversations brief or long?

Does he ask to rape our women’s rights

And send poor farm kids off to die?

Does God suggest an oil hike

When the president talks to God?

9. 50 Cent’s “Just a Lil Bit” (Interscope/Aftermath/Shady). 50 Cent’s resume may be all about gunshots and hard times, but the main reason he sells millions of records is his ability to make pop as accessible as Dr. Dre’s and as teasingly naughty as the best of Madonna’s.

8. Fiona Apple’s “Waltz (Better Than Fine)” (Epic/Clean Slate). There’s an almost irresistible feel-good spirit to this refreshing tale of self-affirmation, served up in a pop-cabaret style reminiscent of the rich sophistication of French chanteuse Edith Piaf (special credit to producer Jon Brion and orchestral arranger Patrick Warren). The reminder that we’re all OK is especially useful if you’re feeling out of step on New Year’s Eve.

If you don’t have a song to sing

You’re OK

You know how to get along humming

If you don’t have a date

Celebrate.

7. Gretchen Wilson’s “I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today” (Epic). Who ever figured that the former Illinois bartender who rode the novelty “Redneck Woman” to country stardom last year would come back with a sensitive song that ranks among the great country ballads? It’s the story of a woman whose heart has been broken (possibly by someone’s infidelity) and who knows she’ll eventually get over it. But just not today.

6. Franz Ferdinand’s “Do You Want To?” (Domino/Epic). The opening seconds of this spectacular single combine the ‘60s zest of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, and it keeps coming at you with witty lines about this outwardly cocky guy’s attempt to land the girl of his dreams.

“I’m going to make somebody love me,” he declares, telling the girl she’s the “lucky, lucky” one. Of course, it’s all fantasy, cloaking our hero’s insecurities about likely rejection.

5. Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now” (Lost Highway). A labelmate of Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams, folk-country singer-songwriter Gauthier starts this remarkable song by asking for comfort for troubled people around her, but she gradually turns it into a prayer for mankind -- noting that even our struggling institutions, including church and country, need some mercy now.

4. Bruce Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust” (Columbia). Here is someone who has given us lots of New Year’s Eve music, some of it pure entertainment, some of it as thoughtful as this timely meditation on matters of faith and morals. It’s the story of a soldier in Iraq, but its implications travel much further.

Fear’s a powerful thing

It can turn your heart black you can trust

It’ll take your God-filled soul

And fill it with devils and dust.

3. The White Stripes’ “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet)” (Third Man/V2). This gospel-edged song touches on suicidal impulses, among other things, but Jack White draws on humor and faith to rally against life’s darkest moments.

2. Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” (Roc-A-Fella). Has there ever been a better hook in a pop single? Well, maybe, but the “I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger” rhyme is bound to be on the shortlist. The other line in this long-term No. 1 record that deserves an honorable mention is the one about the woman playing around with Usher.

1. Neil Young’s “When God Made Me” (Reprise). The tune, from Young’s recent “Prairie Wind” album, has such a warm, traditional feeling that it seemed like something from a family hymnal when Young introduced it at a Live 8 benefit last summer. Yet it was equally tender and touching when Young repeated it during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims in September. It should be no less haunting tonight.

Robert Hilburn, pop music critic of The Times, can be reached at Robert.Hilburn@latimes.com.