THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

771-The Chainsmokers-#Selfie.

2014-Number 11 single.

Best Bit-At 1.22. It’s not even summer, why does the DJ keep on playing Summertime Sadness.’ Footnote: Presumably this is a reference to the 2012 Cederic Gervais remix of ‘Summertime Sadness,’ and not the original version by Lana Del Rey, which would surely be far too slow to keep a crowd on the dance floor.

The Chainsmokers who are a Electronic Music production duo, were formed in New York City, United States, in 2012, by Alex Pall, and Rhett Bixler, Bixler would soon leave, and Pall would re-form The Chainsmokers with Drew Taggart. When the duo go on tour they are often joined by a third unofficial member, Matt McGuire, and at the time of writing The Chainsmokers remain active. When asked to explain why they chose the stage name ‘The Chainsmokers,’ Alex Pall said,’At the time of conception, it was… it was totally just like I was in college. You know I enjoyed smoking weed.’ Taggart added,’It’s just a name.’ Prior to their commercial breakthrough with ‘#Selfie,’ The Chainsmokers had started out in 2012 by providing remixes for ‘Alternative Rock’ groups, including The Killers, and Two Door Cinema Club.

The Chainsmokers discography includes four studio Albums released between 2017-2022, and 40 singles, issued between 2012-2023, there is also a 2020 Soundtrack Album of the music that they wrote for the American romantic drama film ‘Words on Bathroom Walls,’ also available, is a 2022 remix Album called ‘So Far So Good (Lofi Remixes.’) In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, seven of their tracks have reached the top 40, with ‘Closer’ from 2016 featuring Halsey, making the Number 1 spot, while on Billboard ‘#Selfie’ peaked at Number 16. On the UK top 40 singles chart, The Chainsmokers have charted on nine occasions, with ‘Closer’ also being their most successful song, when also reaching the Number 1 position.

‘#Selfie’ was the third single release by The Chainsmokers from January 2014, after their first two releases ‘Erase’ featuring Priyanka Chopra, (2012) and ‘The Rookie,’ (2013) had both failed to make any real commercial impact. ‘#Selfie’ was written by Drew Taggart, with the production credited to The Chainsmokers. The genre of music that ‘#Selfie’ should be filed under is ‘Big Room House,’ which is a sub-genre of ‘House Music’ that gained popularity in the early 2010’s, and is characterised by its simple instrumentation yet complex structure. ‘#Selfie’ was initially released as a free download by The Chainsmokers, until it got the attention, and then purchased by ‘Dim Mak Records,’ which had been founded by Steve Aoki in 1996, and the song took off from there.

A ‘selfie’ is a self portrait photograph which is normally taken from a digital camera or camera phone. The Chainsmokers while working in the nightclubs had realised how popular ‘selfie’s’ were becoming, and wanted to make a song to celebrate the new phenomenon. The female spoken vocals on the track are by the unaccredited Alexis Killacram, who finishes each verse with ‘Let me take a selfie.’ The Chainsmokers have said,’Well we aren’t really trying to celebrate the selfie or put it down. The notion of a selfie though perfectly embodies the nature of the song, this sort of selfish obsession with ourselves, and vanity and social media. So it made sense to us to use that as the jumping point. We don’t see anything wrong with selfies though, go for it.’

Music critics have pinpointed two songs which could have been an influence on ‘#Selfie.’ The 1982 song by Frank and Moon Zappa, called ‘Valley Girl,’ which reached Number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart is surely a major influence. ‘Valley Girl’ which contains spoken words by the then 14 year old daughter of Frank Zappa, (1940-1993) Moon Zappa, is a comical song about the stereotypical ‘Valley Girl,’ who was a character that originated in the early 1980’s, and is a materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, from the Los Angeles commuter communities of the San Fernando Valley. The UK equivalent would probably be an ‘Essex Girl,’ or a ‘Dumb Blonde.’ Music critics also point to the 1992 Billboard Number 1 single ‘Baby Got Back,’ by the Rap artist Sir Mix-A-Lot, for that songs spoken intro.

‘Wait, pause, Jason just liked my selfie, what a creep. Is that guy sleeping over there? Yeah, the one next to the girl with no shoes on,that’s so ratchet. That girl is such a fake model, she definitely bought all her Instagram followers.’