THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

304-Ellie Goulding-Anything Could Happen.

2012-Number 5 single.

Best Bit-At 3.07. In an era when music is constantly being judged against what came before, here is a song which would stand out in any decade of Popular music.

Ellie Goulding was born Elena Jane Goulding on December 30th, 1986, in Hereford, Herefordshire, England, she began playing the clarinet at the age nine, and then the guitar at the age 14. It was while at drama school in her final year that she met Jamie Lillywhite the son of Kirsty MacColl, (1959-2000) (see also best songs 32) and Steve Lillywhite (see also best songs 1004-962-603-254 and 32) who became her manager. He introduced her to the music producer Starsmith, (see also best songs 504) who would become her collaborator, and the primary producer of her debut studio Album ‘Lights.’ Ellie Goulding is a soprano, and is noted for her high piercing vibrato, breathy tone and emotive vocal delivery. She has described her own voice, ‘I think sometimes it sounds like my voice is like, out of control… I have to really control it because it just kind of goes everywhere. Like, sometimes stuff comes out that I don’t expect. A lot, actually. It’s so funny because my favourite thing to do is imitate opera singers, but I’ve never had a singing lesson. Oh, I had a lesson just to teach me how to breathe better, but I never really had a singing lesson.’

Ellie Goulding whose music has been described as ‘Electropop,’ ‘Synth-pop,’ ‘Indie pop,’ and ‘Folktronica,’ has sold in excess of 27 million Albums worldwide. In the UK, she has had four Number 1 Albums, which ties with Adele as the most for a British female singer. The discography of Ellie Goulding includes five studio Albums released between 2010-2023, and 50 singles released between 2009-2025, there are also eight extended plays, (EP’s) and two remix Albums available. In the UK, she has had 22 top 40 hit singles, with four of those tracks reaching Number 1, she has also had a further three top 40 hits as a featured artist, and appeared on two charity singles which both made Number 1. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, as the lead artist five of her singles have made the top 40, with ‘Lights,’ from 2011, peaking the highest at Number 2, while ‘Anything Could Happen’ stalled at Number 47. She has also had a further two top 40 hits as a featured artist, both with Calvin Harris (see also best songs 760-652 and 566.)

‘Anything Could Happen’ was the first of three singles released from ‘Halcyon,’ which is the second studio Album by Ellie Goulding, from October 2012, the song was co-written and co-produced by Ellie Goulding and Jim Eliot, who also co-wrote with Goulding seven of the 12 tracks on the first edition release of the Album. Jim Eliot who was born in London, England, has been a member of the ‘Electropop’ duo ‘Kish Mauve’ with the vocalist Mima Stilwell since 2005. The duo are probably best known for providing several of the songs that appeared on the American television series ‘Dirty Sexy Money’ first aired in 2007. Eliot’s other notable successes include co-writing and producing Kylie Minogue’s 2007 UK Number 4 hit ‘2 Hearts,’ and 2010’s ‘All the Lovers,’ which reached Number 3. He also co-wrote the song ‘Jealousy,’ which was a Number 5 hit for Will Young in 2011.

‘Anything Could Happen’ can be filed under the musical genre of ‘Electropop,’ which is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the ‘Electronic music,’ and ‘Pop’ styles. The genre was developed in the 1980’s and saw a revival of popularity and influence in the late 2000’s. Martin Gore of Depeche Mode (see also best songs 968-261 and 134) has said, ‘For anyone of our generation involved in Electronic music, Kraftwerk (see also best songs 41) were the godfathers.’ In 2007 the American singer Britney Spears released her influential Album ‘Blackout,’ which is credited for bringing the genre to mainstream prominence. In the 2010’s ‘Electropop’ music saw an increase in its commercial popularity, owing to the success of artists such as Avicii, (1989-2018) (see also best songs 123 ) Lady Gaga, (see also best songs 363) and Calvin Harris (see also best songs 760-652 and 566.) One of the most commercially successful ‘Electropop’ artists that came out from the early 2010’s is Ellie Goulding.

‘Anything Could Happen’ is a song about not taking anything for granted, it tells us to live for today, because tomorrow isn’t promised. Ellie Goulding has said, ‘I suppose it’s one of those songs where I sort of talk about bits of my childhood, but also about my friendship with this person, and um, I suppose it’s a song of realisation. I’m hoping it will make people go out and propose to their girlfriends, or go on that holiday they never ended up doing. I hope it will provoke positivity, as opposed to make people really sad.’ On working with Jim Eliot, Goulding said, ‘This was fun because Jim’s a really experienced, clever producer, but acts like a child like me. We’re both like little kids, just wanting to create sounds, like ‘Oh that sounds cool,’ and let’s see what happens when we do this. It’s like child play, and that’s how ‘Anything Can Happen’ started, it’s quite childlike and quite innocent.’

‘Stripped to the waist we fall into the river, cover your eyes so you don’t know the secret I’ve been trying to hide. We held our breath to see our names are written on the wreck of ’86, that was the year I knew the panic was over.’