2008 gets mashed up, and it sounds a whole lot like Coldplay

For the second year running, San Francisco's DJ Earworm took on the top-25 songs on the year-end Billboard charts, mashing them together in one 4 1/2-minute mix. So how does one tie a mess of Rihanna, Chris Brown, Sarah Bareilles, Pink and Lil Wayne together? The serene strings of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" do the trick.

Compared to Earworm's mix of 2007, the sound of 2008 is more wistful than clubby. Earworm (real name: Jordan Roseman) writes on his site, "This year in the charts, we’ve gone all soft. The songs are sexy and defiant, less macho than in previous years."

Indeed, Earworm's mix seems more fit for a year-end news montage than something you'd hear at a three-figure party this evening. Here is where Pop & Hiss was going to insert the obligatory sentence about not feeling like partying in a depressed economy, but maybe everyone just sounds kinda sad with a little Coldplay behind them. Take a listen below.

Here's the list of songs in the above clip:

bFlo Rida featuring T-Pain, "Low"
Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"
Alicia Keys, "No One"
Lil Wayne featuring Static Major, "Lollipop"
Timbaland featuring OneRepublic, "Apologize"
Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown, "No Air"
Sara Bareilles, "Love Song"
Usher featuring Young Jeezy, "Love in This Club"
Chris Brown, "With You"
Chris Brown, "Forever"
Ray J & Yung Berg, "Sexy Can I"
Rihanna, "Take a Bow"
Coldplay, "Viva La Vida"
Katy Perry, "I Kissed a Girl"
T.I., "Whatever You Like"
Rihanna, "Disturbia"
Rihanna, "Don’t Stop the Music"
Natasha Bedingfield, "Pocketful of Sunshine"
Chris Brown featuring T-Pain, "Kiss Kiss"
Ne-Yo, "Closer"
Colbie Caillat, "Bubbly"
Mariah Carey, "Touch My Body"
Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake, "4 Minutes"
Pink, "So What"
Finger Eleven, "Paralyzer"

-- Todd Martens

Related: "Before and After: The Year in Popular Songs"

(Updated to correct the spelling of Bareilles.)