‘L’Amour Toujours’ N°304 – Vintage 2000s Music Videos

1 . Oasis – Let There Be Love

“Let There Be Love” acts as a bittersweet farewell on Oasis’s 2005 album “Don’t Believe the Truth,” where fraternal tension finds its way into a celestial anthem.

One of the rare tracks where both Noel and Liam Gallagher share lead vocals, it pairs their contrasting voices—the grit of Liam against the melancholy of Noel—to deliver themes of hope and fragile unity.

The song, originally demoed in 1999 under the title “It’s a Crime,” reemerged after lyric rewrites, its simplicity capturing the band’s late-career introspection.

Critics may argue that the stripped-down arrangement leans heavily on the emotional weight of its lyrics rather than breaking new musical ground, but its sincerity is hard to dismiss.

The single version notably omits a verse and chorus, leaving purists to debate if brevity sacrificed its lyrical depth.

Commercially, it reached impressive peaks in Italy and Scotland, but struggled elsewhere, suggesting a disconnect between Oasis’s rock revival intentions and shifting audience tastes.

Despite being one of the standout moments on the record, the track was curiously underplayed live, with only Noel giving it fleeting acoustic renditions in Italy (2005) and Santiago (2006).

Its accompanying video, directed by Baillie Walsh, stitches together footage of the band’s 2005 summer tour, a visual love letter to their high-flying shows yet ironically absent of the song itself in live sets.

While not as bombastic as some of their earlier hits, “Let There Be Love” remains a poignant take on the fragility of human connection, perhaps unintentionally mirroring the frayed dynamics within the band itself as their years together wound down.

It’s a track that thrives on tension—the mix of celestial hope against the looming shadow of band implosion—making it more compelling within the story of Oasis than it ever was as a standalone release.

Featured on the 2005 album “Don’t Believe the Truth“.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

2 . Amy Winehouse – Take The Box

Amy Winehouse’s “Take the Box,” released on January 12, 2004, takes the themes of heartbreak and betrayal and distills them into a poignant jazz-influenced track.

The lyrics, written by Winehouse herself, provide a no-nonsense narration of a relationship’s collapse, highlighted through her command to her ex-lover: “Take the box.”

This symbolic gesture ties the emotional thread together, marking the finality of getting rid of remnants of a love gone wrong.

Unlike the bombastic productions often associated with mainstream break-up anthems, the song opts for restrained instrumentation, a decision reflective of its quiet devastation.

The single didn’t climb high on the charts, peaking at a modest 57 on the UK Singles Chart, but its understated brilliance continues to resonate in her discography.

The accompanying video, set in an eerily empty disco hall, mirrors the loneliness woven into the track, adding visual depth to its themes.

The B-side is an unexpected but fitting cover of Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round Midnight,” further cementing the jazz influence that underpins much of *Frank*.

Despite its lack of commercial fanfare, “Take the Box” serves as an early showcase of Winehouse’s singular ability to turn personal narratives into compelling art, free of unnecessary pretense or overselling.

Featured on the 2003 album “Frank “.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

3 . Point Break – What About Us

Point Break’s “What About Us,” released on November 20, 2000, sits firmly in the twilight of the boy band era, an era that often balanced slick production with thin emotional depth.

Featured on their debut and only album *Apocadelic*, the track attempts to lean into earnest introspection, eschewing the pep of their earlier work for a slowed-down ballad that feels deliberately somber.

Co-written by a team of five, including Declan Bennett and David Oliver, the song wears its heartbreak motifs heavily, focusing on the residue of broken relationships with a tone that’s both brooding and a touch melodramatic.

Declan’s lead vocals carry a weight that is somewhat at odds with the seamless, sanitized production that seems to smooth out every rough edge the lyrics may hint at.

The accompanying music video dials up the dramatics, stitching together a loosely coherent narrative of chasing an enigmatic woman, punctuated by Brett Adams’ inexplicable leap off a building in climactic despair.

As their chart positions sagged—#24 on release, unraveling swiftly to 64—the song mirrored the trajectory of the group’s fleeting stardom, sparking speculation about whether their pivot to melancholy marked a strategic misstep.

The version released for radio, stripped of its rap sections, seems like an acknowledgment that its hybrid approach wasn’t landing with audiences accustomed to sticky hooks and escapist glitz.

“What About Us” leaves a curious legacy: part overly earnest plea, part artifact of a fading pop moment trying to reshape itself for relevance.

Featured on the 2000 album “Apocadelic”.

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4 . Westlife – What Makes A Man

Squeezed between the festive chaos of Bob the Builder and Eminem’s lyrical melancholia on the charts, Westlife’s “What Makes a Man” serves as a melancholic pop artifact of December 2000.

Written by the hit-making trio Jörgen Elofsson, Andreas Carlsson, and Per Magnusson, the track crawls through heartbreak with its plaintive melodies, reliable harmonies, and an air of polished predictability.

Though derivative of its genre’s staples—earnest piano lines and swelling string arrangements—it manages to stay afloat with the group’s synchronized vocal chemistry.

For a band that blazed through UK chart history with consecutive number-one singles, stalling at number two was equal parts humbling and ironic during the year-ending Christmas single battleground.

The accompanying music video makes the heartbreak as literal as possible, putting the band against moody, bleak coastal landscapes directed by Kevin Godley, an aesthetic more atmospheric than groundbreaking.

Its live renditions, such as the 2016 performance at The O2, give evidence that no matter how “weak” a track (in Brian McFadden’s words), songs like these endure, cementing themselves as nostalgic triggers for die-hard fans.

The CD single packaged a live cover of “My Girl,” hinting at a band nervously hedging its bets.

Looking past its chart performance and formulaic structure, “What Makes a Man” quietly underlines why Westlife continued to dominate the pop ballad assembly line of the early 2000s: not originality, but an ability to make mass heartbreak sound heartbreakingly mass-produced.

Featured on the 2000 album “Coast to Coast”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

5 . Tom Baxter – Better!!!!

Tom Baxter’s “Better,” first released in 2007 on the album *Skybound,* falls into the acoustic rock and pop genre, with its delicate arrangement and introspective lyrics striving for emotional resonance.

Recorded independently in a Chelsea studio and distributed via Charisma Records through EMI, the song illustrates themes of change and relational acceptance, encapsulated in the refrain “It’s better.”

The single gained modest chart success, reaching No. 10 on the Irish Singles Chart and No. 67 in the UK by 2008, but arguably found wider appreciation when Boyzone covered it that same year. Their version hit No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart and came with a black-and-white video featuring the poignant last onscreen appearance of Stephen Gately.

While Boyzone’s rendition received recognition under the polished production of Stephen Lipson at Polydor Records, Baxter’s original retains a raw, unvarnished quality, reportedly completed in just five days—a feat reflecting both urgency and intimacy in its creation.

Still, commercial accolades aside, “Better” thrives not in cultural dominance but in quieter spaces, appearing in moments like the *Run Fatboy Run* soundtrack and even ITV’s coverage of royal weddings in 2011 and 2018. Whether lighting up wedding playlists or live performances at intimate venues like London’s Union Chapel, the song’s understated charm appeals to those who prefer their sentiment with restraint.

The song’s journey underscores the contradictions inherent in pop music: a sleeper hit overshadowed by its cover but cherished for its simplicity and heartfelt delivery. Call it what you will—neither overwrought nor revolutionary, “Better” carves out its place between ephemerality and enduring relatability, proving that not all meaningful music needs a flashing spotlight to connect.

Featured on the 2007 album “Skybound”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

6 . Client – Pornography (w/ Carl Barat)

Client’s “Pornography,” featuring Carl Barât, finds its footing in the electroclash wave of the early 2000s, a genre where synthetic beats meet a veneer of noir glamour.

For a track off the 2004 album *City*, it carries the unmistakable stamp of its time, with pulsating synths providing the backdrop for Barât’s drawling delivery—an odd pairing that somehow works.

The collaboration is a mix of contrasts: Barât, a figurehead of scrappy indie rock with The Libertines, meets Client’s polished anonymity cloaked under fabricated personas like “Client A” and “Client B.”

The song toes the line between indulgence and irony, its title signaling provocation without necessarily delivering anything truly subversive.

The music video doubles down on atmosphere, leaning into a moody aesthetic that matches the track’s themes but never pushes beyond stylistic tropes.

As part of Client’s broader discography, it serves as a synthetic time capsule, a sonic reminder of when genre boundaries bent but didn’t quite break.

Featured on the 2004 album “City “.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Wikipedia

7 . Britney Spears – Born To Make You Happy

Britney Spears’ “Born to Make You Happy” from her debut album “…Baby One More Time” comes across as both a candy-coated anthem for romantic yearning and a conflicted ode to unhealthy devotion.

Released strategically in December 1999, the track makes no apologies for doubling down on late ‘90s teen pop tropes, complete with glossy production courtesy of Kristian Lundin that borders on synthetic perfection.

Lyrically, it’s almost unsettling: Spears croons with syrupy conviction about being willing to mold herself entirely for a partner’s happiness—a notion both reflective of its era’s pop-washed submissiveness and at odds with any semblance of modern empowerment narratives.

The song’s melody, built around a minor key progression, adds an air of melancholy disguised under polished vocal layers, while the 84 BPM tempo gives it a slow but steady pulse that feels like emotional suspense.

Commercially, the track dominated European markets, with its UK Singles Chart debut at number one translating to 335,000 units sold and a BPI Gold certification—an accolade that far outpaces its modest cultural imprint in other regions.

Oddly absent from the United States release schedule, it was replaced with the safer, sentimentally palatable “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart,” reflecting Jive Records’ cautious tailoring of Spears’ image overseas versus stateside.

The accompanying music video, directed by Bille Woodruff, leans fully into surreal, futuristic aesthetics paired with tightly choreographed movements, emphasizing style over narrative substance.

While the visual does little to back up the song’s emotional tension, it aligns well with the late-‘90s obsession with hyper-stylized pop iconography.

Spears herself lobbied for lyrical changes to soften the original’s more suggestive language, a move that foreshadowed her complex, often contradictory rise as both pop’s ingénue and its most media-scrutinized casualty.

“Born to Make You Happy” may lack the cultural staying power of Spears’ more iconic tracks but remains an artifact of a bygone era when manufactured heartbreak could propel a teen star into superstardom.

Featured on the 1999 album “…Baby One More Time”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

8 . Girls Aloud – Love Machine

“Love Machine” by Girls Aloud is a curious cocktail of pop exuberance and rockabilly flair, landing squarely in the upbeat chaos of early 2000s British pop.

The track, plucked from their sophomore album *What Will the Neighbours Say?*, doesn’t so much invite you to the dance floor as it does shove you onto it, heels and all.

Crafted by the Xenomania writing and production cabal, the song’s architecture is a patchwork of jangly guitars reminiscent of The Smiths, ’80s synth-pop flourishes, and an undercurrent of cheeky irreverence that’s pure Girls Aloud.

If its lyrics make you wonder whether they were penned in a fever dream—you’re not alone.

Playfully nonsensical yet oddly magnetic, the song’s cryptic references and flirty repartee oscillate between genius and gibberish.

The accompanying music video, which places the group in a retro diner-turned-dancehall, perfectly complements the track’s kinetic energy and offbeat charm.

This is spit-polished chaos designed for entertainment, and boy, does it deliver.

Not content to remain within the genre’s confines, “Love Machine” later found itself crossing unexpected boundaries when covered by Arctic Monkeys, whose rendition underscored the track’s sneaky versatility.

Charting at #2 in the UK, it proved hard to ignore, whether you were rolling your eyes at its audacity or singing along to its infectious hook.

The fact that the song surfaced on their greatest hits compilation two years later speaks volumes about its staying power—accidental genius rarely hits this hard twice.

Whether you read it as pastiche or pop perfection, “Love Machine” remains one of those rare tracks that revels in its own absurdity while daring you not to join the party.

Featured on the 2004 album “What Will the Neighbours Say?”.

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9 . Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster

“Scream If You Wanna Go Faster” captures Geri Halliwell at a crossroads in her post-Spice Girls trajectory, blending rock energy with a pop sheen that feels both retro and calculated.

The title track from her 2001 album reflects Halliwell’s penchant for gleeful adrenaline, channeling Led Zeppelin-esque riffs watered down for mainstream accessibility and bolstered by Rick Nowels’ polished production.

The lyrics are cheekily rebellious, though hardly revolutionary, built more on catchy repetition than resonance, with Halliwell leaning into the persona of a fun-loving provocateur.

Commercially, the track performed well enough, peaking at a modest number eight on the UK Singles Chart, a sharp contrast to her earlier domination with “It’s Raining Men.” It also maintained lukewarm traction across Europe.

The accompanying music video opts for a mishmash of pop culture nods, from Lara Croft to Blondie, with Halliwell romping through desert landscapes and a stage performance that underscores her flair for theatrics.

Critically, the single straddles a fine line between kitsch and effort, with some comparing her sound and approach to Victoria Beckham’s contemporaneous releases, a rivalry arguably amplified by the ongoing “Spice fatigue” saturating the market at the time.

Despite its quirks, the song remains an earnest reflection of Halliwell embracing a bombastic soundscape as she tries to keep her solo pop persona afloat amidst a shifting early-2000s musical landscape.

Featured on the 2001 album “Scream If You Wanna Go Faster”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

10 . Belle and Sebastian – Funny Little Frog

“Funny Little Frog” struts into *The Life Pursuit* with all the charm of an indie-rock prom date decked out in a borrowed suit and vintage ties. It’s bright, buoyant, and unapologetically pop—hand claps, bouncing basslines, and a vocal delivery so earnest it teeters on theatrical. Its stop-start percussion suggests a tug-of-war between restraint and jubilance, though restraint doesn’t stand a chance.

Released in 2006, the track marked Belle and Sebastian’s most flirtatious encounter with mainstream charts, landing at a career-high number 13 in the UK. Scotland, ever the loyal home crowd, showed even more affection, pushing it to number 3. But even in its swagger, the track doesn’t fully shake the band’s signature introspection—instead, longing saturates the verses, a love letter penned but never sent.

Tony Hoffer’s production is fussed over but stops short of over-polish; the vintage pop touchstones are unmissable. Mixing duties at Sunset Sound inject warmth, framing the song between poptimism and idiosyncrasy. Comparisons to earlier Belle and Sebastian gems may leave some fans lukewarm as “Funny Little Frog” winks its way toward a broader audience without fully anchoring its charm in the whispered intimacy of yore.

The curious choice of B-sides (“Meat and Potatoes” comes to mind—an apt metaphor for its understated flavor) contrasts sharply against the single’s sunlit parade. Then there’s the artwork, with Julie Coyle and Marisa Privitera captured in a photo that feels intentionally offbeat, like the band stopped just short of posing in a Wes Anderson movie frame.

This song later found a second life when Stuart Murdoch repurposed it in his *God Help the Girl* project, casting it as both a familiar callback and a slightly rewired version of itself. A cover by Emma Pollock in 2009 couldn’t quite dent its quirky armor, though it handed the track a melancholic afterglow. Critics align uneasily with the song, admiring its catchiness while questioning if it punches up to the band’s more contemplative catalog. It’s an indie pop gem, no doubt, but it comes dressed in just enough glitter to spark a debate about whether that’s a compliment or a compromise.

Featured on the 2006 album “The Life Pursuit”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

11 . Nadia Oh – My Egyptian Lover (w/ Space Cowboy)

“My Egyptian Lover” catapults Nadia Oh into the electro-pop zeitgeist of the late 2000s, with a production helmed by Space Cowboy that leans aggressively into auto-tune and synthetic beats.

The track is part of her debut album *Hot Like Wow*, officially released on April 13, 2008, under the Tiger Trax label, and its sonic palette is unmistakably influenced by Middle Eastern motifs, embedded seamlessly into its electronic backbone.

While chart success eluded it on a grand scale, peaking modestly at 45 on the UK Singles Chart and scaling higher on the UK Dance Chart to land at 12, the song’s real traction came within niche pop and dance circles, thanks to its inclusion on shows like *Gossip Girl* and *So You Think You Can Dance*.

Its unapologetic pulpy aesthetic, complemented by a low-budget but effective music video on YouTube, ensured the song found a home among early adopters of MySpace-era electro kitsch.

This collaboration also sets the stage for future partnerships between Nadia Oh and Space Cowboy, with her follow-up work in *Colours* continuing to refine their shared love of bold, synthetic soundscapes.

Despite being divisive in its heavy-handed production and thematic approach, “My Egyptian Lover” resonates as a timestamp of mid-2000s stylistic excess and a defiant embrace of genre eccentricity.

Featured on the 2008 album “Hot Like Wow”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Wikipedia

12 . Milk & Sugar – Love Is In The Air (w/ John Paul Young)

Milk & Sugar’s version of “Love Is In The Air” stakes its claim as a staple of vocal house through an infectious mix of nostalgia and modernity.

Stripping away the velvety disco of John Paul Young’s 1977 original, this 2001 remix injects a clubby vigor—clean beats, breezy synths, and just enough polish to bait European dance floors.

By daring to meddle with a track that already cemented its place in pop history, Milk & Sugar navigate a tightrope between homage and reinvention.

Peaking at No. 25 in the UK and making waves across Spain and Germany, the duo effectively transformed retro into revenue, marking their own global breakthrough moment.

Perhaps most notable is how this track captures an era’s fixation on blending old-school appeal with millennium-era energy—not too kitschy but undeniably crowd-pleasing.

The 2019 update, featuring tweaked production and driving basslines, tries to modernize the formula, but its charm leans heavily on the timeless chorus that refuses to fade.

Still, one wonders if the track’s enduring appeal lies less in Milk & Sugar’s ingenuity and more in the original’s unshakable DNA, carried by Young’s indelible vocals.

Even when filtered through layers of electronic beats and slick arrangements, it’s those four words—”Love is in the air”—that linger, proving that some hooks simply don’t have an expiration date.

More by the same : Official Site