The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+
This list is part of Turning the Tables, an ongoing project from NPR Music dedicated to recasting the popular music canon in more inclusive – and accurate – ways. This year, our list, selected by a panel of more than 70 women and non-binary writers, tackles history in the making, celebrating artists whose work is changing this century's sense of what popular music can be. The songs are by artists whose major musical contributions came on or after Jan. 1, 2000, and have shifted attitudes, defied categories and pushed sound in new directions since then.
Our list includes songs performed by women and non-binary artists. The use of the term "Women+" is part of our engagement in a movement to recognize a wide spectrum of gender identities coming to greater light in the 21st century.
When Joanna Newsom's debut album The Milk-Eyed Mender was released in 2004, the classically trained harpist transported listeners to another time. Was this an old recording of an Appalachian traditional song? A newly unearthed 1920's folktale? Not since Bjork's singular voice emerged had a talent like Newsom been able to cross into the pop world and have such a lasting effect. The whimsical arrangement of "Peach, Plum, Pear" — with layered vocals and repeating harpsichord — introduces us to a style that could only be dreamed up by a truly gifted artist, and which instills listeners with a deep sense of wonder. — Alisha Sweeney (Colorado Public Radio's OpenAir)
- More: Hear Joanna Newsom live
