The Top Ten Songs by Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera was once considered a bubble-gum pop star. Releasing her first single just after Britney Spears, she spent much of her early career being compared and contrasted to both, Spears and the other female pop stars that were arising at the same time. But, with her enormous vocal talent and vision, Aguilera was able to break away from the pop scene and has since emerged as one of the most talented and successful artists of her generation. A dynamic performer, Aguilera has proved she has staying power, releasing two number one albums and winning four Grammy awards. Below is a look at ten of Aguilera's best songs.

10. Genie in a Bottle: On Thank You (Dedication to Fans) off of her album Back to Basics, Aguilera sings "It seems like a lifetime/since I felt like a prisoner of my dreams...and now I'm so happy I started where I started." Genie, the singer's ubiquitous first single, became an instant hit, due to its catchy chorus and Aguilera's appeal. Besides being her first hit single, the song also separated her from the other pop stars that were coming out at the same time. The single boasted debatabley provocative lyrics ('my body's saying let's go' and other lyrics were considered to provocative to be sung by a teen idol some thought. Radio Disney played a censored version of the song on their station). Aguilera quickly established she was different then your typical pop star.

9. Fighter: Unlike the songs she had released in the past - Fighter had real anger to it. From the crashing music to the way she growled through telling lyrics like, "Never saw it coming/all of your backstabbing/just so you could cash in on a good thing/before I realized your game". Fighter was the first time Aguilera showed the tough no-nonsense side of her. She showed she was a strong, independent woman who was not going to be brought down by anyone - and never lost that image. Fighter is a dark pop-song with a rock edge and Aguilera sings it with a fierce intensity that makes everyone stop and pay attention.

8. I'm OK: A revealing look into Aguilera's dark childhood, I'm OK chronicles, in powerful detail, witnessing the domestic abuse that plagued her childhood. The song offers a raw look into a part of the singer's life that was, up until the release of the album Stripped, hidden. The honesty and visuals in the lyrics makes the songs one of her most intriguing and best to date. "It's not easy to forget," she sings, "all the marks you left along her neck, when I was thrown against cold stairs." But it's when she sings "Daddy don't you understand the damage you have done. For you it's just a memory but for me it still lives on," you begin to understand that the pain of abuse never really fades away. She told Blender when the album was released, "I wrote that song...for a healing process...and... to give people hope or a voice to relate to...To know that you can get through it." Aguilera has since become a strong voice against domestic abuse, working with The Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh as well as the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

7. Save Me From Myself: One of the best songs of her career appears on the Back to Basic album. Save Me From Myself had Ms. Aguilera trading in the high notes and vocal tricks she had become famous for with a soft melody, matched by an even softer, natural voice. She told MTV, "Everything's stripped clean, super dry, very softly sung, up close on the mic...that's the entire song." The song, sung almost in a whisper, sounds more like a lullaby than an ode to the man who managed to let himself into her life. She continued, "I had all these walls up...and Jordan just came and swept that aside"; her sentiment is echoed when she sings, "I know it's hard/it's hard/but you've broken all my walls/you've been my strength so strong" Save Me From Myself not only showed off a different vocal side to Aguilera, it also showcased a fearless side to her as well.

6. Come On Over (All I Want is You): On her self-titled debut album, Come On Over was a sugarcoated confection, a plea to a boy to come over and spend time with Aguilera and her friends, with cutesy, non-threatening lyrics ("you've got all I'm looking for/you've got personality"). By the time it was released as her fourth single, the song was made more raunchy, replacing the wholesome lyrics with sexy come-ons("I can't help myself/when you put your hands on me", replaced the previous lyric) and a suggestive 'rap' section ("Don't you want to be just you and me, we can do what comes up naturally"). While it may seem rather tame now, it marked Aguilera's first attempt to break free of her cookie-cutter pop-star ways by turning up her sexuality, making Come On Over a pop song with an edge.

5. Still Dirrty: When Aguilera decided to make the album Back to Basics, and following her marriage, she began to change her image by creating a new, retro-inspired and refined look. This drew criticism from the tabloids, who were saying the 'Dirrty' girl changed for a man. Not one to take anything sitting down, Aguilera penned this song which she has said was her "tongue and cheek way of addressing the things I've seen...about my new image - 'Oh, she's changed her look because she's in love!'" She sings in the song "they say I'm not the girl they used to know/cause I don't always wear revealing clothes/but don't be fooled the moment I get home/I'm letting loose giving a private show". The jazz-infused sequel to Stripped's first single, the song is a horn-filled, fun ditty that showed she could have her new image, while maintaining her old, vixen ways as well.

4. Can't Hold Us Down: After Eminem and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst took shots at Aguilera in songs and interviews, Aguilera decided to call out the injustice of double standards, everywhere from SNL skits to this hip-hop inspired song, that featured Lil' Kim. The song begins "So, what am I not supposed to have an opinion/should I be quiet just because I'm a woman" and calls all girls to "shout louder" against the double standards put on women. Aguilera told MTV in 2002 the song "is directed to any male who puts down a female for stating her mind. This is definitely to make women feel empowered to do and say what they want to." Like with most of the material on Stripped, Can't Hold Us Down marked new territory for the star, and the hip-hop format suited her just as easily as all of the other genres she has experimented with. Aguilera also gave a voice to women everywhere who felt, somehow, put down by men.

3. Oh Mother: Aguilera always spoke of her mother with adoration, but it wasn't until Back to Basics that she wrote a song specifically for her. While she covered domestic abuse with I'm OK on Stripped, she took a different approach on this ballad, making the song an ode to her mother, and chronicling, through lyrics, her dark past. She discusses the abusive situation ("He took his anger out on her face/and she kept all of her pain locked away), her mother's decision to leave ("It was the day that he turned on the kids/that she knew she just had to leave him) and her gratitude for her mother's strength ("So mother/I thank you/for all that you've done and still do/You got me, I got you/Together we'll always pull through"). The song is a heart wrenching love letter to the woman who raised her.

2. Dirrty: After a long break from the music scene, Aguilera returned in 2002 with a bang. Dirrty is a gritty, raunchy, dance song - a direction no one expected Aguilera to take. "I love Dirrty," she told Blender magazine, "because it came from the girl who sang 'Genie in a Bottle. I like to shock'" And the song did shock, the new sound and suggestive lyrics, "I need that, uh, to get me off/sweat until my clothes come off", caused the song to receive its fair share of backlash, including not doing well on the charts. "When you are bold and open, artistically speaking...people automatically feel threatened by you," Aguilera told Blender. Her searing vocals, the pounding beat, a rap by Redman, not to mention the overly sexual video, created a new image for Aguilera - she had broken out of the pop-mold and was re-establishing herself as a vixen, and a force to be reckoned with.

1. Beautiful: Aguilera's most popular song, which has been an inspiration to many, is a simple, empowering anthem about believing in yourself and not allowing anyone to bring you down. A stark contrast to Dirrty, Beautiful showed a more vulnerable side to Aguilera, and also that she was a chameleon. The song won her many accolades. It's her raw testimonial (Everyday/is so wonderful/then suddenly/it's hard to breathe) and gut-wrenching voice that made this song an instant classic. As Aguilera told MTV News, "It's all about being proud of who you are, no matter what people say...you still know you're beautiful."

Christina Aguilera has built a career for herself based on her talent, ability to reinvent herself, keep things fresh and always leaving her fans wanting more.

Sources:

Nick Duerden, "The Good, the Bad and the Dirrty." Blender.com

Kim Stitzel, "Christina Aguilera: Not Your Puppet." MTV.com

Jennifer Vineyard, "Christina Stands Up For The Ladies..." MTV.com

Jennifer Vineyard, "Christina Aguilera's Old Soul." MTV.com

"Christina Aguilera Blurbs." TV.com