Soundtrack of the year

Heads, it’s OutKast’s wacky and wonderful “Hey Ya!”

Tails, it’s the White Stripes’ powerful and mysterious “Seven Nation Army.”

However the coin falls, you can’t lose in picking one of those smash singles to top our annual New Year’s Eve countdown of the most compelling singles of the year.

The playful “Hey Ya!” and the defiant “Seven Nation Army” are excellent records, radiating with the immediate punch that radio programmers crave when putting together playlists, and both records received enormous airplay.

But the countdown isn’t limited to big hits. It also includes some singles or album tracks that may not have caught the ears of radio programmers during 2003, but which have such an evocative, honest tone that they will sound equally compelling a decade from now -- a time when most of today’s hits will feel simply dated.

The rambunctious “Hey Ya!” is so superbly crafted sonically that it’s easy for listeners to simply marvel at the production values and fail to pick up on the song’s theme. It opens with a blast of rock innocence, reminiscent of the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” and proceeds through all sorts of zany funk twists.

But Andre 3000, one half of the OutKast hip-hop duo, wrote the song to express how he feels relationships just don’t seem to last anymore. Early in the tune, he sings, “Thank God for mom and dad for sticking two together / Because we don’t know how.” The song’s main character certainly doesn’t know how. He’s not interested in anything long-term. “Don’t want to meet your daddy,” he tells a flashy babe. “Just want you in my caddy.”

The White Stripes’ Jack White also worries about the state of romance these days. In the liner notes to the Detroit rock duo’s “Elephant” album, he writes, “This album is dedicated to, and is for, and about the death of the sweetheart.”

The guitar-driven “Seven Nation Army” is about more than the loss of innocence, however. It’s a feverish pledge to try to maintain personal values in an age of unforeseen demons and dangers. At one point, he sings, “Don’t want to hear about it / Every single one’s got a story to tell / Everyone knows about it / From the Queen of England to the hounds of hell.”

The records in the Top 10 vary in ambition and style, but they all have a warm, personal touch that makes them worth toasting on this nostalgic night.

Before the countdown, here are some honorable mention choices.

* Junior Senior’s “Go Junior, Go Senior” (Atlantic). How better to start off the evening than with a record from a fun-minded Danish duo that is part Ramones, part Village People and all charm.

* The Raveonettes’ “Remember” (Columbia). Here’s another record influenced by Jesus and Mary Chain, the London-based band whose mix of brutal and sweet textures in the late-’80s took Phil Spector’s obsessive “wall of sound” into the modern age.

* Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, “Crazy in Love” (Columbia). This record has a feel-good groove that is unshakable, and it suggests that Beyonce will be one of the key pop stars of the decade.

* 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” (Shady, Aftermath, Interscope). Yes, yes, 50 Cent is a gripping storyteller, but the main props here go to Dr. Dre, who co-produced (with Mike Elizondo) and mixed this irresistibly catchy hip-hop extravaganza.

* Alicia Keys’ “You Don’t Know My Name” (J). An R&B; ballad so elegantly framed that it could have been produced by the Motown masterminds of the ‘60s.

* Lisa Marie Presley’s “Lights Out” (Capitol). Given the history involved, this record is nothing short of extraordinary. Elvis’ daughter finally gets the courage to overcome the weight of the family legacy and making a record, and the record turns out to be a compelling reflection of the weight of that very legacy.

Now, the Top 10 countdown.

10. Merle Haggard’s “That’s the News” (Hag). Lots of pop-rock hotshots, from Lenny Kravitz to the Beastie Boys, shared their views on the Iraq experience, but no one else did it with near the thoughtfulness and grace of this country music veteran. Way back in June, he asked: If the war is over, why are people still dying in Iraq?

9. The Thrills’ “Hollywood Kids” (Virgin). The steel guitar licks make it clear this young Dublin band is tipping its hat to the Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Sin City,” a 1969 look at the temptations and consequences of pursuing your dreams in Hollywood that also helped inspire the Eagles’ “Hotel California.”

8. Norah Jones’ “The Grass Is Blue” (Sugar Hill). Jones’ follow-up to last year’s Grammy-winning “Come Away With Me” isn’t due until February, but this track from a Dolly Parton tribute album shows she has lost none of her taste and vocal restraint.

7. Shelby Lynne’s “If I Were Smart” (Capitol). Here’s another look at the disorienting aftermath of a relationship, this time from someone who is so bruised emotionally that she is willing to do without love rather than open herself up to another loss. “If I were smart,” Lynne sings, “I wouldn’t have a heart.”

6. Lucinda Williams’ “Those Three Days” (Lost Highway). “Righteously” is the song from Williams’ “World Without Tears” album that got the most radio attention, but this stark look at the humiliation and confusion of being swept away for a weekend affair cuts even deeper.

5. Annie Lennox’s “Pavement Cracks” (J). What lifts this sweeping ballad over the other tales of romantic despair on the list is the ambition of the arrangement, which moves eloquently from a point of emotional surrender to one of liberating renewal.

4. OutKast’s “The Way You Move” (Arista). This is a delightful mix of old-school R&B; and up-to-date hip-hop edge, where OutKast’s other half, Big Boi, also sneaks some messages of his own (including another denial that OutKast is breaking up) in between flashy beats, a killer chorus and a celebration of the female figure.

3. Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me in Your Heart” (Artemis). Back to the gentle, singer-songwriter mode, this statement of goodbye would be touching even if you didn’t know Zevon was aware he was dying when he wrote it. “If I leave you, it doesn’t mean I love you any less,” he sings. “Keep me in your heart for a while.”

2 and 1:

The coin is in the air.

Robert Hilburn, The Times’ pop music critic, can be reached at Robert.hilburn@latimes.com.