The 10 Best Dido Songs of All-Time
Dido is an English singer-songwriter whose career started in the mid-1990s. However, she didn’t become well-known until the late 1990s and early 2000s. First, Dido released her debut album, No Angel, which went on to sell millions of copies. Second, some of her vocals were featured in Eminem’s “Stan” in 2000.
A combo so influential that the latter’s name has come to mean an excessively enthusiastic fan of the sort described in the lyrics. Third, Dido released her second album, Life For Rent, which confirmed that she wouldn’t be limited to a single successful release. Since then, she has continued to release music. The consistent positivity shows her to be one of the finest singer-songwriters of her generation to emerge from the United Kingdom.
Here is our opinion of the ten best Dido songs released so far:
10. “Hurricanes”
“Hurricanes” came from Dido’s fifth album, Still On My Mind. It is one of those songs that start simply before swelling with sound. Something that makes it well-suited for its name. Unsurprisingly, “Hurricanes” isn’t entirely about the weather phenomenon. Instead, it is about the narrator’s desire for someone else, paired with a determination to overcome literal and metaphorical storms.
9. “No Freedom”
“No Freedom” was released in 2013. As such, it was on Dido’s fourth album, Girl Who Got Away. The song describes the end of a romantic relationship, connected to the notion that freedom is necessary for love to prosper. Dido released “No Freedom” during the early stage of the Syrian Civil War. Due to that, there were reports of the song resonating with people caught up in that conflict.
8. “Don’t Believe In Love”
“Don’t Believe in Love” saw release on Dido’s third album, Safe Trip Home. Marketing shenanigans meant that it was the second single but the first official single. Regardless, “Don’t Believe in Love” topped out at the number 54 position in the United Kingdom while failing to chart in the United States. These things made it clear that Dido’s initial surge of popularity was ebbing by the late 2000s. Despite that, she could still reach a respectable position in her home market. Curiously, “Don’t Believe in Love” was popular in Belgium and Switzerland, where it was a Top 20 hit.
7. “Don’t Leave Home”
“Don’t Leave Home” was meant for No Angel. However, events resulted in it being released on Life For Rent. Given the name, interested individuals should have no problem guessing this isn’t a happy song. The lyrics make the narrator sound downright abusive. Something that makes perfect sense when one realizes that the song is about drug addiction destroying a drug user’s life.
6. “Hunter”
“Hunter” was the fourth single from No Angel. It proved popular enough to reach the number 17 position in the United Kingdom, though it was much less impressive than “Here With Me” and “Thank You.” This is another song about relationship woes. Specifically, the narrator is fed up with being overprotected by her significant other. She yearns for the freedom to do things, even if that comes with the possibility of failure.
5. “Sand In My Shoes”
“Sand In My Shoes” was on the same album as “White Flag.” Thanks to that, it tends to be overshadowed, though it has its claims to excellence. The song took its name from something literal. As the story goes, Dido had sand in her shoes after boarding a plane because she had been on an LA beach beforehand. She wrote the song while on the plane, which helped her deal with her father’s illness.
4. “Life For Rent”
“Life For Rent” is similar to “Sand In My Shoes” in that it doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. Its situation was even worse because it had the dubious distinction of being immediately behind “White Flag.” Still, “Life For Rent” was a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom and four other countries. The song is most relatable for people feeling alienated from themselves, though it is by no means bound to that single demographic.
3. “Here With Me”
“Here With Me” was Dido’s debut single. It was first released in the United States, where it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 but did show up on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. The song wasn’t released in the United Kingdom until 2001. When that happened, it became a Top 5 hit for her, thus providing her with much of her initial momentum.
2. “Thank You”
“Thank You” is another song from No Angel. However, interested individuals should know it first appeared on the Sliding Doors soundtrack in 1998, which is a reminder that Dido’s career started in the mid-1990s rather than the late 1990s. Of course, the world often remembers “Thank You” for being sampled on Eminem’s “Stan,” which played a critical role in propelling Dido’s music into mainstream awareness. It seems safe to say that played a role in the song’s popularity in the United States. It isn’t Dido’s only hit in that country. Even so, it is the only time she has made it into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
1. “White Flag”
“White Flag” was a Top 20 hit in the United States. Elsewhere, it was even more successful, as shown by how it was either a number-one or number-two single in six countries. Chances are good that people who listened to pop music in the early 2000s will remember the song because it saw so much airplay. In this, “White Flag” was helped by its bittersweet wistfulness, which made it highly enjoyable. Interestingly, the music video was more optimistic than the song itself. It showed that the narrator wasn’t the only one pining for her ex because her ex was also pining for her. In contrast, the lyrics show no such equivalence because they never step beyond the narrator’s point of view.
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