Feel-good pop

MANILA, Philippines - With the assault of the floodwaters and other events that have recently beset our nation, countless works of art, blog posts, and inspirational videos have served as fuel driving our resilient Filipino spirit. And to duke it out with all this sh*t, we at Team Supreme have relied on these 11 power-pop tunes — songs like hopeful fairy godmothers, which bring out the independent women in all of us. No, we are not afraid to admit this.

‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child

With its punit-punit couture and litany of misdeeds, Survivor will always be remembered as one of forgotten Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams’s finest moments. Survivor featured one of Williams’s rare solos, one that actually let people know that there was a third member of the group. And when she sings “If I surround myself with positive things, I’ll gain prosperity,” you can’t help but feel how it is to be really empowered. 

Potential Facebook status: You know I’m not gonna diss you on the Internet/’Cos my momma taught me better than that

‘Fly’ by Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff’s first outing, “Metamorphosis,” was actually a good collection of pop tracks, but her self-titled sophomore release wasn’t. It’s a good thing she released Fly as the lead single, an epiphany-backing track that could only come from a pop star with many contradictions. She eggs you on to trust yourself and have your day in the sun, like the way she does when critics tell her to drop the mic and stop singing; obviously, where all this encouragement is coming from.

Potential Facebook status: Forget about the reasons why you can’t in life/And start to try.

‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus

In “The Climb,” we find Cyrus trying to shed her dual pop persona for something more serious and risky. When we look back, ”The Climb will shine as one of Cyrus’s career milestones — an uplifting country pop ballad that does away with the fat and builds up in the right places without letting her voice wholly envelop the demographic-crossing lyrics.

Potential Facebook status: There’s always gonna be another mountain/I’m always gonna want to make it move/Always gonna be an uphill batlle/Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose.

‘Skyscraper’ by Demi Lovato

Released after she checked out of rehab due to depression, ”Skyscraper” is the legitimate down-in-the-gutter anthem. Demi’s breakdown only adds more raw power to the song, lending it a fragile yet resolute intensity. Skyscraper’s sparse imagery stirs away the clouds from Demi’s eyes. And when the song briefly winds down towards the climactic power-strains, you hear a tinge of earnestness in her voice that’s usually absent in vacuous anthems like this. You can almost hear her say “Babangon ako at dudurugin kita” when you backmask the track. No, we’re kidding.

Potential Facebook status: As the smoke clears, I awaken and untangle you from me.

‘Breakaway’ by Kelly Clarkson

“Pleasant” is something that always comes to mind whenever Breakaway comes up. A no-frills, inspirational track, Breakaway retains the Disney Princess lyricism while dipping itself in power-pop vanilla. Clarkson’s head-cold busting chops bring more depth to otherwise cheesy lyrics, you can almost swear these were the dream-journal proclamations that you once adhered to. With “Breakaway,” Kelly Clarkson is that cup of hot chocolate that you always want to come home to.

Potential Facebook status: I’ll spread my wings and learn how to fly/Though it’s not easy to tell you goodbye/I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and breakaway.

‘Song for the Lonely’ by Cher

Song for the Lonely cements Cher’s bid to invade the teen-pop and electro-pop market. Following the commercial success of 1999’s Believe, Song for the Lonely found itself in a freshly wounded, post 9/11 America, where every ounce of encouragement amounts to a collective embrace. Song for the Lonely lets Cher’s voice be the authoritarian source of comfort and reassurance despite that ridiculous hairdo she’s sporting in its music video.

Potential Facebook status: This is a song for the lonely/And that’s not you only/Through the darkest night/You’re gonna see the light.

‘Fighter’ by Christina Aguilera

Swaggering with her bruised ego while pounding her hordes of haters down to the pavement, Christina Aguilera makes her determination known in “Fighter.” As one of the highlights of her strong sophomore release, Aguilera plays with the resentment and negativism of an antagonistic figurehead (in our case, typhoons, traffic, ugly roads, and home economics blogger-quoting filibusters) to her own advantage. Her powerful vocals shoot off in the right directions and ground the song to a level of strength that makes it a convicting middle-finger to all the hurdles that the world has thrown against her way. You go, gurl.

Potential Facebook status: After all you put me through/You think I’d despise you/But in the end I want to thank you/’Cause you made me that much stronger.

‘Carousel’ by Vanessa Carlton

Carousel puts the much-needed whimsical poeticism in empowerment. One of the best songs released in 2011, Carousel recalls the warmth of your childhood security blanket or the familiar scent of adolescence that is all too pure and comforting. Backed by lush instrumentation and toned-down vocals, Carousel knows how a gentle push of encouragement can truly make a difference and enable you to move past flooded dreams and train wrecks.

Potential Facebook status: But the fever breaks when it’s too much to take/So you can put your weapons down.

‘Inní mér syngur vitleysingur’ by Sigur Ros

The stomping, cheerful march of Inní mér syngur vitleysingur (Within me a Silly Person Sings) is akin to an army of warm fuzzies parading in your bedroom. While the group is known for their deathly melancholia, Inní mér inevitably feels like the bright ray of light after a year of menacing cold and dark skies.

Potential Facebook status: Whatever you pretend to decipher from Jonsi’s Hopelandic.

‘Rainbow’ by South Border

Purveyors of local senti-pop, South Border takes the happy pill from Eraserheads’s With a Smile and injects it with an RnB snide. It’s precious and colorful as its titular meteorological phenomenon, obviously pandering to the softer side of our collective kumbaya-orientation. But like every song in this list tells us, a little dose of optimism always helps whenever needed.

Potential Facebook status: Even if there is pain now/Everything would be alright/For as long as the world turns/There will be night and day.

‘Pokemon Theme’ by Billy Crawford

We all know that all those tournaments Ash Ketchum went through are one sprawling metaphor for adolescence. So whatever badge you’re aiming for right now, whether it’s a relationship or just keeping off the damn flood out of your house, remember these wise words that propelled every kid to sublimate violence through cutesy little pets just to get whatever they want.

Potential Facebook status: I want to be the very best no one ever was.