Oh, Pop Music, you are a fickle mistress indeed! Sometimes you send a great song all the way to number one, but sometimes, just to remind us you’ve got the power, you let Britney Spears top the charts with the world’s most boring ode the threesomes. Even worse, you sometimes take a great song and let it fail. Flop. Crasharooski.

But today I stand up to you, Pop Music! Today, I declare that the following seven singles didn’t deserve to fail. Today, I resurrect them with a barbaric yawp!

Note: To appear on this list, a song must have been released as an official single in the United States and peaked below #50 on the Billboard Hot 100

(1) “Spaceman” by The Killers

Um… irresistible, much? When Brandon Flowers sings that rising series of notes in the bridge (“And you know I-ee-I might have flown…”), I feel like I’m being lifted out of my chair. “Spaceman” is an ethereal, beautiful dance song that will improve any road trip or ironic party where you need an excuse to do that “80s dance” from the pot-smoking scene in The Breakfast Club.

(2) “Powerless (Say What You Want)” by Nelly Furtado

The commercial failure of this song (and its accompanying album, Folklore) resulted in Furtado’s mad dash to Timbaland’s house, where she made the slinky (and personality-erasing) dance tracks that put her back on top. This bothered me at the time, but since that Timbo album also boasted some quirky, impressive album tracks and Furtado followed it with a Spanish-language album, I’ve decided I don’t have to worry that she’ll turn into a faceless diva.

Still, imagine what her music might sound like today if “Powerless,” an island-folk-dance song about refusing to be oppressed by politics or culture, had been a hit.

(3) “Don’t Stop” by Lateef and the Chief

Mixing hip-hop and vintage soul like a latter-day Digable Planets, Lateef and the Chief emerged from the San Francisco  hip-hop collective Quanuum Projects with this laid back ode to a woman who just won’t give a brother a chance. Unlike most “please screw me” songs, this one is smart, respectful, and sexy, making a pretty good argument for why a woman should let down her walls for a minute. Plus, the super-fly backing track (check that flute solo!) keeps things mellow.

(4) “Jump” by Madonna

Though it pulled her out of the tailspin created by American Life, I would submit that in America, Madonna’s album Confessions on a Dance Floor wasn’t successful enough. Everywhere else in the world, “Hung Up” was a number one single, and follow up cuts like “Sorry” and “Get Together” went top ten. Meanwhile, we Yanks left “Hung Up” at number seven and told the album’s other singles to suck it.

That’s especially sad for “Jump,” which is really, really good. It’s all swirly beats and catchy choruses, just begging to be appreciated. At least it made it into The Devil Wears Prada.

(5) “Tilt Ya Head Back” by Nelly and Christina Aguilera

When did we all decide were over Nelly? Was there a memo? One minute, we’re all insisting that it’s hot in herre, and the next, we’re ignoring the shit out of the album Brass Knuckles. Haven’t heard of it? Exactly.

Nelly’s disappearance doesn’t break me up—despite a few great singles, he never developed a distinctive artistic personality—but it’s a shame that his sexy team-up with Christina Aguilera didn’t get more love.

(6) “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)” by Gnarls Barkley

Yes, that is a Justin Timberlake cameo at the beginning of this video, and yes, that is a hyperactive beat that recalls everything you loved about “B.O.B.” by OutKast. Paranoid, complex, and electrified by one of Cee-Lo’s best vocals, this jam proves that Gnarls Barkley is more than just “Crazy.”

(7) “Bad Day” by R.E.M.

By the time they released this lead-off single from their 2003 greatest hits collection, R.E.M. wasn’t relevant anymore… but losing the limelight doesn’t mean losing your skill. “Bad Day” is as much of a toe-tapping anthem as “Stand” or “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” It just got released when fewer people were listening.