I've dilly-dallied long enough. So, with five days left until the Grammy Awards, I present to you what I believe to have been the four best songs of 2007.

Because I'm utterly lazy and a total procrastinator, I've grouped the final four in one post. However, these songs stand out above any others, not only as being the four best pop songs of the year but also possibly of the decade.

The No. 1 song is possibly -- and I truly mean this -- one of the two or three best pop songs of my lifetime.

Instead of glossing over each, singing praises without elaboration, I'll bore you to death with what goes on in my head as I hear each song, and as I have grown to love each over the past 12 months.

No. 4: "This Ain't A Scene ..." by FallOut Boy.

For what comes out of American mainstream radios, this group has always been slightly original. The long song titles. The odd look. Pete Wentz. However, "This Ain't A Scene, It's A God Damn Arms Race" strikes me as unique by the title alone.

When one writes a song, one usually picks a short title. Something unique is fine, but short is typically a requirement. However, musically, the song grabs me three seconds in because they don't puss around with the hook. They get right to it. No long introductions.

While the chorus of this song is very hooky in its own right, FallOut Boy's verses are equally musical. Much of the time, verses are totally disposable melodically.

Second, "This Ain't A Scene ..." is quite deceptive in its soul. This is not a total white-boy track. There is a funky R&B element to this, which is refreshing in rock music nowadays. Truthfully, I'd never be able to write a track like this. It's totally out of my element, but I definitely appreciate it as being significantly different and superior to anything on rock radio this past year.

By the way, Toad turned me on to this version of a video somebody uploaded to YouTube for this song, citing the song's little-known (but misheard lyrics). Very humorous.

No. 3: "Smile" by Lilly Allen.

This song is about a young woman getting dumped and then sending her guy friends after the ex to beat the snot out of him. First, love the concept. However, in songwriting, the greats say above all else to paint a vivid picture with your first two lines.

"When you first left me, I was wanting more
But you were f**king that girl next door. What'cha do that for?"

How's that for picture painting? Seriously, a brilliant first verse. Funny, too.

However, it gets better. The chorus is, "At first, when I see you cry -- yeah, it makes me smile ... yeah, it makes me smile."

Sorry, but we have enough sappy love songs on the planet. It was totally refreshing to hear something as bitter and sarcastic as "Smile" in 2007.

Style is important though, too, and Allen's track had a reggae dance-hall vibe that was totally Brit in its flavor. Totally unlike anything here in the states.

Melodically, it's pretty basic, but everything else was so good that it made up for it. I don't think this is what I'd call a future standard, but it's high, high quality.

No. 2: "Umbrella" by Rihanna.

Forget the rap at the start of this. The song didn't need it one bit. By itself, done even acoustically, this song is one of the best pop songs of the decade.

First, like I mentioned about a title that intrigues: "Umbrella" is interesting. Second, the concept of the song that one person will stick by another person -- while not being unique at all -- was tied up brilliantly in the "umbrella" metaphor.

Furthermore, Rihanna's phrasing in the song's chorus, particularly on the line, "Took an oath, gonna stick it out to the end" was very hip. Very contemporary. Besides being an excellent lyric and fitting with the melody perfectly, it gave the pacing of the chorus some dynamic.

The test of a great song is whether it could be done bare bones and still appeal. This song needs nothing. While I really loved the track as-is, this is an even better song. And, this is a future standard. It will be around for the next 50 years in various forms.

No. 1: "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse.

Sunday night's Grammy Awards are basically a contest between rapper Kanye West and Britain's troubled princess, Amy Winehouse. While I like Kanye, I'm not that big a fan of rap music. I enjoy it peripherally and within some sub-styles, but I don't connect with it artistically.

Amy Winehouse is the freshest voice to come out of pop music since the 1970s. She is absolutely the heir to the Janis Joplin, Mama Cass, Carole King, etc., kingdom.

Heck, I think she is a modern Sarah Vaughn. A modern Billie Holiday. A modern Ella. The fact that she wrote the tracks on her CD, "Back To Black," is all the more impressive, and I think she deserves to sweep the awards show.

However, in "Rehab," we again have a unique title. And, oh how relevant was this title in 2007? It was the perfect storm of pop culture timing for Winehouse.

Like on the best pop songs, Amy got right to the hook without a bunch of hoopla. No big intro. It didn't take two minutes to get there. In fact, there is nothing else before the chorus, and it was a decision associated with how strong the hook was.

In other words, if a songwriter writes a monumentally brilliant chorus, why wouldn't the writer just position it at the front of the song if it's so good?

Winehouse's allusions to Ray Charles and the legendary Donny Hathaway didn't make me cringe one bit because artistically and vocally, she's on par. Often when a writer or singer wails about the greats, it makes me cringe, particularly if that artist thinks he or she is on par.

Furthermore, "Rehab" was super tight all around. No filler, and it could be done as a stripped-down pop song or a super contemporary R&B hit. Stylistically, "Rehab" was brilliant because producers gave it a feel of an old 1960s Motown track, and it still won the hearts of millions.

There have been thousands of great pop songs over the past 20 years, and tens of thousands more before that, since the start of the modern music era (roughly 1955). "Rehab" stands in a class at the top, among the very best. Not the best, but among the best.

You don't have to agree with me or agree with my thoughts on these tunes. I just blabbed on about them for the sake of transparency. In fact, I could be a complete idiot, but I was genuinely pleased to learn (weeks after I had completed this list) that the Village Voice concurred with my Top 2. They named "Umbrella" and "Rehab," out of thousands of pop songs, as the very best of 2007.

Great minds think alike.