Last year, to celebrate my birthday I look back at the day I was born. I didn’t look at boring details like what the weather was like. I looked at what was popular on that April 10, 2003. I measured popularity the only I knew how by looking at the charts. I looked at what was the most popular song by taking a peek at Billboard’s Hot 100. I discovered what was the New York Times Bestselling Novel. And last but certainly, not least I looked at the best-selling movie at the box office on that faithful Thursday. I find details like these so fascinating because I like having an idea of what the average person was doing on the day I was entering into this world. So I’m doing it again this year. This time though, I’m looking at my first birthday, April 10, 2004. I’ll take a look at what the most popular movie, song, and novel was and just reacting to it. Without further ado, this is what my first birthday looked like.

April 10, 2004

#1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – Yeah!

How can anyone hate on Yeah! Sure, it’s repetitive and it’s not winning any awards for best lyrics. But, it’s a fantastic club song, or at least I think it is as I have never been to one. Still, it’s the type of song you want to dance to. It’s not meant to be analyzed. It’s a song that once you hear you already know because it’s been played so many times. But, you don’t have a problem with it because it’s an earworm. I’m guaranteed that if you jus listened to the song you will probably have it stuck in your head for the rest of the day. It’s that catchy.

#1 Movie at the Box Office – The Passion of the Christ.

The duality to have Yeah! by Usher and Passion of the Christ as #1 in their respective categories is hilarious. A song about picking up women at the club to Christ. That gave me a good laugh. I knew this movie was popular when came out. I just didn’t realize it came out in 2004. I thought maybe it was older. Whenever I hear Passion of the Christ mentioned today it’s because of Mel Gibson and his problematic behavior or weird things that happened on set. Oh, and how violent this movie is. I have heard some described this as Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Jesus. The pitch doesn’t interest me in the slightest so I never got around to watching the Passion of the Christ. If you have seen it tell me is it as violent as people make it out to seem. Also, did you watch it when it originally came out in 2004? What was that experience like?

The New York Times Best Selling Fiction Book – The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Week of April 11, 2004)

I had to do a double-take when I looked this up. I thought I had searched for April 10, 2003, again. But, no. A year later people were still obsessed with The Da Vinci Code to make it the most popular book on my birthday two years in a row. I still have not read this book. I know it’s a classic, maybe I’ll get to it one day. That one day is not today though. Still, it’s interesting to see how it became the classic it did. To have people buying and reading your book at the same pace a year later. I’m sure is a rarity so it makes sense that The Da Vinci Code became the classic it ended up being.

That was everything popular on my first birthday. Were you dancing along with Yeah? Going to the cinema to watch The Passion of the Christ? Visiting your local Barnes and Noble to read The Da Vinci Code? Comment your answer down below.