TOP TEN SONGS BY FUGEES: CD player: still broken. Old cassette collection: still getting a workout. Thus, I’m thinking about which songs by Fugees members are the best. My votes:

10) (tie) “To Zion,” from “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” Sweetest childbirth song ever. And “Gunpowder,” from “Carnival.” Cliched but still really affecting. I hate myself for getting all worked up by this song. “The preacher man told me, ‘Good things come to those who wait.’/Do good things come to those who wait?”

9) “Jaspora,” from “Carnival.” Apparently some Democratic presidential candidate (Dean?) named this as his favorite song. So they’re not wrong about everything.

8) “Ready or Not,” from “The Score.” Best work Enya ever did.

7) “Guantanamera,” from “Carnival.” “Soy Celia Cruz! Azucar!” The Fugees made their name on covers (“No Woman No Cry,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song”) but they did much better with songs that jumped off from, without replicating, previous hits. This is one.

6) “Lost Ones,” from “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” The abstinence radio hit, for a reason. The vocals twine around your heart. EDITED: Oops! Apparently my memory deceived me–I kind of melded together two songs, “Lost Ones” and “Doo-Wop (That Thing)”. Sadly, the made-up song in my head was a lot better than the two actual songs on the album. Oh well.

5) “Year of the Dragon,” from “Carnival.” I fully admit that this choice may be influenced by the fact that the Fugees’ childhood is kind of sort of close to mine, so we recall the same cultural icons. Whatever. I still love this song. “Paranoid cause this boy around my neighborhood got shot/Name plate hair straight metal braces on my teeth/Fat laces on my feet the year crack first hits the streets./In the year of the dragon, lots of men disappeared/Quiet as it’s kept, they won’t be back next year.”

4) (tie) “The Mask” and “Cowboys,” both from “The Score.” Best storytelling, decent sound. Memorable lyrics. Paranoia. Good stuff.

3) “Fu-Gee-La,” from “The Score.” One of the perfect summer songs.

2) “Sang Fezi,” from “Carnival.” I don’t know what they’re saying but I know I like it.

1) “Manifest,” from “The Score.” It’s got the Jesus. It’s got the ferocity in Lauryn Hill’s voice. It’s got the resigned beat and the powerful lyrics. It kicks.