Sonically, music has never been darker thanks to the impending doom a majority of artists feel the country and/or world is facing based on our own day-to-day choices but, whose to say that the Lordes and Lana Del Reys of the world are the defining artists of the 2010s long term and not say... Tame Impala or Adele (of which, there are really only one of each). Hell, even an up-and-coming superstar like Billie Eilish seems to come straight out of the Tyler, The Creator school of marketing with colorfully bizarre music videos and a closely-knit team around her (most notably, her brother) that could become the norm based on the numbers both artists are doing to close out the decade.
The times, they are a-changin' and the countdowns they are a-comin', here is the latest chapter to #ListSZN2019, My Top 40 Songs of the 2010s with my thoughts on each song from the year of publication and some new thoughts for songs from 2010-2012 that were on pre-blog year-end countdowns...
For a further in-depth look at the decade in music, here are each of my Top 40 Countdowns from 2010 through 2019.
2010 Top 40 Playlist
2011 Top 40 Playlist (missing #22, Metric's "Expecting To Fly")
2012 Top 40 Playlist
2013 Top 40 Blog Post
2014 Top 40 Blog Post
2015 Top 40 Blog Post
2016 Top 40 Blog Post
2017 Top 40 Blog Post
2018 Top 40 Blog Post
2019 Top 40 Blog Post
#40. Sampha "(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano" - 2017
"Sampha has been lurking for a while both as a featured artist on many SBTRKT songs and as a soloist on his 2016 single, "Blood On Me". In 2017, he released his first album, Process, and proved himself worthy of all the previous hype. "(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano" is the ideal song for a new artist as he not only showed he could play an instrument pretty damn well but, he also explained his admiration for said instrument. Tie that all together with the inspiration of his recently-deceased mother driving the track and you have a real pull-at-the-heartstrings moment every time he places a finger on the ivory."
#39. Phantogram "Black Out Days" - 2014
"Since Phantogram's 2009 album, Eyelids, there was not a song of theirs that I could tell was a Phantogram song. Before "Black Out Days", I could have heard a Phantogram song and been convinced that it was a song by Little Dragon. The second single off of Voices is one of the best darker, wailing, indie electronic songs I've heard. The song got me extremely excited for music in 2014 (only to be somewhat disappointed by the lack of great music being put out this year) and there wasn't a song that I was more excited to hear on the college radio stations than this one. Phantogram is one of the better under-the-radar acts in 2014 that everyone should keep their eyes on for the future."
#38. Childish Gambino "This Is America" - 2018
"THE music video of the year and quite possibly, the decade. The entire Hiro Murai-directed music video for "This Is America" shows what it's like to be black in America with a whole bunch of chaos going on in the background while we're all distracted by Donald Glover's sick dance moves. I'd be afraid of giving spoiler alerts but damn near everyone has seen this video so, let's talk about the guns. When I first saw this video, I was immediately impressed by the many small details (some of which I'm sure the internet hasn't even cracked yet)) including the gentle care that is taken once Gambino hands his guns away, while black human lives are just disregarded in the background. Prioritizing firearms over human lives is nothing new in America and that is especially the case around non-white lives in our nation's history. The song itself has an abrupt beat switch (makes "Sicko Mode" look tame in comparison) and features ad libs from many of today's famous rappers hidden in the background throughout Gambino's rapping verses. The lyrics match the video going from upbeat to dark in an instant with Glover constantly reminding us that this land is far from perfect and there's far more to life than just getting paid in America."
#37. Tame Impala "Let It Happen" - 2015
(NOTE: There is an eight-minute version of this song and the music video is only 4:17 long)
"The first time I heard the full version of this song, I exclaimed "Ho. Ly. Shit.". The first single on the Australian band's third album, Currents, is a nearly eight minute whirlwind of psychedelic guitars, synths and distorted vocals. "Let It Happen" was a preview of their fantastic new album as the whole thing was a lot more psychedelic and even a tad disco at times than their previous work. This song is a "must turn up the volume" song no matter what mood one might be in."
#36. Beyonce' "Formation" - 2016
"Only Beyonce' can turn the entire event that is the Super Bowl into a topic of discussion that is solely focused on herself the next day without doing a damn thing. Black panther outfits? Yeah sure, have fun discussing that one with your elders. Multiple explicit lyrics including racially-charged expletives aired on the most-watched event of the American television year? You'd think we'd be past caring about words when they are being spoken in positive terms through a song but no, people were not ready for this song for whatever reason. I could go on-and-on about what a groundbreaking statement and anthem this song was but, it's on literally every top music of 2016 list and if you are a fan of those lists, you probably clicked this one and get the gist of why this song was so important in this year in particular by now."
""All Mirrors" was the first single released off of her album with the same name and it got me hyped for what was to come. The title track is a synth-filled rock excursion that also seems to break into two different songs, the typical, haunting Angel Olsen song and the cool as fuck rocker Angel Olsen song. At two minutes in, the song shifts from being a slick synth-heavy track into more strings that transition back into the song's original sound only, the volume on the backing instruments is that much more explosive (though not as intense as "Lark"). It showcases Olsen's influences with her female Roy Orbison-like trembling vocals that really, really work well and the theatricality behind the atmosphere of the music matching that of Kate Bush."
#34. Florence + The Machine "What Kind Of Man" - 2015
"The first single off of the fantastic How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful blew my mind the first time I listened to it in a very similar manner as "Let It Happen". It starts out sounding like no other Florence Welch song before it, with distorted vocals that make it sound like [she] was possessed. It was spooky and I was confused until the guitar really kicked in out of nowhere, then the fun really took over my ears. Florence does her typically awesome, somewhat over-dramatized singing but it works perfectly for a song as dramatic and angry as "What Kind Of Man". When she took time off in between her second and third albums, she channeled more of her emotions into the music than before and dammit, it worked spectacularly. If I had to pin-point a guess as to when Welch broke her foot at Coachella this year, I would assume it was the moment she jumped off stage and ran up and down the audience aisles as she really, really gets into this song during live performances which makes her one of the best musical acts we have going right now."
#33. Braids "Miniskirt" - 2015
"Experimental pop music rarely works as well as it does on Braids' 2015 album, Deep In The Iris. I first discovered this album (and had honestly not even given Braids a chance up until this point, which was foolish on my part) when looking through nominees for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. As with most of the songs higher than 20th on this countdown, I was thoroughly impressed to the point where all I could think after hearing "Miniskirt" was "Wow". "Miniskirt" is the most powerful feminist anthem of the year and the intensity within Raphaelle Standell-Preston's vocals makes it apparent that this is a very important song to her. The production on this song is incredible and gives the listener chills immediately."
#32. Beyonce' "Hold Up" - 2016
"Lemonade was an event that completely took over Twitter the night of April 23rd (two nights after Prince died) and felt like a release for so many from being reminded of the fragility of life. Instead of endless gossip about the nature of an icon's death, everybody was transfixed by what the nature of Jay Z and Beyonce's relationship was at this point in time and whether or not her claims of his infidelity were true or not. The fact that she turned one of the sourest of lemons in life (your significant other, who helped you make a baby cheating on you) into an entire movie with some of the most stunningly beautiful imagery placed in a music video ever is just remarkable. "Hold Up" is a Major Lazer-produced song that should have been a much bigger hit than it was as it had a fun video of Beyonce' smashing a whole bunch of shit with a baseball bat and it was the biggest name in music working with the biggest producer in music on a song that was not too reliant on production."
#31. Bleachers "I Wanna Get Better" - 2014
"When I heard that Jack Antonoff of the band Fun. was going to branch off and create a side-project with producer John Hill, I was all in on whatever that album was going to sound like. I knew there was some real talent in the band Fun. but, their songs outside of "We Are Young" never really reached their full potential. On "I Wanna Get Better", Antonoff shows that he is the MVP of Fun.. The song is the pop-rock anthem of 2014 that everybody can shout along the chorus to. The video stars Antonoff as a therapist who deals with listening to his patients' relationship issues after having been broken up with earlier that day. The video is entertaining and goes along with the song quite well."
"This song is a fucking masterpiece of simplicity and how to use auto-tune correctly without being Imogen Heap. Everybody wastes their time complaining about West's personal life being in the news or about how cocky he is on some of his songs (which most musicians are on most of their songs once they've made it big) when they don't take the time to actually sit back, pop on "Only One" and pay attention to the lyrics about a love for his child and deceased mother that spans three generations. West even takes the role of his late mother when singing to his daughter, North. It's as beautiful a song that has ever been written in hip-hop behind songs like "Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and "Hey Mama" by who else but Kanye West."
#29. Kesha "Tik Tok" - 2010
All betters would have said a song like this and an artist like this would have no staying power but, Kesha proved every one of the doubters wrong over time with this now-classic pop song from the beginning of the EDM-pop boom of the early 2010s. Sure, Dr. Luke's heavy involvement in her early work is now problematic but with Kesha keeping up the "fuck it, let's have a good time and dance" vibes ten years later, it's clearly HER song.
#28. B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams "Airplanes" - 2010
"Airplanes" has not aged as well as the other three songs from 2010 but, it also inspired a boom of female singers from all genres hopping onto hip-hop songs, giving them the necessary hook for mainstream success. Look no further than G Eazy's songs with Bebe Rexha and Halsey or Eminem's songs with Rihanna to see how far this song reached. Amazingly, B.o.B. has no relevancy in today's industry after a bizarre rant about the world being flat permanently sidelined his career and Hayley Williams just announced her first solo album when it seemed like she was destined for that at least eight years ago, if not as soon as this song was released.
#27. Beach House "Wishes" - 2013
"If you have yet to see the video for Beach House's "Wishes", you must see it now. I command you. It is the most strangely beautiful thing you will see all day. You don't need to be on drugs to understand it either because none of it makes any damn sense at all, no matter how intoxicated you are. This what Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Good Job! fame. It is the most Tim and Eric thing ever from the little bit of Tim and Eric shows that I've seen. Starring Ray Wise of Mad Men and Twin Peaks, the music video is basically a halftime show to end all halftime shows. One of my wishes is that every future halftime show tries to top this. Your move, Bruno Mars. The song is a very spacey, relaxing tune and fits phenomenally with the slowed-down pace of the music video. "
#26. Alabama Shakes "Gimme All Your Love" - 2016
"Some terrific bands/artists are not that into making music videos and Alabama Shakes are one of those bands. The song "Gimme All Your Love" is a carry-over from 2015 that features one of the strongest rock performances by a lead vocalist this decade. The way Brittany Howard puts all of her fierce energy into getting as loud as possible into the line "Give me all your loooooove" stops the listener in their tracks and then "GIVE ME ALL YOU GOT BABY" is just growled out from real emotions that you could tell Howard was having when she wrote this song. It's a fairly slow rock song and then crescendos into a guitar-heavy mess of awesome over the last minute and a half. The video was hand-picked by the band as part of a film-making contest and stars an elderly couple going out on a date, something not typically explored in a music video because nothing sells better than the idea of youth and it's just a sweet video to go along with a crushing song."
#25. Angel Olsen "Shut Up Kiss Me" - 2016
"Before Angel Olsen's 2016 album, My Woman, there was 2014's Burn Your Fire For No Witness, an album that was heavily hyped up that was wayyyyyy too lo-fi and dull for my tastes and I just plain did not like it (sorry Angel). "Shut Up Kiss Me" took me all the way by surprise because it is a super fun, ass-kicking rock song with a video that was clearly fun to shoot. The song is reminiscent of something Chrissie Hynde would have recorded thirty years ago and it wouldn't have been as good because the production would be muffled and it would rely too heavily on the drums instead of the guitar that highlights much of Olsen's work recently. The u-turn she took musically was a brilliant move by Olsen as it is her most accessible work to date and gives promise that she will have a decades-long career in many genres potentially."
"Dirty Projectors work up to this point is irrelevant to this song because this is unlike anything they have released up to now. Sure, they are constantly shifting from one experimental genre to another but, the band lost a founding member (Amber Coffman) to a solo career and that is going to dramatically alter the band's work from here on out. The first track off of a still to-be-announced album is glitchy and strange and tugs on the heart in an unexpected manner (must have been a tumultuous breakup with Coffman) and all of those qualities made it the most 2016 song of 2016 (this reads pretty obnoxious but, it's true). Bon Iver got super weird and secretive, no albums were announced until the last possible moment, Frank Ocean went glitchy and slow when he really should not have, rap was happy and pop and indie genres were mostly sad. It was one weird fucking year and this is a weird, unlistenable to some, song that I will always think of when I think of all that happened in 2016. Many things changed but, you'll keep your name."
#23. Sharon Van Etten "Seventeen" - 2019
"To be honest, I was very passively interested in Sharon Van Etten's music before the singles started coming out for her early 2019 album, Remind Me Tomorrow. Her sound seemed to be a bit more approachable on her latest record, including the third single "Seventeen". The song is a piece of reflection for Van Etten on her time growing up in New York. The song has been written a million times before (Think LCD Soundsystem's "New York I Love You But, You're Bringing Me Down"... A song Van Etten has covered herself!) but rarely does it contain this many complex emotions. She spends the entire song singing to her younger self about topics including the ways the city has changed for better and/or worse and it's genius. It's easy to relate to for anyone that spent much of their childhood growing up walking the same streets every day and knowing exactly where the "hot spot up the street" is. Eventually, Van Etten accepts that her former idea of New York has been changed for a newer generation as it will be in most cities or townships across America. The real come-to-Jesus moment of the song though, is that note she hits in the bridge. That is pure passion and desire to get her message out there and I will tip my #RE2PECT hat to that every time."
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have sustained 20+ years of relevancy thanks to melodramatic songs like "Otherside", "Under The Bridge" and "Scar Tissue" but had not had a song that moving in thirteen years (depending on how you feel about "Snow (Hey Oh)") when "Brendan's Death Song" was released. It felt like a nod to the past of the California-based rockers and a transitional period to a tamer public image. Instead, they've now decided to reintegrate John Frusciante to the band and their musical future is sort of up in the air if they can ever return to the studio. Iggy Pop has been able to keep performing at a high level after five decades, maybe Anthony Kiedis and Flea can do the same.
#21. Lorde "Royals" - 2013
"Being a part of the 99% has never sounded so good. The #2 song of the year comes from a 17-year old New Zealander... because of course it does. Lorde's synthpop song took over the radio this fall with it's catchy beat but the real story was how so many people related to the lyrics that once again, talked about something that's wrong with culture today. People place way, way, way too much value on items and who has the coolest diamonds or golden leashed tigers. At the end of the day, most of us will never be royals, rulers, famous, or make a significant pop culture impact and this New Zealand teenager was so irritated by this that she wrote a song about it which will likely launch her career into something of an Adele-type where she gets every award ever created. Lorde likely won't have to worry about counting dollars on the train anymore, she'll be earning big bucks off of "Royals" and her debut album Pure Heroine for awhile."
#20. Santigold "Disparate Youth" - 2012
Back in 2012, I believed Santigold was the pinnacle of musical excellence. Santi White's prime of 2008-2012 still holds up but, I no longer feel as though Master Of My Make-Believe is the finest album ever crafted. "Disparate Youth" is still an alt classic in my mind with the constantly blinking instrumental that gets a grandiose synth carrying into the chorus. The song is about finding your own identity instead of following the strict guidelines of what society around you wants you to be. It's a message that needs to get re-sent every once and a while and the song immediately pulls me into a nostalgic vibe.
#19. The 1975 "Love It If We Made It" - 2018
"People have been waiting for the right songs to make the crossover from music into political commentary and between ["This Is America"] and [this song] on this list, there's two shining examples of why we need this kind of music occasionally. "Love It If We Made It" is the much bleaker modern day "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel, throwing in many references to Donald Trump and how much modernity has failed us as the world is crumbling around us all. The lyrics immediately raise goosebumps with Matty Healy yelling "FUCKING IN A CAR. SHOOTING HEROIN. SAYING CONTROVERSIAL THINGS." and the dark images spliced under the neon lights of the music video make for one of the more uncomfortable experiences a music viewer/listener could have in 2018. It is the fourth and final track off of A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships to appear on my songs list and it is clearly the deepest, most well thought out track The 1975 have ever crafted."
#18. Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" - 2010
What an insane decade this has been for Lady Gaga. She kicked it off with her biggest song to date in "Bad Romance", followed it up with more crazy visuals for her music videos (Think "Marry The Night", "You And I" and "Applause") and went from being one of the biggest singers and pop stars in the world to being one of the biggest STARS in the world with her performance in A Star Is Born. "Bad Romance" remains peak-Gaga the musician with the high-budget music video, the song's catchy hook and it doesn't sound aged, unlike most EDM-inspired pop from the early 2010s.
#17. Lana Del Rey "The Greatest" - 2019
"Please note that the first half of the music video linked to above features the song "Fuck It I Love You" by Lana Del Rey, a song that did not chart on my Top 40 this year but, was in consideration along with 82 other songs. "The Greatest" is appropriately titled as it is Lana's best song to date in a nine-year window that saw her drop six fantastic albums with seven Top 40-caliber singles. In yet another extremely nostalgic mood, Del Rey recalls the days before climate change was known when The Beach Boys were dominating the charts and eventually, Kanye West was just this Goliath of a musician. Those are unrelated subjects but, clearly Lana feels just as strongly about them and growing up in New York as Sharon Van Etten did about the NYC as well. This one sounds like closing time and if this is it for quality music from Lana Del Rey (doubtful), then it was one hell of a ride and I had a ball."
#16. Janelle Monae' "Make Me Feel" - 2018
"The very first single off of Dirty Computer is still the finest. Working with Prince on each other's projects in the last few years of his life paid off for Monae' with the funkiness of this tune turned up to 100. With some sexy whispering in the background through the chorus and a very Prince-like guitar grooving throughout this song, "Make Me Feel" was a natural hit that somehow never made it through to charting success (only appearing at #99 on the Hot 100 for a week) because America is fucked up. The song is Monae' very flashily announcing her sexuality in a way she had been trying to delicately deliver for years. It's another combination of excellent modern day songwriting with a throwback vibe that is just plain fun on all layers from one of the most talented celebrities we have in today's world."
#15. Wolf Alice "Don't Delete The Kisses" - 2017
"The Top three songs were all in the heaviest of consideration for the #1 song of 2017 and going into making this list, I had no idea what was going to be around Wolf Alice's "Don't Delete The Kisses", I was just unnecessarily certain that this song would be my #1 song of the year from the moment it was released (because it's very easy to forget awesome songs once another awesome song comes around by a completely different band/artist). The second single from the band's second album, Visions of a Life, sees lead singer Ellie Rowsell like we've never heard her before. She practically whispers every bit of the song that isn't the chorus and when the chorus kicks in, it is clear that this is one of the best sad-driving songs of the decade."
#14. Santigold "The Keepers" - 2012
It can be so easy to become complacent with the world around you when it seems like things are going well. In the Talking Heads' ("Our house is burning down" is just "Burning down the house" tweaked a tad) referencing "The Keepers", Santi White addresses that very issue and peoples' reluctance to willingly change their actions or beliefs based on new information. This song has only grown in importance with political discourse being so widespread across all platforms, more jumbled and misconstrued than ever before. It helps the song's reputation that much like "Burning Down The House", this song is catchier than anything else from 2012.
#13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Skeletons" - 2010
My #1 song of 2010 was a holdover from Yeah Yeah Yeah's phenomenal (pun not intended) 2009 It's Blitz album. This might not even be the best song from their third and best record (I'm giving a slight edge to the video-less "Soft Shock") but, "Skeletons" is a beautiful, moving, slow-jam of a song compared to the manic excitement that we were all used to hearing from Karen O and crew at the time. This track was mixed very well with Nick Zinner's guitars haunting the entire thing and Brian Chase's drumming making it sound more triumphant than it's punk rock predecessors like "Date With The Night" and "Pin". "Skeletons" is the quieter version of "Maps" that was sort of a final hurrah for the band before Mosquito and the underrated "Despair"
#12. Troye Sivan "My My My!" - 2018
"Another song by a member of the LGBTQ+ community proudly displaying their feelings through the medium of upbeat pop music. On his first album, Blue Neighborhood, I saw potential from a 19-year old pop singer who already had some audience from his YouTube followers but, nothing really stood out lyrically besides "Heaven", a song combining faith and his internal struggle growing up gay. "My My My!" is a much sleeker, more adult Troye Sivan anthem that still makes me think of NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" every time I read the title, despite the clear quality difference (Not saying "Bye Bye Bye" is bad or anything, just not a very inventive song lyrically). The video nails home the point of this new, more confident, sexual Troye Sivan as he dances (something he's never done in a music video) around abandoned warehouses while the wind machines take over and strobe lights make it an electrifying, goosebump-inducing video for the first single off of his excellent Bloom album."
#11. Harry Styles "Sign Of The Times" - 2017
"There were many things I thought a Harry Styles debut track would sound like... Prime mainstream David Bowie was not one of those things. There are not many people trying to revive the pop-rock sounds of the 70's but fuck it, when the face of one of the world's biggest boy bands goes that route with his very first solo single, maybe the genre has a chance after all. Styles showcases his stronger-than-his-bandmates vocal range while describing trying to avoid emotions during difficult moments. It's a pretty baller move for Styles to deviate this far from what people were expecting and it is almost reminiscent of how Justin Timberlake became one of the coolest dudes on the planet after just being that curly-haired dude from N*Sync."
#10. Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk" - 2014
"I'm on many artist's bandwagons but I've been on Mark Ronson's bandwagon since he produced Amy Winehouse's Back To Black album and then released an album featuring Winehouse, Lily Allen, Santigold, Ghostface Killah and a whole bunch of funkified remakes of older songs. "Uptown Funk" is an original song that is somewhat unoriginal in that it captures the best parts of Earth, Wind & Fire and the "Apache" song by The Sugarhill Gang. It's the most fun song of 2014 and it's going viral as I type. The song is funny with Mars' brag-heavy lyrics and the backing track couldn't be more perfect to create a successful funk song in 2014. The video matches the vibe of the song with cool cars, confident dancers and a touch of humor with Mars getting his hair done at a Barber Shop. It's the most fun song of the year and I cannot wait to hear what Mark Ronson has in store for the world next. (He's bringing back Mystikal, what can't he do?)."
#9. Kesha "Praying" - 2017
"After the year that was 2017 ended with five straight months of every famous, non-Don Cheadle male being revealed as a sex monster, it was pretty obvious that this song was way bigger than I ever thought it was upon my first few listens. For instance, here is a rundown of my reactions every time I heard this song...
- Upon first listen, I thought Kesha was going a weirdly religious route but, saw the obvious smackdown she just gave her former producer in the lyrics.
- Upon second listen, I thought "Damn, it's about time we got some Kesha minus the autotune. This is really promising!"
- Upon third listen, all of this other shit has come out about how gross men in power can get and oh shit, Kesha's song is gaining in importance, popularity and it's clearly a grower since it sounds better every time I hear it.
- Upon fourth listen, more information on sexual assaults in male-dominated professions has surfaced and it's caused me to do a little bit of self-reflection. Has there ever been a time where I was unaware of how creepily I myself had acted? Wait a minute, wasn't there a middle school trend that involved something dangerously close to harassment? Did I make a ridiculously stupid decision to grab a butt when I was 14? Oh fuck, literally every answer is yes. Well shit... This really does happen everywhere, every damn day. Why did I do this? To fit in with whatever toxic masculine fuckery was going on at my middle school? Luckily, I was smart enough to realize that this was a fucked up way of acting, even at 14. Apparently some people just don't? Get it together, dudes.
Ok, I think I've deviated from the topic at hand... "Praying" was released in early July and ended up defining the year in a few ways. There's the obvious #MeToo movement connection but, there's also the female pop star gets tremendous reviews despite mediocre Billboard chart performances (see also: Lorde, Selena Gomez, Charli XCX), the piano being the main instrument on a phenomenally written song (see: #4, #5, #9 [in 2017]) and then there's just Kesha being a straight-up badass, yelling "fuck the haters" at every turn (see also: "Woman"). When she released "Tik Tok" and had my #4 song of 2010, not even I expected her to ever top that but, I am so, so glad that she did after I saw her appearance on the "Nashville" episode of Noisey and thought "This isn't going to end well". I've been wrong before and I was wrong when I watched that episode. Now to improve."
#8. Sia "Chandelier" - 2014
"Sia is 2014's female version of Pharrell. A songwriter who has been in the game for a decade but, had yet to achieve mainstream success with a song of her own. Thankfully, the "Chandelier" video instantly went viral due to the incredible choreography and dancing of 12-year old Maddie Ziegler. The dancing performance took on a life of it's own at Sia's live performances since Sia's success has caused her anxiety to take over and she's refused to show her face in public for fear of people judging based on appearance instead of performance. The song is sung from the perspective of a "party girl" who has a drinking problem. Sia's vocal performance is the strongest of her career and easily the most effort put into singing this year."
#7. St. Vincent "Birth In Reverse" - 2014
"St. Vincent went full-force into the best song of the year with sick guitar riffs and vibrant feel. The video for "Birth In Reverse" is exactly what we've come to expect from Annie Clark, creepy doll-like movements that make it appear as though she's being controlled by a puppeteer, surrounded by smoke and dust flying off of her hair, it's not the most exciting video but when that beat kicks in at the beginning, nothing is stopping St. Vincent from taking over the listener's ears. Not to mention, it's the most bad-ass song to drive to (which I'm pretty sure I've stated for another song already). Thank you, St. Vincent for creating the best song of 2014."
#6. Kendrick Lamar "Alright" - 2015
"Director Colin Tilley made the best music video of 2015 when Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" was released to the public on June 30th. Lamar takes over L.A., flies around town, gets carried along with the rest of the Black Hippy crew by police officers, ends up on a lamppost, gets shot down by police and recites part of a poem that begins and ends over multiple tracks on To Pimp A Butterfly. The song was a whole other beast before the video came around as protesters of police brutality began reciting the chorus while walking down the streets of Baltimore in late April after the death of Freddie Gray. That right there was a moment that will cement this song's legacy. It did not feel right to put this song any lower than the top five with the cultural impact it had and the positive vibes that emitted from what many websites are referring to as the song of the year."
#5. Arcade Fire "Afterlife" - 2013
"Another song from one of the best albums of 2013, Arcade Fire wrote their best song yet in "Afterlife". Maybe, I just like it so much because I was in Philosophy 101 my first semester of college and the lyrical contemplation of whether or not love exists in the afterlife when all is either blissful or completely nonexistent. The song also is the perfect end-of-night, let's all have one last shot while we reminisce about the good times feel. I have a feeling that this will always bring back memories of my first semester, much in the way that M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" reminds me of simpler times, walking home with friends during junior high school. When I hear this song, I'll remember the long drives back-and-forth to school and the personal struggles that I've (so far) managed to pull through like wanting to drop out at certain moments or the waning innocence that the "real world" has not yet stolen from all of us as of yet. This song will remind me of so many things and I'm sure I will create many memories in the future that this song can take my mind back to. Thank you, Arcade Fire for creating the best song of 2013."
#4 St. Vincent "Fast Slow Disco" - 2018
“I always felt this song could wear many different outfits and live many different lives. here she is in disco pants, sweating on a New York dance floor.” - St. Vincent
"When I made Masseduction my #1 album of 2017, I thought "Slow Disco" was a beautiful song but, not even the best song on the album (That was "Happy Birthday Johnny"). Cut to Coachella weekend 2018 and there's a rumor that St. Vincent redid one of her songs as an anthemic disco cut and like Papi on ESPN's Highly Questionable, Si, si, I am very intrigued. Needless to say, my expectations were high as everything this woman has touched in her music career has seemingly turned to gold. Annie Clark exceeded those expectations once again with "Fast Slow Disco", a song that is the complete opposite of her 2018 reworking of Masseduction titled Masseducation. Not only did she add new layers to this song but, she also stripped down every other song from the #1 album of 2017 and made clear that her vocals are just as much of a force as her guitar playing. Premiering "Fast Slow Disco" among the rest of her exciting reworked older songs and Masseduction tracks was a perfect choice for St. Vincent as it adds a layer of fun to a song that was one of the sadder, more restrained songs in her repertoire. Now, it is both her best upbeat song with an ABBA influence and one of her better sad songs with a string section. Bold musical choices like hers are what gets remembered in thirty years."
#3. Vampire Weekend "Harmony Hall" - 2019
"Between the Jonah Hill-directed visuals giving off a 1990s vibe and the upbeat tone of the entire song, "Harmony Hall" is never not going to make me smile upon hearing the introductory guitar plucking. It somehow is the best Paul Simon song of all-time and he has absolutely nothing to do with it other than being an obvious influence to the band. This song is also probably the most politically-charged song to make this year's list outside of "Blood Of The Fang" [by clipping.] as the song expresses lead singer Ezra Koenig's worries that the political discourse in America is simply too heated for anybody to have an open-mind on either end of the spectrum, especially the side that is linked to upper-class behind-the-scenes discriminatory behavior. It's another gorgeously produced song by Ariel Rechtshaid and along with Father Of The Bride, will forever remind me of the joyful relief I felt once I was done with a stressful project at work that took two weeks off my life. Oh well, learning experiences are a thing."
#2. Courtney Barnett "Depreston" - 2015
"I did a damn good job at purchasing albums this year as the only two I bought are ranked #1 and #2 on pretty much every major music website on their year-end countdowns. Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly might not be my top 2 albums of the year but, I do agree that both are tremendous albums and feature the top 2 songs of the year. "Depreston" is another song from Barnett that features incredible songwriting about the most mundane of topics (shopping for a new house). The second single off of her March album is the best soft indie rock song of the year and the best song of the year in a pretty great year for music."
The 1975 - Somebody Else
Alabama Shakes - Hold On
Alvvays - Dreams Tonite
Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay - 212
Beach House - Lazuli
Billie Eilish - watch
Blood Orange - Augustine
BROCKHAMPTON - Boogie
Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me
CHVRCHES - The Mother We Share
Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
Dan Black ft. Kid Cudi - Symphonies
David Bowie - Blackstar
Declan McKenna - Brazil
Foster The People - Helena Beat
Frank Turner - Recovery
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You)
Grimes - Oblivion
Grouplove - Tongue Tied
HAIM - Don't Save Me
Hurray For The Riff Raff - Pa'lante
Jamie xx - Gosh
Joji - Slow Dancing In The Dark
Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)
Lana Del Rey - Video Games
Lizzo - Good As Hell
Mitski - Happy
Mitski - Your Best American Girl
The Naked and Famous - Young Blood
Of Monsters And Men - Mountain Sound
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake
Perfume Genius - Queen
Phantogram - When I'm Small
Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend
Robyn - Dancing On My Own
Sleigh Bells - Riot Rhythm
Solange ft. Sampha - Don't Touch My Hair
St. Vincent - Cruel
Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
Young Fathers - Lord
Ranked as it's own Top 40 countdown, here are the hidden gems of the 2010s in playlist form.
And now, the #1 song of the Decade is...
#1. Adele "Someone Like You" - 2011
For the first three years of this decade, I was still making my weekly Top 20 countdowns, playing them every Saturday morning as a way to kick off the weekend. After 2012, I changed up my approach and started doing this yearly countdowns while listening to as much music as humanly possible in my downtime as way of creating a more flexible schedule with the 2013 timing conflict of college and the work life that has followed. The Blog is my only output that I have deadlines that admittedly come and go on now with the end-of-year material being it's highest source of viewership. This year has been especially weird for the blog as I've now gone to working third shift as the daytime staff disintegrated around me both mentally and in numbers at my job. After sort of abandoning Andy Todd's Bla Blog for nine months, I have returned with a vengeance and am (in my opinion) killing it this List Season. That's where I am now.
In 2011, "Someone Like You" was #1 on my weekly countdown for five consecutive weeks. In those five weeks, I lost a grandmother and a friend within two weeks. Needless to say, this perfect ballad came out at the perfect time and with what an international success it was and what a stunning vocalist Adele has the capability of being, there was never any doubt in my mind that this had to be #1.
Click these to listen in playlist form
Here are the Top 40 Songs of the 2010s on YouTube
Here are the Top 40 Songs of the Decade on Spotify
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| Lorde was one of the biggest musical revelations of the decade. |
