Top 20 Songs of 2020
Since I assume you have read the top 20 albums of 2020 you most likely have another thread to hang on by. If that article did not change your life then you most definitely must look inward. Anyways if you think our problems are not systematic and confined to just a calendar year, you are sorely mistaken. Here are the 20 best songs that graces my ears during this cursed year. Happy jamming dear listeners!
20. Fleet Foxes, “Sunblind”
Fleet Foxes Shore doesn’t exactly have a “White Winter Hymnal” or a “Helplessness Blues.” A transcendent track that really stands out above the rest. Instead we merely have vibez and there is nothing wrong with that. Seeing an album in a more holistic approach never hurt nobody. But there is a song that best encapsulates this feeling. “Sunblind” is one of the more complex songs off the album that rises and falls like the passing tide that Robin Pecknold was most certainly staring at while conceiving this album. The song is about the awe and I guess anguish that Pecknold feels listening to past music by artists that have recently died. There are many a buried metaphors that percolate through these thinly veiled references, many sad. But like the many tone-deaf celebrities singing “Imagine,” this song attempts to have a happier and more uplifting feel. Unlike the celebrities, this works wonderfully.
19. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
The de facto Pop song of the year, “Blinding Lights” quietly broke many chart records. I heard this song when it initially came out and really didn’t think much of it. Maybe because I am older and who really listens to the radio anymore. It is so much easier and more efficient to offload our serotonin to our robot overlords in our pockets. The more I listened to this song, the more I realized how much of a genius pop hit it is. The sort of synthwave baseline that makes up the main infectious melody of the song fits into the Future Nostalgia category more than anything. It sounds completely brand new and very forward thinking while having elements that would be considered a throwback to 80’s music etc. Also it fits in well to the great pantheon of love songs that The Weeknd has made into hits. First it was I love coke. Then it was I love Daft Punk. Now it is I love my wife (or significant other or whatever). The point is that Mr. Weeknd is able to channel his emotions very vividly through his music and has the skill/money to make a hit!
18. Perfume Genius, “On the Floor”
Unless you really wanted to die this year, there was no “getting on the floor” in 2020. While the second single from Perfume Genius’ latest album is most definitely not about getting on the dance floor at clubs or whatnot, it has a totally danceable feeling that the rest of the album doesn’t have. Instead of being just sad this song is *music note emoji* sad *music note emoji*. Similar to “Blinding Lights,” this song sees the user lash out in pejorative dance at the lack of loved one in their arms. Going into this album I really loved the single “Eye in the Wall” that Perfume Genius released a little prior. This song is the only one on the album that really gives me the feel of that single and is therefore number 18 on this watchmojo list.
17. Rina Sawayama, “XS”
This shit hits you like an atomic bomb. The muddled intro that immediately crashes into this purely industrial feel that is woven into a catchy Pop/R&B song. It really reminds me of the lead track off of Bjork’s Post, “Army of Me.” That song probably is more industrial leaning than this but “XS” is able to blend the pop and industrial sound so incredibly well. The chorus is also *chef’s kiss* and it truly makes me go “Oh me oh my!” Hearing this live would actually expand my brain. Another tough loss for 2020 and beyond :(.
16. Waxahatchee, “St. Cloud”
The more I look at this list the more I realize it is just a string of sad songs in different styles and tempos. Is that bad? Was I sad? Maybe. This next entry is truly a beautiful folk ballad (not from good ol Tay Tay) that bookends Waxahatchee’s latest album. In the true Americana sense this album truly feels like a vagabond visiting a bunch of hokey-pokey rural American towns and writing about truth. “St. Cloud” though, is written as a return from this journey. Anyone who took English in high school knows about the “heroes journey.” The teacher tries to relate to us youngins by showing Harry Potter and being like “lOok thE HeRoE is A JoURneYin.” Didn’t y’all here JK Rowling is *canceled*. Anyways in that same vain the “St. Cloud” feels like the “back again” portion of the Hobbit. The singer is reflecting on her journey and all the ups and downs it brings and in the end she really just returns to the same hokey-pokey town that she has been visiting this whole time and “just go on living.”
15. Adrianne Lenker, “anything”
While “St. Cloud” feels sad in the way that it is overlooking a long journey, “anything” feels somber in the lost soul kind of way. The lyrics, while they go swiftly, at times feel like that episode of Spongebob where Squidward leaves to the squidtopia and slowly descends in to madness. That episode is way too powerful the older you get and the spongebob writers need to calm tf down. Like Squidward, Adrianne Lenker talks about a bunch of mundane tasks that she is doing for the day when she suddenly realizes (or maybe finally starts to ruminate about) a deep love that she has for some figure (maybe it is the listener :)). As Squidward realizes he misses his life being berated by Spongebob and Patrick everyday, Lenker realizes that she wants to be a part of this person’s life and deeply needs their love and affection. “I don’t want to talk about anything… I want to kiss, kiss your eyes again.” While that is not exactly (yet) the relationship between Spongebob and Squidward, the sentiment remains.
14. Jamie xx, “Idontknow”
I am truly a Jamie xx stan. Like I don’t even think I like all The xx’s material that much but Jamie on his own has some absolute banger material. In Colour from 2015 is probably one of the first electronic album I think I truly enjoyed. “Idontknow” was one of the few side things that Jamie xx released this year and boy does this shit slap. Maybe it was because I listened to this song as I ran a bunch this year but oh my god there is something about the progression of sound and beats that just makes me feel like I am in a Nike ad. Speaking of Nike ads this song kind of gives me the same vibe as LCD Soundsystem’s Nike running song “45:33.” The progression gives me vibes from “Gosh” off of In Colour. The way the song slowly builds to an absolute crescendo is just infectious and is the reason why “Idontknow” is my favorite electronic piece of the year.
13. Gorillaz, “Aries (feat. Peter Hook and Georgia)”
Song Machine was this close from making the top album list (probably the Elton John/6LACK song pushed it out). I loved the concept of just releasing an album with a bunch of singles, kind of like a greatest hits record. It really fits Gorillaz’s style because they can work with a bunch of different artists and not worry about an albums overall feeling or themes or whatnot. Because of this fact, the songs really feel like homages to many of the artists they feature. This is most apparent on three tracks. “The Valley of the Pagans” while not only having a baller name feels like a Beck song from the late 90’s. “Opium” leans into Earthgang’s sort of Earth Wind and Fire vibes. The best out of the lot is “Aries” which features the bassist from New Order. This is truly a love letter to Joy Division/New Order and makes something that is truly *inspired*.
12. Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rain On Me”
There is a lot going on in “Rain On Me.” The instrumentation is rich and voluptuous and there are two bona fide pop stars showing what it means to slay. Through all the great lyrics and instrumentation and what not all I can think about is a meme of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande as Rosalina and Luma in Mario Galaxy. Truly got me. Transcendental stuff. While Chromatica may have some even MORE certifiable bangers, “Rain On Me” had probably the biggest impact (it could be argued that “Chromatica II” into “911” had the biggest meme pool of the year but that is neither here no there). It also blends very nicely the old Gaga with the new and improved Gaga. I love both Gaga’s but there is more refinement in these tracks than some of her older stuff. Maybe that is just a sign of us getting older, maybe our ears are changing and everything is just gonna sound like shit a la South Park episode “You’re Getting Old.” Anyways I love Gaga and Ariana (you could even say I am an Arianer) end of story.
11. U.S. Girls, “4 American Dollars”
Never has a protest song (of sorts) been so groovy that its message can get muddled to the masses. Fear not dear listener I am not like the other girls. I can go to genius.com and look up lyrics. The grooves will not get me this time damnit! But like actually what can you get with 4 dollars? Brainwashed hustle-grind-never-stops Twitter will tell you to invest and in 40 short years your 4 dollars will grow to, wait for it, 5 dollars. No handouts here! The most fire line from this song and maybe its most damning is “You gotta have have boots/ If you wanna lift those bootstraps.” Like good God damn that is some good stuff. That is truly a sentiment that is targeted to those “work hard and you’ll get all” kind of people who don’t understand many circumstances that the poorest people face in the world. The song also goes on to question money as a concept all together saying “I don’t believe in pennies and nickels.” Now this is a story and conversation for another day but there is only a hop skip and a jump from this sentiment to land isn’t property. That is for my diehards out there you know who you are <3.
10. Taylor Swift, “cardigan”
Jumping from someone who doesn’t believe in land as property to someone who most definitely does, Taylor Swift peaks with “cardigan.” Like actually this may be the best songwriting that Swift has ever put to paper. “Cardigan” (do you capitalize it if it is at the beginning of the sentence but stylized lower case like what?) at first had me squinting. Like you are a piece of clothing Miss Swift? I too feel like a plastic bag sometimes. But actually the storytelling that Taylor Swift exhibits here is career defining. Her early stuff had this storytelling but it felt so disingenuous to me. Maybe that is because I wasn’t a young girl in a small town or whatever but now that I have fully turned into a pasty white girl, I feel their pain. Having folklore be more about the stories, trying to take Taylor out of the equations, make them so much more fulfilling in my eyes. Like the imagery that this story conjures up about being someone’s favorite “item” and slowly be cast away and forgotten is really powerful.
9. Phoebe Bridgers, “Kyoto”
When ruminating about what song from Punisher to include on this esteemed list, there were two clear choices. Early on in the album there is the one-two punch of “Garden Song” into “Kyoto.” One is a sad boi hours indie song and one is a hopeful indie song. Since I would like to focus on positivity in the new year so I decided that “Kyoto” deserves this spot. That doesn’t mean that “Garden Song” isn’t fantastic. It has some of the most somber lyrics on the album and a beautiful theme about growth and letting go and such. “Kyoto” has just as imaginative lyrics but where I think that it shines is the instrumentation. It has these very subtle horns and drums that come in part way through the introduction. Very nu-indie feeling. The lyrics are also a more stream of consciousness and feel more wild and freeing. Japan does in fact still have payphones if you were wondering. Bridgers creates a song that is ripe to be the center of a coming of age story and maybe even the underwater scene in a coming of age movie.
8. Angel Olsen, “Whole New Mess”
“Whole New Mess” was the first of two new songs released for Angel Olsen’s latest album of the same name and oh my god did this hit me like a cinderblock. I’m sure I listened to this song exclusively for like three weeks straight. It was foreshadowing for things to come in the rerecording of songs from All Mirrors. The enveloping vocals and powerful emotional feeling is truly unmatched by any of Olsen’s work. I find it hard to fully describe how this song (and most of the other songs on the album) make me feel. This is just one of those songs that you have to experience by yourself staring out a window on a rainy day. Or some thing to that affect. I will leave you with Olsen’s tiny desk concert (home version) of this song as well as “Waving, Smiling” and others from Whole New Mess.
7. Grimes & i_o, “Violence”
Is it kind of ironic that the best song off of X Æ A-Xii’s mom’s (Grimes) new album is a song about violence. As I said before, Grimes chose big violence this year having Elon Musk’s child and standing by while watching him descend into madness on Twitter. But you know she is her own woman and “Violence” is a truly transcendent song. Grimes has done many a interviews about her new album Miss Anthropocene and she explains that it is all about the relationship of humans with earth. This song in particular is a personified version of earth and her relationship with us destroying the environment etc. It is almost Bowie-esque in the way that it reminds me about Ziggy Stardust and the concept behind that album. That might have been a more subtle and artistic way to get the point across that Grimes is getting at. “Violence” is one of the rare moments where Grimes relinquishes her artistic authority and uses another artist’s beat. It definitely pays off as the overtly electronic vibes that i_o creates mesh so well with Grimes weird internet pixie voice to make something that sounds danceable and yet unsettling at the same time. I also can liken it to Grimes opus, “Oblivion,” with the same crazy electronics and melancholic undertone. Both songs are also absolute bangers to drive through a downtown to.
6. Charli XCX, “forever”
Some may speculate that Vroom Vroom is what made me a Charli XCX stan/whore. You would be mistaken. The lead single off her latest quarantine album, “forever” is what truly turned me to the dark side. Much like “Violence” and “Oblivion” by Grimes and a lot of Mitski’s songs off of Be the Cowboy, “forever” hides a lot of the intense emotions behind some incredible production. It is a love song through and through. It lyrically reminds me of “P.S. I love You” by the Beatles but instead of the soft instrumentation it is just John Lennon bellowing into the microphone. Listening to this a bunch of times it is also apparent the influence of hyperpop pioneers 100 gecs as it truly sounds like internet music. It sounds like the manic, not letting your mind wander vibe that has been developed by a lot of young kids on the Tik Tok and whatnot. It is kind of sad when you think about our incessant need for mental stimulation but like this is a beautiful love song right????
5. Bob Dylan, “Murder Most Foul”
Bob Dylan does not give a flying fuck. That is what is making him so everlasting and fresh. Other older 60’s musicians either phone it in with lackluster performances or try something new that is nowhere in their range and they do a large disservice to. Instead of either of these avenues Dylan makes just a classic Dylan track. This is the first single off his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, and like an absolute madlad makes a 16 minute fucking odyssey about the assassination of John Fortnite Kennedy. This is his longest song to date which is also incredible because he has several 10+ minute songs from each decade. Like this song could have been released on any number of Dylan’s 60’s or 70’s releases and it would fit right in. It actually feels like a culmination of his whole career. Dylan came up in during Kennedy’s presidency and his second album ever (The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan) rose to popularity in the wake of Kennedy’s death as many of the tracks were valiant protest songs. The first part of “Murder Most Foul” is a very calculated and detailed retelling (with vivid imagery) of the death and following days of the assassination. But as the song progresses it is clear that Dylan is ruminating about the cultural and political impact that this event had on the country. The last few verses are all about music that seem to be connect or influenced by the assassination and it is clear just the overreaching and depth connection that Dylan is making. Truly an insane song.
4. Christine and the Queens, “People, I’ve Been Sad”
My god. I don’t think a single song encapsulates 2020 better than “People, I’ve Been Sad.” We are people and we are most definitely sad. The isolation and general ridiculous/stressfulness of the world has led to, you guessed it, people being sad. The finality of “being sad” is truly what gets me. Its like we are not morose or melancholic or whatever fancy SAT word you want to describe sadness, we are too tired for that. We simply sad. The song itself is quite airy and beautiful. Lots of French that I can head bang to without really understanding anything. Also her singing “YOU, know the feeling.” I’m like damn I do be knowing that feeling. Like a lot of great music, the meaning and ethos that the song captures is not really the main intention. I’m sure this was written months before the world started crumbling and is most likely about a past relationship or something as such. But of course us being selfish beings, we will inscribe meaning that relates to our current position. Still a fantastic song.
3. HAIM, “Los Angeles”
In the album listening experience I always talk about how important it is that the first song is a banger. Oftentimes my feelings for an album will flow through that first song and if I am not hooked immediately like a small little baby, I will oftentimes not like the album as much/it will take a lot more listening. “Los Angeles” is a perfect example of this phenomena as the mood that it creates is something that is telling of the rest of the album. The kind of relaxing “California Girls” vibe that comes from this song is so irresistible. This song is also spiritually connected to the amazing song that the band released last year called “Summer Girl.” The song is a bonus track on the album and was high on my list for 2019 and so it is very apt that “Los Angeles” follows in its footsteps. Haim uses the horns in such an infectious way in both these tracks and it truly enforces what I said on my last list about me being a pasty white girl. During a pretty down year the vibes coming from “Los Angeles” are just the pick me up.
2. Fiona Apple, “I Want You To Love Me”
Another tour de force of an album opener, “I Want You To Love Me” might be one of the purest Fiona Apple songs ever recorded. This is the genesis of Fetch The Bolt Cutters in more ways than one. The pianos on this song are something else. Apple always has interesting ways that she uses classical instruments on her albums but nothing comes close to the booming pianos on this track. They are simultaneously gorgeous/light flowing like a soft cloud through the air and a harsh like watching animals fight on Discovery channel. The song seems to have an s-curve type of shape to it in my mind (maybe I am crazy???!?!1??) as the beginning is very melodic and light and then the drums kick in and Apple actually belts like a fucking dying animal. But you know what,. that’s jazz baby. Maybe its like the end of the s-curve is really noisy and erratic or something like that. You can really feel what Apple is going through with such sporadic instrumentation and bone-crushing lyrics. I think we can all relate to needing somebodies love so badly that we slowly descend into madness and light seizures? The story sort of jumps from Apple talking about how this person will love her in like a years time to what almost sounds like philosophical ruminations about her particles and sounds. Maybe the moral of the story is that we will truly go crazy for the people we love and we shouldn’t be judged or crucified? Or maybe we just live in a society??? Either way you, the attentive listener, absolutely need to listen to this. Right now.
1. Chloe x Halle, “Ungodly Hour”
This song is a momentous moment. Like jesus christ himself causing the bifurcation of our timeline into B.C. and A.D (or the events of A New Hope if you want something less sacrilegious), Chloe and Halle’s lead single “Ungodly Hour” is historic. A lot of the album Ungodly Hour is more or less straightforward R&B with a sprinkle of new ideas. It is fantastic but “Ungodly Hour” the song is on another level. It blends R&B with classic Disclosure production and arrives with something insane. Maybe something like this has been done in the R&B space in the past the only thing I can really think of is Donna Summers’ “I Feel Love” and that song actually changed the entire world. Like it probably shifted the axis of the earth by like a tenth of a tenth of a degree. Also Donna Summers wasn’t exactly R&B so it was less of a stretch for her to get Giorgio Moroder to enter that space. I think the genre bending and twist and turns that “Ungodly Hour” presents is even more ambitious. Maybe the most ambitious crossover in gaming history. There is a lot to unpack in the song. Lyrically it is akin to a tight five. The lyrics aren’t the focus so they end up being close in meaning to Ariana Grande’s “34+35” but way less explicit. More importantly though, Chloe and Halle’s voices are absolutely gorgeous and awe inspiring and really make me wanna work on myself as a human. Isn’t that really a huge part of music when you get down to it. Like when you hear the Beach Boy’s sing “God Only Knows” or hear Jeff Buckley belt “Hallelujah” you are almost taken aback. How can any human produce such beautiful sounds. That is the feeling I am left with while listening to “Ungodly Hour.” And the most amazing thing is at the same time I feel the incredible urge to get up and dance. And for the record I did do that many times this year. To this very song. Wow I hear you say to yourself. Truly the best Disclosure collaboration since “Latch” and definitely the best song of 2020.
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