I’ve been thinking about this post for six years, and now it’s here, and I don’t want to be done with it. We’re all watching the decade end, though, and while the world is changing in the blink of an eye, it’s a fine time to draw a line and put my name to a ranking of my favorite songs of the last ten years. It’s a rock/indie-heavy list, as you might expect, and this reflects my personal tastes, not anyone else’s, considering neither commercial success nor critical opinions (although I may refer to either herein). I don’t adhere to previous rankings of songs by year, because while the songs haven’t changed, my opinions certainly have. My ranking of the top 25 albums of the decade went up yesterday.
I’ve put these songs into a Spotify playlist, in ascending order. You can use that link if you can’t see the widget below.
100. Savages – “She Will.”
The best track from the female quartet who brought feminist indignation to their heavy punk debut album Silence Yourself.
99. Mark Ronson feat. Q-Tip – “Bang Bang Bang.”
Ronson will forever be known as the man behind “Uptown Funk” (well, the parts he didn’t steal from the GAP Band), but he’s more than just that one song, having produced Amy Winehouse’s Rehab and released quite a bit of other music, including this 2010 hit with a contribution from one of my favorite MCs.
98. Foster the People – “Are You What You Wanna Be?”
From the maligned Supermodel LP, which did poorly enough that Mark Foster turned his group back towards pure pop music, this track opens the concept album and shows Foster’s idea of incorporating music from different parts of the world in a traditional pop/rock framework.
97. Sleater-Kinney – “Bury Our Friends.”
The best song from the trio’s comeback album No Cities to Love, which was their first record in a decade and was followed by this year’s The Center Won’t Hold.
96. Drenge – “Bloodsports.”
Drenge’s self-titled debut album remains the best distillation of the guitar-and-drum duo sound that had a bit of a moment in the middle of this decade on the heels of White Stripes’ success. There are a half-dozen great songs on the record but this has a particularly good guitar groove that stuck with me.
95. Kendrick Lamar, the Weeknd – “Pray for Me.”
The Black Panther soundtrack earned much acclaim, although the track that took the awards – “All the Stars,” featuring SZA – wasn’t close to the best on the record for me.
94. The Colourist – “Little Games.”
A one-hit wonder from 2014 that probably would have fit better on pop stations than alternative, with two great hooks in the opening guitar riff and the melody in the chorus.
93. Mastodon – “Show Yourself.”
Mastodon has a well-deserved reputation for lengthy, progressive metal tracks that show off their technical prowess, but this three-minute track distills most of what they do well into something far more listeners will appreciate.
92. New Politics – “Harlem.”
It wasn’t deliberate but I seem to have more pop-oriented tracks near the bottom of this list, including this earworm from the Danish trio that crossed over somewhat to top 40 radio.
91. Broods – “Bridges.”
Broods’ best song to date is still this piano-and-vocal number from their first record before the brother and sister duo turned towards poppier, electronic sounds.
90. Prides – “The Seeds You Sow.”
The Scottish indie duo’s first single, which I found similar to Bastille (in a good way), is still their best, although they’ve had some other solid tracks since then including “Say It Again” and “Let’s Stay In Bed All Day.”
89. Christine & the Queens – “5 dollars.”
The album Chris was the Guardian‘s top album of 2018 and was widely acclaimed by critics, but for a record that turned overtly towards pop it was a bit short on hooks. This song, however, should have crossed over, and I wonder if Héloïse Letissier’s accent held it back.
88. Disclosure – “When a Fire Starts to Burn.”
I had no idea until I wrote this post that Disclosure never officially released this song as a single from their debut album Settle, choosing six other tracks instead. The sampled stanza from motivational speaker Eric Thomas elevates this song beyond anything else on this house-music record for me.
87. CHVRCHES – “Death Stranding.”
This list is a little light on 2019 songs for two reasons – I thought 2019 was a down year for music, and I’m trying not to overrate songs that I’ve listened to more in the past few months. I do think this is the best thing CHVRCHES has done since Every Open Eye.
86. Coeur de Pirate – “Prémonition.”
Béatrice Martin may be done recording as Coeur de Pirate, but this lead single from her possibly-final album under that moniker is tremendous start to finish, a tight, upbeat electronic pop number that builds beautifully from the opening piano to the singalong chorus (if you can sing in French, that is).
85. Jake Bugg – “What Doesn’t Kill You.”
Bugg’s self-titled debut album earned him praise as a young Bob Dylan, and this lead single from his follow-up, Shangri-La, showed he was versatile enough to move into harder rock territory, although he’s since pulled back to quieter folk-rock sounds.
84. Bat for Lashes – “Laura.”
Natasha Khan had quite a decade with The Haunted Man, the concept album The Bride, and this year’s Lost Girls, showing great musical versatility, although I find I like her stuff best when the tempo is slower and her voice takes center stage, as on this piano/vocals number from the first of those albums.
83. whenyoung – “The Others.”
The Irish trio’s debut album Reasons to Dream was one of my favorites of 2019 and was an honorable mention for my top albums of the decade, with this and “A Labour of Love” the top tracks, both showcasing Aoife Power’s voice with strong, shoegazey guitars backing her up.
82. Dan Croll – “Bad Boy.”
This is Croll’s last single to date – released on my birthday in 2017, so, thanks Dan! – but I hope we get more from the English singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who seems to have a good ear for indie-pop melodies.
81. Bat for Lashes – “Desert Man.”
When I assemble these year-end rankings, I don’t curate them beyond comparing song to song – I don’t worry about having an artist have two songs too close to each other (like this one), or in this case putting too many songs together from one year. I just compare each song to the ones around it and re-order until I’m satisfied. Anyway, Bat for Lashes is great and it just so happens I have two of her songs, both of which are built around her voice, in the 80s.
80. INHEAVEN – “World on Fire.”
INHEAVEN’s self-titled debut was a bit of a throwback to the kind of mainstream hard rock to which I grew up listening, but without the overproduced glam elements of hair metal to distract you.
79. The Holidays – “Tongue Talk.”
An Australian indie band that I’m pretty sure broke up after this album (Real Feel), the Holidays had a few catchy hits but this one grabbed me right away for the rhythm guitar line that pops in and out over the course of the song, providing a huge textural contrast between verse and chorus.
78. HAERTS – “All the Days.”
I thought HAERTS would be huge after their first album (#20 on my best albums of the decade list) dropped, with so many radio-friendly, catchy tracks and a great singer out in front in Nini Fabi. This track first showed up on the 2013 EP Hemiplegia and then reappeared on HAERTS, where it was the best song by a shade over “Hemiplegia.”
77. Cloud Nothings – “Stay Useless.”
It’s close for me, but I have this as Cloud Nothings’ best song over “Should Have.” This was a sort of peak for their (his) sound, though, as I don’t think the band has evolved at all since this record.
76. DMA’s – “For Now.”
The Oasis comparisons are fair, but a bit insufficient, I think; Oasis was better, but the DMA’s are influences by the Gallagher brothers without being entirely derivative – it’s more like Oasis cut with some shoegaze-era Ride.
75. Cut Copy – “Need You Now.”
Cut Copy had three songs I considered for this list, including “Black Rainbows” and “Where I’m Going,” eventually landing on this track because I think it’s their most complete, well-rounded song, and because my girlfriend and I discovered it’s a shared favorite.
74. Oh Wonder – “Ultralife.”
Oh Wonder hit this list twice, because when this indie-pop duo is on, they’re way on – the five-note vocal twirl in the bridge and at the end of the chorus is a perfect pop earworm.
73. Slowdive – “Sugar for the Pill.”
Slowdive’s self-titled 2017 album was their first in 22 years, but the record felt like they’d barely been gone other than better production quality, as their classic shoegaze sound was intact and as compelling as before.
72. Superhumanoids – “Norwegian Black Metal.”
My favorite track from one of my favorite albums of the decade, Do You Feel OK?, this actually isn’t a metal song at all, but an electropop jewel featuring the majestic voice of Sarah Chernoff, who has since turned to releasing music under her own name.
71. Jade Bird – “Love Has All Been Done Before.”
This Welsh singer-songwriter seems like a future star off this lead single and her subsequent, eponymous debut album, an uneven but promising folk-rock album that shows off her Janis Joplin-esque voice.
70. Frank Turner – “1933.”
If I was of the greatest generation I’d be pissed
Surveying the world that I built slipping back into this
I’d be screaming at my grandkids: “We already did this”
69. Yeasayer – “O.N.E..”
Yeasayer’s high point to date saw the experimental group diving headfirst into electropop, with some slight world music influences more apparent on the album version (the one on my playlist) than the radio edit.
68. Atlas Genius – “If So.”
Atlas Genius had a solid decade for themselves with this cross-over hit as well as “Trojans,” “Molecules,” and “Stockholm,” although we’ve had just one new song from the Australian duo since their second album Inanimate Objects dropped in 2015.
67. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep.”
Adele’s voice is incredible, but most of her music doesn’t speak to me at all – if I never hear “Hello” again it’ll be too soon – so she’s just represented by this one real outlier track, which I think is easily the best thing she’s done.
66. TV On the Radio – “Mercy.”
This non-album single is the best thing TVotR did this decade … but did you know they haven’t released any music since 2014’s Seeds?
65. Portugal. The Man – “So American.”
I think the general music-listening audience first heard of Portugal. The Man with “Feel It Still,” but that came off their third solid album of the decade; this was from 2011’s In the Mountain in the Cloud, with more progressive rock sounds that pack lots of tonal and tempo shifts inside of 4½ minutes.
64. Jungle – “Busy Earnin’.”
The music collective Jungle was founded by two white Londoners but their music is deeply infused with 1970s soul and funk, as on this debut single’s falsetto vocals and memorable synth brass line.
63. Black Keys – “Lonely Boy.”
I think a lot of Black Keys’ music is fine, but derivative, just derivative done really well; this song, off their 2011 album El Camino, won two Grammys, and I think it’s their best song, with no gimmicky production on the vocals or guitars, and that giant guitar hook that opens the track.
62. Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).”
One of Arcade Fire’s best tracks is this callback to early ’80s New Wave with lyrics reflecting the culturally bankrupting experience of growing up in the suburban sprawl of Houston.
61. A Tribe Called Quest – “We the People….”
The comeback, and the farewell, began with this prophetic song that slammed the white-nationalist turn of the United States electorate just before it took over the White House in 2016.
60. The Wombats – “This is Not a Party.”
“Greek Tragedy” was a bigger alternative radio hit but I’m partial to this track off Glitterbug thanks to the amusingly ridiculous lyrics and shout-along chorus.
59. St. Lucia – “Elevate.”
If I’d kept going on my best albums of the 2010s ranking to about 40, St. Lucia’s When the Night would have shown up, thanks to this incredible pop track as well as “All Eyes on You” and “September.”
58. Django Django – “Default.”
The proggy art-rock Djangos have continued to record similar music since their self-titled, Mercury Prize-nominated debut record, but “Default” remains their big hit and the sound I think they continue to try to re-create. (“Hail Bop” is a great song from the same album.)
57. San Cisco – “Awkward.”
I’m especially partial to this because my daughter, who was just 5 when the song came out, liked it immediately despite having no concept of the lyrics (it’s about a date from hell because the guy doesn’t get the message that she’s not interested).
56. Janelle Monáe – “Tightrope.”
Given what a multimedia star Monáe is today, it’s kind of hard to believe that a song this good, with a guest appearance by Big Boi, could have so little commercial success at the time of its release. The concept album from which it came, ArchAndroid, was at least critically acclaimed at the time, and I still think it’s her best musical work.
55. Childish Gambino – “This is America.”
A rare case of the Grammys getting one right. Also, give Donald Glover credit from taking his Childish Gambino from a fringy vanity project to the level of a legitimate musical artist on this (apparently last) album.
54. Royal Blood – “Lights Out.”
Not their only song on the list, but it’s still heavy and loud and great.
53. Phantogram – “Black Out Days.”
Sarah Barthel’s best vocal work comes on this track off Voices, which I find has the perfect blend of guitar work and electronica elements out of their oeuvre to date.
52. Speedy Ortiz – “Death Note.”
When I did my top 100 old-school hip-hop songs ranking, a couple of people were mad online that the one Mobb Deep song on the list was a non-album track, “Flavor for the Non-Believes,” rather than one of their more popular hits like “Shook Ones (Part II).” Speedy Ortiz have put out some interesting albums this decade, often reminding me of Helium or the Jesus & Mary Chain, but my favorite track from them is also a non-album one, eventually appearing on their Foiled Again EP.
51. Oh Wonder – “Hallelujah.”
It’s new, so I could change my mind, but right now I think Oh Wonder’s best song is their newest one, which is unapolegetically poppy and catchy and generally great.
50. Bombay Bicycle Club – “Shuffle.”
The rhythm of that piano sample never seems to line up with the rest of the song, yet somehow it works no matter what else gets piled on top of it.
49. Chairlift – “I Belong In Your Arms.”
My introduction to Chairlift was “Bruises,” from this same album, but “I Belong In Your Arms” is a better song and does far more for Caroline Polachek’s wide-ranging voice.
48. Temples – “Holy Horses.”
Maybe my favorite guitar riff of 2019, “Holy Horses” was just one of many great psychedelic-rock tracks from Hot Motion album, although that swirling line is what sets this song apart.
47. Milky Chance – “Stolen Dance.”
I suppose history will call these guys one-hit wonders, even though “Cocoon,” from their second album, is a great song in its own right.
46. Kid Astray – “The Mess.”
This Norwegian indie-pop group has had a slew of fun synth-heavy songs since their debut with “The Mess,” including “Diver,” “Cornerstone,” “Can’t Stop,” “Day in June,” and “Joanne.” This song is just a little crazier and fresher and probably easier to dance to than the rest.
45. Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man.”
The worst thing Mumford & Sons ever did was get popular; they went from indie darlings to overplayed platinum artists over the span of a few weeks, and it seemed like in April it was cool to like their debut album Sigh No More but by August it was tired. I admit I haven’t listened to any of their music in years, other than this song, their first hit and still their best song, powered by that staccato strumming in the verses and, of course, the once-surprising F bomb in the chorus.
44. Death Cab for Cutie – “You Are a Tourist.”
If you’ve read this far in the list, or just generally read my thoughts on music, you’ve likely figured out that I can be sold on a song if it has a great guitar riff in it, especially if it leads off with that riff. “You Are a Tourist” is the best guitar riff DCFC has ever produced, although I admit having a hard time leaving “Stay Young, Go Dancing” (also from Codes and Keys) off the top 100.
43. Cloves – “Frail Love.”
Cloves was just 20 or 21 when she recorded the first version of this incredible piano/vocal ballad, although she has that Fiona Apple thing going where her voice sounds like she’s actually 40. I have a high standard for quiet, slow songs like this, but “Frail Love” is devastating and nearly perfect.
42. CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share.”
The first CHVRCHES song I ever heard is still one of their best, although it’s funny to go back to this now and hear how sparse the production is – and how Lauren Mayberry’s voice still cuts through everything else to make it clear she’s the star of this show.
41. Lemaitre featuring Betty Who – “Rocket Girl.”
This song should have been a huge hit, damn it. Betty Who is so perfect for these lyrics, and Lemaitre put just enough music behind her to fuel the engines. I have some hope that eventually there will be a movie about a woman astronaut and the producers will realize the perfect theme song is already out there.
40. Everything Everything – “Kemosabe.”
When I first heard Everything Everything’s album Arc, I thought this was the best song, but over time I ended up preferring one other song from the record. “Kemosabe” is still great, and I think EE are at their best when they’re at their most dramatic, to the point of histrionics. It’s so over the top, and yet it works.
39. Arctic Monkeys – “Arabella.”
Yeah, okay, that’s the two-chord bit from “War Pigs,” but Black Sabbath didn’t sing about Mexican Cokes and a Barbarella silver swim suit.
38. Grimes – “California.”
This is my favorite track from Art Angels, although that album is such a cohesive work that it feels weird to pull any single song out of it and then exclude similarly great tracks like “Kill v. Maim” or “Flesh Without Blood” or “Venus Fly” (featuring Janelle Monáe).
37. alt-J – “Breezeblocks.”
This was the first alt-J song I heard … and I kind of didn’t like it. Joe Newman’s vocals are offputting, at least at first, but the music is clever and surprising, and the song becomes more intricate as it progresses, so I kept returning to it, and to the album, and within a few weeks I was enraptured. Also, the song is full of Where the Wild Things Are references.
36. Tame Impala – “Solitude is Bliss.”
Kevin Parker’s toddler project – “I do it myself!” – wows the critics, but I find a lot of his songs self-indulgent and wearying. This was the first Tame Impala song I heard, which probably affects my opinion positively (primacy bias!), but I also like that he kept his ambitions contained to a shorter length and simpler structure here.
35. Ceremony – “Turn Away the Bad Thing.”
The lead single and best track from my favorite album of 2019. Ceremony’s transition from punk band to post-punk/new wave sensations mirrors the music scene’s own shift, and while I know some folks miss their first incarnation, this is the best new wave album since the genre died out the first time.
34. The Vaccines – “Teenage Icon.”
A punk-pop gem, kind of amusing lyrically, sung with a sneer and a bit of snark, excellent for making you want to hit the gas pedal.
33. FKA Twigs featuring Future – “holy terrain.”
She’s very talented, so much so that we will overlook that she dated Shia LeBouche. I don’t know that Future adds a lot here; her voice is too compelling to make room for anyone else. “Good to Love” and “sad day” similarly showcase her vocals with strong melodies.
32. Arcade Fire – “Everything Now.”
The album, also called Everything Now, was kind of a mess, and even outright embarrassing in parts (both parts of “Infinite Content”), but this song is peak Arcade Fire: thoughtful lyrics, great melodies, a chorus you want to sing, interesting and lush instrumentation. And here they boost it with a sample from Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey playing what sounds like a pan flute.
31. Glass Animals – “Life Itself.”
Glass Animals’ calling card is weird drum/percussion sounds, and they didn’t disappoint with this lead single from their second album, How to Be a Human Being, which sounds a bit like the drum line is being played on bongos filled with Jell-o.
30. Belle & Sebastian – “The Party Line.”
Belle & Sebastian got hammered a bit for Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, which was their poppiest record to date … but that’s what I liked about it: They tried something different, keeping essential elements of their sound, and it worked.
29. Bastille – “Pompeii.”
Yes, it was played to death, but it’s a genuinely great song, if quite morbid. And now that duh duh duh bit is in your head.
28. Jamie xx featuring Romy – “Loud Places.”
I’m a bit tepid on the xx themselves, but Jamie xx’s proper solo debut In Colour had some tremendous high points, including this and “See Saw,” that showed he has an ear and a style well beyond the trio themselves have ever shown.
27. Turbowolf – “Domino.”
This hard-rock song kicks the door down and plows right into the room, which I guess isn’t shocking when Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr is a guest artist on the track.
26. Stars – “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Get It.”
Few songs have grown on me over the course of several years like this one has. “Take the weakest thing in you/And then beat the bastards with it” is one of the greatest lines of the decade.
25. CHVRCHES – “Leave a Trace.”
There are so many CHVRCHES songs I like that it’s odd to think of a single favorite, but this one ends up on top because I think it’s the ideal distillation of their sound, better produced than anything from the first record but still essentially Lauren Mayberry and just the right dose of trip-hoppy electronica behind her.
24. New Pornographers – “Brill Bruisers.”
I had to look up the meaning of this song’s title; it refers to the Brill Building in Manhattan, which (according to Wikipedia) housed over 160 music businesses in 1962, and led to the “Brill Building Sound,” where hired songwriters churned out hits for artists who were told what to sing. How much that has to do with the lyrics themselves is questionable – maybe it’s all metaphor – but the vocal harmony line helps make this TNP’s best song of the decade.
23. Everything Everything – “Cough Cough.”
The zenith of EE’s crazy, all-hands-on-deck approach to music, so mad it must be genius, veering into every curve at such speed you think it’s about to go off the rails. I love it.
22. M83 – “Midnight City.”
If Space Invaders was a movie, this would be the score. That whingeing synth line is the part you remember, but there’s a lot else going on in the song, like that apparent laser attack right before the chorus and the competing synth lines behind the one you know.
21. Frank Turner – “Recovery.”
Turner’s paean to the difficulties of getting clean (and the cost of not doing so sooner) is a rollicking folk-punk track that inspired me to learn it on guitar and even play it once on a Periscope chat.
20. Wild Beasts – “Big Cat.”
The best song from Boy King, an album all about toxic masculinity, uses the metaphor of a feline at the top of the food chain to lampoon the male gaze and boys’ attitudes to women. It’s also very catchy.
19. Courtney Barnett – “Pedestrian at Best.”
Barnett’s laconic vocals are an acquired taste, but her lyrics are second to none, and on this track (from Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit) she rocks out a bit more than usual, helping offset the slight monotone to her singing and letting you focus on her knack for wordplay and storytelling.
18. Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill.”
I heard this and thought I’d found a new band over which I could obsess … but this isn’t representative of Sleigh Bells’ sound. “Wonder what your boyfriend thinks about your braces/What about them/I’m all about them” should be the rallying cry for tin grins everywhere.
17. Little Green Cars – “Harper Lee.”
This Irish quintet broke up in March after ten-plus years and two albums, both hits in their native country, but they leave us this one indie-folk song, my #1 track of 2013, which has a sound like the Mamas and the Papas with a dark subtext to the lyrics.
16. Queens of the Stone Age – “The Way You Used to Do.”
Mark Ronson appeared on this list as an artist at #99, and he’s way up here as a producer, giving QotSA – with a string of strong albums already under their belts – a fresh new sound on this track, which seems like the song Josh Homme always wanted to sing but never could write himself.
15. Of Monsters & Men – “Little Talks.”
This is the cut line for me: From this point up are songs I at least considered at some point for the top 2-3 spots on the list. “Little Talks” remains a favorite of mine and my daughter’s, as we would do the call-and-response together when she was still just 6 years old and the song first appeared, and I don’t think OM&M ever get enough credit for how smart the lyrics are to this track.
14. Foster the People – “Helena Beat.”
I know “Pumped Up Kicks” was the hit, but this was and still is a better song, hands-down – there’s more depth to the music and the song doesn’t rely so much on a chorus that’s annoying/catchy.
13. Royal Blood – “Out of the Black.”
I still can’t get over how Mike Kerr gets that huge, muscular guitar sound from a bass guitar and an octaver pedal, but he does, and this song, my #1 track of 2014, is truly menacing in tone and rage.
12. Belle & Sebastian – “Nobody’s Empire.”
“The Party Line” and “Allie,” both from the same album, are probably more immediately catchy, but this song is just so gorgeous in every way, right up to the last vocal crescendo.
11. Jungle – “Happy Man.”
I didn’t think they’d top “Busy Earnin’,” but they did and then some with this lead single from their second album, which starts out sounding so dark but morphs into something that blends upbeat music with its admonishing lyrics.
10. A Tribe Called Quest – “Dis Generation.”
This is old school rap without apology or explanation. We Got It From Here … Thank You 4 Your Service wasn’t a victory lap, or just a rehash of a bygone era, but it did give us one shining moment where the whole Tribe was back together, along with longtime friend and collaborator Busta Rhymes, spitting lyrics like it was still 1992, and it is glorious.
9. Michael Kiwanuka – “Rolling.”
My #1 song of 2019 bundles you up and throws you in a time machine back to 1975, a soulful funk-tinged track with a stutter-step drum line, a walking bass, and an eleven-note guitar riff that is so simple yet so memorable.
8. Chairlift – “Ch-Ching.”
Utterly brilliant, with perfectly crafted music for Caroline Polachek’s quirky vocal style, a pop hit from an alternate universe where every kid sets their combination lock to 27-99-23.
7. Radiohead – “Burn the Witch.”
It’s no secret that I’m in thrall to early Radiohead, up to and including OK Computer, which I’d rank among the greatest albums in rock history. Since then, their experimental sound has often left me cold, or wondering where the damn guitars went, but this particular experiment is an entire mood, and I think it’s one of the best vocal performances Thom Yorke has ever given us. This was my #1 song of 2016.
6. Pure Bathing Culture – “Pray for Rain.”
It’s not possible for me to tire of this electro-pop song, which stands apart from most of Pure Bathing Culture’s output in tone and especially in melody; the chorus is perfect, the tumbling style of the vocals fits the lyrics, and if anything I wish there was more of it all. That new acoustic version, though … woof. No gracias.
5. Beck – “Dreams.”
This stands up there with “Loser,” “Think I’m in Love,” “Girl,” and “Where It’s At” among Beck’s best songs, although it seems to have slipped a bit under the radar because critics want Beck’s more “mature” (read: slow) material. When he wants to go all out, he can rival Prince for playfulness and invention, and he does that here, my #1 song of 2015, a track that eventually reappeared on Colors two years after its release.
4. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still.”
My #1 song of 2017 was an obvious hit from the start, and yet I was still surprised when it actually became a hit – and just kept going, carrying other tracks from their superb Woodstock LP to radio play too. It’s not totally indicative of their sound, but “Feel It Still” is built on a couple of great ideas and the band doesn’t try to do too much with them, letting those few hooks stand on their own merits.
3. Arcade Fire – “City with No Children.”
My #1 song of 2010 isn’t everyone’s favorite from The Suburbs, but it’s mine, for the music and for its straightforward, melancholy story of nostalgia for a childhood that probably looks a lot better in hindsight.
2. alt-J – “Tessellate.”
Putting this at 2 instead of 1 nearly broke my brain, and maybe six months from now I’ll decide I had it wrong, especially since it was my #1 track of 2012 ahead of the song that’s #1 here. They’re both great songs, with this seductive, brooding track off An Awesome Wave, my favorite album of the decade, a perfect marriage of its simple drum line, a repeated keyboard line that’s mostly just three notes, and a break that lets Joe Newman show what he can do at the top end of his vocal register.
1. Arctic Monkeys – “R U Mine.”
Spotify said this was my most played song of the decade, and … okay, it was, I’m completely certain of that. Alex Turner can turn a great guitar riff, and he writes brilliant lyrics, both of which are on full display here, including that little interlude that’s barely a guitar solo and still managed to impress me when I sat down to learn to play it years later. Turner is the only man working multiple times in this song as the bass and drums stay quiet so it’s just his guitar and perhaps his voice, and yet it never feels like the band took a minimalist approach – it’s a full-bodied rocker throughout, still a song I go back to over and over again seven years after I first heard it. I could make some critical argument that other songs are more innovative, or have better arrangements, but at the end of the day this is a ranking of my favorite songs, and I’m going to put the song I love most at the top.