Favorite Songs of 2022: Songs 1-11

We've come to the top of the list a little later than most years past, but hopefully not too late for you to appreciate my favorite eleven songs of 2022. 

1. Returner by Gang of Youths.

"Now I live by a motto, just like Assou-Ekotto

And it's 'F___ you and pay me,' it's a line I respect.

A below-average shooter, I'm hardly Batistuta

But the vision, the motivation I get."

We complete our Australian-centric list, naturally, with another artist from Down Under. Gang of Youths have made the list several times before. This is my favorite song from their excellent album Angel in Real Time because of the above lines and their soccer references, as well as the Pacific Islands chorus. Because my friend Charlie, also a GOY fan, says this is his least favorite of all on the record, I'm going to break the rules and give you a second song, a number 1.b., if you will, which is likely the most-played song from Angel in Real Time - In the Wake of Your Leave.

2. Rubberneckers by Christian Lee Hutson.

"I'm a self-esteem vending machine

A doctor's office magazine.

A funhouse at the county fair

A staircase to nowhere.

If you tell a lie for long enough,

Then it becomes the truth.

I am going to be okay some day,

With or without you.

With or without you."

The next three songs are all in the running for my favorite lyrics of the year. I believe that it's hard to find a word in this song that is out of place. If you listen closely to the chorus, you'll likely hear the voice of an artist mentioned in the first edition of this year's list with the promise that she'd reappear. She also produced Hutson's album Quitters, along with her frequent collaborator Conor Oberst.

3. Blush by Matt Nathanson. 

"And when the sun is getting lower

And your wildest days are done.

And they ask you about a photograph

From back when you were young.

Baby, you don't have to tell 'em

What you did when we were us.

But when you think about it

I hope you blush,

Just a little bit.

When you think about it

I hope you blush."

Another song about lost love, but one fondly remembered. The "We looked good, we looked good, we looked good" chorus makes me smile everytime I hear it. And I also really like the words, and the feel, of this song overall as well.

4. Canola Fields by James McMurtry.

James McMurtry at Mountain Stage.

"And there's not much moving on the romance radar

Not that I'm craving it all that much.

But I still need to feel, every once in a while

The warmth of a smile and a touch.

In a way back corner of a cross-town bus,

We were hiding out under my hat.

Cashing in on a thirty-year crush.

You can't be young and do that,

You can't be young and do that."

The (now long ago) aforesaid old favorite I got to see in 2022, at Mountain Stage. As already mentioned, I have a hard time deciding whether these lines are my favorite ones of 2022, or whether one of the two songs immediately above contain them.

5. American Teenager by Ethel Cain.

"I do it for my daddy

And I do it for Dale

I'm doing what I want and, damn

I'm doing it well.

For me, for me,

For me, for me."

Quite the backstory for Hayden Silas Anhedonia a.k.a. Ethel Cain (according to Wikipedia, anyway). Her voice reminds me of an American Dolores O'Riordan (of The Cranberries). A lovely, haunting song.

6. Country by Good Morning.

"Yeah, I think it's a little bit different now

I got a boyfriend and I got a psych.

I know that one really cares about me,

And, at least, that the other one tries."

Yet another Australian band, although honestly they sound very American to me (again - guess I just need to give up trying to figure that out). A really catchy song with great lyrics about a lost friendship - but I love the instrumental intro and outro best of all.

7. Time Escaping by Big Thief.

"Desert ground so cold and clean

Spreading out like a magazine

Reading the dirt like gossip.

What do the weeds say? They say:

'Everything, everything, everything falls through

Each dimension breaks in two

Like the two hands clapping ...

Like the two wings flapping.'"

So many really good songs on Big Thief's double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You. This is my favorite, but if you're inclined, check out "Certainty," "No Reason," and "Little Things" too.

8. Love Is Yours by Flasher. 

"It's like a knock on the door,

I've never heard it before,

You have me opening, oh so naturally.

It's better than the real thing,

I'm seeing 2020,

You got me missing what I didn't know I need."

One of several songs (numbers 2, 5, 6, and 11 are the others, to be precise) from artists in the Top 11 that I didn't know before 2022, but am glad I do now. Flasher sounds like a cross between The Dandy Warhols and The New Pornographers to me.

9. Here to Forever by Death Cab for Cutie.

"Oh, these days it's so hard to relax

You gotta hold a gun to my back

To make me smile

To make me smile."

Sounds like our old friend Ben Gibbard spent the pandemic contemplating his mortality. Completely understandable.

10. Free by Florence + The Machine. 

"I'm always running from something

I push it back, but it keeps on coming.

And being clever never got me very far,

Because it's all in my head.

And 'You're too sensitive,' they said.

I said, 'Okay, but let's discuss this at the hospital.'"

Florence has appeared on the list several times before - she's back and strong as ever. I don't think I've ever said this before, but that harpist can jam! "And for a moment, when I'm dancing ... I am free." If only we all could be.

11. Rewind by Daybed.

"And I hoped maybe time would slow

Feels like the end of a road

With all the friends I used to know."

And here I thought Hometown was an obscure choice. This song now has 144 YouTube views (and at least four are mine). I love the music on this one (particularly the banjo). Apparently Daybed = Reagan Smith, the banjo player of The Oh Hellos (which, I guess, explains why the banjo is so good).

Favorite Songs of 2018 - Songs 1-11

As indicated in the last installment of this year's list, I believe the top 11 (and actually 13) songs this year are particularly strong. As befits both of the previous posts, my favorite song this year is a breakup song, sung by my favorite new (to me) artist of 2018 - Lucy Dacus. I hope you enjoyed this year's list as much as i enjoyed listening, compiling, and bringing it to you!

1.  Night Shift by Lucy Dacus.

"You've got a nine to five, so I'll take the night shift
And I'll never see you again, if I can help it
In five years I hope the songs feel like covers
Dedicated to new lovers."

Since I first heard this song early in 2018, it was near the top of my favorites, and ended up perched above all of the others.  Great lyrics, perfectly constructed, building to a crescendo of fuzzy noise, which I think is a positive sign - Lucy's ready to move on. I've actually seen Night Shift at or near the top of "real" music critics' best songs of the year lists, but, as always, I assure you that is purely coincidental. 

2.  Bodys by Car Seat Headrest.

"Everybody's swinging their hips
Everybody's giving the waitress tips
Everybody's dancing all of the dances
Everybody's dancing every dance now (alright)."

Second best concert I saw this year, this one with my spouse and Richmond family. Will Toledo is a genius. But I think I've already told you that.

Car Seat Headrest, Carrboro, NC 9/21/18 (photo by me)

3.  Let Me Down Easy by Gang of Youths.

"Honey, it's no secret that I've been losing my way
In the weirdest of moments and stupidest of ways
But, hey, I'm still young and it's gonna be okay
I've got solipsism, baby, and I brought lemonade."

The lemonade reference works off of an earlier part of the song where frontman David Le'aupepe sings that "not everything is easy as making lemonade." This is the second time in two years that solipsism makes an appearance in lyrics on the list - hope that says more about our current times than me personally.

4.  Ben Franklin's Song by The Decemberists.

"I'm the only American the French want to see
They call me a genius, I can't disagree
They have guns, they have funds
They can set us free
Invest in my reputation."

What's not to like about a song co-written by Lin-Manual Miranda and Colin Meloy? Miranda wrote the lyrics for Hamilton, but it didn't make the cut for the show. He gifted them to Meloy, who put them to music and in turn gifted it to us. For a music loving history major, it can't get much better than that.

Big profanity warning on this one, kiddos.

5.  Bondurant Women by The Texas Gentlemen.

"There was a genuine act of celebration
On the corner of the freight train station
And the sweating man gave a benediction
Said you're looking for a giant (?) foundation."

Love the percussion in this song. No lyrics that I could find, so I did the best I could. Suggestions are welcomed, particularly with the uncertain word above (maybe "jive" instead of "giant?").

6.  Gold Rush by Death Cab for Cutie.

"Digging for gold in my neighborhood
For what they say is the greater good
But all I see is a long goodbye
A requiem for a skyline."

A requiem indeed for Ben Gibbard's Seattle neighborhood. I know, I know, a lot of us in Wild and Wonderful would love to have Ben's problems. But still, gentrification does come with its issues, in a "you kids get off of my lawn!" kind of way that I think he acknowledges as well.

7.  How to Socialise and Make Friends by Camp Cope.

"And I heard it from a friend
That he talks to the primary school kids through the fence
Yeah, you shoulda seen his book collection
It was all 'how to socialise and how to make friends'
Yeah I guess we both got our problems
And areas to improve
And I know one of mine is to go a night without sympathising with you."

As you might guess from the spellings, Camp Cope ain't from around here. Australia, to be exact, is their home. But the raw emotion heard in many of their songs, including this one, is universal.

8.  Not Abel by Hop Along.

"And yet it was not Abel but Cain who got to hear
The voice that for so long had been a stranger
Not one word of all the time they spent growing up brothers
Even love, yes, even love, yes even lose
Something to lose."

Starts out sounding like many Hop Along songs (which I believe to be a good thing), albeit with a less personal theme than most (indeed, the story of Cain and Abel). Then the last minute and a half take it to a whole new, sublime, level, kicked off by a classic rock guitar and bass line.

9.  Fast Talk by Houses.

"So maybe heaven is a ghetto with no bad blocks
Shangri-La dealers at the bus stops
And maybe god is just a cop that we can fast talk
So if you're guilty and you know it, put your hands up
'Cause karma's just a different word for bad luck
And what if death is just another pair of handcuffs?
Then we'd better run."

Heard this song first (and repeatedly) while on vacation in late summer with my better half on Sirius. The above lyrics are among my very favorites of the entire year.

10.  Born in Love by Horse Feathers.

"So color came from grey
It's gone from worse to good then great
Something realigned
Was it destiny and not fate?"

Yep, an honest-to-goodness love song! Sung by a guy in a Carhartt cap and denim shearling vest, no less.

11.  Once in My Life by The Decemberists.

"Oh for once in my
Oh, for once in my life
Could just something go
Could just something go right?"

Very different from most of Mr. Meloy's songs, when I first heard it I thought of it as more of a secular prayer than an ordinary song. I think the video, and Colin's notes about the video, confirm my feelings.

And, yes, we end this year's list with yet another song from The Decemberists. I'm an aged fanboy, what other defense do I have?

Favorite Songs of 2018: Songs 12-22

And the list rolls on, with the often (unfairly) overlooked middle kids (which happens to include the band Middle Kids ... ). And, unsurprisingly, The Decemberists.

Colin Meloy and The Decemberists in concert (photo by me)

12.  Nonbeliever by Lucy Dacus.

"You deal an unspoken debt
No kindness without wanting something back
What do I owe you? What did I forget?
Are we even after all of that?"

Nonbeliever in God? In a (human) relationship? In self-worth? I'm not exactly sure. But I'm not a nonbeliever in Lucy; she has a beautiful voice, can construct a great song, and can play a mean guitar.

13.  The Heart Is a Muscle by Gang of Youths.

"I wanna be loved, I wanna be whole again

So tuck my hair behind my ears and touch my soul again

The window is wide, the post unfulfilled

And I just ask you to be patient if you'll have me still."

Every year my list contains an invisible dividing line between the songs I like and those I really, really like. This year that line starts here. Songs 13-2 are, in my humble opinion, exceedingly good and pretty much interchangeable (number 1 has been number 1 since early in 2018 and has budged since). Gang of Youths was recently in D.C., and I'm very sorry I missed them. The video will give you a good idea as to why.

14.  Easy Enough by Pinegrove.

"All my limits have held me back

I hold my head and I let it ask

Why

I'm altogether down

And when will it end now?

Back after a year-long, self-imposed hiatus (you can read the long, strange story here) the kids from Jersey are back with a new record. Thank goodness for that.

15.  High Beam by Sjowgren.

"And I don't wanna spend a lifetime

Worried about the sidelines

What other people are say about me

About me

About me."

Their second appearance on this year's list (and the fourth overall, I believe) as the mystery band from San Fran has stepped up what seemed to be a slow drip of their great music.

16.  Dancing's Not a Crime by Panic!At the Disco.

"Dancing, dancing, dancing's not a crime
Unless you do it without me
Unless you do it without me."

Go ahead, laugh, I can take the heat. And do repeatedly from family and friends for my fondness for this band (which roughly places me 45 years pre-my current age and seemingly forced to defend the "!" in its name). I dare you to listen and not bebop just a little while you do.

17.   Mistake by Middle Kids.

"You're standing out in the rain, tonight
Like you got something to say, to God
And you got a debt to pay back
For something you did way back

You wanna make it okay."

These Kids made last year's list as well (as did Cold War Kids, absent this year). I believe the title of the song is exactly what it's about - a mistake that someone made, maybe a long time ago. I'm okay with that (the straightforwardness, not necessarily the mistake).

18.  We All Die Young by The Decemberists.

"And in this dream, Bill Tecumseh Sherman
Glowered at the foot of my bed
He was long and lean, he spoke in perfect German
And I recorded all that he said
Yeah, I recorded all that he said

And he said:
'We all die young
We all die young
We all die young
We all die young."

More lyrical magic from the "hyper-literate" Colin Meloy and his band. While I'm including a "live" recording of the song here, check out the studio version as well. Definitely a touch of Pink Floyd in the children joining in on the chorus.

19.  In a River by Rostam.

"We are swimming with no clothes on
In a river in the dark
And I am holding on to you, boy
In the faint light of the stars."

One of several songs on this year's list either recommended by or heard for the first time with my comely spouse. I love the music in this song, which borders on orchestral.

20.  How Simple by Hop Along.

"Don't worry we will both find out

Just not together."

One of my favorite couplets (if that term can apply to two, non-rhyming verses) of the year. Matched by the year's best album name "Bark Your Head Off, Dog."

21.  Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers.

"I'm on the outside looking through
You're throwing rocks around your room
And while you're bleeding on your back in the glass
I'll be glad that I made it out
And sorry that all went down like it did."

I love the imagery of "emotional motion sickness."

22.  Causing Trouble by Saint Sister.

"But honey I know you
We dance to Elvis in the kitchen
At least we used to
And honey you know me
We danced from Belfast to the Basin
When you sang And it Stoned Me
Well, it stoned me.'

A harp, two beautiful voices, and a Van Morrison reference? Yes, please.

Stay tuned for my Top 11 songs, coming soon!

Favorite songs of 2016: Songs 23-33

If there was any doubt that I was going to reprise my annual list here, they were erased by the generous words of my friend R, who posted about it in her GrongarBlog and is telling us what she's listening to this month as a result. As in years past, these are my favorite songs that I've heard over the past year from one source or another, culled from hundreds that I've listened to (in some cases, only for a few seconds). As in only last year (and the first when I listed only 20), there are 33 songs on this year's list because ... well, just because. 

23. Babylon by Jesiah.


"You've got the best type of defense
You tell the joke just to distract them
I thought we both grew up in Babylon...
We speak the language, no one understands us."

C first suggested that this sounds like Vampire Weekend, which after reflection I agree is spot-on. From the artist himself: "Babylon is a story about two souls defending their love in the face of adversity.”

24. White Flag by Joseph.

"I could surrender but I'd
Just be pretending, no I'd
Rather be dead than live a lie...
Burn the white flag
Burn the white flag."

No Josephs, Richards, or Thomases to be seen in this band, fronted by the three Closner sisters, who just happen to be from Joseph, Oregon. Love the defiant vocals that match the "never surrender" lyrics of this song. The album title, "I'm Alone, No You're Not" is excellent as well.

25. Brazil by Declan McKenna.

"I wanna play the beautiful game while I'm in Brazil
Cause everybody plays the beautiful game while in Brazil
It's all you've ever wanted, and it's all that you want still...
Don't you wanna play the beautiful game out in Brazil?"

I'm guessing I don't have to explain to most who read this why I would like a song about soccer in general, and FIFA's corruption in particular. But if the lyrics were about hopscotch instead it would probably still be on the list given its hooky Britpop sound and McKenna's unique voice.

26. Coastal California 1985 by Math and Physics Club.

"Coastal California
Like a picture postcard
Your wind-swept hair and...
Pasted on smile
Remind me how the years have come and gone
And never seem to linger very long."

One of many songs about California released this past year (including one further up the list), almost all of which make its residents seem pretty darn happy currently.

27. This Is Your Life by Augustines.

"Maybe we'll pull ourselves together
Burn forever in some fading summer night
But you got to find sometimes for anything in this life...
Just forgot it in yourself, but you're alright
You're alright
Hey you're alright."

The first of several repeat artists from past lists - some below, some farther up. What can I say -- I know what I like and Augustines, with their big anthemic sound, is something I definitely like. "Knock me down my friend, I'll just get back up again."

28. Turn Up by The Heavy.

"There ain't nothing more I want
For you my love
If that's what you really want...
Must be what you really want
If that's what you really want
My love
I said you better
Turn, (Up!)"

Most of my favorite songs are lyrically driven. Not (obviously) this one. Why does it seem that all the best funk/R&B bands these days are English? And, yes, The Heavy have been here before.

29. Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering) by Hey Rosetta!

"Under the pitch and pull of the moon
Sweet silver medicine swim in my temples
Bring in the shadows to cover our wounds...
When the pain is gone and the rest is
Coming on."

The song's title alone makes it list-worthy let alone the evocative lyrics. At least the second appearance by Hey Rosetta! on one of my lists as well.

30. 24 Frames by Jason Isbell.

"You thought God was an architect
Now you know
He's something like a pipe bomb ...
Ready to blow
And everything that you've built
That's all for show
Goes up in flames
In twenty-four frames."

Better late than never with this song which should have been on last year's list. A brilliant song from a brilliant artist. One of, I believe, only two artists on this year's list that I saw live this past year.

image from rukkus.com

31. The Diving Bell by Gang of Youths.

"And I dreamed the voices they were calling
Out to you
Come alive, come alive and the firings...
Where everything is true."

A haunting song - maybe a Ferguson reference, maybe something more personal. A sufficiently obscure track that I can't find a link to an MP3, let alone a video. If you do find it somewhere (try Spotify) this is your language warning.

32. True Sadness by The Avett Brothers.

"I cannot go on with this evil inside me
I step outside my front door and I feel it surround me
Just know the kingdom of God is within you...
Even though the battle is bound to continue."

A song whose dark lyrics belie its mostly upbeat melody. I don't think the boys have given up hope - they'll continue to fight the good fight.

33. I Need Never Get Old by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.

"I know that some will say
It matters but little babe
Oh but come on and mean it to me...
I need it so bad."

I think I first saw this song on AXS TV live from some festival this late spring. These guys look like they pour everything they have into every minute on stage.