Interest in my 30-day song challenge seems to be waning, as the number of views and likes have generally declined over time, but I’ll press on to the end. The subject for Day 28 of my 30-day Song Challenge is “A song that makes you want to fall in love“. There’ve been hundreds, if not thousands, of love songs released over the years, for love has long been the primary subject of many a song. Some of the great – or at least most popular – love songs include “At Last” by Etta James, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley, “She Loves You” by the Beatles, “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” with versions by Marvin Gaye, Jr. Walker & the All Stars, and James Taylor, “Crazy For You” by Madonna, “Lovesong” by The Cure, “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton and later Whitney Houston, “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis, “Truly Madly Deeply” by Savage Garden and “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, to name but a few.
But the song that really makes me want to fall in love is “The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala. As I wrote in my article ranking the song at #25 on my Top 100 Songs of the 2010s, “the achingly beautiful song about young lust and love makes me wish I was 18 again, and is so fucking gorgeous it stirs the hopeless romantic in me, bringing a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat every time I hear it.” Despite the wrenching emotional roller-coaster ride of anxiety, longing and potential heartache, there’s nothing else in life that compares to the thrill of falling in love with someone new and exciting. I love this song so much I can listen to it on an endless replay loop.
The lyrics express a guy’s intense longing for a girl he can’t have, which Tame Impala front man Kevin Parker so beautifully expresses with his enthralling vocals:
Someone said they left together I ran out the door to get her She was holding hands with Trevor Not the greatest feeling ever Said, “Pull yourself together You should try your luck with Heather” Then I heard they slept together Oh, the less I know the better The less I know the better
Oh my love, can’t you see yourself by my side No surprise when you’re on his shoulder like every night Oh my love, can’t you see that you’re on my mind Don’t suppose you could convince your lover to change his mind So goodbye
She said, “It’s not now or never Wait 10 years, we’ll be together” I said, “Better late than never Just don’t make me wait forever” Don’t make me wait forever Don’t make me wait forever
Oh my love, can’t you see yourself by my side? I don’t suppose you could convince your lover to change his mind
I was doing fine without ya ‘Til I saw your face, now I can’t erase Giving in to all his bullshit Is this what you want, is this who you are? I was doing fine without ya ‘Til I saw your eyes turn away from mine Oh, sweet darling, where he wants you Said, “Come on Superman, say your stupid line” Said, “Come on Superman, say your stupid line” Said, “Come on Superman, say your stupid line”
The entertaining official video brings the song to life with an imaginative and humorous blend of romance, surrealism and colorful animation. It shows a high school basketball player lusting after a cheerleader, who soon begins a relationship with the team’s gorilla mascot named “Trevor”, who’s referenced in the lyrics. The video was filmed in Barcelona at the visual arts collective CANADA, and the two primary characters are played by Spanish actors Laia Manzanares as the cheerleader and Albert Baro as the basketball player.
Rather ridiculously, the video has been age-restricted by YouTube due to a couple of provocative scenes, so click on the “Watch on YouTube” link to watch it.
Or, just listen to the song in this audio only video:
It goes without saying that 2020 turned out to be a year for the record books on so many levels. It started out well enough, but quickly went to hell beginning in March as the Covid-19 virus spread throughout the world, causing a global pandemic that resulted in a shut down of many countries’ economies, and nearly 1.8 million deaths as I write this at the end of the year. One of the hardest-hit sectors has been the music industry, particularly live music, which in these days of unlimited streaming, most musicians count on to make a living and promote their music. On the plus side – if there was one – many musicians had more time to write and record new music, blessing us with some really stellar works. The Rolling Stones used the lockdown to put out their previously-written but timely “Living in a Ghost Town”, their first new single in four years, while AC/DC thrilled fans with their surprise release of Power Up, their first new album in six years. The Pretenders, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney also released new albums.
Like with every year, in 2020 we had to say goodbye to far too many legendary musicians – something that seems to be happening with greater frequency as music icons we grew up with pass away primarily due to having reached old age. Some of the notable passings included Bill Withers, Little Richard, Peter Green, Eddie Van Halen, Spencer Davis, Neil Peart, Kenny Rogers, Helen Reddy, Bonnie Pointer, Mac Davis, Ennio Morricone, Johnny Nash, Jerry Jeff Walker and Chad Stuart (of Chad & Jeremy). Sadly, we also lost John Prine, Charley Pride and Trini Lopez due to complications from Covid-19.
As a music blogger, I receive a lot of submissions from artists, PR reps and labels wanting me to review their music. I also follow a large number of music blogs, where I learn about music, and as a result, end up listening to a tremendous amount of new music over the course of a year. That said, I know I’ve heard only a fraction of all the singles and albums released in 2020. Some of the standout albums I had the pleasure of hearing were Taylor Swift’s Folklore, Run the Jewels’ RTJ4, Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, The Killers’ Imploding the Mirage, Tame Impala’s Slow Rush, Fontaines D.C.’s A Hero’s Death, Fleet Foxes’ Shore, Two Feet’s Pink, Haim’s Women in Music Pt. III, Bryde’s The Volume of Things, Kidsmoke’s A Vision in the Dark, Surrija’s brilliant eponymous album Surrija, and MISSIO’s Can You Feel the Sun. (The albums I reviewed are highlighted in blue,and if you click on those titles it will take you to my review.)
One of my favorite music genres is Dream Pop & Rock, which seems to be undergoing a major surge in recent years. The genre was well-represented in 2020 by numerous stellar songs, including “Are You Bored Yet?” by Wallows ft. Clairo, “Can I Call You Tonight?” by Dayglow, “White Lies & Palm Trees” by The Lovepools, “Lost in Yesterday” and “Is It True” by Tame Impala, “Can I Believe You” by Fleet Foxes, “Downs” by Roadkeeper, “Fire For You” by Cannons, and the entire aforementioned album by Kidsmoke.
Obviously, my list of the Top 100 Songs of 2020 includes only songs I know. I’m certain there are likely other great ones that should be on this list, except that I’ve never heard them. Still, among the thousands of songs I did hear in 2020, there were many outstanding ones, and it frustrates me to have to cull my favorites down to only 100, omitting scores of tracks I really like and wanted to include. Furthermore, a song at #40 isn’t necessarily better than one at #60, but I had to rank them somehow.
Our music tastes are very subjective, so it’s guaranteed that not a single person reading this will agree with my song choices or their rankings. My list contains my favorite songs of the year, not necessarily songs that were ‘popular’ or influential. I’m now late middle-aged, so my song picks are going to reflect that, though I do still have my guilty pleasures.
Many bloggers and critics list songs in the year they were released, while Billboard and other charts generally place them in the year they were ‘hits,’ which is what I prefer. Many of the songs on this list were released in 2020, however, a number of them were released in 2019. Absofacto’s “Dissolve” was originally released in 2015, but didn’t chart until 2019. Because there are always a few songs that overlap from one year to the next, like Billboard, I include those songs on lists for both years if they spent enough time on the charts in each year. I always wrestle with how to rank them, as well as whether to list them in only one year or two. For example, Two Feet’s “You?” was #1 during the final week of 2019, and the first four weeks of 2020, so it would seem only fair to include it on the lists for both years. That song ranked #18 on my Top 100 of 2019, and ranks #3 on this year’s list. I suppose that at the end of the day it’s all silliness, but this is the way I choose to do it. The songs in this Top 100 that also appeared in my Top 100 Songs of 2019 are indicated with an asterisk *.
For previous years’ Top 100 lists, I wrote little pieces for each of the top 20 songs, as well as embedded their YouTube videos, then simply listed the remaining 80. That always left me feeling a little bad for those 80 songs, as it made them seem like afterthoughts, which was certainly not the case. For this year’s list, partly out of fairness, and partly to save myself huge amounts of time, effort and stress, I’ve decided to forego with the individual descriptions and videos, and simply list the entire 100 songs.
As always, I’ve created a Spotify playlist for this list, which is included at the end of the post. Hopefully you’ll find some of your own personal favorites on it. Let me know what songs were your favorites of 2020.
BLINDING LIGHTS – The Weeknd
LEVEL OF CONCERN – twenty øne piløts
YOU? – Two Feet *
CAUTION – The Killers
HALLUCINOGENICS – Matt Maeson
FEEL YOU – My Morning Jacket
EVERYTHING I WANTED – Billie Eilish
HELL N BACK – Bakar
DON’T START NOW – Dua Lipa
MARIA – Two Feet
BLACK & WHITE LOVE – Beating Hearts Club
MIGHT BE RIGHT – White Reaper *
ARE YOU BORED YET? – Wallows featuring Clairo
IS IT TRUE – Tame Impala
DOWNS – Roadkeeper
HOW WILL I REST IN PEACE IF I’M BURIED BY A HIGHWAY?// – Kenny Hoopla
CAN I CALL YOU TONIGHT? – Dayglow
WHITE LIES & PALM TREES – The Lovepools *
MY OWN SOUL’S WARNING – The Killers
IF NOT FOR THE FIRE – The Million Reasons
IT’S YOU – The Frontier
LOST IN YESTERDAY – Tame Impala
MARIPOSA – Peach Tree Rascals
CAN I BELIEVE YOU – Fleet Foxes
MONSTERS – All Time Low featuring blackbear
BLOODY VALENTINE – Machine Gun Kelly
NOVOCAINE – The Unlikely Candidates *
BLACK MADONNA – Cage the Elephant
USED TO LIKE – Neon Trees
WARS – Of Monsters and Men
CARDIGAN – Taylor Swift
ORPHANS – Coldplay
LEMON DROP – Absofacto
THE BEST – AWOLNATION
DISSOLVE – Absofacto *
HONEYBEE – The Head and the Heart
ADORE YOU – Harry Styles
YOUR LOVE (DÉJÀ VU) – Glass Animals
VISITOR – Of Monsters and Men
MOOD – 24kGoldn featuring iann dior
DELETER – Grouplove
PSYCH FILM – Strangely Alright
SOMEONE ELSE – Rezz & Grabbitz
A HERO’S DEATH – Fontaines D.C.
DANCE OF THE CLAIRVOYANTS – Pearl Jam
BAD DECISIONS – The Strokes
LOVE YOU FOR A LONG TIME – Maggie Rogers
THE RUNNER – Foals
VIRUS – Vanity Fear
REWARD – Paul Iwan *
THINK I’M CRAZY – Two Feet
SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT – Black Keys
2ALL – Catfish and the Bottlemen
VAN HORN – Saint Motel
LIFE IN THE CITY – The Lumineers
IDENTICAL – Phoenix
GIANTS – Dermot Kennedy
FIRE – Black Pumas
LAY YOUR HEAD ON ME – Major Lazer featuring Marcus Mumford & Diplo
OH YEAH! – Green Day
UNEVENTFUL DAYS – Beck
COME & GO – Juice WRLD & Marshmello
BLIND LEADING THE BLIND – Mumford & Sons
HOODIE UP – MISSIO
HERO – Michael Kiwanuka
PARADISE – Creeper
WATERMELON SUGAR – Harry Styles
UNCHAINED – Devon Gilfillian
EXPECTATIONS – Katie Pruitt
FIRE FOR YOU – Cannons
HEAVEN IS HEART – Jaded Jane
TEXAS SUN – Khruangbin featuring Leon Bridges
OVER AND OVER – Amongst Liars
HONEY – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
LIVING IN A GHOST TOWN – The Rolling Stones
HOW WE LIVE – Mandalan featuring Cadence XYZ
MY FUTURE – Billie Eilish
STRANGERS – Mt. Joy
NOT OK! – Chaz Cardigan
MARINERS APARTMENT COMPLEX – Lana Del Rey
LETTER TO YOU – Bruce Springsteen
HOLD ON – Noah Reid
BE AFRAID – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
FAULT LINES – Callum Pitt
LET’S FALL IN LOVE FOR THE NIGHT – FINNEAS
ME & YOU TOGETHER SONG – The 1975
HALF YOUR AGE – Joywave
SERAFINA – BAMBARA
COLORS – Black Pumas
THE LET GO – Elle King
SWIMMING CLOSER – HAZY
REAL LONG TIME – White Reaper
NOTHING LOVE – Surrija, Albert Chiang, Christine Tavolacci & Matt Chamberlain