Top 30 Songs for January 16-22, 2022

I just can’t get enough of those exuberant jangly guitars, driving beats and soaring vocals on the marvelous “Good Friend” by Canadian artist dwi, and it remains my favorite song for a second week. Closing in at #2 is “Crutch” by Band of Horses, and climbing four spots to #4 is the beautiful “Time in Disguise” by Kings of Leon. It’s not doing particularly well on the Alternative charts, which is perplexing to me, especially given that “Bandit” was the top song of 2021 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart. The ebullient dance-pop tune “Starts With You” by L.A.-based singer-songwriter Shimmer Johnson climbs three spots to #6, and Tears for Fears’ “The Tipping Point” also climbs three spots to #7.

Three songs debut on this week’s chart: Though it’s been out for over three months, “INDUSTRY BABY” by Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow finally enters my chart at #28. Bringing up the rear are new songs by two of my favorite acts from London, England – “Just Like Always” by Oli Barton & the Movement and Maella, and “Redchurch Street Blues” by Philip Morgan Lewis, which enter at #29 & #30, respectively.

  1. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (1)
  2. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (3)
  3. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs featuring Lucius (2)
  4. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (8)
  5. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (4)
  6. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (9)
  7. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (10)
  8. BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (5)
  9. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (6)
  10. LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (7)
  11. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (12)
  12. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (13)
  13. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (14)
  14. SMILE – Wolf Alice (15)
  15. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (17)
  16. U&ME – alt-J (18)
  17. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (19)
  18. WAKE ME UP – Foals (20)
  19. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (22)
  20. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (23)
  21. CHAPSTICK – COIN (24)
  22. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (25)
  23. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (26)
  24. DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (11)
  25. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (30)
  26. JUSTIFIED – Kacey Musgraves (16)
  27. KALEIDOSCOPE – Soda Cracker Jesus (21)
  28. INDUSTRY BABY – Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow (N)
  29. JUST LIKE ALWAYS – Oli Barton & the Movement & Maella (N)
  30. REDCHURCH STREET BLUES – Philip Morgan Lewis (N)

Top 30 Songs for January 9-15, 2022

I’m thrilled to place the lively but poignant song “Good Friend” by Canadian artist dwi at #1 on this week’s Top 30. The music project of insanely creative and talented Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Dwight Abell, dwi was one of my favorite new music discoveries of 2021, and his brilliant debut album Mild Fantasy Violence is among my favorite releases of the year (read my review here). “Good Friend” is about discovering after the fact that a friend had been going through some hard times, and wishing you’d known more at the time so you could have helped them through it. I love the song’s infectious hard-driving melody, colorful guitar work and dwi’s expressive vocals lamenting about his shortcomings as a friend: “Had I known you were broken inside. Had I known you were empty inside. If I was a good friend, I’d a known better. If I was a good friend, I’d have done better./ I’m done with the drugs, but there’s still some left inside.”

In other chart developments, “Crutch” by Band of Horses jumps four spots to #3, Tears for Fears’ “The Tipping Point” enters the top 10, and Mitski debuts with “The Only Heartbreaker”, her first-ever appearance on my Weekly Top 30 chart.

  1. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (2)
  2. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs featuring Lucius (1)
  3. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (7)
  4. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (4)
  5. BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (3)
  6. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (6)
  7. LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (8)
  8. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (9)
  9. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (10)
  10. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (12)
  11. DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (5)
  12. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (13)
  13. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (14)
  14. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (15)
  15. SMILE – Wolf Alice (16)
  16. JUSTIFIED – Kacey Musgraves (11)
  17. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (19)
  18. U&ME – alt-J (20)
  19. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (21)
  20. WAKE ME UP – Foals (22)
  21. KALEIDOSCOPE – Soda Cracker Jesus (18)
  22. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (25)
  23. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (27)
  24. CHAPSTICK – COIN (28)
  25. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (29)
  26. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (30)
  27. ALL TOO WELL (10 Minute Version) – Taylor Swift (17)
  28. SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (23)
  29. EASY ON ME – Adele (24)
  30. THE ONLY HEARTBREAKER – Mitski (N)

Top 30 Songs for January 2-8, 2022

Happy New Year! For my first Weekly Top 30 of 2022, The War on Drugs hold the top spot for a second week with “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”, featuring backing vocals by Lucius. Climbing three spots to #2 is “Good Friend”, one of the many wonderful songs from the brilliant album Mild Fantasy Violence by Canadian artist dwi. Entering the top 10 this week are “Crutch” by Band of Horses and “Time in Disguise” by Kings of Leon, and the lone debut is “The Outside” by twenty øne piløts.

  1. I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs featuring Lucius (1)
  2. GOOD FRIEND – dwi (5)
  3. BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (2)
  4. LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (4)
  5. DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (3)
  6. I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (6)
  7. CRUTCH – Band of Horses (12)
  8. LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (7)
  9. TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (11)
  10. STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (10)
  11. JUSTIFIED – Kacey Musgraves (9)
  12. THE TIPPING POINT – Tears for Fears (15)
  13. I SEE THE SUN – Solar Eyes (17)
  14. TWO CAR FAMILY – Apollo Junction (18)
  15. LEFT BEHIND – a million rich daughters (19)
  16. SMILE – Wolf Alice (20)
  17. ALL TOO WELL (10 Minute Version) – Taylor Swift (8)
  18. KALEIDOSCOPE – Soda Cracker Jesus (21)
  19. JOURNEYMAN’S BALLET – Sam Rappaport (22)
  20. U&ME – alt-J (23)
  21. ONE AND THE SAME – Future Theory (24)
  22. WAKE ME UP – Foals (25)
  23. SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (13)
  24. EASY ON ME – Adele (14)
  25. THE HARDEST CUT – Spoon (26)
  26. REARVIEW – G. Samedi (16)
  27. UNTIL I COME HOME – Two Feet & grandson (27)
  28. CHAPSTICK – COIN (29)
  29. HEAD IN THE CLOUDS – Thunder Fox (30)
  30. THE OUTSIDE – twenty øne piløts (N)