2012 was an eventful year in music,
to say the least. Radio stations and Youtube channels became flooded with pop
tracks and dance fads that seemed to destroy every record for cultural
influence ever set in music. Dubstep fully entered the mainstream, announcing
it was here to stay, and hipsters continued to be impressed by the endless
innovations of indie rock bands, putting a stamp on modern culture that may
never be forgotten. British rapper Plan B broke out in protest toward David
Cameron’s “Broken Britain” policies and made his directorial debut in Ill Manors, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, while not the official
song, was a hit with Olympians and the Harvard rowing team. Muse destroyed all
fears of a declining music industry with an album that could dethrone Coldplay,
and Dylan, Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, and Van Halen made acclaimed
comebacks. Most shocking of all was Korean sensation Psy, whose Gangnam Style
influenced world leaders, high school homecomings and meme-makers everywhere
before becoming the first video to reach a billion views on the fateful
December 21st. Music succeeded on all fronts, but in terms of
quality, influence, and success, some towered above others. These are the 50
greatest songs released in 2012.
Note:
“Somebody That I Used to Know”,” We Are Young”, and “No Church in the Wild”
would have appeared on this list, but they were all technically released in
2011.
Jepsen’s catchy hit never faltered on
success, picking up multiple worldwide #1 spots and garnering over 300 million
views, and it’s clear to see why. While it has gotten annoying after just a few
listens, it’s obviously a success and deserves to make this list, even if it is
in the novelty #50 spot. That’s higher than anything by Justin Bieber, One
Direction, and Taylor Swift, so Jepsen clearly isn’t the worst we had this
year.
Beach House sing in high pitch about
building myths and helping each other, but the lyrics aren’t what’s important. What
is important is how good the melody in “Myth” is.
One of the most unique techno-rap
songs of 2012, “Vava Voom” is memorable for its overpowered wubs and creatively
pretentious lyrics. There’s also a drop.
This was the Gorillaz’ worst year in
a while, but their newest single, “Do Ya Thing” is still listenable, not least
because of Andre 3000’s verse, legendary as usual.
It sounds like a remixed 80s song. That’s
because it is. But That’s Alright is original in that it takes everything that
was good about the sampled song, “Still Smokin’” by Trouble Funk, and doubles
it, creating the a funky, modernized masterpiece that can be listened to over
and over.
No, it’s not dubstep, but it’s RATM’s
answer to the modern techno music revolution. In their new album,
@Reverend_Makers, RATM don’t do anything that will make them famous anytime
soon, but they show their efforts and adaptability as an indie band that
should, in all honesty, be much more famous than the boy band you’re listening
to right now.
The official song of the Olympics,
“Survival” impresses on the level of “We Are the Champions”. It’s not the best
sports song out there, but it’s respectful to British rock history and modern
popular culture alike. Solidified Muse as a top British band.
Rolling Stone praised “Take a Walk,” calling it the 3rd best
song of 2012. I obviously disagree- they probably only picked it for being
liberal in its
recession-themed lyricism, but I must admit it’s a fantastic modern rock song,
if not a masterpiece.
An Obama campaign song, this
optimistic and wholeheartedly American song is moving even to a Brit like me.
R. Kelly returned to Trapped in the Closet this year and
also released this smooth funk-soul ballad, typical of Kelly’s style but not
drab in the slightest.
A fast, urging and brilliant guitar
song, “THTHB” is top-notch adrenaline rock. The Japandroids have created here
an epic ballad, with the awful and repetitive “oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!” its
only detriment. The Japandroids obviously don’t care, however, telling everyone
who tries to slow them down to “go to hell”.
“Yet Again” instantly sounds like
classic melancholia. It’s a joy to listen to- in its solemnity, beauty, and flow,
the song makes you want to listen to Grizzly Bear yet again, and again, and
again. Too bad the band isn’t mainstream yet.
With age comes wisdom, and “Darkness”
shows Leonard Cohen’s unending musical wisdom. It’s a sad song, but it’s also,
in a way, very fun to listen to. It has a simple, gruff rock flow that proves
Cohen a master of the folk genre.
Grizzly Bear’s best musical
contribution in 2012 has a fantastic guitar riff and comes to some brilliant
crescendos. Not to the level of the Black Keys’ “Little Black Submarines”, but,
then again, nothing will touch the awesomeness of that anytime soon.
Scandinavian music was abundant and
awesome in 2012. This is not the Hives’ grandest achievement, but they proved
their continued musical worth and this song was fun to listen to again and
again, played at many different sporting events to boot.
Bayou boss Dr. John gives a swagarific, if a little pretentious,
jive that is both political and danceable. Lyrically, it’s just a list of
things the Doc hates about politics, but musically, its powerful.
“Hey Jane” is almost nine minutes
long, and doesn’t do much changing along the way. It’s repetitive, almost the
point of self-plagiarism, but that is no matter. The song masters optimism and
storytelling, and is an indie-rock phenomenon.
Womack first entered my eardrums when
he owned his appearance on the Gorillaz’ “Stylo”, and here he returns with a
surprisingly modernized ballad. The album cover is one of the weirdest things
ever, but Womack asked for forgiveness and, if we base it on the quality of
this song, he thoroughly deserves it.
British rapper Plan B weaves a tale
about Jake, a troubled council estate kid in Britain who gets into an
unfortunate life of drugs, sex, and alcohol. He explains the pains of current
British society with emotional nonchalance.
Sounds like it came right out of the
1970s, Fagen’s is the smoothest song of the year. I’m unfamiliar with his work,
but he has a 100% success rate with me after I heard this.
A beautiful jazz tale, this song
follows all the rules and does it right. It’s mystical, comparable to Van
Morrison’s “Moondance”. The metaphors this song employs are enjoyable to listen
to as Porter tells the tale of the lion. Sadly, the rest of his album is weak.
I used this for a robotics video, and
always associate with it. It’s one of my current favorite songs, and the fact
that I can name 27 better songs from 2012 proves the greatness of this musical
year.
The chorus of “The Wrestler” sounds
like it came right out of one of those scenes in a Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock
Holmes movie where Sherlock carries out a battle plan in a fight scene. It’s
fast, fun, and the most entertaining song on @Reverend_Makers.
Hear me out on this one. Regardless
of her other songs or her persona, the skill that went into “Wide Awake” is
undeniable. It’s Perry’s best song yet, the only one that deserves to go down
in any sort of history. It’s utterly moving.
A Swedish pop duo deliver a grotesque
yet delightful punk-rock anthem that is more cheeseburger than lollipop. It’s a
song that proves that Scandanavia is growing in talent influence and will soon become a heavy player in modern
music.
Back when rap was good, yet still
generally clean, Public Enemy ruled alongside Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys.
They don’t fail to impress in this song, which contains the best line of the
year, “I work it- the senior circuit”. They were inducted in the Hall of Fame
this year, and this rockin’ rhyme definitely shows they deserve it. It’s a
perfect poem until the ending, when it unfortunately fails, as Chuck D spits
out some nonsense about “Gaga” in annoying repetition.
Aerosmith tried and failed with
“Legendary Child,” a blatant “Wanton Song” rip-off. Halen, however, succeeded
with a fantastic ballad that transitions from folk to metal in what we should
consider as a real “drop”. If this had come out last year, Skyrim would have
had an even better theme song.
The singer of this indie tune sounds
like Damon Albarn of Blur and the Gorillaz, but, being an American, isn’t.
That’s not really important, though. The main thing about this gloomy song
about family is that it gets more and more awesome as it progresses through its
six minutes of emotion.
A bit folky for me to consider a
favorite, but “I Will Wait” is up there with the most sincere love songs of the
year. It’s the only Mumford & Sons song I’ve ever listened, but I’m willing
to listen to more if this is the quality they put into their music.
This falsetto miracle is easily
Usher’s best song, one that makes us wonder why he ever chose to create a
monster out of Justin Bieber. “Climax” instantly sounds like a modern soul classic.
While it’s not my preferred genre or style, it’s hard to deny Usher’s ability
here.
This song is fantastic. While Jagger
seems to go off the vocal tangent at some points, “Doom and Gloom” is our final realization that
lyricists like him and McCartney will probably not be around again for a while.
It’s not a classic, but it’s a highlight in the career of a band that’s been
rocking and having a ridiculously good time for over 50 years. Brilliance.
You don’t have to be Frankie Avalon
to love “Teenage Icon”. It’s fast, exciting, British rock badassery. Every
segment of the song is great, and it’s overall been one of the most fun songs
to listen to this year.
I don’t understand any of the lyrics,
but that guitar really does make them seem important.
Despite Armstrong’s little incident
this year when he was cut off for Usher at a concert, Greenday were able to
bring out some solid material. “Oh Love” is the best song out of their new
collection- it’s a colorful pop-rock chime that works on every level.
Beck’s song “Loser” is one of the
best nihilist 90s rap-rock songs, a true classic. In “I Just Started,” it’s
like we’re listening to a completely different person. It’s more a folk or
country song. But “I Just Started” has the same humor, the same lyrical
brilliance, that has made Beck a legend ever since he released “Loser”. He’s
definitely not a loser as far as this song is concerned.
The best true country song of the
year, “Merry Go Round” is a thumping, intrusive, courageous ballad about
expectations in a traditional community. It’s an eye-opening start to a career
that will hopefully be very good for Musgraves. Taylor Swift was plain annoying
on “We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together,” but Kacey is awesome.
The dropship has landed. It took me a
while to convert to Skrillex’s Bangarang, but it was going to happen
eventually. It might not be the best dubstep out there, but it’s what I first
listened to to introduce myself to the genre, and I couldn’t help from
performing egregious muscle spasms.
“Skyfall” was a great movie opened by
a great song. Adele may have taken a break from major songwriting, but her Bond
theme made up for the lack of a new album. It’s moving, thunderous, and
exceptionally British.
To think- this song was FREAKING FREE
on iTunes at the beginning of the year. FREE. Now it’s a near- international
sensation, and by far Scandinavia’s best contribution to music this year, and
easily the best duet.
This heart-wrenching ballad is the
most tear-jerking since Johnny Cash covered “Hurt”. “When I’m gone, don’t you
cry,” sings Kiwanuka, who deservedly won BBC’s “sound of 2012” poll, an award
of Adele fame. It’s a glorious song, backed by Dan Auberbach of the Black Keys.
Rolling Stone
named this earth-shaker song of the year. It’s amazing, to say the least. I was
more interested personally in some other songs, but this song is fully
deserving of its acclaim. Deserves all salutations and multiple listens.
It starts with a smooth vocal intro,
and then descends into a snazzy verse by big Sean, a great verse by Jay-Z
(Jay-Zed), and then descends into the pretentions of the so-called God-talker
Kanye West. It all sounds good but would have ranked higher if Kanye had stayed
lower.
The most creative rap song of the
year, “Thrift Shop” uses a beat better than anything Kanye could ever think of.
The saxophone is the stuff of legend, and the song is ridiculously
entertaining. Macklemore is the best new rapper this year.
In the best collaboration of the
year, Kanye West, Big Sean, and Pusha T introduce “Mercy” with some awesome
verses, backed by a “cray” reggae beat that Snoop Lion would be jealous of. The
lyrics are, as usual of modern rap, disgusting, nonsensical, and egomaniacal,
but they are toned in the good fun of superiority rap and are entertaining to
the point of laughter. Big Sean employs a good dozen ass puns which are absolutely unrespectable but are
positively riveting. Not to mention, 2 Chainz jumps in near the end, in a
moment of bravado not rivaled since 2Pac entered “California Love”.
A cover of a popular Frank Ocean
R&B song, this masterpiece by the 90s rock group The Afghan Whigs brings a
new significance to Ocean’s lyrics which seemed to clutter a messy song when he
sung it. The Whigs add the best guitar solo of the year to the end of it just
for effect.
Headlining his rap-soul musical,
promptly named Ill Manors, this
wondrous rap-orchestra is a true British protest song, one of Sex Pistols
caliber. Trying to bring meaning to the London Riots, Plan B references the Olympics,
council estates, and the hood. It brings lights to the problems of current
Britain, problems I wouldn’t be aware of without it.
Some Nights was probably the best album of 2012. F.U.N. walked in as the best-sounding new band this year, emulating classic Queen ballads of all. I expect nothing but the best from them in the future.
Muse have finally solidified themselves
as competition to Coldplay with this thriller. It combines pretty much every
modern genre into one grandslam of a song, ending in a brilliant guitar
interlude and always moving along at a pace of both grace and vengeance.
For the longest time, I had ranked “Simple
Song” as my favorite song of the year. It probably is, and you can probably
guess what is ranked first and why it’s ranked as such. The Shins’ best song
has a brilliant music video and is the epitome of musical optimism. It came out
at the beginning of the year, and nothing was able to become higher in my
favorites list than it until very late in the year. In all honesty, “Simple
Song” is the best song of the year,
it just didn’t garner enough attention for me to be able to recognize it as
such.
1. Psy – “Gangnam Style”
I had to do it. Yes, it’s annoying as
hell by now. Yes, it’s overplayed. But “Gangnam Style” is undeniably the most
important song of the year. It doesn’t show the most musical talent- Psy is
deviant of LMFAO and countless other popular American artists. But Psy, in the year’s
most entertaining and widespread video, has created a phenomenon that has
infected people from all across the world. It’s brought K-Pop into the American
mainstream, made Psy an international sensation, and has even brought
recognition from Amnesty International as an international agent of peace. Don’t
be a Gangnam Scrooge this holiday season, simply respect the fact that Psy, a
mid-thirties South Korean rapper, has gotten more attention than any other
person in the history of the internet. It’s the biggest meme, the most popular
video, and easily the most entertaining song. The dances performed to this at
Homecoming dances and sports competitions has brought joy to people in higher
density than any other song this year. “Gangnam” is not universally liked, it’s
incredibly annoying, but it cannot sit anywhere else on this list. It’ll be a
long while before we ever see another song as international influential as
this. It’s truly the stuff of legend.
