The
end of 2014 is just about upon is. According to the folks at Billboard, it
ended on December 11, when they posted their official Year-End Hot 100. While I
have never liked their decision to make up their own calendar, I have no choice
but to play by their rules, so let’s take a look at the best 20 hits of the
year (decided, as always, by me and only me).
As a
reminder, these are all songs selected from within Billboard’s year-end list.
Believe me, I wish I could expand the selection pool a little this year- never
have I faced a bleaker list of underwhelming choices than in 2014. Ultimately,
though, these 20 aren’t so bad, they just pale in comparison to the stronger
choices I’ve had in the last few years I’ve been doing this list. Never fear,
though, let’s dive into the countdown!
20. Mike WiLL
Made-It featuring Miley Cyrus,
Wiz Khalifa, and Juicy J- "23":
To
be honest, the main reason this song won the tiebreaker over many other songs
to sneak into the chart at number 20, is simply because I couldn’t leave out a
song called “23” that was released when I was 23 years old. Just like Taylor Swift’s “22” last year, I felt a special kinship with this track (even though
the song has nothing to do with age). I fully expect this odd trend to
continue, and to be able to post a song called “24” next year. In the meantime,
enjoy Miley, J, and Wiz causing mayhem in the world’s hippest high school.
19. MKTO- "Classic":
Maroon
5 rip-off alert! “Classic” may be derivative, but that’s never stopped me from
liking a song before, and it won’t stop me here either. A fun song is a fun
song, and a winning sound is a winning sound. This song may be forgettable, but
it puts a smile on your face, and what more can you really ask for?
18. Maroon
5- "Animals":
Funny
that in a year which saw multiple Maroon 5 imposters come out of the woodwork,
Maroon 5 themselves released an album themselves, which hopefully confirmed
their supremacy in the modern pop-rock world (emphasis on the pop at this
point). “Animals” was the weaker of their two hit singles, but it was still
easily good enough to win inclusion in this year’s chart, especially given the
mostly weak competition. Just as a warning- this video should have a disclaimer
for disturbing images ahead. Unless you’re into a bloody Adam Levine punching
hanging slabs of meat.
17. Pharrell
Williams- "Happy":
This
song topped the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, meaning it was the biggest hit of
2014. The music video and surrounding “24 Hours of Happy” movement made waves,
too. Honestly, if you dislike this song, there’s something deeply, deeply wrong
with you. I’m not saying you have to love it, but there’s really nothing to
hate. Especially now that a few months have gone by and I’m not hearing it
every day, I’m willing to say that I’m okay with “Happy” being what we remember
2014 by.
16. Chris Brown featuring Lil
Wayne and French Montana, Too Short, or Tyga- "Loyal":
The
infusion of hip-hop with deep house beats led to a surprising resurgence of
“urban” music in my speakers this year. It was good to hear hip-hop blasting
from time to time, even if it can barely be called hip-hop anymore. I still
think Chris Brown is a very bad person, but year after year, I cant help but
include him in my year-end chart. The dude makes bangers, and always has, and
that’s really all there is to say.
15. Sia- "Chandelier":
Sia’s
voice is pretty much otherworldly. It doesn’t matter that this is the weirdest
video of 2014, or that I prefer her collaborations with David Guetta to her
solo work. As long as her voice is in there, she’ll make the chart. But yeah,
that video. What on earth. I can’t decide if it’s beautiful, or horrific, or
maybe a little of both?
14. Kid Ink featuring Chris
Brown- "Show Me":
Well,
this song is literally just “Show Me Love” by Robyn S, updated for 2014 and a
slightly...different audience. It’s derivative, literally, but as I’ve already
said, I’m fine with that if the song sounds good. And “Show Me” has good genes,
thanks to the sample, so it gets a high spot. Sidenote: how come the parties I
go to are never as cool as the ones I see in rap videos. Am I just not going to
the right places? Do I not know the right people? I need to work on that in
2015.
13. Nico
& Vinz- "Am I Wrong":
I
never gave this song a second thought for most of its run in heavy rotation. It
was utterly forgettable. Since it’s gone off the air, though, it’s grown and
grown on me to the point where 13th is probably a little low in the
year-end chart. Nevertheless, that’s where I’m keeping it. Make no mistake,
though, this is a really good song, one of the best examples of what pop music
could be in 2014. And I’m not really sure I get the video, but I like that,
too.
12. Tove Lo-
"Habits (Stay High)":
To
be perfectly honest, I mostly included this song so high because of its much-better remix, which I believe led directly to the popularity of the original. Also, I
the video was one of the more interesting ones to come out this year,
delivering what I saw as a harsh view of alcoholism and how it can make someone
dead inside. Or maybe it’s just about post-breakup shenanigans, but that’s not
as interesting, is it?
11. Katy Perry-
“Birthday”:
Katy’s
latest album, Prism, was definitely underwhelming compared to her epic Teenage
Dream. Thankfully, there was at least one bright spot in “Birthday.” She
learned the lesson, as first taught by Jeremih, that birthday songs (like
holiday songs) are timeless. She also backed it up with a classic Katy Perry
8-minute video which is definitely worth the watch. Even though the rest of the
album was a dud, there was at least one diamond in the rough.
10. Charli XCX- "Boom Clap":
I
didn’t see The Fault In Our Stars (the movie which featured this song on its
soundtrack), and I didn’t really enjoy Charli XCX in “I Don’t Care” or “Fancy,”
but despite all that, she knocked it out of the park with this one. It might be
a silly teen-girl song, but good music is good music, regardless of how it
sounds. The day I stop believing that is the day I quit writing this blog.
Hopefully that day never comes.
9. Miley Cyrus- "Adore You":
This
song is ancient, a relic of 2013, but it made the Billboard countdown this year so
I get to use it. Every year, at least one ballad sneaks into my list, and this
is definitely it this year. If Miley stuck to songs like this and “The Climb,”
she’d be a lot more palatable to me than she is when she’s poppin’ molly and
trying to be the party girl. Oh, and grow your hair back out while you’re at
it, Miley. Please.
8. Echosmith- "Cool Kids":
“Cool
Kids” was the little song that could in 2014. It was released in May 2013, and
just kept climbing and climbing until it found itself at #59 on the Billboard
year-end chart and #7 here on my list. Score one for the Uncool Kids, I guess.
Surprisingly, Echosmith is comprised of four teenaged siblings (their guitarist
is now 21), so I guess the subject matter makes sense, but the overall sound is
impressively grown-up considering how young they are. I expect them to be more
than just one-hit wonders.
7. Maroon 5- "Maps":
As I
mentioned before, Maroon 5 spent much of the first half of 2014 letting
imposters run wild all over the charts, aping their sound and making us wonder
if time had passed by Adam and the boys. But then they came right back with
“Maps” and showed the whole world that nobody goes toe to toe with Maroon 5,
and I assume that’s the last we’ll hear of anybody pretending to be the Kings
of Pop-Rock (emphasis on the pop, and yes I know I already made that joke).
6. Paramore- "Ain't It Fun":
The
upbeat sound and goofy setting-meaningless-world-records video belies a song
with a much harsher and real-world message, and a message that particularly
spoke to me this year as I navigated the aforementioned real world for the
first time. Hayley Williams of Paramore has said that she wrote this song to
herself, not to anyone else, but I think it can be interpreted either way.
Every time I heard this song, I sang along, but I also took it as a kick in the
butt to get moving and make something of myself (still waiting for that to
actually happen though).
5. Coldplay- "A Sky Full of Stars":
With
production by none other then Avicii, this track was always destined for a high
spot on my chart. Ultimately, though, it comes up a little bit short of the top
spot, mostly because it’s just a little...boring? That feels weird to say, but
as much as I liked this song, I was never really passionate about it, because
there just wasn’t much to be passionate about. But in a relatively weak 2014,
it still grabs the #5 spot.
4. Jeremih featuring YG- "Don't Tell 'Em":
Stunningly,
it looks like there’s no official video for this song. I guess that goes to
show that record execs never expected this to be much of a hit. But, as songs
can do these days, it took off anyway based on its obvious strengths. Blessed
with the best beat of 2014 courtesy of DJ Mustard, sultry lyrics from Jeremih,
and a strong guest verse from YG (with the strongest opening line of the
year...you know what I’m talking about), “Don’t Tell ‘Em” was the song I didn’t
mind hearing over and over again this year. It comes in as the top urban song
on my chart, and the top song by an American act.
3. Avicii- "Hey Brother":
Avicii
making Americana music videos? Weird, I know. But that’s what 2013’s album True was all about, if you recall. It’s
sort of cheating to include this song in 2014’s chart, since it was released in
October 2013, but it was within my rules, so here it is, all the way up at #3.
Avicii had the runaway #1 spot last year with “Wake Me Up,” but he comes up a
little short this year. As good as
“Hey Brother” is, it’s just not quite as catchy and perfect as “Wake Me Up”
was. Best of luck to Avicii in 2015 as he tries to get healthy and hopefully
reclaim the top spot.
2. Calvin Harris- "Summer":
Scotland’s
Calvin Harris also seems to enjoy portraying Americana (and tons of babes) in
his videos, and the American-themed attitudes seem to be working for him too,
because he’s tearing up the charts lately. Even “Summer,” which lacks a powerful
guest spot and lets Calvin sing his own track, shot into the Top 10. Was this
song truly transcendent, groundbreaking, or amazing? No, but it was very, very
good, and that means it slides comfortably into the #2 spot. As long as Calvin
keeps putting out jams like this, he’ll keep showing up in my top 5, year after
year.
1. Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne- "Rather Be":
And
that brings us to this years Number 1 song. To be honest, I’m not sure we’ve
ever had a bigger runaway victory than this one. “Rather Be” was so far ahead
of 2014’s competition, it almost wasn’t fair. There were a few tracks that
could have maybe challenged it, but they just missed out on making Billboard chart, so Clean Bandit takes this one unanimously (if that were a thing). From
the beat, to the vocals, to the strings, to the video, to the overall vibe,
this was the feel-good song of the year, and it may even change the game by
encouraging more orchestral sounds in pop music. If you liked “Rather Be,”
check out Clean Bandit's album New Eyes, which
was also my runaway favorite album of the year, for what it’s worth. Good work,
Clean Bandit, I hope to see more of you in 2015. Everyone else, time to step
your game up.
Now enjoy this Spotify playlist of the 20 best hit songs of the year, and check back soon for my list of personal favorites from 2014!
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