A Look Back: 2 0 1 3

Going back through 2012 last time was pretty enjoyable. There were a surprising amount of fun songs from that year and the bad songs weren't as bad as I thought they might have been. 2013 has its share of good pop songs, but the bad songs really stood out this year. It was actually kind of hard to even narrow it down to ten bad songs, forcing me to leave out some songs I really can't stand. Among those songs were:

Luke Bryan - That's My Kinda Night 
A super lame country song about trucks, fishin', beers, and sleeping with tanned blonde girls.

Lil Wayne - Love Me (ft. Drake and Future)
I can't even listen to this song cause I know how gross it is, probably the worst song of the year honestly.

Selena Gomez - Come and Get It
Selena tries her best to make a song about sex, but it still sounds like a little girl who's not really sure what sex is. Breaking out of the Disney image is tough, which is why it seems a lot of the ex-Disney stars tried very hard as soon as they were out of the system to shed that image. Selena just doesn't have enough charisma to pull it off, at least in her early pop music career.

Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop
Just a boring song with not much going on. The vocals are pretty bad and it just feels like it's missing something.

So here are my top ten favorite and least favorite charting songs of 2013:

Worst: Passenger - Let Her Go

Following last year's trend of indie/folk artists getting random hits out of nowhere comes Passenger with his big song "Let Her Go". I'm not sure what it is about this song that makes me dislike it so much. I think I'm just not a fan of his vocal style, which I can't really explain without sounding mean. It's just not my cup of tea I suppose. It just doesn't have the same charm as other similar artists that broke out on the charts around this time like The Lumineers, Vance Joy or Of Monsters and Men. This genre seemed to be at its peak popularity around these years, which always leads to a lot of artists trying to capitalize on that. Not that it's a bad thing, but it usually leads to lots of weaker singles like this one making it on the charts which I think eventually leads to the genre's popularity decreasing like what's happened to many genres over time. The market gets flooded with all the artists trying to ride that wave before it crashes. So far though there have been at least one of these style songs every year so maybe I'm just wrong about this one. I'm probably just being too hard on this song and it's probably not that bad, I just don't get enjoyment from listening to it.

Best: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Thrift Shop

Macklemore destroyed the charts with this song and instantly became a huge star. This was the most popular song of 2013 and it's pretty easy to see why. It's different than anything else on the charts and it just oozes charm and has that music by Ryan Lewis that gets stuck in your head. Thrift Shop is a comedic song that's poking fun at hip-hop culture and all the expensive brands that rappers are always bragging about. Instead, Macklemore is saying how he shops at thrift stores and makes that shit work instead of paying for overpriced t-shirts from designer brands. It works for the most part, though there are some outdated jokes that don't really land (like an R. Kelly reference). This is a fun song overall and it deserved all the attention. Sadly, Macklemore didn't really stick around like I thought he was going to. After a few more big hits from this album, he hasn't really made a huge splash in the charts. Maybe one day Macklemore and Lewis will make a big comeback, but for now, it looks like they're taking a step back. 

Worst: Florida Georgia Line - Cruise (Remix W/ Nelly)

A country song with auto-tune that's about trucks and girls, how original... Actually, maybe it was original in 2013? The chorus doesn't really make any sense saying "Baby you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise". So his pickup line is saying that the girl reminds him of a song that makes him want to drive? How Flattering? 

Oh and Nelly attempts to do a rap verse in this song to give it some kind of cross-over appeal. Of course, it's probably the worst verse Nelly has ever done and it sounds like something he wrote on the way to the recording studio because he forgot to do it earlier. Plus by the time this song was a hit, Nelly wasn't the big pop megastar he was back in the 2000s. The idea of country and hip-hop working together isn't a bad one though, especially since a lot of pop-country hits already borrow a lot from hip-hop and rap. It wasn't really until this year that we got "Old Town Road" which proved that there was a way to do it right and that it ended up being one of the biggest songs of the decade.

Best: Daft Punk - Get Lucky 

Put simply, this song is awesome. It's got a nice funky groove and bass mixed with a modern style. Pharrell is a perfect fit for the vocals, a pretty simple and repetitive melody that works well with the music. The only problem I might have with this song is that it's a bit on the long side and it gets repetitive with the vocals. Maybe cut like thirty seconds and it's close to perfect, but that's just a nitpick. This song is great, but I must admit that coming back to it after all these years it has lost a lot of its magic from 2013. It felt special at the time, especially those first few listens, but I just don't feel the same way listening to this now than how I did back then. Daft Punk haven't really made a follow up to this album yet, but they've helped produce some songs like The Weeknd's last album had a few songs with their print on them.

Worse: Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark

Such a long title for such a terrible song. Fall Out Boy had been on a hiatus since 2008 and had announced their big comeback in 2013. The band was more known for its pop-punk style in the mid-2000s and they were one of the bands that really helped keep that genre popular after bands like Blink-182, Simple Plan and Good Charlotte started to fall off the map a bit. Their 2013 album "Save Rock and Roll" was a step in a whole new direction for them, going for a more pop sound. The song "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" was the biggest hit from this album and it's not a good song. They took all the bad parts of their music and amplified them. The lyrics are bad and the music feels passionless. The songs ends up being pretty annoying after a few listens. The band would go on to release even worse songs over the next few years all leading to one of the worst pop-rock albums of recent memory "Mania" in 2018. I guess you can't fault them for finding even more success than their original run in the 2000s, but for me, it was a step in the wrong direction. At least I can always go back and enjoy those older albums I guess. I know it's necessary for bands to evolve to stay relevant in the scene, but this felt more like several steps backward.

Best: Paramore - Still Into You

Another hit song from one of my favorite bands around. I have to admit this is probably the weakest song out of all their big hits, but I still enjoy it a lot. It has a really interesting music arrangement and the bass and guitar are doing a really unique and catchy riff/line. The lyrics aren't anything special, but it gets the job done at being a sappy, but catchy love song. The weakest part might just be the vocals during the verses, it just feels a bit too much at times with the way she emphasizes certain words while singing. Just some minor flaws, but still a fun song overall.

Worst: Katy Perry - Roar

Katy Perry tries her best to make another big self-empowerment song like "Firework" with this 2013 hit "Roar". This song just doesn't come anywhere near to measuring up to "Firework". "Roar" is a pretty dull song that's missing all of the fun energy of "Firework" and just feels pretty empty overall. The music is very forgettable and basic alongside a bunch of cliche lyrics that somehow took 5 people to write. It feels like an unused song from a Frosted Flakes commercial that was passed on to Katy Perry. The idea behind the song is good, but the execution is just severely lacking. It was with this album that I really started to lose interest in Katy Perry as an artist. The rest of the world would lose interest in her big failure of an album "Witness" in 2017. It does look like she's trying for a comeback soon though, hopefully, that works out better for her.

Best: OneRepublic - Counting Stars

OneRepublic had a good amount of hits before this song. They were a popular Adult Alternative band, but they always felt like they were lacking something. Lead singer Ryan Tedder is a pretty big songwriter in the music world. He's written some big songs for artists like Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Adele, and Ellie Goulding. His band OneRepublic though, never really had a hit that I could fully get behind, that is until "Counting Stars". This song had a different energy than anything the band had ever really done. It felt like they took everything they had been missing and changed it all with one song. The song was catchy, energetic, and stood out in the charts/radio at the time as something really different. The thing about making a song this good is that it's really hard to follow up. They probably won't make another song like this one, but there's always a chance. At least it took the band in a good direction and brought in tons of new fans. 

Oh and that bridge is so damn good.

Worst: Drake - Started From the Bottom

U G H. Drake is back with another huge hit (sadly) about the struggles he faced on his way to becoming famous. Struggles like working a job, driving in traffic and sometimes arguing with his mother. Things that NO ONE ELSE in the world goes through on a daily basis. This song is just a huge waste of time with no real impact or story. Drake has no energy at all as the song drags on for the three longest minutes EVER. He barely explains any of his struggles to get to his current position as a big pop star and it feels more like he's just complaining about nothing. It's still shocking how someone who makes music this lifeless and boring can be the biggest pop star in the world right now. 

Best: Lorde - Royals

Lorde was a real game-changer in the early 2010s and it started here with "Royals". A song that feels like it came out of nowhere and it was so different. It felt like it was going against everything that was trendy at the time, in a very Punk Rock sort of way, except with way less energy I guess. "Royals" or Lorde in general, really seemed to start a shift in what was accepted in the pop music scene. Lots of artists have had success following Lorde's style and presentation of her music. While I like Lorde and her music a lot, some of the trend-following artists aren't as entertaining or talented. Still, this is what always happens in pop music, a big new artist drops a game-changing album and lots of other artists try to follow that trend. Can't really blame them either for it, it's just smart business. Much like the '90s saw the rise of euro-club hits or the early '00s brought the rise of crunk hits. All this to say that "Royals" is a cool song that holds up still and Lorde is a great artist, one worthy of starting a trend. While I'm not a big fan of other artists with similar styles like Halsey and Kiiara, I don't hate the trend that's still going pretty strong to this day. Who knows, maybe without this shift we would have never gotten Billie Eilish. 

Worst: Maroon 5 - Daylight

A very boring Maroon 5 song with a very weak chorus. I don't know what else to say about Maroon 5 anymore, I think I've pretty much said all I could at this point (since they seem to show up on these lists pretty much every time). This is the kind of lifeless single that feels like it was written using algorithms and computers to gauge what the general audience is looking for in a song.

Best: Justin Timberlake / JAY Z - Suit & Tie

While Macklemore is wearing his best thrift store finds, JT and JAY Z are wearing their suit and ties for a nice evening at their local Applebees. Before Justin put his career on hold with a mediocre Super Bowl show and badly received album in 2018, he released this pretty big double album "The 20/20 Experience".  The first single was the huge hit "Suit & Tie" which was all about style and class with a lot of charm. Justin always had great charisma (until 2018 apparently) and a song like this works so well thanks to his talent and said charisma. But you know what's better than getting all dressed up in a suit to go to a lame fancy party? Going to the thrift store. 

Worst: Pitbull / Christina Aguilera - Feel This Moment

What did you do Pitbull? WHAT DID YOU DO?!? How do you ruin one of the best '80s songs ever made? How do you consistently make terrible song after terrible song and still find such huge success? Christina sounds pretty awful on this song too as she shouts her "woahs" into the microphone. I don't know, this song is just a mess. Stop trying to ruin the '80s.

Best: Icona Pop - I LOVE IT

This song is a loud mess and I DON'T CARE, I LOVE IT! Seriously though, this song is so much fun. It's short, it's loud, it's energetic and most importantly, it's fun. Did I mention this song is fun? Probably the only big hit we'll get here in the USA from Swedish pop duo Icona Pop, which is probably okay since this is by far their best song. Charli XCX also makes an appearance here before she had her own big hit next year (which may or may not be on my list for 2014 *wink wink*). It seems this song is about moving on from your previous relationship by crashing cars into bridges, which is completely healthy and recommended by most therapists... the good ones anyway. It's one of those songs where the lyrics actually match the chaotic music that's alongside it, which I really appreciate. 

Worst: Black Eyed Peas guy - Scream & Shout (with Britney Spears)

What's all this then? This song is so dull and lifeless and it's supposed to be a club hit. Like, what do you do when the DJ puts this song on in the club? I imagine this song sucks all the energy out of the room and makes everyone go home and think about their life choices, or at least club choices. Will.i.am just makes some really boring music and his vocals along with Britney's are so dull and bring no energy to a song that desperately needs it. I hate Pitbull, but at least his club songs are full of fun and energy that can get some people pumped up and dancing. The chorus literally says "I want to scream and shout and let it all out" in the most unenergetic dead-pan delivery possible. 

Best: Capital Cities - Safe and Sound

Ah yes, my favorite car commercial song of 2013. No seriously, this is a really good song and it's aged pretty well over the years. The horns are still pretty iconic and memorable and the music has a fun modern energy that was pretty fresh at the time. Although Capital Cities haven't really had any other hits after this song, which is pretty disappointing since they had a lot of potential and they do have some decent songs outside of this one. It's a bit repetitive, even for a three-minute song, but it's got enough variations and changes in the music to keep it from getting boring. The vocals are OK, good enough to fit this style of music, but not too impressive. Overall just a good song with some memorable music that's held up pretty well these years.

Worst: Will.i.am - #ThatPower (with Justin Bieber)

Yeah, another one of HIS songs. Pretty much copy and paste everything from his last song onto here. 

Will.i.am has some terrible bars in these two songs, complete with bad rhyming and lazy metaphors/similes and rhyming words with themselves. Then there's Justing Bieber singing about how ALIVE he feels with zero energy. As if Will.i.am knows what that feels like.

Best: Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

Another hit for the indie-folk genre here. Also another big hit with horns in it, I guess 2013 was the year that horns made a huge come-back. This is one of those songs I really like, but for some reason never really listen to. I guess maybe that means that maybe I really don't like it? It's still a good song anyway and it's got dual male/female vocals which I always enjoy in a song (when done right). Of course, this was the only hit song they ever had, but they've had good success outside of that and they seem to be going strong to this day. I'd kill to have a song like this on the charts right now in 2019 though, cause it's not looking very good right now.

THE WORST SONG: Lil' Wayne - Love Me (With Drake and Future)

I couldn't leave this one out as much as I wanted to. I hate this song so much I HAD to put it as the worse song of the year 2013. Everything about this song is awful, gross and frustrating. Lil' Wayne and his "friends" spend the four longest minutes ever bragging about how much sex they have and how that's pretty much all they need from women. The beat is not too bad, but it doesn't take away from the awful lyrics and the lifeless delivery of said lyrics, especially from Drake and Future. I'm gonna go cry in the shower now : ) 

THE BEST SONG: Bruno Mars: Treasure / Locked Out of Heaven 

I couldn't really decide which of these to put as first, so I put them both! Bruno Mars is an interesting artist and his first few hits were pretty underwhelming in my opinion. He started off as a more clean-cut pop artist making simple love songs without much personality. It wasn't until this year (2013) with his second album that he really found his personality (as an artist) and started putting it into his music. Bruno Mars really showed off a lot of charm and talent with these two songs, taking inspiration from other genres like funk, R&B, '80s rock while inserting his own style into it. The music is just as good as Bruno Mars' vocals and everything comes together so well in both songs, but most importantly it actually sounds like he's having fun and it's infectious. Bruno Mars was already an established hitmaker at this point, but I really think these two songs sent him into superstardom. In just a few years came "Uptown Funk" which sent Bruno Mars into a whole new level of style and like-ability. Then his album "24K Magic" won a Grammy for best album, so I'd say he's doing pretty well. 

And that's a wrap on 2013. A decent year for pop music, but again, not as good as 2012 overall. I'm gonna be finishing up this retrospective thing with 2014 and 2015 since I've already done a list for 2016-2018 previously. Then after this year is over I'll do a 2019 list and possibly an overall review for the entire decade of music (the 2010s). 

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Ad Astra

I've been craving a good sci-fi film for a while, feels like it's been a while since there's been a good space focused movie like this one. Ad Astra is a movie that promises to be the same caliber as great space movies like "Gravity" and "Interstellar". The movie stars Brad Pitt and is directed by James Gray (Who made that good movie "Lost City of Z"). The story centers around Brad Pitt's character, an astronaut who is named Roy McBride, as he gets a special mission relating to his father. McBride's father has been missing for decades and was presumed to be dead after a failed project in Neptune. That presumption comes into question after strange activity coming directly from Neptune starts affecting the Earth and surrounding planets in catastrophic ways. Roy's father could still be alive and he could be the reason this is happening, which is why Roy is used to possibly find him as his only living family member.

Ad Astra is an interesting movie, to say the least. The thing about this movie is that it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing really. Brad Pitt's performance is a very quiet one, where his character actually doesn't say much in the movie. Instead, we get most of the story through his own thoughts narrating his feelings throughout the story. Through his thoughts, the movie shows you what kind of person he is and how he feels about the world around him, which is important to know as the story progresses and you see his change. The ultimate message of the movie/moral is one that I think is important, but perhaps a bit disappointing to me. The reason why it's disappointing is that throughout the movie, there's a lot of mystery about what exactly is going on in Neptune. I don't want to go into much detail about it because I don't want to spoil the movie, but I was kind of disappointed in the final act of the movie. It wasn't bad, but I guess I just wanted it to be something different, maybe a little more epic perhaps.

Where this movie truly shines though are it's visuals. This movie is a treat to the eyes and every second was a joy to watch. From the opening minutes, I was hooked by the great visuals and shots of space and the great effects mixed with built sets used for filming. It has a great atmosphere and along with the music really captured my attention throughout its entire runtime. Like I said before, this is a more quiet and slow-moving story, especially towards the latter parts. Though there are still some great action sequences that I thought were really well done. There's a lot of attention to detail used in the sets and of course, outer space looks great. My favorite thing about these kinds of movies is always the use of light in the shots and this movie uses light in a lot of interesting ways for some beautiful moments or intense moments. That alongside the more subtle/quieter performances made for a really interesting experience. Everything feels really grounded and believable in this future world (with small exceptions) and I felt like this could perhaps one day be the future of our world.

Ad Astra was a treat to my eyes on a visual level. The only thing keeping this movie from being great was a slower told story that I feel didn't have the best pay off at the end. It was still a satisfying one though, and I still enjoyed pretty much every minute of this movie. Any fan of Sci-fi or space movies should give this a watch. I think it's a movie that a lot of people might find boring, especially if you're looking for action or a lot of character development. I think it has a good message, fantastic visuals, good acting and a good mysterious tone for the first chunk of the movie. I really enjoyed it overall and I'd gladly watch it again at some point.

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A Look Back: 2 0 1 2

2012 was believed by dozens to be the end of the world, the year that earth would explode and the sun would come crashing into us and end all of life as we know it or something like that. That didn't actually happen obviously (probably), but it did inspire a great year of pop music... or at least that's the only reasonable explanation. 2012 was one of the best years for pop music and the charts in general. So many great songs this year and lots of variety coming in from different genres and new artists. Like always, there were plenty of terrible songs, but it felt like a lot less this year and the good music seemed to stick around more than the bad from what I can remember. So I'll be listing all my favorite songs and my least favorite songs from 2012 here. But before that here's some songs I wasn't really sure about:

Good?: Jessie J - Domino

This song is really weird. I want to like it because of it's pretty catchy and Jessie J's vocals are pretty fantastic. The problem is I have no idea what she's singing about. I assume it's about love or some kind of relationship, but some of the lyrics just don't make much sense. Lines like "You strum me like a guitar", "You're like a shot of pure gold" and "Take me down like I'm a domino" are a few of the lines from this song that really don't make much sense. Besides that, I think it's an alright song... just really weird. 

Ugh?: Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup

I was gonna put this in the bad song list, but that would mean I have to admit that whatever this is, is actually a song. I guess it's supposed to be funny, but I'm certain that after listening to this "song" I'll never laugh again. 

Uhhh?: Psy -  Gangnam Style

THIS SONG WAS EVERYWHERE and honestly, I didn't hate it. It got old after a while, sure, and it's not the kind of song I'm going to be listening to outside of doing things like this list. It's a catchy song and it knows what it's supposed to be. It takes itself as seriously as you'd expect a song like this to, which is not serious at all. It's fun and dumb and had a very memorable music video with an insane amount of views on YouTube. For that, it will always be remembered but as a song... it's OKAY. 

Meh?: One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

This was around the start of the One Direction craze of the 2010s. This song was a massive step into getting One Direction into becoming one of the biggest groups in recent memory. This song is okay, not the worst they made or the best. The chorus is insanely catchy and powerful in that pop earworm sort of way. The lyrics are the one thing that keeps this from being good. They are pretty pandering to their younger fanbase and the lyrics aren't specific enough to be talking about anyone in particular so it's easy to put yourself into the song.

alright now here's the actual best/worst list...

Worst: Flo Rida - Whistle

Very clever Mr. Flo Rida, making a song about blowjobs under the "clever" double meaning of blowing whistles. Everyone knows what this song is about, and it was still played everywhere. Flo Rida is the king of commercial pop jingles, cause all his hit songs are featured in commercials. This one I remember being on vacation and cruise ads for families. The funny part is most of the commercials cut out his vocals, probably cause they aren't TV appropriate and also kinda suck. This song is pretty standard Flo Rida. A catchy chorus that gets played everywhere with meaningless verses you can barely understand. The music isn't terrible I guess, but Flo Rida sucks all the joy out of this song with his anti-talent non-personality. 

Best: Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know

This was the number one song of 2012 and it still doesn't really make sense to me. Not because it's a bad song, because I really like this song. The reason it doesn't make sense is the fact that Gotye kind of came out of nowhere and then disappeared along with his massive hit. It didn't fit in with any of the trends of the year, nor is it a genre you usually expect to get hits from. Still, this song was HUGE and it was everywhere in 2012. It's really interesting musically, with a nice buildup to the chorus. The verses are almost whispered until the chorus where they really take off. The second part features Kimbra, an artist who didn't take off as much as I thought she would, considering how talented she is. Both artists are still around making music, though will probably never find the same success as they found with this song. Gotye still plays for his band The Basics, who might be worth checking out if you were a Gotye fan. 

Worst: Train - Drive By

I think I might have liked this song at one point in my life, which is pretty scary to think about. I'll always love Train's "Drops of Jupiter" despite all its weirdness, it still has enough charm to keep it fun. This song though has all the weirdness of "Drops of Jupiter" with none of the charm. The lyrics somehow make even less sense than a lot of their other songs. The chorus includes the lines "Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply, Hefty bag to hold my love". Pat Monahan's vocals are pretty grating too, not making it any easier to listen to this garbage. This song belongs in a Hefty bag.

Best: Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

My feelings on Carly Rae Jepsen have changed a lot since this song came out. Of course, my feelings on music, in general, have changed a lot these last few years. This song was a joke when it first came out. It's one of those songs that I felt like I wasn't supposed to like because of it's super poppy and cheesy sound. Carly Rae has shown a lot of growth as an artist since this song came out and has some really good songs in her catalog. Coming back to "Call Me Maybe" I can appreciate the fact that she's moved on from this and made a lot of improvements. Still, this song is fun despite all its flaws like the weak lyrics and repetitive music.

Worst: Justin Bieber - Boyfriend

Just a really boring Justin Bieber song. I feel like Justin was trying way too hard to be "Sexyback" era Justin Timberlake in this song and it doesn't work at all. This whole song just feels wrong. Like a little kid trying his best to be the "sexy bad boy", but you know he's way too young to pull it off. The music is also pretty much crap with some weak beats and some light acoustic guitar and whistling noises in the background. 

Best: Imagine Dragons - It's Time

Imagine Dragon's first album was a pretty decent one that showed lots of potential for this group. "It's Time" has some good music behind it and a simple message that can resonate with most people. Imagine Dragons always kind of felt like a rock band for people who are trying to get into rock music. It's easy to listen and get into these early Imagine Dragons songs and maybe it's something for people who aren't into rock music to ease their way into other bands. Sadly, this was the peak for Imagine Dragons in my opinion. With every new release, they have gotten worse and worse musically. Even a decent song like "It's Time" is hard to find in their new albums.

Worst: Tyga - Rack City

Probably the most boring song ever made by the most boring human-like creature that goes by the name Tyga. Here he doesn't even pretend to sound remotely human with all his emotionless babble about having sex with your grandma alongside the usual garbage DJ Mustard production. Tyga's career is one of the saddest parts of modern music charts. How a boring repetitive song like this ever got popular is so baffling and confusing to me. Further proof that it doesn't take talent to be famous.

Best: fun. - We Are Young

Much like Gotye, fun was a band that came and went within a year after their big hit. The difference here is that fun had two pretty big hits before going away (Some Nights being the other one). Just like Gotye, this song felt like it was an outsider in the pop charts because it didn't really sound like a lot of the music on it. This song has was definitely used as every high school graduation song in the year 2012 unless you went to an art school. The song has a nice epic feel while somehow being a pretty chill song at the same time. The lyrics (specifically the chorus) are a bit cliche, but the music gives it a unique feel. It has a nice buildup, gradually increasing in intensity with every verse and chorus. Then the song finally explodes after the second chorus until the final slowdown chorus. It's very catchy and really gets me pumped up to go day drinking and do some stupid shit. Well, I guess I wouldn't go that far. The band Fun is around anymore and this was their last album. The lead singer Nate Ruess went on to find his own fame outside of the group, while Jack went on to focus on his project "Bleachers" and make more great music. 

Worst: Nicki Minaj - Starships

Nicki tried her hand at going full pop singer with her song "Starships". It sort of sounds like a mix of Ke$ha and Flo Rida style pop music and it kinda works at first but doesn't hold up throughout its runtime. The chorus isn't terrible, it has a certain charm to it and it's incredibly catchy in a way that's not too annoying. What is annoying though is when Nicki uses her weird voices during the verses and the really loud music after the chorus is pretty bad too. Nicki tries her best to be relatable to "normal" people in the lyrics, but it's not very convincing. This song could have worked if Nicki stayed away from her weird quirks she was doing back then and the music chilled out a bit. 

Best: Ellie Goulding - Lights

I talked about this song recently so here's what I thought about it to not repeat myself again:

 I've always found Ellie Goulding to be a pretty dull artist, but there was always one song that I enjoyed by her, and that song is Lights. The soft background music backed with the heavy bass works really well, in my opinion, and the build to the louder and stronger chorus is pretty great. The song is about a simple subject, the fear of sleeping in the dark. I find it really cool that Ellie was open enough to write a song about this and be open about this fear, which a lot of people could be embarrassed by. The lights give her comfort and make her feel at home, being surrounded by loved ones. As a pop song, it works really well because it's catchy and the music does a good job at supporting the vocals, lyrics and the theme of the song. 

Special thanks for whoever wrote this gem of a song description on the Genius site. Brilliant. (still funny a few months later).

Worst: Selena Gomez - Love You Like A Love Song (barf)

One of the worst choruses of the decade and it still sounds as stupid as it did back then. "I love you like a love song" might be the dumbest/laziest simile in any pop song ever made. well, I guess Train comparing a one night stand to a drive-by shooting is up there too. Besides that though, this is a really boring song with no redeeming qualities : )

Best: Neon Trees - Everybody Talks (except me, I write)

I suppose this song is about how much people love to gossip about other people. Yet another song indie rock that came out of nowhere and hit pretty big. It's pretty easy to see why though, it's extremely catchy. A poppy beat with a simple, but effective bass to back it up. There's a way to make simplicity in music work well and this is a great example of how to do that. 

Worst: Cher Lloyd - Want U Back (UGH!!!!)

Man, this song really sucks and I kind of like it for some strange reason. Maybe it's the random "UGH!" sounds every 30 seconds, maybe it's just so bad it's good? I really don't know. Either way, this song is obviously about Cher wanting to get back with her ex after seeing him with a new girlfriend even though she's the one who broke up with him. Basically, she only wants him back because he's moved on from her. The vocals aren't good and can actually be pretty annoying at times with all the grunts and the weird delivery of some lines. It's like she's trying really hard to give it some personality, but takes it a little too far. I'd still rather listen to this mess 100 times over listening to "Rack City" once though. It has a strange charm to it that's hypnotizing me and I can't seem to move on. Someone come rescue me, my address is-

Best: Owl City/Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time

Yes, I have Carly Rae Jepson twice on this list and you know what, I really like her. It's also nice to have Owl City back from last year's charts proving to everyone that he's not a one-hit-wonder. I actually quite like the album this song is from, it's a solid one by Owl City. This is definitely the most pop song on the album, kind feels designed to be a hit. It's another catchy song in the same vane as "We Are Young" by Fun. This one has a lot more energy though and I love the pairing of Owl City and Carly Rae. It's a pop song where the singers actually sound like they are having fun, strangely hard to find sometimes. It has that great Owl City music, with lots of great synths and bass sounds. This song is indeed... a good time. *puts on sunglasses while explosion goes off*

Worst: Rihanna - Birthday Cake

I wanted to include the really awkward/gross version that had Chris Brown as a feature, which was their first collab after the assault. The only one I could find on Spotify was a heavily edited version that pretty much cuts out all of Chris Brown's parts, which is good. This song is still bad on its own, but having that Chris Brown presence while they sing to each other about dirty sex is just really bad. I don't really want to say anything else about this song.

Best: Adele - Set Fire to the Rain

Look it's Adele, we all know how good she is. This song is no different, she kills it. The end?

Worst: Pitbull - Back in Time

How to make a bad song in two steps:

1. Hire Pitbull

2. Refer to number one

This was the main theme to the third Men in Black movie, the last one with Will Smith. It's already disappointing enough that Will Smith himself didn't make the song, but did his replacement have to be Pitbull?! Men in Black 3 was a decent movie that I forget exists, nowhere near as good as the first but definitely better than the second. Compared to Will Smith's kids; Men in Black one is Willow, Men in Black 2 is Jaden and Men in Black 3 is... the other one. 

ANYWAY, this song sucks is what I'm trying to say. It has a really bad dubstep breakdown in the middle that sounds so out of place. The only good thing about this song is hearing Pitbull screaming "NUMBER TWOOOO!".  Yeah, it's a pretty low bar.

Best: Gavin Degraw - Not Over You

Probably one of the best mainstream breakup songs of the decade. It's so honest and relatable and Gavin Degraw really knows how to sell it perfectly. It's all about trying to save face during a hard breakup and trying to play it cool when in reality you are hurting inside trying and haven't moved on yet. The idea that there's still this sliver of hope that things might work out and you could get back together, even though it's probably not ideal or likely. The kind of hope that ends up leaving you with disappointment usually because the feelings aren't being reciprocated anymore. There's a hopeful tone to the song that really works well with the lyrics. This song is just great and it really captures the feelings that its lyrics are about.

THE WORST SONG OF 2012: Maroon 5 - Payphone

I think this was the song where I realized that Maroon 5 was going full pop and were going to stick to trying to write easy hit songs instead of just making good music. Not that hit songs can't be good, cause that's obviously not true. It's just that ever since this song, Maroon 5 have only made lazy pop songs that feature famous rappers. In this one, they feature the mediocre Wiz Khalifa who immediately goes against the theme of the song and just starts bragging about how rich and awesome he is. Not that it really matters cause the song has a dumb theme anyway. Focusing on payphones in an era where payphones aren't really a thing anymore is pretty dumb. It's also not like this song takes place in the past, cause Wiz mentions having a cell phone in his verse. The beginning of the end. 

THE BEST SONG OF 2012: The Lumineers - Ho Hey

I love The Lumineers and honestly forgot how big this song really was. 2012 really was the year of indie music coming out of nowhere into the charts. This song is fantastic though, it's about unrequited love or possibly a failed relationship. The singer is thinking about the love that could have been and the moments they could have shared but ultimately didn't. The song feels simple but has a lot of nice details in the music. The guitar alongside banjo and Tamborine make a nice sound, that folksy quality the Lumineers are known for. It was a great introduction to the band and I've grown to love their music over the years. An easy choice for my favorite charting song of  2012.

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