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).