The Worst Songs of 2025 (and best too, sort of)

2025! What a year to be alive. A year that only seemed to keep getting worse as the months kept passing by. Everything just kind of sucks around here right now, but at least we got some great music to get us through it all, right? Well, yes and no. Outside of the charts, music was pretty great, and we got a bunch of great albums from established names and even some newcomers. ON the charts, however, it wasn't so hot. 2025 was one of the most stagnant years for pop music in a loooong time, like it was almost shocking how little things seemed to move on the charts. So much so that a lot of the most popular songs of this year were just the same hits from last year. It was so bad that Billboard had to create new rules for how long a song can stay at the top of the charts before being removed completely. I call this the Teddy Swims rule, as his hit song "Lose Control" was on the charts, floating around the top 10 for over two years, until the new rules were established, and it was finally pulled off the charts. A lot of songs were finally removed thanks to this new rule. So, making this year-end list I usually make became pretty difficult when a lot of the songs I had to pick from were songs that were on my list last year. Plus, the fact that most of the new songs weren't really sticking with me much. So with all that out of the way, here are the worst songs of the year! and a couple of decent ones too, I guess. 

THE WORST!

TAYLOR SWIFT - ACTUALLY ROMANTIC

So Taylor released another album this year. I believe that's 6 albums in 6 years now, so she's been pretty busy along with her tours. The Life of a Showgirl is her latest album, and it was received with mixed reactions. Despite that, it still sold a billion copies more or less, and every song on the album charted on the Hot 100. I myself found the album to be a bit of a mixed bag, with some great songs and some duds all wrapped into an okay album. This was probably my least favorite from the album for several reasons. The main one is just how dull the music turned out on this track. The song is carried by an electric guitar strumming some simple chords, but it really sounds weak, along with the rest of the music in this song. Just bad production all around, really. As for the lyrics, well, it's said that this is meant to be a diss track aimed at fellow star Charli XCX, though I don't think Taylor ever confirmed that herself. Even if it's not aimed at her, it's still a pretty weak diss track overall, as Taylor calls out "Charli" for being obsessed with her. The main diss being that "Charli" is giving her so much attention that she must be in love with Taylor. As far as diss songs go, it's a bit childish. 

The song that people say is Charli's diss track to Taylor is called "Sympathy is a Knife." Honestly, after listening to it and reading the lyrics, it really doesn't even seem like a diss song to me. It's more about how insecure Charli feels around a certain person who's possibly Taylor Swift.  

BENSON BOONE - MYSTICAL MAGICAL

It's so great that one of the few songs that really took off this year was also one of the more annoying songs I've heard recently. Dumb lyrics, annoying vocals, and a chorus that only makes me think of the song "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John. Benson Boone was coming off a high when his song "Beautiful Things" became a huge hit last year and made him a new star. He tried to take advantage of his new stardom by releasing a new album this year, and it was... well, it was pretty bad actually. It was pretty much the worst thing he could have made right after finding success last year. The album was a mess, but he still managed to get a few hits out of it, one of those hits being "Mysical Magical". I don't know why I dislike this song so much, but it might just be the moonbeam ice cream that he keeps forcing into the song. Gotta get that CRUMBL partnership, I guess? The chorus also gets annoying after one or two listens. That being said, Benson Boone is still a decent artist and out of all other artists on the worst list, he's the only one I can see bounce back. Just stop making annoying ass music, perhaps.

MORGAN WALLEN - WHAT I WANT (W/ Tate McRae)

What happens when two boring artists team up for a hit song? Well, nothing interesting. That's it. I've gone on and on about how much I dislike Wallen's music from the last 5 years. It won't be the last time on this list, so spoilers, I guess? I truly don't get Tate McRae as an artist, though. I have no idea why she is a mega star in today's music scene. Nothing I've heard from her makes me think she's anything other than a generic pop singer. She's like the Corn Flakes of pop music. No offense to Corn Flakes. 

MORGAN WALLEN - JUST IN CASE

The most boring artist your friends like for some reason released a new album this year. Another 2-hour-long masterclass in time wasting. Dude, can you stop making these long ass albums when you barely have enough good material to make an EP? I seriously want to know who sits through these two-hour-long albums and actually enjoys them, because I can't imagine any real human actually being able to do that. The sad part is this might be one of the better songs from the album, but that's not really saying much. It's at least got a hint of emotion, a bit of story about him still in love with someone he can't have. That being said, the song is still incredibly boring from Wallen, and maybe could've worked better with another singer. 

ALEX WARREN  - ORDINARY

I mentioned this song in my last post, where I talked about the worst songs of the 2020s so far. The song here isn't bad in an interesting way, but just extremely boring in a way that makes it easy to forget. The kind of song you only listen to because everyone keeps using it on their TikToks for engagement. Once that fad went away, the song went away with it, and we're left with a song that most people won't remember after this year ends, at least people who like good music anyway. Just writing about this song is putting me to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Sorry, fell asleep while typing there. 

FORREST FRANK - YOUR WAY'S BETTER

Christian music's back babyyyyy (sigh). Oh, wait, this actually sounds like trash. I guess it's not that surprising that a Christian song would become a pop hit in 2025, kind of the way things are going these days. I guess I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the fact that this song is so incredibly lame. Terrible production with some of the cringiest lyrics you can find. "Making waves like a jetski" is an actual line in this song. It almost reminds me of an AJR song, which is not a good thing. I don't know, I mean, a lot of popular Christian music back in the day was this cheesy and lame, but I swear there were good artists out there who actually made great songs that weren't as pandering as this.

KOE WETZEL - HIGH ROAD (w/ Jessie Murph)

Jessie Murph is on this song? Believe it or not, straight on the worst songs list. I can't stand Jessie's vocals, and anytime I hear them, the song instantly becomes unlistenable. Not that the song would be much better without her, as it's still a pretty boring country pop song at the end of the day. But I guess that's what people like these days, boring ass country anthems that won't be remembered next year. 

JESSIE MURPH - BLUE STRIPS

Oh, look, it's Jessie Murph again. This time, it's just her alone, which is 100 times worse than her being in a song with Koe Wetzel or Jelly Roll. This straight up sounds like shit, and I have no idea how anyone can listen to Jessie Murph for fun. This feels like a joke. Why does she have so many hits right now? Why is she allowed to have a career in music? I've lost all hope in music this year after all these terrible songs. I think I understand why so many hits this year were just the same songs from last year now. It's because 2025 literally gave us nothing new to listen to in pop music. Everyone is too depressed to make good music now, thanks, America. Thank God for indie music because if not, we'd have nothing new to listen to this year. Also, thank you Lady Gaga, for making one of the few great pop albums of the year. 

MORGAN WALLEN - I'M THE PROBLEM

Morgan Wallen and Jessie Murph are the worst things to happen to music in 2025, as they both have at least two songs on this list. This song is just depressing as Morgan whines about his ex-girlfriend and their messy relationship. In the song, Wallen questions his ex's taste in men by asking why she stuck around so long with him, putting up with his bullshit all the time. Wallen thinks his awful behavior could partially be blamed on her because she kept coming back to him despite the fact that she seems to think he's terrible and possibly has a drinking problem. The whole "if I'm so bad, then why do you keep coming back" thing is annoying too, as if people didn't struggle with leaving terrible relationships for actual good reasons. Besides the bad lyrics, the song itself is another boring Wallen song where the most interesting thing about it IS the bad lyrics. 

THE GOOD?

Okay, I wasn't being completely serious about all the pop music being terrible this year; there were a few songs I really liked. 

TAYLOR SWIFT - OPALITE

I'll admit I wasn't super into Taylor's new album "The Life of a Showgirl.", although it was nice to see her return to a more upbeat pop sound this year, as much as I enjoyed Folklore and Midnights. Opalite was a standout from the new album, as a straight-up catchy song with fun music and a memorable chorus. The song is about Taylor finding her own joy in life through the hard times and stress. It could also be about the happiness she found in her relationship with Kelce. The joy of the song is pretty contagious, which I think is why I enjoy it so much. 

KENDRICK LAMAR - TV OFF (w/ Lefty gunplay)

One of the few albums to really take off this year (it was released late 2024). It's Kendrick, so you expect greatness from him, and this album delivered on that. I love the energy of the track "TV OFF," as Kendrick spits awesome verses on the great production by DJ Mustard and... JACK ANTENOFF?!? Well, I didn't see that one coming. This is one of the more energetic tracks off of GNX, and I love it when Kendrick does these kinds of tracks. 

KENDRICK LAMAR - LUTHER (w/ SZA) 

Speaking of GNX, here's another great track from that album. This was the bigger hit as the duo of Kendrick and SZA always seems to equal a huge hit. This is a much slower track, but it's still just as good as the last one (TV OFF). It has a nice beat with some nice strings and piano carrying it on top of the usual heavy bass. 

SAJA BOYS - SODA POP

Just when I thought the days of seeing K-pop hits crossover to the USA were done, out comes one of the biggest hit movies of the year with multiple hit songs.  I don't know what to say, outside of that the song is extremely catchy and fun, and it's exactly what this year needed more of in the charts. Probably should have been the song of the summer, but instead we got "Ordinary". 

BAD BUNNY - DtMF

It was another big year for the Bad Bunny. Releasing a new album in the first week of the year was a smart move, as the album dominated the conversations when there weren't many other big albums so early in the year. That tied with him standing up against the crappy state of the USA and touring exclusively outside of the country, and of course, in Puerto Rico. Speaking of Puerto Rico, the song feels like a love letter to his home, family, friends, and island. It's that with a mix of nostalgia, good memories, maybe some regrets as well. 

CHAPELL ROAN - THE SUBWAY

Chappell released two new singles this year in "The Giver" and "The Subway." The first one wasn't the best, at least in my opinion; it felt like a step down from all the great music she made in the last two years.  The Subway, on the other hand, was much better. The song is all about the frustration after having your heart broken, those weeks/months after, where you can't stop thinking about the person with whom you broke it off, and everything reminds you of them. It captures that feeling well, and I like the idea of just Chapell just clamoring for the boring daily subway rides where she's not reminded of her ex. 

LADY GAGA - ABRACADABRA

I wasn't kidding when I thanked Lady Gaga earlier for making one of the best pop albums. Lady Gaga had her big comeback album after a 5-year gap between her last one in 2020. It really felt like Gaga returning to her big signature sound, and it was easily one of the best albums of the year, certainly the best pop album. It's a shame the only really big song from this album ended up being last year's single "Die With a Smile," because that song almost feels out of place with the rest of the album. I think "Abracadabra" is a much better representation of how fun her new album was. Only Gaga can write a chorus that sounds like gibberish and make it work. But if, for whatever reason, you haven't heard this album yet, please go listen to it. 

Best Songs (outside of Pop Charts)

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Twenty One Pilots - City Walls

PARTYOF2 - Feel Love

After - 300 dreams

Sam Fender - Rein Me In

The Aces - Gold Star Baby

Perfume Genius - No Front Teeth

Laufey - Tough Luck

JADE - Plastic Box

Wolf Alice - The Sofa

Best Albums 

Wolf Alice - The Clearing

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

JADE - That's Showbiz Baby!

Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out

Laufey - A Matter of Time

Lady Gaga  - MAYHEM

Bad Suns - Accelerator

Kali Uchis - Sincerely, 

The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre

Djo - The Crux

Random "Awards"

Underrated Album of the Year: Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful

Considering how big a star she is, I feel like this album wasn't really talked about much. While not her best album in my opinion, it was a big step up from her last release (Endless Summer Vacation). 

Overrated Album of the Year: Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

Overrated is probably too strong a word. The truth for me is that the album is just okay, but most people either see it as another masterpiece or the worst thing she's ever done. It's probably the only album I could have put as both overrated and underrated because of the reaction to it being so polarizing. It's certainly her weakest album in a while, but that doesn't automatically make it the worst thing in the world. On the other hand, it's Taylor, so this album still sold more than the Bible this year. That and every single song on the album was on the charts for multiple weeks. It probably deserves to be somewhere in the middle, so that's why I put it here. 

Worst AI song: We Are Charlie Kirk 

I'm not even going to name the artist because it's not really an artist, it's just AI. I mean, I know for a fact there are worse AI songs out there, but this one actually had some success on the music charts, which is just depressing. Even if you ignore the subject material, the song is terrible with the crappy AI vocals belting the chorus. 

Worst Trend: AI Music

Not that AI in music hasn't been used before 2025, but this year, it just really ramped up in quantity. Spotify has been seeing more and more AI artists and bands join its service and some of them actually get a good amount of streams. AI Art in general has been so toxic this year, with tons of people stealing art styles from real artists and trying to sell their computer-generated trash to the masses. Maybe actually try to learn music or art? Who wants to buy art that a computer stole from other artists? The fact that the answer is not zero people is depressing. 

Best Trend of the Year - Y2K

I'm sure it's just my nostalgia for that era, but I've been digging the whole Y2K aesthetic making a short comeback. Artists like Bad Suns, After, and Ninajirachi used it to create fun albums, among others. I'm sure it'll get tired in a short while, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. 

Worst Overall Artist of the Year - Morgan Wallen

For releasing one of the worst albums of the year, and making it nearly two hours long. Also, for having a bunch of hits this year from that terrible album. 

Best Overall Artist of the Year - Bad Bunny

For releasing one of the best albums of the year, and also not being afraid to take a stand. I guess with his insane levels of fame right now, he's in a good position to be able to take a stand against all the bullshit in this country. Deciding to not tour the USA because of ICE, and also putting on a bunch of shows in Puerto Rico, was a great move for him. All this leading up to what should be an insane Super Bowl performance in 2026, much like Kendrick at the last one. 

Also including a playlist of a bunch of songs I liked from 2025. Hope you had a great year despite everything, and if you found some great music not mentioned here, please send it my way.