THE TOP 40 SONGS OF 2024
Iiiiiiiiit's List Season! The time of year where we look back on the Music that was and appreciate the cream of the crop. This year, because my short list was exactly 40 songs deep, instead of whittling things down to my usual 20, I decided to just keep all of 'em.
2024 was the year of super-duper long quarterly playlists (so long that "Summer" was 90 songs and two parts), so this fits pretty well. It was a great year for songs.
I'm not going to talk about 40-21 or we'd be here all day, but suffice it to say, these tunes are all great in one way or another. Here's the playlist:
And now, here's the list:
40. Iron & Wine "Tears That Don't Matter"
39. Nilufer Yanya "Like I Say (I Runaway)"
38. David Gilmour "Luck And Strange"
37. Paula Cole "Wildflower"
36. Beyonce & Miley Cyrus "II Most Wanted"
35. Cassandra Jenkins "Tape And Tissue"
34. Victoria Monet & Thundercat "Don't Sleep"
33. Beyonce "16 Carriages"
32. Abby Jeanne "Propaganda Machine"
31. William Doyle "Surrender Yourself"
30. Judas Priest "The Serpent And The King"
29. Kacey Musgraves "Cardinal"
28. Geordie Greep "Holy, Holy"
27. Amber Mark "Space & Time"
26. Kesha "Joyride"
25. Nilufer Yanya "Mutations"
24. Ghost Funk Orchestra "Again"
23. Twenty One Pilots "Next Semester"
22. Nilufer Yanya "Method Actor"
21. Lake Street Dive "Good Together"
20. Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars "Die With A Smile"
Having someone to share the apocalypse with is a sentiment that became sadly more and more tangible over the last five years. Bruno and Gaga have the tune to back it up and GOD do they sell it.
19. Twenty One Pilots "Overcompensate"
I've never been a Twenty One Pilots fan before; they basically sounded like AJR to me without the smarm and irony. But Clancy's a fine album, and the one-two punch of dual-layered "Overcompensate" and the punky "Next Semester" (#23) set you on a course. "Overcompensate" starts off as some late 90s big beat to get the body moving, then goes half time for the part with vocals and the effect gets my head nodding every time.
18. Kendrick Lamar "Euphoria"
An incredibly methodical six minute takedown of Drake that would normally be the killshot in any other feud, was the mere thesis statement for Kendrick's incoming offensive. The beat knocks too; lots of snarling bass and the organs set the scene appropriately.
17. Geordie Greep "Blues"
Some super-fast jazz fusion that goes hard as a muh fuh? What a rare find in the mainstream-adjacent pile that my music tastes have kind of turned into over the last few years! (Let's be real, I was never cool enough to be truly underground.) The vocals are an acquired taste to say the least, but their energy matches the song quite well.
16. Clairo "Sexy To Someone"
It's a bop. It's a vibe. This is just a nice song to hum to yourself after it gets stuck in your head. A really solid tune that's also kinda fun.
15. Billie Eilish "Birds Of A Feather"
Until listening for placement on this countdown, I never realized how fatalistic the lyrics are, but they still manage to be endearing in spite of the talk about wanting to die before her partner. In spite of it all, the chorus is one of the most hopeful sounding things I heard all year.
14. Billie Eilish "Wildflower"
If any song on Hit Me Hard And Soft sounds like the album cover looks, it's this one. (Also, the second "Wildflower" on this list!)
13. Sampha & Little Simz "Satellite Business 2.0"
"Satellite Business" is the right name for this because it's some spacey funk that leaves no room for dilly-dally. Throw in a verse from Little Simz and you've got a jam and a half.
12. Willow "b i g f e e l i n g s"
Jazzy, yet propellant. The song isn't just wallowing in these f e e l i n g s , it's frustrated that it can't process them all. The dynamic piano playing makes this song great and the rhythm section provides a graphite backbone for Willow to emotively harmonize over.
11. Kacey Musgraves "Dinner With Friends"
"Dinner With Friends" starts off a kitschy, plain but well-executed folk country song about how good it is to see friends. Then the chorus just twists a knife in your guts with a simple key change. That simple little trick was so effective it almost catapulted this song into my Top 10 in a strong song year. It makes me feel like "Yes, I love my friends! And I'm fucking devastated that this is the last time I'll ever see them!" I'll level with you, I don't even know if the lyrics even hint at that; I don't remember. But the sympathetic resonance in my fucking soul that ki blasts me with that key change...damn.
10. Faye Webster "But Not Kiss"
This song, on the other hand, starts out melancholy and stays there forever. There is a hint of...inquisitiveness to it? Some kind of curiosity that makes it beautiful, sad and strange.
9. Kendrick Lamar "Meet The Grahams"
One of the most devastating takedowns in music history. An epistolary where Kendrick details the sins of this man to his own family members. Absolutely brutal.
8. Remi Wolf "Alone In Miami"
Ever wondered what Alice In Chains would sound like if they wrote indie pop and had an oversized personality on the mic? Here you go.
7. Remi Wolf "Toro"
One of the catchiest songs of the year. I have to dance to that chorus whenever I hear it.
6. Kacey Musgraves "Lonely Millionaire"
Okay, what if you took the chorus of "Dinner With Friends" and made that a whole song? It'd be haunting as fuck, that's what.
5. Remi Wolf "Cinderella"
Even catchier than "Toro", but only just. It was a hard call because I love them both.
4. Kendrick Lamar "Not Like Us"
My most listened to song of the year by quite a stretch. And I'm still not sick of it. A masterful kill shot AND victory lap all rolled into one. How do you make the damage of this rap beef stick? Make a sticky song!
3. Willow "Symptom Of Life"
I thought for most of the year that this would be a lock for Number Two. The opening piano line is amazing, the verse is incredible, and the change into the chorus is my biggest head nod moment of 2024. I am all the way in on the song, and if I'm still doing this in 2030, this will do well on the Decade list. But then I listened to this next song again, and got the shock of shocks:
2. Magdalena Bay "Death & Romance"
I think I originally had this placed at Number Seven or Eight, and I was wondering if maybe I'd put it too high, so I listened to it again.
And holy God did it knock me on my ass.
I made a big mistake not listening to this album for the year end (spoilers). If this could top a song that would have been #1 in a couple of the last several years, what else am I missing? "Death & Romance" has the best hook of the year, hands down. It's an unstoppable juggernaut of a song, charged with some kind of alien electricity to burn your city down, on the dance floor and in your hearts. Fuck it's good.
But why am I making such a fuss about the competition for Number Two? Because I've known for months that this was never a contest.
1. Sarah Jarosz "Mezcal And Lime"
This is one of the best songs ever written. I want to live in this song forever. Just turn the lights down low and slow dance away with someone happily ever after.
So yeah, hell of a good year for songs! Albums...well, we'll see. That one's coming sooner than you know it, so keep an eye out.
Don't give up.
40. Iron & Wine "Tears That Don't Matter"
39. Nilufer Yanya "Like I Say (I Runaway)"
38. David Gilmour "Luck And Strange"
37. Paula Cole "Wildflower"
36. Beyonce & Miley Cyrus "II Most Wanted"
35. Cassandra Jenkins "Tape And Tissue"
34. Victoria Monet & Thundercat "Don't Sleep"
33. Beyonce "16 Carriages"
32. Abby Jeanne "Propaganda Machine"
31. William Doyle "Surrender Yourself"
30. Judas Priest "The Serpent And The King"
29. Kacey Musgraves "Cardinal"
28. Geordie Greep "Holy, Holy"
27. Amber Mark "Space & Time"
26. Kesha "Joyride"
25. Nilufer Yanya "Mutations"
24. Ghost Funk Orchestra "Again"
23. Twenty One Pilots "Next Semester"
22. Nilufer Yanya "Method Actor"
21. Lake Street Dive "Good Together"
20. Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars "Die With A Smile"
Having someone to share the apocalypse with is a sentiment that became sadly more and more tangible over the last five years. Bruno and Gaga have the tune to back it up and GOD do they sell it.
19. Twenty One Pilots "Overcompensate"
I've never been a Twenty One Pilots fan before; they basically sounded like AJR to me without the smarm and irony. But Clancy's a fine album, and the one-two punch of dual-layered "Overcompensate" and the punky "Next Semester" (#23) set you on a course. "Overcompensate" starts off as some late 90s big beat to get the body moving, then goes half time for the part with vocals and the effect gets my head nodding every time.
18. Kendrick Lamar "Euphoria"
An incredibly methodical six minute takedown of Drake that would normally be the killshot in any other feud, was the mere thesis statement for Kendrick's incoming offensive. The beat knocks too; lots of snarling bass and the organs set the scene appropriately.
17. Geordie Greep "Blues"
Some super-fast jazz fusion that goes hard as a muh fuh? What a rare find in the mainstream-adjacent pile that my music tastes have kind of turned into over the last few years! (Let's be real, I was never cool enough to be truly underground.) The vocals are an acquired taste to say the least, but their energy matches the song quite well.
16. Clairo "Sexy To Someone"
It's a bop. It's a vibe. This is just a nice song to hum to yourself after it gets stuck in your head. A really solid tune that's also kinda fun.
15. Billie Eilish "Birds Of A Feather"
Until listening for placement on this countdown, I never realized how fatalistic the lyrics are, but they still manage to be endearing in spite of the talk about wanting to die before her partner. In spite of it all, the chorus is one of the most hopeful sounding things I heard all year.
14. Billie Eilish "Wildflower"
If any song on Hit Me Hard And Soft sounds like the album cover looks, it's this one. (Also, the second "Wildflower" on this list!)
13. Sampha & Little Simz "Satellite Business 2.0"
"Satellite Business" is the right name for this because it's some spacey funk that leaves no room for dilly-dally. Throw in a verse from Little Simz and you've got a jam and a half.
12. Willow "b i g f e e l i n g s"
Jazzy, yet propellant. The song isn't just wallowing in these f e e l i n g s , it's frustrated that it can't process them all. The dynamic piano playing makes this song great and the rhythm section provides a graphite backbone for Willow to emotively harmonize over.
11. Kacey Musgraves "Dinner With Friends"
"Dinner With Friends" starts off a kitschy, plain but well-executed folk country song about how good it is to see friends. Then the chorus just twists a knife in your guts with a simple key change. That simple little trick was so effective it almost catapulted this song into my Top 10 in a strong song year. It makes me feel like "Yes, I love my friends! And I'm fucking devastated that this is the last time I'll ever see them!" I'll level with you, I don't even know if the lyrics even hint at that; I don't remember. But the sympathetic resonance in my fucking soul that ki blasts me with that key change...damn.
10. Faye Webster "But Not Kiss"
This song, on the other hand, starts out melancholy and stays there forever. There is a hint of...inquisitiveness to it? Some kind of curiosity that makes it beautiful, sad and strange.
9. Kendrick Lamar "Meet The Grahams"
One of the most devastating takedowns in music history. An epistolary where Kendrick details the sins of this man to his own family members. Absolutely brutal.
8. Remi Wolf "Alone In Miami"
Ever wondered what Alice In Chains would sound like if they wrote indie pop and had an oversized personality on the mic? Here you go.
7. Remi Wolf "Toro"
One of the catchiest songs of the year. I have to dance to that chorus whenever I hear it.
6. Kacey Musgraves "Lonely Millionaire"
Okay, what if you took the chorus of "Dinner With Friends" and made that a whole song? It'd be haunting as fuck, that's what.
5. Remi Wolf "Cinderella"
Even catchier than "Toro", but only just. It was a hard call because I love them both.
4. Kendrick Lamar "Not Like Us"
My most listened to song of the year by quite a stretch. And I'm still not sick of it. A masterful kill shot AND victory lap all rolled into one. How do you make the damage of this rap beef stick? Make a sticky song!
3. Willow "Symptom Of Life"
I thought for most of the year that this would be a lock for Number Two. The opening piano line is amazing, the verse is incredible, and the change into the chorus is my biggest head nod moment of 2024. I am all the way in on the song, and if I'm still doing this in 2030, this will do well on the Decade list. But then I listened to this next song again, and got the shock of shocks:
2. Magdalena Bay "Death & Romance"
I think I originally had this placed at Number Seven or Eight, and I was wondering if maybe I'd put it too high, so I listened to it again.
And holy God did it knock me on my ass.
I made a big mistake not listening to this album for the year end (spoilers). If this could top a song that would have been #1 in a couple of the last several years, what else am I missing? "Death & Romance" has the best hook of the year, hands down. It's an unstoppable juggernaut of a song, charged with some kind of alien electricity to burn your city down, on the dance floor and in your hearts. Fuck it's good.
But why am I making such a fuss about the competition for Number Two? Because I've known for months that this was never a contest.
1. Sarah Jarosz "Mezcal And Lime"
This is one of the best songs ever written. I want to live in this song forever. Just turn the lights down low and slow dance away with someone happily ever after.
So yeah, hell of a good year for songs! Albums...well, we'll see. That one's coming sooner than you know it, so keep an eye out.
Don't give up.
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