Another year over, so many amazing pop songs of 2013! It was insanely difficult to make this list! This year was so tough, so these are in no particular order. These are the songs that really defined this year of pop music in my opinion! :D Enjoy!
Clarity - Zedd ft Foxes
January 2013
This song is so good that it's had pretty consistent airplay for the entire year. This dance number completely blew any of overly-popular Aviccii's out of the water for me. Foxes has an absolute beautiful voice which is complimented by the Zedd's instrumentals on this. I particularly love the choral moments in the song. 'Clarity' is just a top class dance song that you just want to sing along too, and I'm so glad to have it on this list. I can't get this song out of my head once I've heard it, it's one of the most memorable dance songs of the year and for good reason. It's uplifting and get's you pretty pumped!
Mirrors - Justin Timberlake
March 2013
Not only was this one of my favourite songs this year, but it was probably one of my favourite videos too. Justin Timberlake is a pretty classy guy, and this song is just gorgeous and smooth and everything about it is amazing. I think 'Mirrors' is a really mature song and it's definitely something I'd expect from Justin Timberlake. "I couldn't get any bigger, with anyone else beside of me" it's all about true love and being each other's mirror image. In an age where every other 'love' song is about big bootys and titties, this is refreshing and poignant.
Still Into You - Paramore
April 2013
This song is a little different to most of Paramore's. It's just super cute and a lovely song about never losing those butterflies you get for someone when you have a crush. It doesn't help that it's super catchy, and Hayley's vocals on this are great - she goes between pretty much shouting out her feelings to singing them gorgeously at you in a 'I'M STILL INTO YOU LISTEN TO ME!' way. This is in your face in the best kind of way.
Heart Attack - Demi Lovato
April 2013
This was the year I discovered Demi Lovato, and god, is she fantastic. She reminds me so much of Kelly Clarkson, and in an age where a lot of the Disney stars go completely off the rails (Miley...) Demi has this mature class about her that is years above her age. Heart Attack is a proper singalong blaster. The lyrics are totally cheesy, but phwoar her voice packs a punch in the chorus and it is damn catchy. There were a few ex-Disney stars who hit the charts this year, but Demi stole the show for me.
Get Lucky - Daft Punk ft Pharrell Williams and Nile Rogers
April 2013
You have to have been living under a rock to have not heard this song. I love everything about it, it's simplicity, the catchy retro style beat (so glad they're making a comeback!) and Pharrell! He is just awesome on this track. I'm so glad to see Daft Punk back in the charts. It's so Daft Punk with the electronic voices towards the end, and it was such a fresh tune this year after the first few months of 2013 saw some pretty stale, typical pop hits. This came in like an absolute breath of fresh air.
Wings - Birdy
August 2013
I love Birdy. She's got the most gorgeous voice and she can write a cracking song. Team her up with One Republic's Ryan Tedder and you get this smash of a tune. I don't think this song got the commercial success it deserved, but it was a song that when I heard it I just listened to it. Birdy creates an atmosphere with her music, and for a girl of 17 that's a pretty cool acheivement. She beats out Lorde for me for best young'n. It was inevitable that Birdy would make my top 10 list. She could have sang the phone book and it would be up here. 'Wings' is such a great song though, it's honest and mature and just downright beautiful.
Dark Horse - Katy Perry ft Juicy J
September 2013
While 'Roar' was a song that you'd expect from Katy Perry, 'Dark Horse' wasn't. When I first heard this I was blown away, it's so haunting and even creepy in parts. The only part of this song I don't like is Juicy J's rap. It just feels thrown in there, and I've have much preferred another verse from Katy because up until his verse, it really feels like the song is building to something, and his rap is just one big cliched let down. That aside, this song still receives a place on this list because it's so different. 'Roar' might have made it if it wasn't such a typical Katy Perry 'inspiring' song.
Move - Little Mix
October 2013
I am still loving this song, it might be my most played song on the iPod still. Worthy of it though. Each of the girls' voice gets totally showcased in this song. Perrie's big powerful voice, Leigh-Anne's husky soulful tones, Jade's cute voice and Jessy's gorgeous range. I love it. It's so silly, catchy and I love all of the percussion. It a massive throwback to 90's girl bands (ahem, Spice Girls!) and some of it even makes me think of the likes of early TLC and Destiny's Child. Little Mix have this one song on their new album which is just... Destiny's Child through and through. I love that they've matured a bit, and they've got this sound that's their own and like many of the other songs that made this list, this song was a breath of fresh air amongst the other stale offerings.
Do What You Want - Lady GaGa ft R Kelly
November 2013
When GaGa performed 'Do What You Want' at this years AMAs, the last few seconds of her performance saw hurtful newspaper headlines projected onto the background of her stage. 'Lady GaGa is fat'. While on the surface, this song seems to be about GaGa allowing her lover to do what they will with her body, underneath it's aimed at the press, the critics, her fans. So it's very much a 'Do What You Want' and say what you want, but you can't stop me saying what I want either. There's an artistry to GaGa's performances that imakes her such a pleasure to watch. Her big dance numbers are brilliant, but so are her toned down pieces. Only GaGa can sing with Kermit the Frog and make it this amazing. She's had a huge year, and this is one of her best songs to date!
Happy - Pharrell Williams
November 2013 (Despicable Me 2 OST)
Oh Pharrell. With this and 'Get Lucky', I can almost forgive you for 'Blurred Lines'. Pharrell has had a pretty massive year and this just tops it off for him. Such a catchy and.... well, HAPPY song! Whenever I hear this on the radio I can't help but clap along and sing along and it always brightens my day. Wouldn't the world just be so much better if when songs like this played, everyone started dancing? Yeah, I think so too. With such simple lyrics, a catchy beat and a really fun video, Pharrell is onto a winner.
So, who made your Top 10? What were some of your favourite songs this year? I have a few songs that I was dying to squeeze in here, and I'm still wondering if I made the right decision. Anyway, leave your comments! Don't hate me if your favs didn't make the cut though guys ;)
01-01-2014, 09:15 AM
NeoCracker
....Alrighty, Dark Horse.
Rather then go off on everything wrong with it, birds don't levitate. They fly. Her analogy to you levitating like a bird doesn't work.
...And I don't know if Katy Perry knows what a Dark Horse is.
Also the message of the song is a bit muddled. There's something to the Idea of her being threat as your girl, and terrible if she's not, but there are constant references to giving him the choice. And also her one step short of threatening him if he chooses wrong. So the song comes across as her threatening people to be her boyfriend, yet I don't think that was the intention. :p
And I did laugh when Juicy J. made a Jeffery Dahmer referance, though that was because that was horridly out of place. :p
And Katy Perry has done a song like this before, it was called E.T. :p
And Suit and Tie is the superior Justin Timber lake song.
01-01-2014, 09:32 AM
Night Fury
I do love Suit and Tie, but I think it might have been a 2012 song.... ah wait, it was in fact January. I just like Mirrors a lot more. :p
01-01-2014, 10:16 AM
Jiro
Clarity is a great song but I can't enjoy it on its own after hearing this remix:
01-01-2014, 11:56 AM
Rantz
Great list, I love it :D That Little Mix song is quite catchy, I've never heard it before!
01-01-2014, 11:57 AM
Minami
I've not heard a lot of the songs on this list so i will have to have a listen
01-01-2014, 01:09 PM
Shorty
I have never heard of any of these before.
smurfing Justin Timberlake is so stupidly classy and hot!
01-01-2014, 01:33 PM
NeoCracker
Quote:
Originally Posted by Locky
I do love Suit and Tie, but I think it might have been a 2012 song.... ah wait, it was in fact January. I just like Mirrors a lot more. :p
Mirrors reminds me to much Gaston from beauty and the Beast to take seriously. The hole comparing the lady to his own reflection and what not. XD
