The Time for Change: 3.29 Song - Billboard Song of the Year

Sunday, January 29, 2023

3.29 Song - Billboard Song of the Year

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-ninth day of the month is "Song."

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The podcast Hit Parade had a recent episode (Hits of the Year edition, Part II) in which the host, Chris Molanthy, ran through his ranking of Billboard's Songs of the Year since 1958. I am in wild disagreement with him on so many things, but I was fascinated anyway. For boring reasons having to do with duration on the charts, it's not always true that the song of the year is the song that was number one on the charts for the most length of time. It's not always true that the song of the year is the song you most associate with an artist. But it still gives you an idea of what was going on in the musical culture during a year.

I created a playlist on Spotify with all these songs of the year* and I'm going to listen to this playlist at least once a month until the end of the year and we'll see which ones rise to the top and which ones don't. It's all subjective on my end, but I'm planning on doing three or four tiers (songs I will not listen to, songs that were fine to listen to once in a while, songs that are really good, and my top ten?) after I've listened to them for twelve months straight. Here's what I think of them right now before I've listened to the playlist even once. (Notice that I just stopped listening to pop music somewhere around 2005 - I blame this blog.)

I'll update this at the end of the year.

*Except for the songs that I deleted off the playlist after I listened to it the first time. Sorry Macarena, In Da Club, Too Close, and Silly Love Songs. Also, I accidentally included a Taylor Swift song that doesn't belong on the list at all, but I refuse to take it off because it gives me so much pleasure when it comes on.

Year	Song	Artist	My Take in January 2022 Before I Listened to the Playlist
1958	Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)	Domenico Modugno	This song came to prominence because of Euorvision. I think I dig it?
1959	The Battle of New Orleans	Johnny Horton	I love a story song.
1960	Theme from a Summer Place	Percy Faith	Zzzzz…the first instrumental song on the list and a real snoozefest.
1961	Tossin’ and Turnin’	Bobby Lewis	Fun!
1962	Stranger on the Shore	Mr. Acker Bilk	Another instrumental song. I love a pretty clarinet.
1963	Sugar Shack	Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs	I think this is catchy.
1964	I Want to Hold Your Hand	Beatles	LOVE. Is this my favorite Beatles song? Maybe.
1965	Wolly Bully	Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs	Oddly earworm-like and gets in my head and maybe that’s a good pop song?
1966	Ballad of the Green Berets	Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler	I love a story song, but this one is purposefully patriotic and dumb.
1967	To Sir With Love	Lulu	Pretty, but kind of boring?
1968	Hey Jude	Beatles	Maybe this is my favorite Beatles song?
1969	Sugar, Sugar	Archies	I’ll be humming this for the rest of the day.
1970	Bridge Over Troubled Water	Simon and Garfunkel	Gorgeous song.
1971	Joy to the World	Three Dog Night	Jeremiah was a bullfrog! Who can resist this song?
1972	The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face	Roberta Flack	At the risk of acknowledging my lameness and terrible taste in music, this song is boring.
1973	Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree	Tony Orlando and Dawn	Ugh. This is the worst.
1974	The Way We Were	Barbra Streisand	Zzzzzz
1975	Love Will Keep Us Together	Captain and Tennille	Disco sucks.
1976	Silly Love Songs	Wings	Wings sucks.
1977	Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)	Rod Stewart	Yay! Stewart makes all the sexual allusions overt here. I love it.
1978	Shadow Dancing	Andy Gibb	Disco sucks.
1979	My Sharona	Knack	This song sucks.
1980	Call Me	Blondie	This was a terrible time for music.
1981	Bette Davis Eyes	Kim Carnes	I like this song?
1982	Physical	Olivia Newton-John	Annoying high pitch to Newton-John’s voice in this one.
1983	Every Breath You Take	Police	Even though this song is about stalking, I love it.
1984	When Doves Cry	Prince	(whispers quietly) I think Prince is overrated and this song is boring. Don't get me started on Purple Rain.
1985	Careless Whisper	Wham! ft. George Michael	Hot. I love this song.
1986	That’s What Friends Are For	Dionne and Friends	Why does this song exist?
1987	Walk Like An Egyptian	Bangles	This song is terrible.
1988	Faith	George Michael	This is my favorite song on this list. I love this song.
1989	Look Away	Chicago	I like this. I like men pining, though.
1990	Hold On	Wilson Phillips	I like this song. I had this album on cassette and listened to it all the time.
1991	Everything I Do (I Do It For You)	Bryan Adams	I love this song.
1992	End of the Road	Boys II Men	Amazing vocals. Great song.
1993	I Will Always Love You	Whitney Houston	Dolly’s version is better. Fight me.
1994	The Sign	Ace of Base	Hate.
1995	Gangsta’s Paradise	Coolio	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song all the way through.
1996	Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)	Los Del Rio	Hate.
1997	Candle In the Wind (1997)	Elton John	Zzzzzzz….
1998	Too Close	Next	I was a teenager in the 1990s and I have never heard of this song.
1999	Believe	Cher	I like this song. I love Cher.
2000	Breathe	Faith Hill	Hate. (At some point, I decided I need to pick between Shania and Faith and I picked Shania. I can't think of a Faith Hill song I actually like to listen to.)
2001	Hanging By A Moment	Lifehouse	Oddly enough, this song is fine in my books.
2002	How You Remind Me	Nickelback	I don’t mind it. I know I should hate Nickelback, but I don’t. I’m part of the problem.
2003	In Da Club	50 Cent	Catchy.
2004	Yeah!	Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris	Catchy.
2005	We Belong Together	Mariah Carey	Wait? This is Carey’s entry to this list? This song is not her best.
2006	Bad Day	Daniel Powter	I like this.
2007	Irreplaceable	Beyonce	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2008	Low	Flo Rida (ft. T-Pain)	Acceptable.
2009	Boom Boom Pow	The Blacked Eye Peas	Terrible song. Terrible!
2010	TiK ToK	Ke$ha	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2011	Rolling in the Deep	Adele	Yes! I love this song!
2012	Somebody That I Used to Know	Gotye ft. Kimbra	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2013	Thrift Shop	Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (ft. Wanz)	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2014	Happy	Pharrell Williams	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2015	Uptown Funk!	Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars)	I hate Bruno Mars with an unreasonableness. Ugh.
2016	Love Yourself	Justin Beiber	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2017	Shape of You	Ed Sheeran	Fine.
2018	God’s Plan	Drake	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2019	Old Town Road	Lil Nas X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus)	The best. This song is catchy and clever.
2020	Blinding Lights	The Weeknd	My husband had a The Weeknd phase and I developed a huge dislike of this song during that time.
2021	Levitating	Dua Lipa	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.
2022	Heat Waves	Glass Animals	I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.

What are you favorites on this list?

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To see what Bestest Friend wrote about the theme of the day, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.

16 comments:

Nicole1/29/2023
Hmmm, it seems we have some differing taste in music! I love disco and Wings, and almost all the songs you say you hate on here. I hear pop music on my Peloton, otherwise I don't know much about it (I like Dua Lipa and the Weeknd, for example).
I know everyone hates on Nickleback, but I really like them. It seems like a "cool" thing to hate on, but I think their music is very catchy and fun to listen to. Also, they are from Alberta!
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Birchwood Pie1/29/2023
You and I see eye to eye on Prince. I don't remember how it came up in conversation but the hubs and I watched the video for Careless Whisper on Youtube very recently. It was so ridiculous and so everything at the same time.

I have very strong opinions on about half the songs and have no memories of the other half of the list. The oldest song that I know is I Wanna Hold Your Hand and the most recent is Uptown Funk. You and I will have to agree to disagree on that one. The reason it stands out is there's a video on Youtube with clips of musicals from the 30s and 40s that sync perfectly to the song and it's incredible to watch.
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Elisabeth1/29/2023
Hey Jude IS my favourite Beatles song ever. In fact, if I'd had a second boy, I think I would have wanted to name him Jude, mostly because of how much I love this song (that and I love the Hebrew translation of the name Judah).
I looooovveeee "good" (subjective, I know) pop music.
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Nance1/29/2023
How is The Captain and Tennille disco? And if you think that song is bad (which it is), you obviously have never listened to their song "Muskrat Love", which redefines Bad Music.

I grew up with an older sister who was a Beatles fan. She actually went to a Beatles concert in Cleveland. I remember seeing them when they first appeared live on The Ed Sullivan Show. It was impossible to escape them, and as I idolized my older sister then, I too became a Beatles fan. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is my favourite album of theirs.

If you are impressed by "Bridge over Troubled Waters" (and it is incredible, isn't it?), I think you'll also appreciate "The Dangling Conversation" and "Old Friends/Bookends", also by Simon and Garfunkel. The lyrics are lovely.
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Jenny1/29/2023
We differ on a few of these, but we share one very big thing in comoon- I also don't like Prince. And I thought I was the only one! i love those two Beatles songs, but I also like Walk Like an Egyptian (sorry!). I also don't know a lot of these songs, although maybe they would be familiar if I heard them?
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Lisa from Lisa's Yarns1/30/2023
I love Prince! But it's almost a requirement as a Minnesotan. ;) I have not heard of any of the songs since Ed Sheeran in 2017. But I barely listen to the radio anymore now that I listen to podcasts and that has especially been the case since that time frame. So if it's not an artist I love, I will never hear their song because I just so rarely listen to the radio. Plus about 90% of my car rides are with Phil and our Venn Diagram overlap is the tiniest sliver so we do not listen to the radio together. When the kids are in the car, he begrudgingly listens to Taylor Swift as they are big fans, like me!
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J1/30/2023
Simon and Garfunkel are true poets. My favorite album of theirs, though, is a greatest hits album. I adore every word.

I loved this post, and had to come back to comment while on my work PC, since I can't from my iPad.

I agree with you on some, and disagree on others.
I heard Careless Whispers the other day, and I was ALL IN - Agree.
When My Sharona comes on, I am ALL IN (even though it's kind of creepy) - Disagree.
And when Blondie comes on (especially the album 'Best of Blondie'), I am ALL IN. How do you feel about other Blondie songs?
I HATE the Cher song, and could HAPPILY go the rest of my life without hearing that dumb Bryan Adams song, unless it's William Shatner speaking it at some awards show, probably the MTV awards.
And where were you that you have never heard the Gotye and Kesha songs? Those were on every 2.3 minutes around here. Of course, for the Kesha song at least, I did have a teen at the time.
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Bibliomama1/31/2023
I loved reading this! And I giggled every time you said "this sucks".
I like I Wanna Hold Your Hand more than Hey Jude
Once my son and I were driving back from college for five hours and we took turns playing each other one of our songs. I played him Bridge Over Troubled Water and he loved it and I was so happy.
I love the Gordon Lightfood verson of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
I love Faith.
I thought Prince was pretentious sometimes and the movies were bad, but I thought his songwriting was creative and fun and he was an amazing musician.
I did not like that Happy song at all, and some people were really mad at me about it.
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