Month: December 2019

With 2019 coming to an end and 2020 on the horizon, the end of a decade is soon approaching us, and I felt this would be a great chance for me to discuss about some of my favorite songs from the 2010s! Please note, this list is purely subjective and contains only my opinions about music in the 2010s. If you disagree with some or all of the song choices listed, then that’s totally fine! Music is art, and like all art, art is subjective. What some people may like, others may not. Without further ado, let’s delve into my top 10 songs of the 2010s!

Number 10: “On Melancholy Hill” by Gorillaz

Coming in at number 10 is “On Melancholy Hill” by Gorillaz. When you listen to the song, you are immediately introduced to an upbeat and catchy electronic beat that consists of a bass and drums. A few seconds into the song, you’re hear a keyboard that sounds somewhat like a violin orchestra. A few more seconds in, and the first verse of the song starts. The rhythm slows down, and the vocals induce a sense of calmness and nostalgia. It feels peaceful. It reminds me of the beach or ocean of an island on a sunny day. The emotions that this song evokes make it seem magical. Words cannot do justice to describe how amazing this track is! The best parts of this song, however, are not the vocals. No! It’s the instrumental! The instrumental of the song is heard for most of the song. You hear the instrumental at the beginning, during short intermissions in the middle, and at the end of the song after the second verse! As the song progresses, the instrumental becomes more intense, with the lead singer sparsely repeating lines and a chorus of singers echoing in the background every few seconds. Give this song a listen for yourself!

Number 9: “Iridescent” by Linkin Park

At number 9 on the list, we have “Iridescent” by Linkin Park. This song starts off with a slow piano ballad. The song is nothing but instrumental for a few seconds until the first lines of the song start to play. The beginning of the song gives a sense of calmness, nostalgia, and sadness. It leaves you unsure of what’s to come next. When the song reaches the first chorus, the tempo immediately starts to pick up. The lyrics of the chorus makes you feel positive and optimistic about what’s to come. In the second verse, the lyrics are so allegorical and descriptive that it makes you feel like you’re flying through space! It feels so uplifting and magical! Then the second chorus comes around and it gets you pumped for whatever’s next! The song goes on a brief intermission before the bridge starts. The bridge consists of a chorus of singers conveying uplifting and hopeful messages through their lyrics. It is a very powerful moment in the song (probably my favorite part of the song). Then the song comes back around for the last chorus, and it makes you feel like you climbed the top of a mountain or something grandiose and over the top like that! It makes you feel as though you can take on any challenge and face any adversities in your life! That’s why this song comes in at Number 9!

Number 8: “My Demons” by Starset

Number 8 on this list is “My Demons” by Starset. The song starts off with an eerie and somewhat dissonant orchestral arrangement that gives a sense of uneasiness and dread. Shortly after, the first verse of the song begins. The first half of the verse sounds distorted and grainy, like it was being transmitted through a radio with a weak signal! There are no instruments aside from a keyboard. In the second half of the first verse, the vocals sound normal, and the tempo of the song picks up. You could also hear a few more instruments start to play as well! The lyrics of the song convey that there is a sense of urgency, like something big was about to go down or something. Soon, the song reaches the first chorus. The tempo is slower, but the lyrics and instrumentals are intense! Almost immediately, the song reaches the second verse. In the background, you could hear a dissonant piano and an orchestral arrangement in the background. The tempo is slow, but the lyrics sound even more intense in the second verse than in the first. The chorus comes back around for a second time, followed by a bridge with a slightly faster tempo, intense and thought-provoking lyrics, and a loud and intense instrumental! Following the bridge is a unique instrumental break with a grainy filter that makes it sound like a weak radio broadcast (similar to how the song started off in the beginning). During this instrumental break, the lyrics of the chorus play again, but something is different. In the chorus, a few of the lines are repeated a few times. In the instrumental break, the lyrics of the chorus don’t repeat. Shortly after the break, the song reaches the familiar-sounding chorus that’s heard in throughout the entirety of the song. Overall, this song sounds epic from beginning to end. It sounds like the type of track that would be played during a pivotal scene in an action movie or TV show!

Number 7: “Here and Now” by Seether

Coming in at Number 7 on this list is “Here and Now” by the Seether. Immediately, the song evokes an uplifting sense of nostalgia and optimism! The vocals of the song intensify that positive feeling of nostalgia and optimism by many-fold! The official music video of the song (which came out in 2012) shows how the band had grown from their early days to 2012. This song, however, can relate to this decade as a whole, especially for me! So much has changed during the 2010s for me, and I’ve accomplished so much! Sure, there were parts of the 2010s that made me feel down and whatnot, but there was a lot of good and positive moments as well that I look back on with nostalgic bliss! That’s why “Here and Now” comes in at Number 7!

Number 6: “Searchlight” by Thousand Foot Krutch

In the number 6 spot is the song “Searchlight” by Thousand Foot Krutch. Immediately, in the first few seconds of the song, the melody sounds similar to the melody of their song “War of Change,” but slower and more upbeat! The song is also reminiscent of their song “So Far Gone,” which was on the same album as “War of Change!” From the instrumentals to the verses and the chorus, the song is uplifting from start to end! All around, I think it sounds amazing, and it sounds nostalgic as well, not only because it makes you think about your past, but the melody is reminiscent of their song “War of Change” (which came out sometime prior to the release of their song “Searchlight,” which was a never-before-heard track that was released on their “Made In Canada: The 1998 – 2010 Collection” anthology album, which evokes nostalgia in itself, since you can hear the band progress over the course of the album! Overall, this song is short, but has a sweet and simple message. It’s not crazy or over the top, but it doesn’t have to be! It’s a good song to listen to no matter what mood you’re in!

And just in case you want to hear the other songs I mentioned, here they are!

Number 5: “You Are Young” by Keane

On the Number 5 spot on this list is “You Are Young” by Keane, not to be confused with the title of a more popular song by the band Fun. called “We Are Young,” which had come out about 8 months prior (“We Are Young” came out in September of 2011, and “You Are Young” came out in May of 2012). Now, I’m not one to say that a song is overrated or underrated and whatnot, but in this instance, I will! “You Are Young” by Keane is an underrated hit! Heck, simply typing the phrase “You Are Young” into Google or YouTube will display “We Are Young” by Fun as one of the top results! Not only that, but the song “We Are Young” has many more views and likes that “You Are Young” by Keane. Heck, “You Are Young” doesn’t even have an official music video! Meanwhile, “We Are Young” has a few official music videos, lyric videos, covers, etc.! “You Are Young,” on the other hand, doesn’t have any of that! But enough about comparing “You Are Young’s” popularity to “We Are Young!” What is it that makes this song so great? This song has an uplifting piano instrumental accompanied by bass, drums, and thought-provoking vocals! This song is an amazing piece to listen to from beginning to end! Words cannot do justice to describe how amazing it sounds, and how, in my opinion, it’s sounds WAY better than “We Are Young” by Fun.. Give the song a listen to yourself, and hopefully you’ll see why I chose this song for the Number 5 spot on this list!

And just for comparison’s sake, here’s the song “We Are Young” by Fun.. You decide what you think is a better song (not saying that “We Are Young” is a bad song! I just think “You Are Young” is better).

Number 4: “American Noise” by Skillet

On Number 4 of this list, I chose “American Noise” by Skillet. This song has such a simple melody and lyrics, but somehow, it manages to not only be catchy and uplifting, but also thought-provoking and nostalgic as well! From the harmonious vocals to the beautiful piano solos to the powerful instrumentals, this song is an amazing track to raise your spirits! Also, it is probably one of my favorite songs by Skillet in general!

Number 3: “Better” by K’naan

Alright! The top 3! Woohoo! At the Number 3 spot, I chose the song “Better” by K’naan. Immediately, you’ll hear that the melody is a sampling of “Lost” by Coldplay (one of my favorite Coldplay songs, by the way!). The lyrics of the song are very deep, thought-provoking, and uplifting, and the message of the song is essentially to never give up no matter how hard life may seem at times! Overall, it’s an amazing song! Give it a listen!

Also, speaking of “Lost” by Coldplay, here’s my favorite version of “Lost” called “Lost+,” featuring rapper Jay-Z! Check it out! It’s so inspirational (the original version of the song is also inspirational, but the one with Jay-Z I find a tad bit more inspirational, especially Jay’s lines)! I can see why K’naan decided to sample the instrumental for his song “Better!”

Number 2: “First You Break It” by Filter

After much debate, I decided to choose “First You Break It” by Filter for the Number 2 spot! In the first few seconds of the song, the instrumental sounds like an 8 bit Nintendo game! Then more instruments begin to play and the vocals begin! All throughout the duration of the song, it is very uplifting! Towards the very end of the song, you could hear 3 different verses overlapping on top of each other in an intense and surprisingly harmonious way (probably my favorite part of the song, in my opinion).

I will also note (I didn’t notice this initially until a YouTube comment on the video pointed it out) that the opening to this song sounds like another track by Filter titled “The Only Way Is The Wrong Way.”

Runner-ups

Before I get to the Number 1 song on this list, I’m gonna share with you some songs that didn’t make the cut on the list. When I came up with the idea for this list, it was really hard for me to not only limit the list to 10, but to also find 10 unique songs from 10 unique artists. I could have easily had 2 or more spots on this list go to one or a few artists, but I felt that would be very unfair, and limiting, so I wanted to make this list as diverse as possible! I also tried not to choose covers (even though there were a number of covers that came out this decade that I thought sounded AMAZING!). Without further ado, here are SOME of the runner-ups (I could easily choose A LOT MORE, but I think the ones I have here are more than enough!).

“Not Afraid” by Eminem

“Headlights” by Eminem ft. Nate Ruess

“On The Road” by Keane

“Sway” by Blue October

“I Want It” by Blue October

“Courtesy Call” by Thousand Foot Krutch

“Nightmare” by Avenged Sevenfold

“Zombie” by Bad Wolves

“Sovereign Light Cafe” by Keane

“Silenced By The Night” by Keane

“Capable Of Anything” by Ben Folds

“This Is War” by Brighter Than A Thousand Suns

“Bright Lights” by Thirty Seconds To Mars

“Do Or Die” by Thirty Seconds To Mars

“Remember Everything” by Five Finger Death Punch

“Under And Over It” by Five Finger Death Punch

“Wrong Side Of Heaven” by Five Finger Death Punch

“I Never Got To See The West Coast” by Emery

“Surprise” by Filter

“Save Today” by Seether

“Tonight” by Seether

“Sledgehammer” by Fifth Harmony

“The Sound Of My Breaking Heart” by K’naan

“The Scientist” by Willie Nelson

“My Way” by Willie Nelson

“Numb” by Dead By April

“How To Save A Life” by Westmore

And that’s it for the runner-ups! As you can see, there were SO MANY songs and artists to choose from! In the end, though, the songs and artists I picked for this list are the ones that decided to choose for each spot! And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for; the number 1 pick!

Number 1: “I Hope You’re Happy” by Blue October

For the Number 1 song on my list, I wanted to go with “I Hope You’re Happy” by Blue October. There were a few reasons why. It’s upbeat. It’s catchy. It’s uplifting. It’s nostalgic. The instrumental has an 80’s vibe to it (by the way, I LOVE 80’s music! I may have to make a list of some of my favorite 80’s tracks, but that’s for another time!). Lastly, but it sounds like a new a refreshing style for Blue October, while still having the heart, emotion, and creativity from their older works! Overall, this song is an amazing song, and probably one of my favorite songs that came out this decade!

Final Thoughts

Well, that wraps up my top 10 list! I hope you enjoyed all the songs on this list (as well as the runner-up songs I chose as well!). As you probably have noticed, I didn’t really choose any pop songs, or songs that were by more mainstream artists (except for a few). The reason why is this: I selected songs that had meaning in their lyrics. I chose songs that produced a whole range of emotions, had deep lyrics, and were thought-provoking! I could have easily chosen a generic pop song for this list, but I didn’t! That’s because I wanted y’all to think! I’m a deep individual who likes to think about stuff, and I felt the songs on this list, as well as the runner-ups, make people think about stuff, whether it’s the good, the bad, the sad, or the past! These songs, in my opinion, are just SOME of the many powerful songs that came out this decade, and I look forward to see what 2020s has in store for music, both from artists I know and those I don’t! I am excited for the new music that I’ll discover in the decade of the 2020s!