Namely, I found myself binging his lists of the best and worst hit songs from each year, going all the way back to 2009 (I think, lol). And, as someone who loves listing and ranking everything, I found myself wondering which songs I would include in my own personal ranking. And thus, this idea was born. My plan is to cover every decade of the 2010s, listing my favorite hit songs of the year. For simplicity, I'll be using essentially the same criteria as Todd-- all of my songs come from Billboard's end-of-year hot 100 list. So, I'm not taking every single pop song from the year into consideration, just the top 100. Because this is just for fun and I'm nowhere near devoted enough to this to parse through *every* pop song from *every* year of the decade.
Obviously, these are just my personal choices, I'm not trying to say that these are the best, but rather that these are my favorites. I'm well aware that to many people, I have trash taste. I'm cool with that!
For reference, currently I'm a sucker for anything with a catchy melody, my favorite genres are alternative (especially pop punk) and KPop (not relevant for this list lol), and I tend to really dig songs featuring real or simulated instruments-- guitar/brass/drum kit/etc. Also, to date myself, in 2010, I was 15/16 & in 10th/11th grade, depending on the time of year, and although I didn't dislike pop music, my one true love was pop punk/pop rock/alternative (favorite bands at the time: McFly, All Time Low, The Academy Is... & The Audition).
I've decided on 15 for this specific list, because I didn't have the heart to cut it down to 10, and at the end I'll also be discussing honorable mentions as well as some songs that would've made the list if I'd made it in 2010 instead of 2020. Because why not?
Without further ado, onto the list!
15. The Black Eyed Peas- I Gotta Feeling
Possibly the most difficult part of this list was choosing which song would get the 15th spot. I had a list of ~10 songs that I liked pretty equally, and eventually, I just picked this one because I think it's one that has stood the test of time decently well. It's one of The Black Eyed Peas' most well-loved songs, and for a good reason. It's one of those universally appealing songs that pretty much anyone can enjoy. I'll list some of the other options at the end, but I'm really content with this one as my choice.
14. Kesha- Take It Off
My best friend used to LOVE Kesha, and I think that love grew on me a bit as well. A lot of her songs end up blending together for me, but in the back of my mind, I always remembered that I really liked one of her songs-- I just couldn't remember which one. Surprise! It's Take It Off lol. This is due almost exclusively to the melody in the chorus. It's one of those melodies that gets stuck in my mind and refuses to leave, and that's why I first loved it in 2010, and why I still really enjoy it today.
13. Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars- Billionaire
I remember when I first heard this, my first thought was "oh, it's the guy from Gym Class Heros and...some other guy?" Little did I know that "some other guy" would become my favorite American pop artist of the decade and Gym Class Heroes would be all but forgotten in a few years' time lol. This is definitely one I thought was just alright back in 2010, but has definitely grown on me over the past decade.
12. Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg- California Gurls
Although it's not my favorite Katy Perry song (nowhere near it, actually!) I'd be lying if I said this weren't one of the biggest, most defining songs of my teenage years and of the decade. When I hear this song, I'm instantly transported back to a very specific moment in time-- it's the summer of 2010, I'm in my friend's Beetle, and we're blasting the song while driving to go see a movie (Eclipse? Despicable Me? Inception? idk). It's such a stereotypical high school moment, but this song is just so evocative of that time in my life that I can't help but love it and have fond memories of it.
11. Miley Cyrus- Party in the U.S.A.
I HATED this song in high school. And by that, I mean that I lied to myself and everyone around me and convinced myself that I hated it, even though I quite obviously begrudgingly loved it. And that sentiment has kinda stuck around for the entire decade. I hate to admit that I like it, but I still do. It's another that's just so evocative of that time in my life and despite "hating" it at the time, I find myself still really enjoying it whenever I hear it today.
10. Adam Lambert- Whataya Want from Me
It's been 11 years since Adam Lambert lost American Idol, and I'm still offended by the fact that he lost. I was rooting for him the entire time and was so angry when he lost. I haven't followed his music career very closely since then, but this first(?) song was definitely a great one. It was written by Pink, which makes a lot of sense, because it sounds like a Pink song, and I also love Pink. Adam's vocals really get a chance to shine, especially near the emotional climax of the song. It's the type of pop song I'm naturally inclined to love, because it has a bit of a rock flair, and that always gets bonus points from me.
9. Orianthi- According to You
Full disclosure, I 100% forgot this song existed. But while going through the hot 100 list, seeing this song there was like a huge nostalgic punch to the face. If I remember correctly, this was the iTunes free single one week, and that's why I downloaded it. And I quickly fell in love with it. It's very reminiscent of Avril, who I've always enjoyed, and as I already mentioned with the last song, I like rock-infused pop music. So, despite literally completely forgetting this song existed, I couldn't help but put it on here.
8. Maroon 5- Misery
After watching all of those Todd in the Shadows videos, I feel almost obligated to dislike Maroon 5 songs because of how vehemently he complains about them, but at least for the first half of the decade, I still find myself really enjoying them. Maybe it's the nostalgia factor because of how much I liked the band/ Adam Levine at the time, maybe it's the songs themselves, maybe it's all of the above. Regardless, this is a song I still find myself really enjoying. It's one of those songs that really gets stuck in my head and refuses to leave, and somehow doesn't totally annoy me in the process, which is rare!
7. The Script- Breakeven
I know that I have/had a tendency (especially at the beginning of the decade) to enjoy what some might dub boring white-guy-with-guitar music, and there are certainly a few of those on this list. This might possibly be the epitome of that. Tbh, if I made this list in 2010, it might be entirely composed of those songs, especially a certain heavily overplayed song about a soul sister. Regardless, this is one of those songs that I still find myself enjoying all these years later. It's a song that I think aged really well-- although I don't listen to it that often anymore, when it comes on, it maintains a certain level of freshness instead of feeling old and overplayed (see: the aforementioned Train song lmao).
6. B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams- Airplanes
Some songs are way overplayed at the time and then eventually once the hype has died down, they end up in a way freeing themselves from that aspect. This is one of those songs for me. I liked it at first, and then got really, really sick of it, and then once it was no longer on the radio every 5 seconds, that initial enjoyment of it returned and has remained ever since. Plus, Hayley Williams is always a plus on any song!
5. Paramore- The Only Exception
Speaking of Hayley Williams, here she is again! I was tempted to put this even higher simply because it's Paramore and I've always loved them, but if I'm being honest with myself, this has never been one of my absolute favorite Paramore songs. Sure, I really, really enjoy it-- that's why it's on this list! But I could name a handful of Paramore songs- just from the same album!- that I prefer over this one. I tend to gravitate toward more uptempo songs, and this is certainly not that. Nonetheless, it's a really beautiful song with deep emotional lyrics, and it's Paramore, and I really enjoy it. (but also listen to Playing God from the same album, it's one of my favorite Paramore songs of all time)
4. B.o.B feat. Rivers Cuomo- Magic
If I'd made this list in 2010, this would be nowhere near the list because I'd literally never heard it. I listened to the radio quite a bit in 2010 so I'm not sure how I missed it, but I did. When did I finally hear it? When it was covered in a little movie called Pitch Perfect. ... yeah. Anyway, I liked the song in the movie, looked it up, and the rest is history. You know when you hear a song and you feel like it's from somewhere else? Like you're convinced it's a sample of an older song, but it's not? That's what this song is for me. The chorus of Magic is so perfectly constructed that it sounds like they must be sampling an older song, because there's no way this could be brand new-- it feels too familiar. And yet, it is brand new. Overall, this is just a really catchy, really fun song that demands that I enjoy it.
3. Bruno Mars- Just the Way You Are
When I discussed Airplanes, I talked about how some songs are able to shed the weight of how overplayed they were when they were popular. Unfortunately, this song has never been able to manage that for me. This song was ubiquitous in 2010. It wasn't even "that song" that got overplayed, it was "that song" x10. It was inescapable. And as much as I still enjoy it in spite of that, I can't bring myself to move it up the list for that reason alone. Fortunately for Bruno, though, he released many more hits throughout the 2010s, and at least a few of them will place higher than this, because as I mentioned-- he's my favorite American pop artist of the last decade. Full stop.
2. Kris Allen- Live Like We're Dying
To the average person who's just stumbled across this post, much of this list probably feels random, because I've left off many songs that others would deem iconic. But this might be simultaneously my most random-seeming choice and my most "boring white guy" choice. Yes, despite believing Adam Lambert should've won American Idol, I've still placed Kris Allen's song higher. I really don't know how to explain myself here. This is just one of those songs that grabbed me on first listen and does so again and again any time I return to it. Sometimes, you just enjoy things without knowing why you do, and this is one of those times. But I will reiterate, #TeamAdam!
1. Neon Trees- Animal
When I sat down to make this list, I never would've thought this would be #1 solely for the fact that I forgot how much it broke through into the mainstream pop scene. I used to watch this music channel (fuse, maybe?) that did top 10 lists weekly for different genres, and I think the first time I heard this was on the alternative top 10, as it was growing in popularity. Unfortunately, I only have kinda vague memories of when I got into their music, but at some point I downloaded their album, and I actually preferred 1983 (the follow-up single, I think?) to Animal. Nonetheless, Animal is the song on the list, and a really fun one at that. When going through this list, this was an easy choice for #1 because this is still that song of all of these that makes my heart swell and gets me hyped up. And honestly, I think the song is even more in-line with my taste in music now than it was in 2010, so I appreciate it even more now 10 years later.
Alright, now that the list is complete, let's discuss some of the songs that didn't make the list.
Firstly, the ones 2010 Kristen would've 100% included:
- Fireflies by Owl City-- I unabashedly loved this, even when it was overplayed. Not so much now.
- Hey Soul Sister by Train-- ditto the above, I'm ashamed to admit. I think we all regret stanning this song as much as we did lol
- Use Somebody by Kings of Leon-- almost made the list regardless, I still like it.
- Just Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble-- yep, more boring white guy music.
And finally, the ones 2020 Kristen nearly put on the list:
- Teenage Dream by Katy Perry-- very solid song from Katy, but not an all-time fave
- Your Love Is My Drug by Kesha-- I like most Kesha songs, but I don't love many of them.
- Bad Romance by Lady Gaga-- again, love Gaga, but her best songs were in other years IMO
- Tik Tok by Kesha-- didn't love my first introduction to Kesha, but it's become iconic
- Not Afraid by Eminem-- definitely not one I would've enjoyed at the time, but has grown on me a lot.
- Telephone by Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé-- again, not my fave from either, but enjoyable nonetheless
- Dynamite by Taio Cruz-- maybe Stockholm Syndrome from how much this was played, but definitely one that stands out as enjoyable & memorable.
- Nothin' on You by B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars-- I have 2 Bruno songs & 2 B.o.B songs on my list, but their collab didn't make it. This one suffered from overplay for me, but otherwise, I enjoyed it.
So, that's the list! As I mentioned, I hope to do one of these for each year of the 2010s. As seen by other series on my blog, I'm horribly inconsistent and incapable of completing a series, so we'll see how this goes.
As much as part of me would like to do least favorite lists for each of these years too, I don't think I will, mostly because I don't really have a ton each year that I actively dislike. If anything, my opinions toward most of the songs on these lists, all these years later, is just a mere *shrug.* Looking through the 2010 list, the only 3 that jumped out as least favorites were Baby by Justin Bieber, Imma Be by The Black Eyed Peas, and Like a G6 by Far East Movement. So there's my list, I guess lol.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll be back soon with my 2011 list!
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