60. Selena Gomez "Look At Her Now"
"Lose You To Love Me" was a bit of a heavy listen for those first few weeks, so it was nice of Selena to also release an uptempo song for when I needed a break from feeling those feels. The overall sound of "Look At Her Now" is very Kiiara-esque which works really well for someone like Selena, and the colorful video is another contrast to the black-and-white visuals on "Lose You To Love Me". One of the best double song releases we witnessed in 2019!
Previous EOY history: "Bad Liar" (#12, 2017)

59. Meduza, Becky Hill & Goodboys "Lose Control"
I already liked Meduza on "Piece Of Your Heart", and they outdid themselves here by essentially releasing the same song but with Becky Hill. That #11 peak is soooo frustrating, it's had great longevity to compensate but that almost makes it worse! Oh well, here's hoping Meduza gives us a third consecutive banger this year.

58. Lewis Capaldi "Bruises"
"Bruises" is my favorite Lewis song! Therefore it'll be his only appearance here. I was actually kind of dreading when this got announced as a single because it meant three ballads in a row, but it really grew on me in a way the other two didn't.

57. Billie Eilish "Everything I Wanted"
Billie sneaks in with her late Q4 release, which hit me so hard on first listen I couldn't not include it. "Everything I Wanted" is so subdued and yet so powerful; the lyrics are heavy yet so fantastic. Billie's in a position where anything she releases would probably be a hit, so for her to keep putting the effort in and give us something so heartfelt, so meaningful, I love that. I wish I could write a song like this now, let alone when I was 17!

56. Dave feat. Burna Boy "Location"
"Location" was the song that stood out to me among the three tracks that charted from Dave's album. I think it was originally the lowest-charting of the three, so it was a pleasant surprise to see the public latch on and make it a hit. Seems to be turning Burna Boy into a highly-demanded feature too, pretty sure his vocals are the reason I like the song so much anyway!

55. Jonas Brothers "Sucker"
I have a lot to say about the Jonas Brothers! This isn't their only entry so I’ll have to save some of it for later. What a genius move it was for them to get back together this past year. I actively avoided their music back in the day lmao, but with their solo careers and side projects garnering less and less attention, a reunion was the best way to get people talking again. On top of that, they absolutely knocked it out of the park with "Sucker" as their comeback single. It's almost too perfect if that's even possible, especially for radio as it was one of the most overplayed songs of the year. But I have to give mad respect when I insisted I'd never like a Jonas Brothers song and out of nowhere they proved me wrong!

54. Regard "Ride It"
I’m still a Jay Sean fan but had never gone back to "Ride It" since I first heard it. Regard improved the song majorly in my opinion! I'm still in awe of how random it was to see this song back in the charts in any form, but I imagine many weren't even aware that it's not the original, much like "Sorry" and maybe even "Pump It Up". I’ve seen so many complaints about this trend on here, but I love it! It's cool to see forgotten songs get an unexpected surge of relevance, although tbf I wasn’t attached to the original in any of these cases. That said, "Maybe" is still my favorite Jay Sean song and I would've loved to see it get a similar remix treatment :wub:

53. James Arthur "Falling Like The Stars"
James Arthur has had such a hit-and-miss career and, with my luck, it’s usually the songs I don't like that do well and the ones I love that don't. "Falling Like The Stars" is one of my faves of his now, surprising because on the surface it was yet another attempt to recreate "Say You Won’t Let Go". Instead I found this to be the most heartfelt of his ballads! I quite liked "Finally Feel Good" from his album too, good on him for finally getting it released.

52. Halsey "Nightmare"
Well nobody can say Halsey played it safe trying to follow up "Without Me". "Nightmare" is loud, it's aggressive, and it was quite jarring to listen to at first, but it grew on me as most Halsey songs do. She gets my praise for putting a female rock song on pop radio which we don’t get enough of anymore, even though it was short-lived in this case. I’m just now reading on Wikipedia that it was originally going to sample "All The Things She Said"???? I need this version :cry:
Previous EOY history: "Now Or Never" (#16, 2017), "Bad At Love" (#15, 2017), "Without Me" (#4, 2018)

51. Sally "Calculated"
"Calculated" was one of my two favorite BJSC entries last year, the other one being from the 90s and therefore won't feature here. It was actually Harmonica's anniversary entry for our 50th contest! I didn't feel strongly about sending any particular artist so I continued my pattern of sending a recent discovery from ZM in New Zealand. Unfortunately it DNQd and ended my longest Q-streak to date, which is not how you want your anniversary contest to go! But it's in good company here as well as in the Harmonica Hall of Injustice :P

Hey Jordan! *.*

 

Glad to see Sucker appear - I agree with everything you've said about it; back in the day I couldn't have cared less for them, started to pay a bit of attention to their solo careers, but Sucker was such a perfect way to reintroduce themselves to the world. :wub:

 

Nightmare... it pains me to admit, but that's growing on me since I've been listening to MANIC. I absolutely loathe Halsey, but her album's damn good and this is a highlight. Love to Look At Her Now, Bruises and Ride It too! <3

 

Looking forward to more!!

Look At Her Now :wub: One of my fave songs of last-year and I'm back in love with it again after the album release.

Edited January 29, 20205 yr by LewisGT

Hey Jordan! *.*

 

Glad to see Sucker appear - I agree with everything you've said about it; back in the day I couldn't have cared less for them, started to pay a bit of attention to their solo careers, but Sucker was such a perfect way to reintroduce themselves to the world. :wub:

 

Nightmare... it pains me to admit, but that's growing on me since I've been listening to MANIC. I absolutely loathe Halsey, but her album's damn good and this is a highlight. Love to Look At Her Now, Bruises and Ride It too! <3

 

Looking forward to more!!

I am a former absolute loather of Halsey but have nearly fully converted into a stan, perhaps it's your turn next! :o :basil:

 

Look At Her Now :wub: One of my fave songs of last-year and I'm back in love with it again after the album release.

Yay! Thanks for commenting :D

 

50. Brett Eldredge "Love Someone"
One of only two country songs in my EOY this year, "Love Someone" is a feel-good song from one of the best and most underrated vocalists in the genre. Hearing it on the radio always made me happy no matter what kind of day I was having. It took almost a year for the song to peak at #2 on country radio, so I'm thankful they never gave up on it! The video is super cute as it features his dog Edgar.
Previous EOY history: "Lose My Mind" (#23, 2015), “Drunk On Your Love” (#39, 2016)



49. Sigrid "Don’t Feel Like Crying"
Not saying there's a "Sound Of" curse but it seems like winning that doesn't mean as much as it used to. Therefore it was great to see Sigrid pull through with this song even though it was a year after she won :lol: The "Call Me Maybe" vibes are pretty obvious and that’s no bad thing! It was a nice display of taste from the UK considering it wasn't much of a hit anywhere else.

48. Panic! At The Disco "Hey Look Ma, I Made It"
Oops, I had this as an honorable mention, didn't I? It's in the top 50 after all :cheer: :kink:
Previous EOY history: "High Hopes" (#19, 2018)

47. Calvin Harris & Rag'n'Bone Man "Giant"
This was a great collab, totally robbed of #1 but what do you expect when Calvin has had four consecutive #2 singles back in the day and Rag'n'Bone Man's biggest hit was also an unlucky bridesmaid? Despite debuting in my top 5, "Giant" didn’t hold up in my affections as well as I hoped, but I'm pretty much ready for a new album from either of these guys!
Previous EOY history for Calvin: "Thinking About You" (#50, 2014), "Pray To God" (#39, 2015), "My Way" (#41, 2016), "One Kiss", (#45, 2018)

46. OneRepublic "Rescue Me"
For a moment it seemed like OneRepublic had a new hit on their hands, and I was hoping so because they're overdue for a new album. "Rescue Me" took several listens to really sink in, but after hearing that catchy chorus enough times it made my top 10 in September. The song actually did pretty well in a few countries but the US and UK were not among those. :( I hope they put out more music this year!
Previous EOY history: "I Lived" (#55, 2014 and #29, 2015)



45. Jax Jones & Martin Solveig feat. Madison Beer "All Day And Night"
Jax and Martin had a brief moment of trance-spiration last year and gave us a song that took us back to…a much better era of dance music! :magic: "All Day And Night" is not the kind of song that does well these days so it was nice to see it sneak in the top 10 for a week. Madison's vocals are great, I never thought much of her before but she proved me wrong here! Will we ever hear more from Europa or did they create that side-project name just for one song? :thinking:
Previous EOY history for Martin: "Places" (#62, 2017)

44. Lizzo "Good As Hell"
I first heard "Good As Hell" in 2018, so it's not going to rank as highly here as Lizzo's other two singles from 2019 (Not so with "Truth Hurts", I'd heard a few Lizzo songs over the years but that was not one of them). It got old for me quicker than I'd hoped, but nevertheless I was so happy to see it pushed as a single, and/or that it became too popular to ignore on its own! My dad calls this "the hair flip song" :')

43. Ellie Goulding & Juice Wrld "Hate Me"
Rest in peace Juice Wrld! :( I’m going to have a hard time describing why I had nothing but love for "Hate Me". Objectively it might be too basic, too repetitive, and a far cry from what Ellie Goulding is capable of. Nevertheless it was an earworm and I never got sick of it, even the chorus which was stuck in my head on a regular basis. It’s just so depressing that I felt weird for wanting to bop and sing along to it! :lol: And with Juice Wrld being so hit-and-miss as an artist, it was nice hearing a good verse from him. The video is atrocious though (but maybe that’s the point?)!
Previous EOY history for Ellie: "Love Me Like You Do" (#8, 2015), "On My Mind" (#19, 2015), "Something In The Way You Move" (#31, 2016)
Previous EOY history for Juice Wrld: "Lucid Dreams" (#5, 2018)

42. NOTD & Felix Jaehn feat. Georgia Ku & Captain Cuts "So Close"
How many DJs and producers need to be credited on one song??? I discovered "So Close" just from doing the New Zealand chart thread when the song debuted in their top 40. It must have been a random streaming hit but also sounded very radio-friendly. The production is as good as you would hope with that many producers involved, and I'd quite like to hear more from Georgia Ku as well!



41. Ellie Goulding & Diplo feat. Swae Lee "Close To Me"
I think I was disappointed with "Close To Me" at first, because it wasn't quite worth the long wait for new Ellie music. Once that disappointment was put aside, it really grew! Diplo's pretty dependable as a producer and Swae Lee lends a solid guest verse. Chart followers were taken by surprise when it became one of Ellie's biggest radio hits ever in the US, peaking at #5 on airplay, the same peak as "Burn"!! Only "Lights" and "Love Me Like You Do" were bigger on radio and those were both airplay #1s. Would've been higher on this EOY had it not been split between two years.
Previous EOY history for Ellie: "Love Me Like You Do" (#8, 2015), "On My Mind" (#19, 2015), "Something In The Way You Move" (#31, 2016)
Previous EOY history for Swae: "Unforgettable" (#5, 2017)

Hey Jord! :D Faves so far include Look At Her Now, Good As Hell, Sucker, All Day and Night and both Ellie songs. Guessing Cqm paid you to include the latter? -_-

Nice to see Ride It make an appearance, great to see it do so well in the charts!

 

Giving Love Someone a listen now, a nice country song and his deep voice is brill as well.

 

So Close was alright but I never really got excited about it sadly :( I am a fan of Don't Feel Like Crying and Giant though!

'Giant' that was such a great collaboration another genius move from Calvin Harris. 'All Day and Night' enjoyed that, it was in my End of Year chart. 'Good As Hell' great from Lizzo and enjoyed both songs from Ellie.

 

 

 

40. SZA, The Weeknd & Travis Scott "Power Is Power"

You would think any song with these three artists would be an enormous hit, especially when it's for the Game Of Thrones soundtrack. Turns out that's not the case! "Power Is Power" disappeared just as quickly as it impacted, which was a shame as it really was one of the better soundtrack singles last year. No surprise since SZA and The Weeknd were both amazing on the Black Panther soundtrack already ("All The Stars" and "Pray For Me" respectively). This song's a bit of a retread, to be fair, but still sneaks into my EOY top 40. Well done!

Previous EOY history for SZA: "All The Stars" (#6, 2018)

Previous EOY history for The Weeknd: "I Feel It Coming" (#2, 2017 and #29, 2016), "Pray For Me" (#14, 2018)

 

 

39. Ariana Grande "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored"

Unfortunately Thank U, Next is Ariana's worst-performing album on my EOY, with this being the only single included. While artistically the whole album is great, "Break Up With Your Girlfriend" is the only song that stuck with me for a long enough period of time. This is partially because she's far more omnipresent now and her songs burn out more easily, so we'll just say she's a victim of her own success :P

Previous EOY history: "Break Free" (#8, 2014), "One Last Time" (#4, 2015), "Focus" (#30, 2015), "Into You" (#1, 2016), "Side To Side" (#18, 2016), "Everyday" (#22, 2017), "God Is A Woman" (#9, 2018), "Breathin" (#33, 2018)

 

38. P!nk "Walk Me Home"

Remember how surprised we were when a new P!nk album was announced barely a year after Beautiful Trauma! "Walk Me Home" sounded like it belonged in 2012 or 2013, but that made it stand out and sound refreshing in 2019. The chorus really resonated with me in a way that "What About Us" never managed to do. I hate to think this might be the last time we see P!nk in the charts, but she's gone out on a high in my opinion.

Previous EOY history: "What About Us" (#63, 2017), "Beautiful Trauma" (#41, 2018)

 

37. Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber "I Don’t Care"

It's hard to take Ed Sheeran seriously anymore, so he might as well ~not care~ and go full-on novelty for a lead single. Actually I liked "I Don’t Care" more than anything on Divide and charted it relatively high as a result. Overplay caught up to it, which is normally the case for Ed, but for me it was a major car jam for a month or so, especially in April when the weather was finally getting warm.

Previous EOY history for Ed: "Don’t" (#5, 2014), "Sing" (#30, 2014), "Thinking Out Loud" (#47, 2015), "Shape Of You" (#49, 2017)

Previous EOY history for Justin: "Sorry" (#12, 2016 and #14, 2015), "Let Me Love You" (#6, 2016), "Friends" (#23, 2017)

 

36. Billie Eilish "Bad Guy"

I think everybody knew "Bad Guy" would be one of the biggest songs of the year from the first time they heard it. Imagine having this on your album and not needing to release it ahead of time, because the album already had enough hype without it. Billie did THAT. By the way, this is just for the original version; let’s just forget the Bieber remix ever existed.

 

35. Kacey Musgraves "Rainbow"

Kacey is another queen of good timing, pushing "Rainbow" as a single to go along with her awards show appearances last year. It was not originally a standout on her album for me, so watching her perform it on the Grammys gave me more appreciation for it than ever before. I finally got to see her live last summer, which was a dream come true and my favorite concert of 2019 :wub:

Previous EOY history: "Space Cowboy" (#55, 2018), "High Horse" (#58, 2018)

 

 

34. Alessia Cara "Out Of Love"

Realistically there was no chance of "rescuing" Alessia's sophomore campaign even before the album was released, but somehow she's enough of a radio darling here to still get airplay for a post-album single. I already adored "Out Of Love" as an album track but never would've picked it as a single, so seeing it make any impact at all (especially since it's a ballad) was outstanding! Y'all know I love her songwriting and her voice, so this should be no surprise!

Previous EOY history: "Wild Things" (#2, 2016), "Scars To Your Beautiful" (#7, 2016), "I'm Yours" (#47, 2016), "Stay" (#38, 2017), "1-800-273-8255" (#44, 2017), "Growing Pains" (#8, 2018), "Trust My Lonely" (#31, 2018)

 

 

33. Cardi B & Bruno Mars "Please Me"

Unpopular opinion: this is better than "Finesse"! Even if it wasn't, I would've thought the public would be here for another Bruno/Cardi collab no matter what, but the general reaction seemed lukewarm at best. I was glad it wasn't just a "Finesse Part 2", and I was fond of Cardi's singing leading into the chorus. I’d really like to hear more songs like "Please Me" and far fewer songs like "Money" and "Press" :puke2:

Previous EOY history for Cardi: "No Limit" (#32, 2018 & #39, 2017), "I Like It" (#35, 2018), "Finesse" (#44, 2018)

Previous EOY history for Bruno: "Young Girls" (#44, 2014), "That’s What I Like" (#6, 2017), "Finesse" (#44, 2018)

 

32. Taylor Swift "You Need To Calm Down"

It was a hit-and-miss year for Taylor, and "You Need To Calm Down" will be her only EOY appearance this year. The song took its time to grow on me; some of the lyrics aren't up to her usual standard, but once you overlook those the rest are quite good! The production is great too, a definite earworm.

Previous EOY history: "Shake It Off" (#22, 2014), "Wildest Dreams" (#25, 2015), "Delicate" (#1, 2018), "…Ready For It?" (#49, 2018)

 

31. Dua Lipa "Don’t Start Now"

It's always hard to place the Q4 releases in an EOY when you're not quite sure how they'll hold up. This feels about right for "Don’t Start Now", which I didn't even enjoy for the first week but it fully won me over shortly thereafter. Don't start Karen about me now :music:

Previous EOY history: "Be The One" (#3, 2017), "New Rules" (#4, 2017), "Electricity" (#30, 2018), "One Kiss" (#45, 2018)

Out Of Love is alright but not one of her best, I had it on my playlist for a bit last year and sadly it never really took off.

 

Giving Rainbow a listen as well, it's sounding fairly similar to Out of Love actually but her voice is really nice!

don't start now was a great comeback for dua, that would be my fave of your top 40 so far.

great to see all day and night and giant top 50 too and lose control and ride it top 60.

Cardi MOM *.* Please Me didn't quite hit the highs I thought it would but still a great song!!

Pleased to see 'break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored' making an appearance :wub: it slots nicely in the middle of her 'thank u, next' singles in my affections, with '7 rings' slightly pipping it. An iconic title and probably the finest moment on the album in terms of production duties.

 

I'm also really liking the inclusions of 'bad guy' and 'Don't Start Now' - both #2 smashes in my chart and officially in the U.K. :lol: at least Billie got the U.S. #1 :wub: although... yes, let's please forget that the Bieber version ever happened :kink:

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks for the comments! :heart:

 

Out Of Love is alright but not one of her best, I had it on my playlist for a bit last year and sadly it never really took off.

 

Giving Rainbow a listen as well, it's sounding fairly similar to Out of Love actually but her voice is really nice!

Funny you say that because I was typically listening to 'Out Of Love' and 'Rainbow' together, and I think they even peaked next to each other on my chart in the same month. So I'm glad it's not just me! :lol:

 

don't start now was a great comeback for dua, that would be my fave of your top 40 so far.

great to see all day and night and giant top 50 too and lose control and ride it top 60.

I reckon there's a few more you will enjoy seeing here!

 

Cardi MOM *.* Please Me didn't quite hit the highs I thought it would but still a great song!!

Yay, at least one person agrees :cheer:

 

Pleased to see 'break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored' making an appearance :wub: it slots nicely in the middle of her 'thank u, next' singles in my affections, with '7 rings' slightly pipping it. An iconic title and probably the finest moment on the album in terms of production duties.

 

I'm also really liking the inclusions of 'bad guy' and 'Don't Start Now' - both #2 smashes in my chart and officially in the U.K. :lol: at least Billie got the U.S. #1 :wub: although... yes, let's please forget that the Bieber version ever happened :kink:

Lucky for you Ariana still has one song to come, just not one from her album. And that makes two of us charting 'Don't Start Now' at #2!

We're at the point where I've lost the willpower to do commentary, but with only 5 sections left I'll try to fake it til the end. This will get completed in a timely manner! Also I'm having a habit of using UK and US chart stats interchangeably, in case that confuses anyone :P

 

 

30. Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart"

So Mark Ronson's album turned out to be amazing. All of the singles were terrific but I'm sticking with "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart" being the best, and it's the only one to feature here. Mark and Miley were robbed of a #1 in the UK and a top 40 hit in the US, but it had decent longevity to make up for it, and plenty of weeks at #1 on the Multichart of course!

Previous EOY history for Miley: "Adore You" (#31, 2014), "Feelin’ Myself" (#59, 2014), "Malibu" (#40, 2017)

 

29. Freya Ridings "Castles"

As much as I love "Lost Without You", I wouldn't have been surprised if it had ended up as a one-hit wonder for Freya. It was nice to be proven wrong and to hear an equally good uptempo song from her! It's hard to even pick a favorite part of "Castles", it's very well-written and Freya's voice is lovely, it's just as unique as her name.

 

28. Miley Cyrus "Slide Away"

Even without releasing a full album, I'd like to think 2019 will go down as one of Miley's best years musically. This is her second of three appearances just in this section, and she'll have one more after that. Hearing "Slide Away" just makes me think how much she's evolved as an artist over this decade. It’s got that timeless pop classic feel to it, even though its chart performance didn't reflect that. This really had me yearning for more from Miley but I think we’ve gone 6 months now without her releasing anything else :(

Previous EOY history: "Adore You" (#31, 2014), "Feelin’ Myself" (#59, 2014), "Malibu" (#40, 2017)

 

27. Halsey "Graveyard"

Halsey went full Halloween on us last year with a single called "Nightmare" followed by one called "Graveyard". This one was a lot less in-your-face, but the production didn't disappoint, and I had "I've been digging myself down deeper, I won’t stop 'til I get where you are" stuck in my head for at least a few weeks. It's an earworm!

Previous EOY history: "Now Or Never" (#16, 2017), "Bad At Love" (#15, 2017), "Without Me" (#4, 2018)

 

26. Shawn Mendes "If I Can't Have You"

I really wanted to rank this higher because it is one of Shawn’s best songs, and started off a great year for him after he underperformed somewhat in 2018. "If I Can't Have You" really blew me away within the first 10 seconds of the first listen, I'm still amazed at just how instant it was. It's also quite similar to "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back", especially in the verses, and I think that made it get old for me pretty quickly. It's soooo much better than "Senorita" though, IMO, so I was disappointed at how quickly it was overshadowed by that. Overall, though, Shawn's demand is probably higher than ever now, so I'm hopeful he'll be back in 2020!

Previous EOY history: "Stitches" (#3, 2015), "Mercy" (#10, 2017 & #36, 2016), "There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back" (#54, 2017), "In My Blood" (#2, 2018), "Lost In Japan" (#59, 2018)

 

25. Jess Glynne & Jax Jones "One Touch"

By now Jess Glynne has proven that she can release the same song over and over and over again with a different name, and I'll still love it each time. :kink: "One Touch" is really nothing new except for Jax Jones himself, and he rarely disappoints either. I’m still not over how this could only peak at #19 when all of Jess's similar-sounding singles are top 10 smashes :lol: :drama:

Previous EOY history for Jess: "Rather Be" (#60, 2014), "Real Love" (#17, 2015), "Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself" (#33, 2015)

 

24. Lil Nas X "Panini"

Having to withstand 19 weeks of "Old Town Road" at #1 was painful at times, but Lil Nas X's follow-up single would prove to be the light at the end of the tunnel. "Panini" wasn't trying to be a meme or novelty except for being a song literally called "Panini"; it was just good on its own merits. Obviously wouldn't have been half as big without "Old Town Road", but #6 on pop radio and #2 on rhythmic is more than enough to challenge any one-hit wonder claims!

 

23. Dua Lipa "Swan Song"

"Swan Song" really clicked with me in a way it must not have for others. I spent maybe a month seeking out stations that were playing it just so I could hear it on the radio as much as possible, since it wasn’t getting airplay here. Even for a soundtrack single I thought it'd do better than a #24 peak! The lyrics let it down a bit but I just love the build-up to the chorus :wub:

Previous EOY history: "Be The One" (#3, 2017), "New Rules" (#4, 2017), "Electricity" (#30, 2018), "One Kiss" (#45, 2018)

 

22. Kehlani feat. Ty Dolla $ign "Nights Like This"

Up until last year I was aware of Kehlani but only really knew songs that she was featured in. Thankfully "Nights Like This" charted high enough to really grab my attention and led me to plenty more songs of hers. I find her voice to be quite similar to Camila Cabello's but soooo much more pleasant and emotional. This is such a gem and, like the rest of this section really, deserved way more success :heart:

Previous EOY history for Ty Dolla $ign: "Saved" (#58, 2016), "Bacon" (#56, 2016), "Psycho" (#7, 2018)

 

http://logoonline.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:s3.amazonaws.com/articles.newnownext.com-production/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/dont-walk-me-angel-1568390294-1568390295.gif

 

21. Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus & Lana Del Rey "Don't Call Me Angel"

"Don’t Call Me Angel" was my October #1, and Ariana's sixth overall, extending her lead with the most of any artist. I was hooked right away due to the production reminding me of "Mother's Daughter" by Miley, and being the most upbeat song Ariana's had in quite a while. I'm still a little shocked at how poorly it's holding up in my affections but, nevertheless, I'd call it a great collab, alas it's the first of my #1s to drop out. 11 more to go!

Previous EOY history for Ariana: "Break Free" (#8, 2014), "One Last Time" (#4, 2015), "Focus" (#30, 2015), "Into You" (#1, 2016), "Side To Side" (#18, 2016), "Everyday" (#22, 2017), "God Is A Woman" (#9, 2018), "Breathin" (#33, 2018)

Previous EOY history for Miley: "Adore You" (#31, 2014), "Feelin’ Myself" (#59, 2014), "Malibu" (#40, 2017)

Previous EOY history for Lana: "West Coast" (#54, 2014), "Love" (#29, 2017)

A nice set of songs there! Nothing Breaks Like a Heart, Castles and One Touch all made my Top 40 last year (which is an incredibly rare feat for a charting song nowadays :P ) and Swan Song made my Top 100 as well, all real tunes!

20. Ed Sheeran & Chance The Rapper feat. PnB Rock "Cross Me"
Ed's best single in years! Overall this collaborations project was refreshing to hear from him even if most of the singles were inevitably overplayed. "Cross Me" never got its own time to shine, always overshadowed by "I Don't Care" and then "Beautiful People", but at least that made it easier to not get tired of hearing it.
Previous EOY history for Ed: "Don’t" (#5, 2014), "Sing" (#30, 2014), "Thinking Out Loud" (#47, 2015), "Shape Of You" (#49, 2017)
Previous EOY history for Chance: "All My Friends" (#32, 2016)

19. Camila Cabello "Liar"
"Liar" was a major grower for me, not even entering my chart until its 7th or 8th week of release but eventually peaking at #2 in December! I’ll blame this somewhat on the decision to push this and "Shameless" at the same time. Once "Shameless" was cast aside, "Liar" proved to be one of Camila's best singles ever! Its greatest strength is the instrumentation, especially the intro and the extended outro. I love when you think the song's over but then it keeps going *.*
Previous EOY history: "Havana" (#50, 2017)

18. Post Malone feat. Young Thug "Goodbyes"
I never liked "Sunflower" and "Wow" was just okay, so for me "Goodbyes" felt like Post Malone's proper return to form. I felt rather alone in thinking that since the song was rather front-loaded and didn’t hold up nearly as well as those previous two singles. I wanted it to be his first #1 on my chart but the competition was too strong in the summer months. I can't blame anyone for thinking Young Thug's verse was horrific but I actually liked it :lol:
Previous EOY history for Post Malone: "Rockstar" (#59, 2017), "Psycho" (#7, 2018), "Better Now" (#23, 2018), "Jackie Chan" (#24, 2018)
Previous EOY history for Young Thug: "Havana" (#50, 2017)

17. Post Malone "Circles"
"Circles" did much better longevity-wise; in fact it’s still the most-played song on US radio as I type this! Post Malone is proving to be quite the unexpected talent, trying out different genres with ease and actually sounding pretty good live. Never imagined the man who gave us "White Iverson" could also give us this gem!
Previous EOY history: "Rockstar" (#59, 2017), "Psycho" (#7, 2018), "Better Now" (#23, 2018), "Jackie Chan" (#24, 2018)

16. Lauv & Troye Sivan "I'm So Tired…"
Lauv won me over in a big way last year, despite "I Like Me Better" being one of my least favorite songs in 2018. At first I gave Troye full credit for making "I'm So Tired…" such a good song, but now I'll admit that both artists are great on it. I’m happy to report this song is higher on my EOY than on Joseph's, thus upholding my title as Troye's biggest stan (until Jay sees this, since he ranked it higher than me) :cool:
Previous EOY history for Troye: "Youth" (#8, 2016), "My My My!" (#37, 2018), "1999" (#53, 2018)

15. Mitch James "Old News"
Who is Mitch James, you ask? Don’t run away if I say he's basically the New Zealand Ed Sheeran. I was listening to ZM almost exclusively last winter, and they play a handful of his songs. "Old News" really, really stood out, enough to be #1 on my chart in February, which is rare for a song I'd only heard online. I would've sent this to BJSC but couldn't deal with the likelihood of it flopping miserably :cry:





14. Selena Gomez "Lose You To Love Me"
Man, what a reversal of fortunes for Selena Gomez! Even five months ago I never would've imagined her getting her first Hot 100 #1 or her highest-charting hit to date in the UK. It couldn't have happened with a better song either. My expectations are often low for her, but she made "Lose You To Love Me" her own in such an incredible way. Kudos to Julia Michaels too for the outstanding lyrics!
Previous EOY history: "Bad Liar" (#12, 2017)

13. Lizzo "Truth Hurts"
Pretty sure the chart moment of the year for me was when "Truth Hurts" made it to #1 on the Hot 100. That doesn’t just happen to any 2-year-old song, even though it was new to me and just about everyone else. It was a terrific moment of validation for Lizzo who’s been flying under the radar for 5 years and is now a household name! Just knowing how hard she has worked for this made the song even more special. It was amazing to hear this all over the radio and to think it will hopefully be considered a classic in the future :wub:



12. Bazzi "Paradise"
Similar to Lauv, Bazzi was one of my least-favorite emerging artists in 2018. For a while my dislike of "Mine" made me assume that all TikTok hits were bad, and then "Beautiful" was even more painful to listen to. Needless to say, "Paradise" is different. It was not just love on first listen, but within the first few seconds, and it got even better as it went on. With a name like "Paradise" the chorus needed to sound epic, and he pulled it off. It debuted at #1 on my chart in May! I also like how he randomly sounds like Drake in the pre-chorus.



11. Ava Max "Sweet But Psycho"
Aww, I was hoping this song would make it in my top 10 but it just didn't work out. "Sweet But Psycho" reached #3 on my chart and I enjoyed watching it smash on the Multichart, then in the UK chart, then eventually scraping the top 10 on Billboard about 5 months later :lol: I was buying into the Buzzjack hype that Ava would be the next Gaga and this song would start a pop revolution. Obviously didn't happen, but that doesn't make the song any less good. In this chart climate I'm really glad it found a way to break through.

Giving Paradise a listen since you're saying it's better than his two big hits, it is a decent song but can't say it's one of my favourites! Truth Hurts is INCREDIBLY catchy though so nice to see that so high.

 

 

10. Maggie Rogers "Light On"

I took notice of Maggie Rogers back when Radio 1 playlisted "Alaska" (I think??), but at that time I’d never have guessed I'd ever have her at #1 on my chart. Then she performed on Saturday Night Live in late 2018, and "Light On" and "Fallingwater" both blew me away. The former became my first #1 of 2019, overcoming my mainstream hoetry to do so. While still very fresh-sounding, it was just slightly reminiscent of some female artists from maybe my middle school years, with a pleasant radio-friendly sound but killer melodies and hooks all the way through. Her album was one of very few that I listened to in 2019 and it didn't disappoint either. I also enjoyed Maggie's Coachella set and her Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. With my chart having more #1s last year than ever before, I'm glad there was room for this to sneak in my EOY top 10!

 

 

9. Dominic Fike "3 Nights"

My top 10 is full of surprises, with only 3 songs that made the top 40 on the Hot 100. "3 Nights" is not one of those songs! It sure had the potential after being a sleeper hit everywhere else, and I'm disappointed it never fully crossed over here (considering it's Dominic's home country and all – I assumed he was Australian for the longest time!), but chart domination in the UK, Oceania and elsewhere was a good enough consolation. You could say it was the token indie hit of the year, much like "Feel It Still" the year before, but that's no insult to this irresistibly catchy song! It's the second-highest non-#1 on my chart, only because it was stuck behind some major summer powerhouses which are all still to come. To whoever gave it a chance all those months ago, I thank you.

 

 

8. Lizzo "Juice"

2019 marked the end of my ability to watch music videos on TV, as Fuse ended its weekday morning video rotation in the spring. :( I mention this now because "Juice" was one of the last songs to get high rotation there, and therefore will be one of the last music videos I'll remember watching on TV. Not that the song needed any more reason to be memorable! It surprised even me by surging to #1 on my chart in April, after three months lingering between #40 and #21. Much like Lizzo's career took five years to take off, but it was well worth the wait. This did not fit the description of a song that would be a hit in 2019, so it easily could have been overlooked. I'm so glad that wasn't the case and it got the critical and mainstream attention it deserved. Should hold up every bit as well as "Truth Hurts" and "Good As Hell" 10 years from now, fingers crossed!

 

 

7. Katy Perry "Never Really Over"

Two songs in this EOY top 10 had their official chart debuts on my birthday. It made for a pretty amazing birthday chart! "Never Really Over" is only the second Katy Perry song I've loved on first listen; I notoriously have consistently bad first impressions of her songs and then they always inevitably grow on me. So in this case it was nice to obsess over the song at the same time as everyone else! It proved that she could still have a hit single without relying on a feature, and even without going top 10 officially it felt like an incredible achievement. It was #1 on my chart in July, Katy's third #1 since 2014 when my monthly chart began. I love when a song title is perfectly fitting for that point in the artist's career, and I’d say Katy proved "Never Really Over" to be the case for her :wub:

Previous EOY history: "Dark Horse" (#16, 2014), "This Is How We Do" (#21, 2014), "Bon Appetit" (#7, 2017), "Chained To The Rhythm" (#52, 2017)

 

6. Sigala & Becky Hill "Wish You Well"

I'm not used to hearing anything from Sigala that isn't completely uplifting. But even for a breakup song, "Wish You Well" is very positive and healthy, which may be a new trend as "Thank U, Next" and "Happier" were also similar in their approach. Either way, it's a stunning collab, my favorite effort from both Becky and Sigala. You can certainly hear the influence on her own song that's in the chart now. But good luck finding a lyric better than "honestly your loyalties, insecurities, and priorities ain't the same / the harmony, it's the only thing I can save" :cheeseblock: Also I just love the ending, could have just that on repeat :wub:

Ooh so the other Ariana song was 'Don't Call Me Angel' *.* oops at it being your first #1 to drop out, although it doesn't seem to have held up too well for others on here as well judging by the outcome in the Ariana singles rate. I still love it just as much as before but I can understand why that may not be the case for some. My other main highlights from these recent sections are 'Circles', 'Cross Me', 'Nothing Breaks Like A Heart', 'Slide Away' + 'Sweet But Psycho' :wub: 'Cross Me' was easily my favourite song from this Ed era, so it was a shame to see it underperform by his standards, but good point that it's probably for the best as it definitely hasn't been overplayed, unlike all of the #1s from that era and 'South of the Border' :kink: a right gem in his discography, cool video too ~