Hi again and happy 2025! So, a while back I posted my list of the top 10 worst songs of this year. Well, you can't really have a "worst songs" list without a "best songs" list. I've always kind of thought of 2024 as a mediocre year for music, but there were really a lot of great songs this year. Some artists you might expect to see on here include Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, etc.
Like with the list of the worst songs, there isn't any super specific criteria. As long as it was released and/or charted in 2024, it counts. Also, this is my opinion, like always. I hope I don't wake up with 9999999999999999999999999 comments all saying "you are wrong". Anyway, it's list time.
Honorable mentions (wow this is a lot):
Eminem & Jelly Roll - Somebody Save Me
Gracie Abrams - Normal Thing
Katseye - Touch
Kenya Grace - Strangers
Meghan Trainor - I Get It
Meghan Trainor - Timeless
Olivia Rodrigo - Scared Of My Guitar
Olivia Rodrigo - Stranger
Pearl Jam - Upper Hand
Taylor Swift - But Daddy I Love Him
Taylor Swift - Florida!!!
Taylor Swift - Loml
Taylor Swift - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
Taylor Swift - So High School
Taylor Swift - So Long London
Taylor Swift - The Black Dog
Taylor Swift - The Bolter
Umi & V - Wherever U R
Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything
#20: Charli XCX - Talk Talk
Interestingly, the first three artists on this list all have songs on both my best list and worst list. Charli XCX is a bit inconsistent for me - usually her music sounds like Characterless XCX, but she has a few really good songs also. This is one of them. Charli XCX somehow succeeded in making an upbeat dance pop song that I can actually listen to. The lyrics here are also super relatable, and the remix with Troye Sivan is also just as great. For a longer review, see the complete album review.
#19: Camila Cabello - Godspeed
Another artist who appeared on both the best and worst songs list. Camila has also been somewhat inconsistent in the past year. I hated what she did to her whole sound in this past year. She completely changed herself just to fit with trends and was commonly thought of as ripping off Charli XCX's style. But this song is one of the exceptions. I love it. (No, not I Luv It.) This deluxe track seems to be one of the more hated ones off her album, but I think the production sounds amazing. It's got such a nice buildup, and yes, the electronic effects somehow manage to fit in with it so well. And the lyrics are super well-written.
#18: Ariana Grande - We Can't Be Friends
The final artist who appears on both lists. Ariana really surprised me when she released this right after the mess that was Yes, And. Her album Eternal Sunshine, and really her discography in general does a lot of really cool things musically. The way this song evolves throughout is just beautiful. It starts with a single atmospheric synthesizer over a slight bass pulse, but then the drums progress so nicely to a gorgeous orchestral peak at the end. Obviously this song mostly shines musically but it also has some great lyrics, so that's an added bonus. For a longer review, once again you can see that on the album review.
#17: Laufey - Trouble
I haven't talked much about Laufey on my blog, mainly because for whatever reason, she still has yet to make any appearance on Hits 1. But in 2023, she had a huge album, Bewitched, that basically brought jazz back into the modern music world, and it's one of my favorite albums. Then in 2024, she released a deluxe edition called the Goddess edition, including four bonus tracks. Two of those bonus tracks I wasn't particularly a fan of, but this one is a favorite for me. Laufey primarily writes love songs, but this song reflects on a breakup and how it affects her daily life. The slow jazz production fits really well with it, and I love that trumpet solo in the middle. Overall, it's definitely a standout track that deserved more success.
#16: Halsey - The End
I was at first surprised to see that a lot of people hate this song. But I guess looking back that's not surprising considering I seemingly like ballads more than anyone else in the universe. I love sad music, and this might just be the saddest song of the year, reflecting on how Halsey felt during the years when they weren't revealing anything about challenges of sickness they faced. The lyrics express these feelings quite powerfully, and the guitar line supports it very nicely.
#15: Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I'm Sorry
I was first introduced to Gracie in 2023 when she made her Hits 1 debut with Where Do We Go Now, and I wasn't a huge fan. I liked I Know It Won't Work significantly more, however. Then she returned with a whole new album, The Secret Of Us, which really seemed to launch her into significant fame, alongside being one of Taylor's openers on the Eras Tour. I was a huge fan of TSOU when I listened to it and reviewed it, so you can see an in-depth review of the song itself there.
#14: MGK & Jelly Roll - Lonely Road
Interestingly, this is the only song by a male artist that made it onto this top 20 list. (For whatever reason I still have yet to listen to the new Finneas album, but he probably would have made it on here if I had.) I don't know why I find this song so great. It's partially just because it's a great collaboration of two genres & artists I generally enjoy. But really in theory, a country-rock breakup song that samples a John Denver classic should equal mediocre genericness, right? Apparently not, because this song's production, the surprising blend of their vocals, and the almost satirically country & emo lyrics actually works quite well! It's kind of like Taylor Swift's The Other Side Of The Door in how it borders on anti-greatness.
#13: Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club
Chappell Roan had a huge year, and thus a lot of contenders for the year-end list. Although Good Luck Babe, California, Kaleidoscope, SGUMG, and ultimately even Hot To Go came close, this was my final choice for this list. While her other major singles Good Luck Babe & Hot To Go are fun, they feel more like songs that I'll enjoy when they come on but never listen to them unironically. However, Pink Pony Club is a song I genuinely love and find myself actively listening to. If you want a longer review of the song itself, I'm once again going to redirect you to the original album review.
#12: Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please
Sabrina Carpenter is another artist who had a massive year this year. While I also liked Espresso & Taste, I chose two songs from Short N Sweet that particularly stood out to me, one of which was another major single, Please Please Please. The main reason I loved this song so much is the production, and how it effortlessly blends instruments and genres. I also reviewed the album, so you can once again see that for a longer review.
#11: Sabrina Carpenter - Dumb & Poetic
Although there were many great songs on the album, this was easily my favorite song on Short N Sweet. The lyrics are sad and angry while still having Sabrina's signature humor and innuendo. I know it's short, but there's a lot packed into this song's two minute runtime. I guess you could say it's Short N Sour. See the same album review I linked above for a more in-depth review.
#10: Taylor Swift - Down Bad
Surprise not surprise, Taylor Swift has five songs that made my year-end top 20. Honorable mentions to So Long London, But Daddy I Love Him, Florida, Loml, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Black Dog, So High School, and The Bolter, all of which are great and came close to this list but either faded on me slightly or just ultimately didn't quite match up to the five I chose. I've always liked this song but it was never much of a standout until I recently relistened to it a few times. I'll just redirect you to my TTPD album review so you can see my full thoughts on this song.
#9: Taylor Swift - I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
See the link above.
#8: Taylor Swift - Fresh Out The Slammer
Again, see the link above.
#7: Ariana Grande - Imperfect For You
Another Ariana Grande masterpiece. The production is thought of as "weird" or "distracting" by some people, but I love how it fits with the song. The lyrics also have a great message. See the Eternal Sunshine album review mentioned at #18 if you want my complete review.
#6: Halsey - Ego
This would actually be my #1 song of the year if I was only including songs that made it onto Hits 1 this year, because the entire top 5 is taken up by songs that Hits 1 missed. This is another song that reflects on challenges Halsey has faced throughout their career that they tend to hide, backed by an acoustic rock production that I absolutely love. This song (among many other Halsey songs) really deserved more recognition than it got.
#5: Taylor Swift - The Manuscript
See the TTPD album review I linked at #10.
#4: Billie Eilish - Blue
Billie Eilish has always been one of my favorite artists, and her album Hit Me Hard And Soft was no exception. There were two particular songs that I really loved due to their pure emotion and evolution. Like I'm doing with many songs on here, I'll take you straight to my complete album review if you want a full-length review of the song.
#3: Billie Eilish - The Greatest
This should've been a single. See the link above.
#2: Taylor Swift - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
My favorite Taylor song this year. See the TTPD review once again.
#1: Laufey - Goddess
W O W ! ! ! ! ! This song is simply beyond amazing. As I mentioned earlier, Laufey is one of my favorite artists, although I don't get much of a chance to talk about her on my blog due to Hits 1 somehow completely missing out on her music. Almost every artist has at least one massive, cinematic, blasting, angry song about someone who did them wrong: Taylor Swift's The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, Sabrina Carpenter's Dumb & Poetic, Olivia Rodrigo's Vampire, Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever, and of course, Laufey's Goddess. All of those are songs I love, and for good reason. This song begins with a soft jazz piano and melancholic lyrics, but begins to slowly build up and ends in pure anger. And I love that. And the lyrics are so amazingly written and relatable - about when someone only loves a version of you that doesn't feel true, with a powerful refrain "I'm a goddess on stage, human when we're alone", progressing into a loud, sustained "I'm not your fucking goddess". It's got such a gorgeous buildup and is a work of absolute genius. I really wish this at least did something, somewhere. Even if it was a Hitbound dropout for one week on Hits 1, I would love that. But really, it should've been the biggest song of the year.
That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!
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