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Remember when I said I was going to start doing a series of various Top Ten posts and then I did three and never did another one? Yep, me too. Haha. I intended to do this post in January when I was doing all of my 2024 wrap-up posts, but I never got around to it… mostly because it was too hard for me to narrow the post to just ten songs. I have had several requests from readers to do more music posts, so I’m glad I finally got around to doing it, though… this one is for y’all!
Hi, my name is Lindsay, and music is the most important thing in my life besides the obvious things like God, family, and necessities. I have loved it since I was tiny. I listen to it all day while I work, I listen to it in the car, I listen to it when I work out, I listen to it when I cook. NOTHING makes me happier than music… especially live music. It makes me feel alive and it allows me to get lost in the present moment like nothing else (which rarely happens for this Type A, planning, scheduling, not-spontaneous girl who always has a million things going on in her brain). I also LOVEEEE introducing music to fellow music fans and connecting with others that way. I honestly think that they need to add a sixth love language because music would most definitely be mine.
I love pretty much every genre, and my music collection is incredibly eclectic, so it was verrrry hard for me to narrow down this list. Keep in mind that some of these songs have not yet been released as singles by the artists… they just happened to be my favorites on the albums that were released last year. Also, I made sure to only pick one song per artist. Otherwise, my Top Ten could have easily been just two or three artists. Lol. And finally, I listen to some obscure stuff, which means that several of these are not mainstream, so if you’ve never heard some of them, I encourage you to check them out if you want to find some excellent new music and artists.
Working backwards from #10, here we go!
9. Pretty Bird by Dave Matthews – I have loved this man since I was
just 12 years old, and I have seen him solo / with the band in concert 28 times
and counting. Dave released this solo
cover (originally done by Hazel Dickens) in 2024, and it is such a gem. The lyrics make me cry every time I
hear it.
8. Good News by Shaboozey – I absolutely LOVED A Bar Song
by Shaboozey, but his song Good News is, by far, his best song yet. It was released as a single, but didn’t get much
radio play (at least not that I heard), and for the life of me, I don’t
understand why. He performed part of it
live at The Grammys and it’s just so good, y’all!
7. Teddy Swims – Some Things I’ll Never Know – I am a HUGE Teddy Swims fan, and I
have been listening to him since before he became massively popular, so I actually
started listening to this album in 2023 when it came out. However, the media is considering it a 2024
album because of his hit Lose Control, so I’m going to just go ahead and
consider this a 2024 song as well. This
is the first track on his album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy and it
is one of my favorite songs he’s ever done.
This whole album is just fantastic.
We are going to see him in concert in August and I couldn’t be more
excited… it’ll be a major bucket list check for sure!
6. It Is What It Is by Judah and the Lion – Brian found Judah and the Lion randomly many years ago. I thought their first album was okay, but nothing super
impressive in my opinion. Fast forward
to 2024, and I fell in love with an artist named Abe Parker. I found him on Instagram of all places, but
it was love at first listen. He went on
tour last year with Judah & the Lion as he was their opening act, so I told
Brian I wanted to see him live. We ended
up staying for Judah & the Lion after Abe Parker’s set (of course), and unbeknownst
to us, Judah & the Lion had released a new album called The Process. They played that album from start to finish that night and, y’all, I have never been to a live show where I knew zero songs and loved
it so much. I swear to y’all, I cried real
tears at that concert because it was so good.
I downloaded the album the next day and proceeded to listen to it on
repeat for months. The album is about
grief, and it goes through all of the stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression,
and acceptance, and it is just fantastic from start to finish. It was hard to choose a favorite song from the
album as there are several that were vying for a spot on this list in my mind,
but It Is What It Is has to take the cake. The last couple of years have been rough for
me because of my vertigo issues and this whole album felt so healing to me,
especially this song as it’s about accepting the things that you cannot
control. As someone who has major control
issues, it felt like it was written just for me.
5. What’s Left of Me by Grace VanderWaal – This is another obscure one… I heard
it on The Elvis Duran Show because they were talking about how “the
little girl who won America’s Got Talent in 2016 was all grown up and had a new
single.” They played it and it was so
good that I downloaded it right then and there.
I don’t think it was played on mainstream radio, but it should have
been. I listened to it on repeat for weeks.
4. I Love You, I’m Sorry by Gracie Abrams – Frankly, I could put this entire
album on this list because it’s so, so good.
I started listening to Gracie Abrams right as she was on the precipice
of becoming mainstream (I *think* I found her because I’d read that she was opening
for Taylor on the Eras Tour but I'm not 100% sure if I'm remembering correctly), and I loved this entire album from the
start. I Love You, I’m Sorry is
my favorite song on the album with Us. coming in a close second. And it ended up being the first song that Olivia
learned from start to finish on the guitar, so that makes it even more special.
3. It Is What It Is by Abe Parker
– Is it not so weird that two of my favorite songs of 2024 both have the same
title?! What are the odds?! Anyway, Abe Parker is the artist I told all
of you about earlier when I was discussing the song by Judah & the Lion. I found him through a friend on Instagram last
year right as he was releasing this song, and I loved it so much that I went
and downloaded all of his music from his entire career (which is quite a bit)! Again, I found this song when I was suffering
terribly from vertigo and couldn’t get answers from any doctor, so it just
really spoke to me and made me feel less alone.
I ended up going to see him live and I got to meet him afterward. He was kind and humble and gracious, and when
I told him about how his music helped me feel less alone on my vertigo journey,
he told me that his sister had suffered from something similar. Days later, his sister ended up reaching out
to me and telling me her story, and all of the resources she provided for me
have been so helpful. If all of this
doesn’t have God written all over it then I don’t know what does! Music is literally healing.
2. Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake – This song right here will forever be
in my top favorite songs of all time. It’s
all about finding joy in God during the midst of even the hardest
struggles in life. It’s raw, powerful,
and so very beautiful and I have listened to it a hundred times since it was released,
and I still can’t get enough. I don’t honestly
know what else to say about it because my words could never say what the lyrics
in this song say, so all I can do is tell you to give it a listen if you haven’t
ever heard it.
1. LOML by Taylor Swift – And the top spot goes to... MY GIRL, TAY! She released The Tortured Poets Department
in 2024, and it is 31 songs of pure brilliance. Prior to this, I didn’t think she would ever
be able to create anything more beautiful than her album, Folklore, (I declared
it her magnum opus right after it was released), but friends, TTPD comes
in a very close second. And LOML
is a MASTERPIECE from start to finish.
The simplicity of the piano, the way she sings it so quietly, and the
lyrics… ohhhh, the lyrics. This song will
absolutely break your heart in two. I love
Taylor Swift, and she has hundreds of songs, but this one? This one will live in my top three forever.
And just for
fun, a few honorable mentions…
MILLION DOLLAR BABY by Tommy Richman – It was so hard not to include this one in my top ten, y’all, because WHAT A BANGER.
Beautiful Things by Benson Boone
Lil’ Boo Thang by Paul Russell (technically I think this one was 2023, too)
To wrap up, I came across the song Gravity by Sarah Bareilles last year. It played in the background while someone was performing on America's Got Talent and I thought it was new. I Googled the lyrics to see what the song was called and I downloaded it the next day. I think I listened to this one a hundred times, too, but I didn’t include it in my top ten because as I was looking it up, I found out that it was released in 2007. Haha. I don’t know how I went 18 years without hearing this beautiful song, though… if it had been from 2024 it would have taken a spot in my top ten for sure! The lyrics are beautiful.
This was fun!! What were some of your favorite songs from 2024?
And if you want to see any of my other Top Ten posts I'll link them below!
Top Ten... Things I Love About Fall
I obviously don't listen to normal music because I don't think I've heard any of these.
ReplyDeleteMusic is such an important part of life!
ReplyDeleteI have heard that Good News song lots but had no idea Shaboozey sung it. It is a great song and I am new to listening to Teddy Swims but he is becoming one of my favourites.
hehehe! I knew a Taylor Swift song would be your number one.
Gosh, I don't think I know any of these... but then again I say that about a lot of songs/artists until I actually listen to them and then I'm like "oh yeah, I love that song!"
ReplyDeleteI love music too! But I know you are not surprised that I only listen to country music!
ReplyDelete