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2017 Songs of the Year - SPECIAL EDITION POST

12/31/2017

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Even if I can't keep up on my Song of the Day entries (which I've gotten better about, again, finally!), I will always, somehow, get this thing posted each year.

Usual disclaimer, as always - these are all songs that have had some sort of mainstream release; no b-sides or non-single tracks from albums. These are the ones that the labels and artists saw fit to push the most, and that I personally saw fit to invade my ears on repeat throughout the year.

Want to listen through it all? Check out the Spotify playlist I created (first fifteen in artist name order, last 10 in countdown style).

As per tradition, on this New Years Eve, let's kick things off with 15 Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order by artist):
AJR feat. Rivers Cuomo - Sober Up
Andy Grammer - The Good Parts
The Chainsmokers & Coldplay - Something Just Like This
Dustin Lynch - Small Town Boy
Imagine Dragons - Believer
Manchester Orchestra - The Gold
Maren Morris - I Could Use a Love Song
Mastodon - Toe to Toes
P!nk - Beautiful Trauma
Rascal Flatts - Yours If You Want It
The Struts - One Night Only
Theory of a Deadman - Rx (Medicate)
Thirty Seconds To Mars - Walk On Water
Welshly Arms - Legendary

10. Goodbye June - "Oh No"

I bet you thought that I'd give up tonight, oh no
Bleeding knees, but honey I can still crawl, yeah
I first heard this on commercials for WWE events and would find myself getting super into the whole 30 seconds it was playing. Then Spotify put it on a Release Radar list. They I started getting asked if I had heard it. All roads pointed to needing this rock number in life this year, and it still kills.

9. Macklemore feat. Skylar Grey - "Glorious"

We gon' be alright, put that on my life
When I open my eyes, hope I see you shine
Another one that sort of came out of me WWE viewing habits, but in general I find that just about any song Skylar Grey is featured on turns out to be pretty great. Not to mention - if you watch this video - Macklemore took his Grandma out for the day to do anything she wanted. Sure the song is great for feeling great, but you have to admit that little tidbit addition is so perfect.

8. Gary Clark Jr - "Come Together"

One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
Come together, right now
My sad confession is that I have yet to see Justice League. BUT, this song is still amazing. And it's Gary Clark Jr. And it's The Beatles. What an absolutely rocking adaptation of this classic and incredible song

7. Kelsea Ballerini - "Legends"

What everyone wondered, we never questioned
Closed our eyes and took on the world together
Do you remember?
Kelsea put out what was probably my most listened-to album this year with "Unapologetically" and this lead single? Could not get enough of it. It's nostalgic to the max, and lovely and will make you celebrate life and cry for the past all in one chorus. It's truly an incredible song on a wonderful album.

6. Florida Georgia Line feat. Backstreet Boys - "God, Your Mama, and Me"

Never gonna run dry, never gonna come up empty
Now until the day I die, unconditionally
You know I'm always gonna be here for ya
No one's ever gonna love you more than
God, your mama, and me
Do I love that BSB has officially made it to the country charts? Sure. But it's also pretty obvious that this girl who lost her mama is pretty much a puddle being sung to like that love is going to come back around from someone else.

5. Old Dominion - "No Such Thing As A Broken Heart"

Cry when it hurts, laugh when it's funny
Chase after the dream, don't chase after the money
And know we got each other, that's what's up
I know, I'm sensing the theme of perseverance and working at happiness this year too. We'll summarize later though. For now, Old Dominion is singing about ignoring the bad and pushing on through. You can't look at everything like it'll go wrong, because, well, there's always a chance it won't.

4. Linkin Park - "One More Light"

The reminders, pull the floor from your feet
In the kitchen, one more chair than you need, oh
And you're angry, and you should be, it's not fair
Just 'cause you can't see it, doesn't mean it, isn't there
Losing Chester shook me more than I ever thought it could. I must have listened to Linkin Park solidly for a few weeks, and they've made an appearance just about every playlist I've put together since. In a heartbreaking loss this year, we'll always be grateful for the short time and abundance of music we got.

3. Rag'n'Bone Man - "Human"

Some people got the real problems
Some people out of luck
Some people think I can solve them
Lord heavens above
I'm only human after all
Shout outs to my longest time best friend, Jess, for reminding me of this song. I had heard it and loved it all year, and did not have the title in my head at all. But then, magic, Jess. It's so good, so deep, and please, watch this video because this guy is deceptively wonderful and completely proves it here.

2. Ed Sheeran - "Castle On The Hill"

Found my heart and broke it here
Made friends and lost them through the years
And I've not seen the roaring fields in so long, I know I've grown
But I can't wait to go home
This was my first favorite song of this year, and has kept going strong throughout. I don't need to tell you what an incredible comeback this gentleman made this year, because the sales, lists, and everything else have spoken that for me. My two cents? Divide is the best album he's done yet and every one of those accolades is well deserved. 2017 was undeniably the year of Ed.

1. Hanson - "I Was Born"

Everybody's betting on the big guy
But don't underestimate the sting of the butterfly, oh
...
I was born to do
I was born to go
I was born to be someone
No one's ever been, no one's ever been before

I don't apologize for this in the least, even though I can sense people out there telling me this was obvious or I'm biased to my favorite band. While that might be true in some sense, I can't tell you the agony there was internally to pick a good top song. 

Hanson has been around for 25 years, and strong in it. If you're going by radio success, please, we should all know better than that at this point. Think about it - how many of your favorite bands actually get decent radio play? They guys have garnered success from a loyal fan base for a quarter of a century.

This song was the only new one (outside of fan club releases) this year, and it encompassed everything. This was a call to do more with your life - to adventure, live, and love. There's so much opportunity if you can approach the world with the right attitude, which I get - super easy to say and unbelievably hard to live by. I'm not good at it myself. But songs like this, and clearly so many other on this list, are all about getting up and kicking ass at life. It's possible. Just believe - you were born to do, go, and be everything.

PSA over. Blog over. Year over. Feeling just fine about it all, and hope y'all are too. 

Love y'all very much and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

<3 J-Hawke

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Bobby McFerrin - "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

12/31/2017

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My dog's little ears perked way up at the whistling at the start of this song, and it just struck me as right to use for the last day of the year.

I can't land on whether 2017 was good or bad. I lost one of my dogs and sold my childhood home, leaving South Jersey for good finally (aside from one storage unit). I did find a confidence I didn't expect in it all though, and a willingness to be myself that had been missing for quite some time.

I'm ending the year on a neutral - not low or high - note. Things are fine. I can pay my bills. I have good friends and people in my life. Things are okay, and I think they can keep getting better from here.





Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy

​



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Grace VanderWaal - "So Much More Than This"

12/30/2017

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Maybe it's because I've been watching MTV all day and a certain film series that I'm only mildly embarrassed to have had on (granted, in the background of everything else I've been doing today), and this song has come on at least once an hour (which - whoa, music on MTV still happens??), but I am completely digging this sound. 

That was a very long sentence.

But this is a very good song.

Dig it with me, folks.


​

​Tap your foot and listen in
​
Ignore the world, let the music cave in
Close your phone and breathe in the air
You'll soon realize that there's something that is
So much more than this


​
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Imagine Dragons - "Thunder / Young Dumb & Broke (feat. Khalid)"

12/29/2017

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It was the American Music Awards that this collaboration first happened on, right? I don't watch many awards shows outside of the Grammys, but did remember to DVR this one, and I feel like that's where I heard it first.

Regardless, I love that they captured this in a recording as well. As special as those performances can be, it's hard to get to hear them again without doing a YouTube search. These guys were smart to put such a great medley together.

That said, my first question was how it would be registered in a database... man I need to shut off work mode till next year.

​Young, dumb, broke high school kids
....
Just a young gun with a quick fuse
I was uptight, I wanna let loose
I was dreaming of bigger things
And wanna leave my old life behind
Not a yes sir, not a follower
Fit the box, fit the mold
Have a seat in the foyer, take a number
I was lightning before the thunder
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JT Hodges - "She's Alive"

12/28/2017

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​I have questions about this song. (1) Why wasn't it ever released as a single? (2) How has it been out for two years without my knowledge??

This came up on a Spotify Discovery list of mine a while back, possibly even last year. I was in love right away. The song is upbeat and memorable, and will make you feel like the world is absolutely yours at the moment. It's a music girl's dream.

This song is everything that can be right with music and I need y'all to hear it. Now. Go!!



​She drops in a dollar or two for a few of her favorite songs
Then she turns, she winks, she smiles and starts to sing

And she knows every word, never misses a beat
Mom and daddy must have played it when they rocked her to sleep
I guess girls like her were born in torn up jeans
And some say Rock and Roll has died
I say Hell No!
She's alive!
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Keith Urban - "Female"

12/27/2017

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So I heard this one on the way home yesterday for the first time from start to finish. It was as I was pulling back into Brooklyn, or the annoyance that I call my reality, filled with realizations and frustrations over current positions and situations.

I've heard DJs announce the song a few times in the past couple of weeks but always changed the station for some reason. I just didn't want to hear it then and there.

​The moment was right this time though. Keith's got a powerful song on his hands here, and one that's poignant beyond belief for this time.
I remember in high school I got told I was a feminist by a very conservative classmate, and could never figure out why. It wasn't so much that I thought it was a negative thing, I just never thought I had particular leanings to fight for my gender. I mean sure, girl power and women first and all, but I don't riot about it.

The more I face though, including the all-dooming glass ceiling (or wall, as my case might be), the more it matters to me to face it all as a girl and stand side by side with others who do the same. It's actually pretty incredible to encounter and realize there are strong women in your life and that people, of both genders, can learn something from each and every one else.

Not to discount men by any means - because I know some pretty incredible ones who I admire and respect so much - but Keith lays out just some of the roles that women play and... well, you never realize how much is on your shoulders until you really list it out.. or Keith Urban does it for you.
When somebody talks about how it was Adam first
Does that make Eve second best
Or did He save the best for last?

Sister, shoulder, daughter, lover
Healer, broken halo, mother
Nature, fire, suit of armor
Soul survivor, holy water
Secret keeper, fortune teller
Virgin Mary, scarlet letter
Technicolor, river wild
Baby girl, woman child
Female
Yeah, female

She's the heart of life
She's the dreamer's dream
She's the hands of time
She's the queen of kings
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Hanson - "Finally It's Christmas"

12/25/2017

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And this is what it was all leading to. Hanson. You're welcome. (And, I mean, come on.)

20 years after their acclaimed and still beloved Snowed In, Hanson comes back at us this year with another collection of classics and originals to celebrate their favorite time of year. This is the title track, and sets the tone for a rocking Christmas adventure with the guys. They showcase their ever-amazing talents, taking on true classic songs with their own style - for instance, if you're sick of Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas," these guys give us an incredibly awesome new version. They end with Ike's beautiful rendition of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

But this song, this is where it all starts and ends this Christmas for me. Hope you're having a great one too, listeners!

Don't dismay
Throw your cares away
It's gonna be okay
Finally it's Christmas day
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98 Degrees - "What Christmas Means To Me"

12/24/2017

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First off, if you know me at all, you know exactly where I'm heading with my SOTD posts as we are about to hit Christmas Day tomorrow.

Secondly, 98 Degrees sounds better than ever. I'd say their voices have matured, but these guys were men to begin with. They have always had soul and harmonies beyond compare, but this year they're bringing so much fun and spirit to us as well. This particular song kicks off their second Christmas album, and it sets the tone for what I think we're all over-due for - a good time.

I got to see these guys do a full Christmas show a few weeks ago, and it was absolutely perfect. They were entertaining, funny, charming, and just incredibly talented. Plus they liked my photo from the show later that night and I almost fainted.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Let's deck the halls with holly
Singing 'Silent night'
Dress the trees with angel hair
Pretty, pretty lights
Go to sleep and wake up
Just before daylight
All these things and more, darling
And that's what Christmas means to me my love
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Lindsey Stirling - "Warmer In The Winter"

12/23/2017

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I just finished an article for Geekade that'll probably go up tomorrow where I kind of explain my dislike for Lindsey Stirling and how Dancing with the Stars this season really turned that around. In truth, she's really like a kindred spirit of an artist that I never fully appreciated before watching the art that she and Mark Ballas created in the ballroom.

Lindsey's got this flair to bring so many elements of art together, almost to a point that you forget she is, at her core, an accomplished violinist. The mix of classical sounds with the fun and fantastic are astonishing. 

This one is the title track, but I really hope y'all will check out the entire album. It's really everything you could want for any mood this time of year.

Last year I was on my own
Hibernating in my empty home
Santa didn't even help
I left a plate of cookies
But I ate them myself
This year feels so brand new
Tie a ribbon around me and you
Santa is checking twice
He's trying to figure out if we're naughty or nice
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