I am going to keep this short and sweet because we are heading toward 2025 year end list time and and I do want to get 1994 best and worst lists done (1994 worst list is going to be tough...it was an awesome year for the charts) but we have to deal first with the good stuff from 2024 only there was somewhat less excellent stuff to talk about...a lot of this list is going to be songs that I merely find to be good.
Also this will be a straight top ten no honourable mentions and will be in line with the rules I have already previously stated so let's get on with the show and bid an adieu to 2024,..finally.
Number Ten
This song would be higher this list if it wasn't STILL on the charts in late 2025 but I gotta give props to it anyway somehow.
"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish
Yeah, this song has been on the charts for so long that it's kind of warn it's welcome on me but it's still a damn good song with Billie singing about longing to find that emotional and spiritual connection with somebody and wanting to be with that person til her life at ends. Its such a sweet sentiment that sounds more sincere coming from Billie than that it did from James Arthur in 2017. Good song.
Number Nine
This was originally going to be my number eight but I realized that this also suffered the problems of time and being on the charts way longer than what it should be and the fact it is absolutely Grammys bait
"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
Yeah, I know...the boring pick, the song that is so good that it is absolutely boring to be analysed, it's two ultimate pros in the music industry on a song together about how if the world was ending that they'd want to be with a loved one and honestly this song sounds absoljutely epic sonically and then there's the combined vocal power of Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga who sound heavenly on this song together. Yeah it has overstayed it's welcome on the charts but I'd rather a song like this and "Birds of a Feather" stuck around than some of the other junk which did.
Number Eight
Everyone, get ready for the hoedown!
"Texas Hold 'Em" by Beyonce
Let's get something straight about "Cowboy Carter"...it was never meant to be a per se 'country' album, people just seemed to throw around a label because apparently everything in life needs a label these days however Beyonce throwing this ball of fun onto the charts was a breath of fresh air that I needed, she's going kick her heels up at this dive bar in the middle of nowhere and maybe have a hoedown or two. Shame we didn't get "II Most Wanted" with Miley Cyrus hitting the charts big because that would have been on this list even higher but as it is...I'll take the stomp clap hoedown from Beyonce any damn day of the week!
Number Seven
Yeah...this song might be one of the best songs SZA has ever made...
"Saturn" by SZA
2024 was the year I truly understood SZA's appeal especially when she gets on production that is just dreamy, floaty and just allows her to sing like she owns the god damn room which is exactly what happens on "Saturn", she sounds gorgeous over those keys and sparse beat as the instrumentation swells around her.
As for the content of the song, SZA contemplates trying to escape the cycle of pain and suffering on earth and wonders if a less destructive and damaging life is possible on another planet such as Saturn while also acknowledging that she needs to find meaning and worth in moments in the present on earth. It's a such a brilliantly meditative song that I was thrilled became a hit in 2024. I suspect SZA will be making an appearance on my best hit songs list again in 2025...
Number Six
I think I am going to have to explain the appeal of this one because this song wound up on a few worst hits lists that I saw but let me explain why this works for me...
"Austin" by Dasha
Yeah...I know...but this is the sort of pop country that I'm a sucker for, it's got all the elements of stomp clap yet that country ibstrumentation is giving this song more weight than it probably deserves as Dasha deals with the heartache stemming from the last minute decision by a asshole to abandon moving from Los Angeles to Austin and she's wondering why and what his excuse is..was it that his boots stopped working or something elese? It's a pop country rager for those of us who feel lied to by our exes and you know what? It hit the mark for me every time in 2024.
Number Five
I think we can all agree that Dua Lipa had a kind of off 2024 with one exception...
"Houdini" by Dua Lipa
"Radical Optimism" wasn't a bad album, it just wasn't the one that fans were looking for after the 2020 new disco fun of "Future Nostalgia" but the lead single "Houdini" hit hard by upping its disco flourishes into something that could almost sound like early 80s new wave and Dua Lipa is absolutely in command of the atmosphere here, she comes across as commanding and forceful as she wants this guy to tell her all the ways he needs her or she'll do a Houdini and disappear out of his life. I had way too much fun with this song and yeah...it snags a deserved a high placement on this list.
Number Four
I wasn't expecting this to happen, I doubt even the artist on the track was expecting this so sng to be the sort of hit it was and so let's talk aboout...
"Too Sweet" by Hozier
This song is up so damn high on this list mostly because of that sticky hook that got stuck in my head since the song was released in 2024. The song is a comparison of lifestyles between two different individuals, Hozier wants to live at his own pace drinking whiskey and black coffee while the partner is encouraging him to adopt a healthier lifestyle with more structure something that Hozier pushes back on a bit all set to a rollicking guitar and yeah, this was a load of fun all year.
Number Three
Sometimes there's a song that comes from a complete underdog that makes you want to cheer for it and hope it does well on the charts, this one sure did welll in 2024 and I couldn't be happier...
"A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey
A bunch of gratitude is oweed to Beyonce for featuring Shaboozey on "Cowboy Carter' and to his label for putting out this song while the iron was hot because Shaboozey was the only featured guest on that album to get any kind of traction in the mainstream. It's this stomp clap jam that features a far too prominent sample of J-Kwon's 2000s hit "Tipsy but like the song it samples, it's just a song about putting a long hard day of work behind him by drinking at the bar and getting upsy, it's a song that really does have universal appeal. Great song. Just a shame we couldn't give Shaboozey a follow up hit with anything he has released since "A Bar Song (Tipsy)"...let's make 2026 fix that, shall we?
Number Two
For as much as the charts suffered from the stench of bad Morgan Wallen in 2024, we did get an exception and what an incredible exception it was.
"Where the Wild Things Are" by Luke Combs
This song was orginally written for Eric Church who rejected it and it wound up in the hands of Luke Combs who took it and boy, did he run with it., the story of the narrator's brother going on all these adventures on his motorbike amd bringing the narrator on some of these adventures out where the wild things are. now the narrator is not into what his brother is into but hey, he is enjoying that time spent with his brother...this is all before the cruellest twist in the song, the brother died in a motorbike accident and the narrator is left to acknowledge that at least his brother went out the way he would have wanted doing something he loved...all set to this gentle piano and guitar and Luke Combs providing that gentle story telling. More story songs, Luke, you are good at it.
Number One
This feels obvious...really...too obvious, it was number one on a lot of Youtube music critics best hit songs list and yeah...I couldn't help myself...I agree...
"Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan
I get the feeling that Chappelloan isn't chasing fame, she just wants to release good music and have her fans enjoy it, the fact she got so big in 2023/2024 was something she definitely wasn't prepared for or she wanted to some degree so we get this song about Chappell being in love with another woman and yet this woman is actively denying her homosexuality and is kissing guys in bars in a desperate attempt to avoid making the admission that she is homosexual (be it fear of family or whatever else) much to the frustration of Chappell who just wants to love this woman for who she actually is and in her frustration with the situation she tells this woman sarcastically good luck denying how you feel.
Throw in the instrumentation which throws in more of the sarcasm around the situation and gives this song quite the 80s feel, it's also the best hit song of 2024.
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