As I said in the preamble on my worst hit songs of 2020 list, this year was a pretty damn good one for popular music in spite of the world being a pandoras box of suck all year (seriously 2020 was just one big “open the box and find the next shitty thing to happen”) so I honestly have to say thank goodness the music on the charts this year mostly delivered, sure there were bad songs but they were more the outliers as the good to great songs exceeded the bad songs popularity so much so I have almost too much material for this list to just be a top ten with honourable mentions so this year, it’s a top twenty best hit songs of 2020.
The other reason for that is that there were some genuinely
good songs that I loved this year that if I was doing a normal top ten list
with five honourable mentions that I might not have gotten the opportunity to
write about
All twenty songs must have made ARIA’s Year end singles
chart for 2020 and a 2019 hit song is eligible for this list if it appears
higher on the 2020 list than it did in 2019. Also I’d encourage you to not worry
about the ranking so much because it’s been a nightmare to slot all this great
music into placings for this list and no doubt I am going to regret a few of
these rankings in the days ahead…lord knows I already have changed the placings
several times.
Let us begin this adventure with a break out act from New Zealand...
20. "Glitter" by BENEE
So while Australia and the rest of the world fawned over "Supalonely" (feat Gus Dapperton like many grown adults cooing over a baby, I've felt like "Glitter" is the toddler who is crying out for love attention but is being ignored in favour of the baby and that is frustrating because "Glitter" is so much better than "Supalonely" with its bright guitars and BENEE just wanting somebody to hang out with her and burn the midnight oil together, it's a well crafted pop gem...it might have been a song that got big via tik tok but it still one I appreciate....it might have been neglected by way too many especially in the US but this didn't escape my attention...
Well there's at least four artists with multiple entries on this list...here's one of them...
19. "In Your Eyes" by The Weeknd
2020 was the year I finally completely got behind The Weeknd, "After Hours" is just such fantastic album and honestly I'd be hard pressed to pick just one highlight but yeah "In Your Eyes" is just killer 80s worship in the best way and with a fantastic saxophone solo to boot (there's nowhere near enough sax solos in popular music this year.
Its a song where The Weeknd is longing to find a deeper connection with this girl that he has feelings for and sees that same longing in her eyes, he wants her to commit to him. Its actually the moment both Abel and the girl find that moment of happiness together, it's not quite my favourite song from "After Hours" but its still damn good...we'll get to more The Weeknd later.
So this pop act improved by
leaps and bounds in 2020
18. “You Should Be Sad” by Halsey
There’s a lot of promise in Halsey’s album “Manic” that was
released all the way back in January this year and this song was one of the
reasons why, its about as close to country as the year end list gets this year
as Halsey tears apart an ex (said to be G Eazy) who she doesn’t realize has issues
because she’s completely in love with this guy so when she does realize he has
some pretty serious issues going on so tries to help him only he can’t or doesn’t
love anything or anyone including Halsey unless there’s something in it for him….it’s
a bruising, heartbreaking song that is so much better than “Without Me”.
Thank goodness, Halsey improved and gave us some better
music in 2020.
17. “Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles
This not the first song that references vaginas on this list...in fact...I am now slightly worried that you will think that I have some bizarre form of mentions or references to vagina in music addiction but yeah, this song is just the sort of chill summer song where Harry Styles voice albeit singing about the sugar from a watermelon giving him a high (aka: eating pussy is giving him a high) may as well feel like the sun touching your skin when you first step outside and the production makes you wish you were at the beach rather than locked down inside...I guess we can pretend we are at the beach, right?
It's not better than another song which I will talk about later but it's a song that I return to a lot and over time it just kept getting better this year. I am so glad this became a hit because this just rules.
So this is one of four songs from its parent album making
this list…yeah we’ve hit the first of the Dua Lipa songs.
16. “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
So yeah, this song has suffered from overplay a little bit
given it come out in the last few months of 2019 and there are better songs on
Future Nostalgia as we will get to but it doesn’t change that the song is Dua
Lipa telling a guy where to get off and that she’s ready to move on over a pop
melody that’s just so perfectly retro and really awesome and the live
performances of this song kicked all sorts of butt. It’s not Dua Lipa’s best
song but it is still good.
Let us get to the other Halsey song that’s on this list….
15. ‘Be Kind” by Marshmello feat. Halsey
When I first heard that Marshmello and Halsey were releasing
a song together, I groaned and thought ‘Well here goes another instant for my
worst list alongside ‘Yummy’ and co” but then I gave the song a chance and…oh
my goodness, this song was the best surprise in 2020, Halsey sounds good over
Marshmello’s slightly over compressed production and she sells the song well.
Marshmello’s drop isn’t even as annoying as the lyrics delve into a person who
needs reassurance that it is okay to be vulnerable and scared around the person,
he or she loves rather than hiding behind veneers of bravado that just don’t
add up to much, its honestly pretty powerful stuff. Good job!
I am becoming a bit of a fan of this rapper, she can be a
bit hot and cold but when she’s on like she was in 2020, there’s no stopping
her…
14. “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion
So let’s get something straight here, Megan thee Stallion is
absolutely the next best female rapper on the charts behind Cardi B and
“Savage” is all the more evidence of that with Megan out celebrating her
complexity as a human being and as a rapper and she’s got the kind of attitude
to carry it however I think Beyonce makes the song even better on the remix,
the song is just a sassy load of fun and is the perfect entrée to discussing
the other song Megan Thee Stallion was involved with but “Savage” just kicks
all sorts of butt!.
If there was an award for ridiculous over reaction that
helped a song to become a massive hit (okay without the over reaction from some,
it still would have been a hit) however the controversy has always felt
overblown and honestly, I’d just rather grab a bucket and a mop for that…
13. “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.
First things first, Ben Shapiro and the others who
complained about the overtly sexual nature of the song, what’s so different
about Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion rapping about their vaginas to a male
rapper flexing about his scrotum or how he is going to take YOUR girl and get
her all slippery between the legs and regardless all the critics of “WAP” did
were acting as Cardi B’s promotional team, she didn’t have a to do a thing to
promote this song.
I liked “WAP pretty much from the jump mostly because
there’s just so many quotable lines, the song is just way too much fun and
absolutely hilarious to be hated plus it helps that Cardi B and Megan Thee
Stallion have bucket loads of charisma and personality; they work well together
here. Yeah, the sample was a bit grating at first but the more I got used to
it. Looking forward to the sophomore album, Cardi B.
Combine pop disco with a familiar bassline…sounds like a
best list certainty to me!
12. “Break My Heart” by Dua Lipa
There’s a part of me sad that I couldn’t find room for this song
in my top ten mostly because of that rhythm guitar that samples 80s classic “Need
You Tonight” by INXS and that funk guitar that comes in during the chorus is
fantastic along with the hints of violin and handclaps that don’t ever get
annoying. The song’s lyrics play to the moment when finding the person who is “The
One” making Dua happy than it occurs to her that this guy could very well end
the relationship and break her heart, its a moment of vulnerability from Dua
Lipa that really captures the self-doubt experienced in a relationship.
I have seen this next song on a few worst lists which I find
pretty strange because it’s one of the better songs from the parent album….
11. “Rockstar” by DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch
This is where this list takes a turn for the dark because
this song is surprisingly dark as DaBaby and Roddy Ricch draw comparisons
between rappers’ gangster lifestyle and rockstars. DaBaby using his second
verse to recount an incident in 2018 when he and his family were at the centre
of an attempted robbery while in Walmart and talks about the moment, he shot
the person responsible and warns the same will happen to anyone that threatens
his family, it’s a dark moment on song with that trap beat driven by a guitar. It
is an honest song from DaBaby and got to me a fair bit this year.
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