Let's be honest, 2023 was a wasteland for popular music but oddly enough I found plenty of stuff I like that made the year end of 2024 including a couple of songs that I was surprised but delighted to see made the year end list. It was an off year for pop in so many ways with plenty of the pop starlets opting to sit this year out or if they did release, they didn't impress me at all.
Anyway seeing as I am going to keep this super short, lets quickly go through the rules in case you don't know, a song can make this list if it debuted on ARIA's year end list for 2023 or appear higher on the 2023 year end list than it did on the 2022 list, Also this list is just my opinion so please don't get upset if your fave's song doesn't wind up here.
Now let's get stuck into this list'
10. "Escapism" by RAYE (Yeah, this faded on me a bit thanks mostly due to hearing it on the radio a lot but this is still an excellent song about somehow finding an escape from a terrible situation. By the way, check out RAYE's new single "Genesis")
9. "Miracle" by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding (Oh goodness, I didn't expect to love a god damn Calvin Harris trance song with Ellie Goulding just climbing straight to her lane, she sounds ethereal here. Love this!)
8. "Strangers" by Kenya Grace (Somehow I feel like this is going to be a one hit wonder which is unfortunate given her album "The Aftertaste" is really damn good and "Strangers" is apart of why, a drum 'n' bass song that delves into why they turn into strangers after kissing or talking for hours on end. It just became one of those songs I needed in 2023)
7. 'Lavender Haze" by Taylor Swift (Of course a song from "Midnights" would make this list and it's the one that grew on me a lot since originally listening to the album, helps that the hook is damn sticky and the song is overall just a really tight slick pop song)
6. "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift (A song that became a hit and thus corrected history where because of COVID in 2020, this was not released as a single back then, that said "Cruel Summer" was always built to be a hit given that chorus and lines that actually make the song defiantly memorable)
5. "People" by Libianca (I was absolutely delighted that this song made the year end for 2023. Mostly because it's a song that nails what it's aiming for, a gentle afrobeats song where Libianca just wants people to stop for a moment and make sure that she is okay. I felt this one)
4. "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves (This song is the 2023 "Somebody That I Used to Know" with Kacey Musgraves the perfect choice to break through all of Zach Bryan's ego with some much needed context and spiked some of the ego aired by Bryan. This was also a much needed song given the rise of the utter garbage that was "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen and was all the antidote I needed)
3. "Fast Car" by Luke Combs (Yeah, this feels a little like cheating putting a cover of Tracy Chapman's 1988 classic "Fast Car" in this slot but honestly, I don't care, Luke Combs singing about this girl dreaming moving out of home to escape poverty and make something better of her life despite her mother up and leaving not coping with her husband's alcoholism, its a song that reminds everyione that if you want change in your life, sometimes you have to effect that change for yourself. What I also love is that Combs loved the song enough not make any weird changes to it and honestly...I think that was for the best).
2. "What Was I Made For" by Billie Eilish (For the longest time, this was going to be my number one, this piano ballad just hit a way too personal note that is really not one that I want to have to explain. Look, go listen to this song, its pretty self explanatory why it's so high on this list)
1. "Chemical" by Post Malone
2016 me would be horrified to see Post Malone at the top of a BEST hit songs list but in 2023, Post Malone's "Chemical" was the soing that I kept coming back to a little more so than "What Was I Mde For", it became the pop rock jam I needed even if it does feel like Post Malone cribbed a lot from his 2019 hit "Circles" but if that's the case, I can argue tbat "Chemical" is just a better version of "Circles" especially as "Chemical" is a song where Posty is admitting that he and this girl go round doing the same shit because yeah, its chemical and addictive, there's a high to be had in it, I honestly get it.
It's also why it's the best hit song of 2023
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