2020 hasn’t been a great year, and we know it. Butt, at least the music scene was not quite affected by the global pandemic. Critics voted for the top 20 songs and albums, and based on the same, points are allocated for each song to determine its position. Accordingly, after tallying the points, a list is made. Below mentioned are some of the songs that made it big this year. You might have your favorites too!
Rain on Me – Lady Gaga (with Ariana Grande)
Technically speaking, this is a breakup song. The opening verse where Gaga croons ‘At least I showed up, you showed me nothing at all’ will make you feel she scorns a lover who didn’t live up to the expectations. Go a little deeper, and you can gauge it’s about how bad the year has been. She’s thankful for being living through, like most of us. That’s where she has reset the bar this time with the chorus running ‘I’d rather be dry/, but at least I’m alive.’
We’re glad to see someone coming up with something so honest. Both the singers go a little higher and ask for the worst thing to be delivered from it. And it is not merely sheltered by the stormy times. Grande even pleads to the rain to do away with all her sins. A stark realization, a potent creation in 2020, the sense of transcendence awakens all, as the duo acknowledges the rain and dances through it.
Christine and the Queens – People, I’ve been sad.
Kind of a wry, understated thing to say! The title sums up the acute, humorous feeling that characterizes the pop project of Heloise Letissier. It won’t be incorrect to say that most of us needed to hear all these this year. What started with a few weeks of staying disconnected expanded to months.
Once you listen to ‘If you disappear, then I’m disappearing too,’ you’ll be bound to think of the helplessness the chorus contains. To an extent, it’s comforting, just as you hear this as a duet between the two versions of herself that tries to become one. This is a funky performance. Especially if you check for the stark resemblance in Michael Jackson’s use of hisses, gasps, monosyllables through one beat, but within a measured tempo.
Sault – Wildfires
Despite the torment and brutality, they faced from the police. They battled through tough times. And this is one UK neo-soul group that showcased grit and determination to thrive, to survive. The rhythm synced great between a 60s pop-soul beat and a boom-bap hip-hop break.
The arrangement is so pleasing to the ears. And you can feel those fingers moving along thick double bass strings, amidst the echo of a piano in the room. It’s almost like a group feeling! Sometimes the effects of the vocals drifting into the lyrics impart a heated feel. But then you know the strength, the tenacity of the singers.
The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
This released late in 2019, moved up to the UK charts in two months. And it spent around 14 weeks between the No.1 and No.2 spot. But the song stayed put in Top 40 almost the entire year.
The biggest song in terms of size and sales, if we should say, this is a pop production from Max Martin, the backroom genius. He pays homage to all his fellow Scandinavians using the peppy beats of the drums. But this simultaneously works as a companion piece to Physical, by Lipa). Abel Tesfaye shows how he deviated between genres as much as the lovers in his songs!
Dua Lipa – Physical
This song was a chartbuster since it’s release and often draws comparison with songs by Lipa herself. This includes songs such as Levitating, Don’t Start Now, and so on. To an extent, this one stands different, especially in the way the synth-wave bass line deploys in the 80s sports car that often moves along a deserted urban zone.
But Lipa takes a step forward as she says, ‘Let’s get physical!’ It feels as if she hauls someone down a corridor by grabbing the collars.
Listen to these if you haven’t yet. Perhaps that’s going to be a great way to kickstart your 2021. And don’t forget to share it with your friends too!