It’s that time of year music lovers, time for the end of the year lists! First up, my top 10 or so songs of the year. Not strictly singles, mind you. Any song released on an album this year is eligible for a spot on this list. This is the sixth year of this list. The first two editions (2013-14) were published when this site was called 8th Circuit (8CN) and have since dissolved into internet ether during the change over from 8CN to Overmental… so I can’t link to them. But, how ‘bout we start by reviewing the last five winners of song of the year.
2013
Moby, “The Perfect Life”, Innocents, Mute
2014
The Hold Steady, “Oaks, Teeth Dreams, Razor & Tie
2015
Glenn Hansard, “Her Mercy”, Didn’t He Ramble, Anti-
2016
Maxwell, “Lost”, blackSUMMERSnight, Columbia
2017
Beth Ditto, “We Could Run”, Fake Sugar, Virgin
Supplemental Rules
2014: The Neil Young Rule: Inspired by Neil Young’s A Letter Home, the album Young recorded in Jack White’s Voice-O-Graph machine, cover songs and records cannot make the list. Instead, great cover songs are listed in the Special Consideration section.
2016: The Blackstar Rule: Inspired by David Bowie’s Blackstar, if you release an album and die in the same year you cannot make the list unless you are named the overall album of the year.
Special Consideration
Cat Power, “Stay”, Wanderer, Domino
Everyone loves this great Rhianna song. Now you can cry to it!
Neko Case and Eric Bachman, “Sleep All Summer”, Hell-On, Anti-
First recorded by Crooked Fingers, this is a masterful rendition of Eric Bachman’s song.
10. The Get Up Kids, “Better This Way”, Kicker, Polyvinyl
9. Amanda Shires, “Leave It Alone”, To The Sunset, Silver Knife Records
8. Alejandro Escovedo, “Something Blue”, The Crossing
7. Neko Case, “Oracle of the Maritimes Hell-On, Anti-
6.Juice Wrld, “Lucid Dreams”, Goodbye and Good Riddance, Grade A
5. The Bad Plus, “Seams”, Never Stop II, Legbreaker Records
4. Cowboy Junkies, “Shining Teeth”, All That Reckoning, Latent Recordings
3. Death Grips, “Black Paint”, Year of the Snitch, Third Worlds
2. Mary Halvorson, “In the Second Before”, Code Girl, Firehouse 12 Records
1. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, “Tearing At the Seams”, Tearing at the Seams, Stax Records
