# Best #1 single of 2013? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703 "2013-12-19T08:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/21 "2013-12-20T09:16:53Z")
“Get Lucky”, for the record, got stuck at #2 for pretty much the entire time that “Blurred Lines” was at #1. It did make #1 in Australia and most of Europe (and in Israel and Lebanon, for some reason). [Here’s the year-end chart](http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2013/hot-100-songs), for the curious; Thrift Shop tops out at #1, followed by “Blurred Lines”, “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, “Harlem Shake”, and “Can’t Hold Us”. “Get Lucky”, alas, only makes it to #14. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/22 "2013-12-20T10:50:30Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > The only one I’ve heard (as far as I know) is “Blurred Lines”, because Robin Thicke performed it on the Colbert Report. I’ve only heard \*of \*three of them… > > I guess I’m officially old now. Me to. But because I’m still trying to fight being out of touch, I’m listening to them now. I’ll report back on the “Official Simplicio Song of the Year that I Just Got Around to Hearing at the End of December” when I finish. So far I do not care for this Bruno Mars fellow. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/23 "2013-12-20T10:53:24Z")
I’d like to vote for the clown doing “Royals”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/24 "2013-12-20T11:49:53Z")
> [@K364](#): > > “Get Lucky” - Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams +1 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/25 "2013-12-20T12:31:12Z")
Can’t choose between Thrift Shop and Blurred Lines. If Get Lucky was on the list, I’d have a hard time choosing between those three. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/26 "2013-12-20T12:59:58Z")
I don’t get all the love for “Get Lucky”. It’s a cute little disco pastiche, nothing more. It may be better than anything else this year, but that doesn’t make it great in any objective sense. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/27 "2013-12-20T14:00:09Z")
My three biggest earworms of the year have all featured Pharrell Williams in some capacity: “Get Lucky”, “Blurred Lines”, and my pick o’ the pops for 2013 [“Happy”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM). It wasn’t a number one anywhere, but it’s a sublime slice of retro Northern Soul. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/28 "2013-12-20T14:32:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I don’t get all the love for “Get Lucky”. It’s a cute little disco pastiche, nothing more. It may be better than anything else this year, but that doesn’t make it great in any objective sense. YMMV. I love how it sounds like great disco made by human hands. Nile Rogers guitar is absolutely _perfect_ groove-funk skanky rhythm guitar. Pharrell Williams’ voice is a nice falsetto that has a bit of slop to it - he’s not a great singer, but _is_ a great frontman/salesman. It just goes down so smooth, and I can listen to it forever without it getting old - which _did_ happen, fast, with Blurred Lines. I respect how perfectly _crafted_ it is, for what it is trying to be. How’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/29 "2013-12-20T14:49:39Z")
I hope it’s not _Blurred Lines_. I thought it was a catchy song at first but then I found out it’s about a guy pressuring a girl to have sex with him…now it just brings back very unpleasant memories of high school for me. I went with _Thrift Shop_. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/30 "2013-12-20T18:26:22Z")
I’m going with “Royals” mostly because I think it was the most unique single of the year. And I have to give props to a 16-year-old girl who isn’t acting like Miley Cyrus in order to sell records. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/31 "2013-12-20T18:32:00Z")
I voted for Katy Perry because she has better boobs than Miley Cyrus, and judging from the way these artists are marketed, that’s at least as important as their music. I don’t actually listen to any of this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/32 "2013-12-20T19:21:03Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I hope it’s not _Blurred Lines_. I thought it was a catchy song at first but then I found out it’s about a guy pressuring a girl to have sex with him…now it just brings back very unpleasant memories of high school for me. The first time I heard “Blurred Lines,” my biggest objection to the song is that it sounds way too blatantly like Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” Gaye’s family has a lawsuit pending now, and they’ll win assuming the jury doesn’t consist of 12 Gallaudet almni. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/33 "2013-12-20T20:25:47Z")
I voted “Royals,” although “Blurred Lines” would be my #2 choice. (“Get Lucky” is awesome, too, but inexplicably never hit #1.) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/34 "2013-12-20T20:28:46Z")
Go Royals! (I see the Miley backlash is good and strong.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/35 "2013-12-20T20:39:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Gaye’s family has a lawsuit pending now, and they’ll win assuming the jury doesn’t consist of 12 Gallaudet almni. Everyone hears something different. I certainly would say that the Thicke song could have been inspired by Gaye’s, but I wouldn’t call it plagiarism or a rip off. Lots of songs sound similar to each other. Entire genres are based around that, even. I didn’t even make the connection until it was pointed out to me, to which my response was “yeah, I guess they kinda sound similar, but they’re substantially different songs.” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/36 "2013-12-21T12:51:27Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The first time I heard “Blurred Lines,” my biggest objection to the song is that it sounds way too blatantly like Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” > > Gaye’s family has a lawsuit pending now, and they’ll win assuming the jury doesn’t consist of 12 Gallaudet almni. The songs have a similar beat and flavor (sexual lyrics, falsetto, background noise), but the melodies aren’t even close. Lisa, Univ of Cincinnati alumnus ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/37 "2013-12-21T15:11:34Z")
I voted _Royals_ by Lorde, because that was the only song I’d heard before. Listening to the others, there wasn’t any other song I liked anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/38 "2014-08-25T15:55:54Z")
“Royals” by a mile. Lorde is Gode. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/39 "2014-08-25T17:04:39Z")
I voted for \*Blurred Lines \*for the upbeat rhythm, the bass line, the cowbell and the hilarious parodies it spawned. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703/40 "2014-08-25T17:48:39Z")
One more for the missing Get Lucky… Bruno Mars short of that [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-2013/676703.md?page=3)