Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 2013

We’re practically at the present day now, and getting ready for the finals, so make sure to tell everyone you know to get their votes in before it’s too late (especially for the most recent polls, which haven’t gotten many votes).

We have 28 songs on this list for the year before last. I think I have a pretty solid idea of which one is going to win based on how many people bemoaned its absence from the #1 poll for this year, but maybe I’m wrong.

What’s your favorite?

Previous polls: 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Best #1 single polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s All-time

AWOLNATION just ahead of Anna Kendricks.

There wasn’t much contest for my vote…“Get Lucky” whipped the buttocks of the others. Also-rans included “Radioactive” and “Safe and Sound.” “Cups” is dead-ass last.

Drake, “Hold On, We’re Going Home” for the song and the great video.

Some really good songs came out in '13.
I could have picked any one of:
Imagine Dragons–Radioactive
The Lumineers–Ho Hey
Zedd w/Foxxes—Clarity
AWOL Nation–Sail
or
Maroon 5—Daylight.

I wound up picking Clarity just because I wind up playing it the most.

I didn’t need to read past “Get Lucky.” That one, easy.

Taylor Swift for me.

I can’t be having with the majority trend here - Pharrell is the worst, just the worst. I have no idea what people see in him.

Daft Punk w/ Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky wins easily but for the first time since we reached the mid-2000s, I could have considered voting for another song (Safe and Sound). It might confirm a vague feeling that I have: after a terrible dry spell in the first decade of the 21st century, pop music got interesting again around 2012.

Daft Punk by a mile for me as well, but if that song hadn’t been on the list, this would have been a hard decision for me - I could easily have voted for Taylor, Avicii, Jay-Z’s Holy Grail (one of the most bitterly introspective rap songs I’ve ever heard), Icona Pop, Lady Gaga, or Anna Kendrick.

As a side note, the song that Kendrick’s “Cups” was based on, “When I’m Gone”, was first recorded by the Carter Family in 1931, making it one of the longest intervals between when a song was written and when it charted. (Of course, Sister Janet Mead’s recording of the Lord’s Prayer, which reached #4 in 1974 but failed to make the year-end chart, was a bit older at the time she recorded it, and the Byrd’s “Turn Turn Turn” older still.)

While I don’t share your sentiments with regards to Pharrell necessarily, I do have to say I dislike “Get Lucky”, this has been the case since it’s release two years ago.

I’ve never even heard of “Sail” or its artist before, and it’s in third place. I don’t know if that’s ever happened before.

Really, no love for Rhianna’s Stay? It’s such a haunting melody line, and I really like the glissandos and soft cymbal work.

It’s been out for 4-5 years and was actually a hit on alternative rock radio by 2011 at the latest. Apparently it took about 2 years to cross over and climb the Hot 100. By that time he/they were on at least their 3rd or 4th alternative “hit.” Apparently “Sail” sold around 6 million downloads. That song and album were very slow burners as the album peaked at #84 but went Gold. Right now there is a new Awolnation album (peaked at #17) and single. The new song is #1 Alternative this week.

I notice on these lists a lot of songs that are on Alternative radio years before they peak on the Hot 100. The Lumineers song was out for quite awhile in addition to being used on TV shows and commercials before it’s release. Though nowhere near as long as “Sail” (which my kids mostly know due to it’s use in a cat video).