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It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting on my couch writing my thoughts on the best songs of 2022, but now I’m here, one year later on a very different couch, writing the best and worst songs of 2023. Time really flies, and as years move on, contemporary music is constantly evolving, whether that change is for good or for bad is yet to be determined.
2023 was a weird year. I had a few albums I was absolutely infatuated with that basically became the soundtrack to my life. From Adam Lambert’s High Drama to Ed Sheeran’s - (Subtract), I’ve had a rather pleasant musical year. So, without stalling any further, let me start this list off.
Best Songs of 2023
This is an impossible list for me to compile, but nevertheless, I have made an attempt and ranked the best songs from the least of the best, to the best of the best.
5. Getting Older - Adam Lambert
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Last year, I had Ordinary World on the best songs list. That was before the entire album dropped, and I must say this album is jam-packed with banger after banger! On his cover album; High Drama, Adam covered a large variety of songs and put his own idiosyncratic twist on modern classics.
For a long time, I thought I’d be putting Adam’s version of Sia’s Chandelier here, but as the year went on, I resonated more and more with Getting Older. Billie Eilish’s original version offers a somber, mellow introspective vibe of being comfortable with getting older. Adam takes that and turns the dial all the way up to turn the song into a celebratory anthem of inevitable aging, with the big guitars, the heavy drums, and the heart-wrenchingly evocative vocal delivery that Adam does so effortlessly. This may be the song on the album that Adam repainted in his colors the most.
4. Who We Love - Sam Smith (Featuring Ed Sheeran)
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Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran teaming up for a beautiful acoustic ballad is something I didn’t know I was missing in my life until now. Gloria has been in the running for album of the year for me, and one of the reasons is the way that this album is structured. Every song slips in and out of the other so smoothly that it makes for an extremely satisfying listening experience. And closing the album with this gem just wraps it up in a pretty little bow and completes the entire package.
In Who We Love, Sam and Ed serenade us with a beautiful song about an uncensored expression of love. Their voices complement each other so perfectly, it could jerk a tear. Aided by nothing but a piano, some light guitar and a backing choir gives the song a raw, gentle and stripped down vibe that contrasts with the rest of the album brilliantly.
3. Jaded - Miley Cyrus
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My biggest surprise in 2023 was just how much I loved Endless Summer Vacation! It has been in my rotation the entire year. In my Spotify Wrapped, Miley Cyrus is my 3rd top artist because of how much I listened to Endless Summer Vacation.
It’s incredibly difficult for me to pick the best song from this album for this list. However, every time I try, one song keeps jumping out at me.
From the first time I heard Jaded, I was taken by it. The melody is incredibly catchy, the instrumental is captivating, and it feels like the perfect use of Miley’s voice. The lyrics outline a relationship gone awry so vividly and creatively. The line “We went to hell but we never came back” hits so deep, it’s unbelievable. Just a beautiful song all over.
2. Life Goes On - Ed Sheeran
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I’m a sucker for a nice acoustic ballad, and if you think Who We Love hits the spot, I’ve got news for you.
Ed Sheeran’s Subtract is a very special album for me. This is by far the first Ed Sheeran album that I’ve not only enjoyed from beginning to end but also played on repeat for months. This album is chock full of acoustic ballads, from Boat to Stoned. But one song that stands out among the rest is Life Goes On.
This song paints a picture of losing someone special and how, even when it feels like it’s over, life goes on. The absolutely soul-crushing lyrics delivered by Ed’s incredibly emphatic voice really strikes a chord with anyone who has lost someone. Easily one of the best songs I’ve heard all year.
1. Used To Be Young - Miley Cyrus
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Is it cheating that I’m putting 2 Miley Cyrus songs on this list? I don’t care, they both deserve to be here.
Used To Be Young dropped a couple of months before my 28th birthday and I had enough time with it in my rotation for it to set a certain mood on my birthday. This song is an incredible display of maturity by Miley. The chorus particularly hit such a deep spot in my soul, it makes my entire being reverberate with each word.
I love how well the song has been put together, the lyrics are incredibly creative and vivid, the instrumental is so big and heavy and really gives the song the atmosphere it’s trying to set, and Miley channels the most vulnerable parts of herself through her voice and unleashes her vocals in a brilliantly moving manner, making the song stick the landing flawlessly.
I’ve had a lot of trouble with this list but picking this song as the best song of 2023 was the easiest job.
Worst Songs of 2023
Now that we’ve gone through the best of the year in music, this brings us to the worst we had to endure this year.
5. Barbie World - Ice Spice & Nicki Minaj
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At face value, this song rings like a hollow barrel, with absolutely no substance and no redeeming value, which makes sense because it’s just a filler track from a movie’s soundtrack. But something about this song makes me angry.
Something about flipping the Aqua sample in a trap beat doesn’t sit right with me. It sounds bizarre and awkward. The sample sounds so detached from the 808 bassline and drums. And Nicki and Ice Spice’s monotonous, indifferent delivery shows that they care about this song just as much as I do.
But the song isn’t on the list because it’s boring and annoying. Something about this song makes me angry. Nicki has been in the game for a very long time now. Even her fanbase is called Barbie, and yet her verse is so basic and generic with absolutely nothing worth remembering. Ice Spice irked me with her opening line “Barbie ain’t nothing to play ‘bout.” Barbie is a children’s toy, the entire premise of its existence is to “play ‘bout.” All of this is enough to land the song on this list. The only reason it’s not higher is because it’s mercifully short.
4. Single Soon - Selena Gomez
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I never would’ve thought I’d be putting a Selena Gomez song on this list. It breaks my heart a little but this song is just unbearable on so many levels.
I don’t even know how to begin unpacking this one. This is just Selena being a toxic, obnoxious, narcissistic brat. She sings about ending her current relationship and celebrating her new independence by playing dress-up, dating whoever she wants, staying out late, and blaming it all on being young.
She gives us nothing about why she’s doing this. Why she was unhappy in the relationship and wanted to break free. The closest hint we have is her saying “Stay out late if I wanna” which may imply that the guy she is with is controlling, but that’s it. That’s the only bit of insight we have.
Apart from that, it’s just her being toxic. She wants to break up with him over the phone or by leaving a note because she knows he will be a mess and doesn’t want to see him get emotional. She doesn’t say she doesn’t want to hurt him or cause him pain, she says she doesn’t “wanna see a tear.” This is ridiculous. Absolute trashy behavior from a 31-year-old trying her hardest to relive her teenage years.
3. Vampire - Olivia Rodrigo
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There’s not much about this song that I hate, but the parts that I do hate, I hate oh so much. I can’t stand this song. First of all, another boring break-up song with nothing to set it apart? Well, I guess this time she does have that vampire metaphor she chose to go with, which I’m still having trouble putting together.
Some songs use metaphors that just come together so perfectly, it’s satisfying to listen to. Vampire doesn’t do that. It sounds more like a gimmick than a metaphor.
And then we have her cadence in the verse, which, once again, is just so off-putting to listen to. Especially in the first verse, accompanied by nothing but a piano. It’s incredibly difficult to listen to.
This is starting to sound familiar. I feel like I’ve said everything I have to say about this song 2 years ago about Drivers License. Let’s run through the list: clunky, half-baked metaphor; off-putting cadence; lack of any personality; absolutely boring. I have nothing new to say about this “new” song.
2. Mother - Meghan Trainor
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I have never enjoyed a Meghan Trainor song because she makes it so difficult to. She puts her entitlement, ego, and sheer narcissism on display right up front. So much so that the actual premise of the song takes a back seat. Then again, the premise of most of her songs is how she’s better than everyone else so I guess that’s all she has in her bag.
I can’t believe this is a real, serious song. If this was some kind of a parody, comedy song, maybe a bit on SNL, I would have laughed and moved on. But this is an actual, real, critically acclaimed, chart-topping song.
I don’t think I need to say much to explain why a song that says “I am your mother, you listen to me” is on this song. I don’t even take that from my actual mother.
1. Vulgar - Sam Smith & Madonna
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This song is an abomination, which is extremely disappointing to listen to following Sam’s artful and inventive Gloria. I can go on and on about what’s wrong with this song but I think all you need is one listen to understand why it bothers me so much.
There is literally nothing about this song that works. I don’t want to listen to Sam rap. I want to listen to Madonna rap even less. The only message, theme, or context in this song is that Sam and Madonna are vulgar. I don’t get why that’s a message they want to convey about themselves. It’s just a whole mess.
It only works as a club banger for the crowd to go crazy to, there’s literally no other redeeming quality to it. Even at that, it’s awfully short.
I don’t know what else to say about this. This song just bothers me. It offends me as a listener. “You know that you’re beautiful when they call you vulgar” is not a message I want out in the world.
So, that’s it. That’s 2023 in music. I would say it was a good year overall because the highs were higher than the lows were low. Let’s see what 2024 has in store for us.
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