Best Songs of 2013

The yearly countdown of the pondering movie, TV and music fan begins. And I want to start with the best music my ears were able to listen to for the past 12 months. I may be biased towards my favorite artists, but the songs listed here are songs that I think were great lyrically and/or musically. If you agree or disagree about what I post here, please write down on the comments section. Thank you and enjoy reading!

BEST SONGS OF 2013

Top 10- BRAVE by Sara Bareilles

Rumored to be the song that both musically and lyrically inspired Katy Perry’s Roar, this single off the pop singer’s latest album, Blessed Unrest, is brimming with positivity. Brave puts off a strong message about speaking up and being honest about oneself in mainstream, pop-friendly music

You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

Top 9- MY SONGS KNOW WHAT YOU DID IN THE DARK (LIGHT ‘EM UP) by Fall Out Boy

This single that resurrected the pop rock band’s musical career is not only pleasing to the ears, it is also deceivingly hard to sing! The song’s got a lot of aggressive attitude and over-all dark anthem vibe. Without dwelling too much to its meaning, I chose this song as one of the best this year for its eargasmic vibe especially when one is put to the test or just about to punch someone. Haha, kidding.

My songs know what you did in the dark!

So light ‘em up, up, up!

So light ‘em up, up, up!

So light ‘em up, up, up!

 I’m on fire!

Top 8- WRECKING BALL by Miley Cyrus

She seems like a girl who’s lost the goodness in her cause but let not that personality fool you. She still can make good music. This power ballad showcases the former teen superstar’s vocal chops in the captivating rhythm of the song.

Don’t you ever say I just walked away
I will always want you
I can’t live a lie, running for my life
I will always want you

I came in like a wrecking ball
I never hit so hard in love
All I wanted was to break your walls
All you ever did was wreck me
Yeah, you, you wreck me

Top 7- WAKE ME UP by Avicii

Wake Me Up by Avicii

The Swedish DJ who keeps on creating poppy EDM for everyone to hear succeeds with Wake Me Up, a chart-topping single that features Aloe Blacc for vocals and guitar from Incubus’ Mike Eizenger.

Wish that I could stay forever this young
Not afraid to close my eyes
Life’s a game made for everyone
And love is the prize

So wake me up when it’s all over
When I’m wiser and I’m older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn’t know I was lost

Top 6- JUST GIVE ME A REASON by Pink feat. Nate Ruess

This power ballad features two of the most distinct and beautiful voices of this generation: Pink and Nate Ruess of the band, fun. Featuring solo parts that both showcase the two singers’ excellent vocals, the song undoubtedly transcends when they sing together. Eargasm results when their voices blend. Moreover, I won’t be surprised if the song wins for Song of the Year in the Grammys. Two lovers yearning to mend their relationship is clearly felt and understood through and through when the song is being played.

Now you’ve been talking in your sleep, oh, oh
Things you never say to me, oh, oh
Tell me that you’ve had enough
Of our love, our love

Just give me a reason
Just a little bit’s enough
Just a second we’re not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
It’s in the stars
It’s been written in the scars on our hearts
We’re not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again

Top 5- MIRRORS by Justin Timberlake

Easily the best track off Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience album, this emotional ballad keeps it very interesting and pleasing to the ears with a length of 8 minutes and 5 seconds that features a grand production of instrumentation, catchy yet very meaningful lyrics and of course, the artist’s soaring vocals and pleasing falsetto.

‘Cause I don’t wanna lose you now
I’m lookin’ right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
Show me how to fight for now
And I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy
Comin’ back here to you once I figured it out
You were right here all along

It’s like you’re my mirror
My mirror staring back at me
I couldn’t get any bigger
With anyone else beside of me
And now it’s clear as this promise
That we’re making two reflections into one
‘Cause it’s like you’re my mirror
My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me

Top 4- ROAR by Katy Perry

Continuing the feel-good anthem of her songs, Katy Perry does it great with Roar, her first single off her latest album, Prism. Roar soars with Perry’s strong vocals immersed in booming instrumentations of piano and drums.

 You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar

Top 3- CAN’T HOLD US by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

If there’s one song that is the most infectious among all infectious songs this year, this is it. I’ve never liked a hip hop song as much as this before but because of the American hip-hop duo, I’m beginning to like hip hop more. This anthemic song defines the summer of the year by featuring a lashing of raps, a very catchy chorus and over-all a vibrant, upbeat and uplifting music.

Can we go back?

This is the moment

Tonight is the night

We’ll fight ‘til it’s over

So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us

Like the ceiling can’t hold us

Top 2- IKOT-IKOT by Sarah Geronimo

The Philippine music for the year 2013 thrived with pop singers- old (resilient ones) and new (via reality shows), alternative rock bands and a number of indie artists. But the one who stood out the most is none other than Sarah Geronimo, claimed to be the country’s pop princess. The lead single off her latest album, Ikot-ikot represents the more mature Sarah as she croons about a tiring affair with a lover, perfected with its incredibly very catchy hook plunged in an upbeat yet dramatic music production. But, as a good friend mentioned in his blog, it is Sarah who made the song really her own. And I quote what my friend said: “Sarah Geronimo gives the lyrics a brooding, adult contemporary spin: heavy on grit and rage. [Her] delivery is all it takes to tell the story, rough and manic.”

Heto na naman tayo
Parang kelan lang ang huli
Gaano man kalayo
Tayo’y pinagtatagpong muli
Ilang ulit nagkasakitan
Ngunit paulit na gumagaling
Ilang ulit balak na iwan
Ngunit patuloy na bumabalik

Kay rami nang sakit
Na nilimot napabayaan
‘Di maiwasang isipin
Na tayo’y para bang tumatakbo

Sa walang hanggan na kalye, tumatakbo
Ang pag-ibig na tila ba ‘sang biyaheng
Ikot-ikot lang, ikot-ikot-ikot lang
Ikot-ikot lang, ikot-ikot-ikot
Ikot-ikot lang, ikot-ikot-ikot lang
Ikot-ikot lang, ikot-ikot-ikot

Top 1- COUNTING STARS by OneRepublic

The band’s latest single, Counting Stars, is also the most commercially successful off their third album, Native. Featuring poetic and reflective yet puzzling and ambiguous lyrics entrenched in pop rock with hints of indie and folk music, this song bursts with constant tempo changes, head-banging rhythms and Ryan Tedder’s excellent vocals. In the surface, the song teaches us to dream big, pray hard and do what we can to reach those stars. Deeply, though, this may mean another thing.

Lately I been, I been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin’ hard
Said no more counting dollars
We’ll be counting stars
Yeah, we’ll be counting stars

I see this life
Like a swinging vine
Swing my heart across the line
In my face is flashing signs
Seek it out and ye shall find

Old, but I’m not that old
Young, but I’m not that bold
And I don’t think the world is sold
I’m just doing what we’re told

I feel something so right
By doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
By doing the right thing
I could lie, could lie, could lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Runners-up:

PLAY HARD by David Guetta feat. Ne-Yo & Akon

THRIFT SHOP and SAME LOVE by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

SAY SOMETHING by A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera

CLARITY by Zedd

AFTER ALL THIS TIME by Itchyworms

I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE by Taylor Swift

FEEL AGAIN and IF I LOSE MYSELF by OneRepublic

IN A WORLD LIKE THIS by Backstreet Boys

ATLAS by Coldplay

HONEYMOON AVENUE by Ariana Grande

WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN by Bruno Mars

INCREDIBLE by Celine Dion and Ne-Yo

SCARED TO DEATH by KZ Tandingan

NOT A BAD THING by Justin Timberlake

RADIOACTIVE by Imagine Dragons

THE ONLY ONE by James Blunt

LET ME GO by Avril Lavigne

SAFE AND SOUND by Capital Cities