I am fortunate enough to have lived in a lot of really incredible places in my life, and one of the main lessons I’ve taken away from all these places is that the people make the place. No matter how picturesque or prestigious a place might be, you need to find your people to really make it amazing. This was even more apparent in the obstacle course that was this year. The few people we were able to surround ourselves with made the year bearable and made those friendships deeper.
Now, I’m not gonna say I’m at the level of a music connoisseur like some of our friends (as Ilana so nicely pointed out in her post) but these are the top songs that I have the strongest memories with. The ones I’ll hear years from now and be taken back to an exact moment with friends, when we forgot about the rest of the world and were just smiling at each other dancing.
MisterWives - “Superbloom”
Had to start with this one. I think we all deserve a little congratulations for getting through to the other side of this year. I dare you not to smile while listening to this
MARINA - “About Love”
This was a good find from a pretty subpar Netflix movie. And it's been in repeat since then. Super catchy and, I mean, with a chorus like “It feels good it hurts so much,” how can you not love it?
Doja Cat - “Boss Bitch”
The stages available for me to perform and make a fool of myself this year were mostly limited to my rooftop, boats, and (new for 2020!) lip syncing while wearing my mask at the grocery store. I think masks really give you a new opportunity to make a lip sync performance anywhere you are, and the old Dutch women staring while you’re dancing down the aisles really make the ideal audience.
Dua Lipa - “Levitating”
This album was honestly a godsend. I don’t know what the first few months of quarantine would have been without it. Juno (our dog) got very used to “dancing” to this song whenever it came on.
(Probably unrelated but this made Juno’s 10 Worst Songs of the Year.)
Tove Lo - “sadder badder cooler”
This one took a minute to grow on me. She is so bizarre and this music video is no exception.
Lady Gaga - “Rain on Me” (feat. Ariana Grande)
This song is the backing track for most of the highlight reels of my summer. Watching the music video fifteen times in a row when it came out, boat session sing-alongs, and the scar I now have from where I tried to recreate Gaga’s “knife in her leg” scene by stabbing myself with a wine glass stem.
Miley Cyrus - “Edge of Midnight” (Midnight Sky Remix) (feat. Stevie Nicks)
“It’s been a long night and the mirror is telling you to go home.” I think that says enough.
Daði Freyr - “Think About Things”
I am guilty as a stereotypical American that moved to Europe, had no idea what Eurovision was, and am now in love with it. I can’t think of anything else that is so ridiculous and so serious at the same time. This song was the clear winner this year if Miss Rona hadn’t joined the competition
(Also, the fact that the Will Ferrell character in the Eurovision movie looks like the lead singer from Iceland this year kills me. Speaking of which ...)
Molly Sanden & Will Ferrell - “Husavik (My Hometown)”
I was fortunate enough to drive around my hometown and scream this song at the top of my lungs. Which I highly recommend doing the next time you are able.
The Chicks - “Julianna Calm Down”
This was a great song for me throughout the year when I stopped telling myself “well it can’t get worse” because I was afraid of an actual alien invasion.
(Also any song with our dog’s name in it gets +20 points.)
Alanis Morrisette - “Reasons I Drink”
Maybe the most aptly titled track for 2020. I'm not a huge Alanis fan by any measure but for some reason this song really got me. Can't imagine why.
Sylvan Esso - “Frequency”
Something about it really calms me down and makes me take a breath regardless of what I’m doing. The way she describes this feeling is beautiful and the music video takes it to the next level.
Carly Rae Jepsen - “Real Love”
Yeah I know this is 2019, but this was one of the last songs I heard live this year. I went to this concert last minute not even considering it would be the last time we’d see a live show. We had a little corner of gays at Paradiso that Carly was living for (Ilana, you weren’t there, but I think you were mentioned more than “Call Me Maybe” was). We jumped around and screamed like teenage girls and had lots of actual teenage girls staring at us. But this remains one of my favorite moments of this year.
Chappell Roan - “Pink Pony Club”
Now. If you were within a 5 km radius of me at any point this year, you heard this song. I fell in love with this song as soon as I heard it and was determined to make everyone love it as much as I did. Almost every line of the song hit home with me, running away from home, dancing in heels, missing your mama’s southern drawl, all of it.
Making this one of the soundtracks of the summer is probably one of my biggest accomplishments for this year. (I’ll take my wins where I can in 2020.)
Also Chappell Roan already knows her gays and not only has drag queens in the video but leather daddies as well. Can’t wait to see where this queen goes next.
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