Charlotte’s Top 10 Songs of the Decade

Hi everyone,

I looked at Billboard’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade the other day and noticed something predictable about it. The list included a lot of songs from this year, which I find doesn’t fully represent the greatest songs of the decade because it’s too dictated by how you currently feel. Surely the creator of the list won’t think ‘Old Town Road’ is still number seven in five years. And seriously? ‘Girls Like You’ by Maroon 5 is number five? I love Maroon 5 but that is not their best work!

Their top 10 is as follows:

1. Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars (2014)
2. Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO Featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock (2011)
3. Shape of You by Ed Sheeran (2017)
4. Closer by The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey (2016)
5. Girls Like You by Maroon 5 Featuring Cardi B (2017)
6. We Found Love by Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris (2011)
7. Old Town Road by Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (2019)
8. Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye Featuring Kimbra (2012)
9. Despacito by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber (2017)
10. Rolling In The Deep by Adele (2010)

The only two I agree with are ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ and ‘Rolling In The Deep’. But I guess they are appealing to the masses with this awful list. I really expected better. One reason I think the list sucks is because the order of the songs is confusing. For example, ‘Tik Tok’ by Kesha was no doubt the BIGGEST song of 2009 (P.S. why is this song even on the list when it came out in 2009?), yet it is number 24. And ‘Closer’ by The Chainsmokers beat it? Maybe ‘Closer’ is a better song, but this list is clearly not going off of the sound, it’s going off of popularity.

Not that my opinion is any better, but I then thought about what my top 10 would look like. I, like Billboard, enjoy pop music. Admittedly, I never listen to anything besides pop. I probably, on average, listen to the radio for about two hours per day. I don’t even like 95 per cent of the songs they play. I just listen for background noise and I do not like listening to my own music. I like the ads and the talking that the radio has for some weird reason.

My list goes like this:

1. Tunnel Vision by Justin Timberlake (2013)
2. Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift Featuring Ed Sheeran (2012)
3. Starboy by The Weeknd Featuring Daft Punk (2016)
4. Stolen Dance by Milky Chance (2013)
5. Paradise by Coldplay (2011)
6. Take Me To Church by Hozier (2013)
7. One Dance by Drake Featuring Wizkid & Kyla Reid (2016)
8. The A Team by Ed Sheeran (2010)
9. I’m Not The Only One by Sam Smith (2014)
10. The One That Got Away by Katy Perry (2010)

I remember when these songs came out I really liked them, and I listened to them on repeat, though when I look at them now, I don’t really feel the same way. But, at some point, they really meant something. As you can probably see the years 2017–2019 don’t exist for pop music because they were, in my opinion, terrible.

Justin Timberlake is my favourite artist, so I had to put him in number one. I thought I’d stick to one song but every song from The 20/20 Experience is really my top ten. Every song Justin Timberlake makes is a banger, except for his latest album – that shit stinks. Ed Sheeran features twice on my list, though, those are honestly the only two songs I like by him. I think songs between 2010 – 2014 were better than the other half of the decade. Sometimes now when I listen to the radio I want to rip my ears out, but I doubt I’ll ever be able to break my habit of listening to the radio everyday.

What’s your favourite song of the decade? I’d love to know! It’s different for everybody.

P.S. What do we even call this decade? The teens?