Did you know that in the 1600s, lefties were suspected of witchcraft? Fast forward to today, and we’re still navigating a world designed for righties. From scissors to can openers, life’s full of little challenges for the left-handed among us.
Even language hasn’t been kind – check a thesaurus and you might find some surprisingly negative synonyms for “left-handed.” (Have you ever been accused of giving a left-handed compliment?) But lefties in good company! Some of the world’s most creative minds have been southpaws.
To celebrate this most important of holidays, I’ve put together a playlist featuring 30 incredible left-handed musicians. From rock legends to pop icons, these artists have left their mark on music history.
In the realm of music, 2017 proved to be a year of vibrant eclecticism, where established artists continued to push boundaries and emerging voices made their mark. The year’s soundtrack was a rich collection of narratives, each song telling its own story, whether it be Kendrick Lamar’s thought-provoking lyricism on “HUMBLE.”, or Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,” an anthem of confidence and empowerment.
The year also saw artists like Future and Lil Uzi Vert pushing the boundaries of rap music, while Lorde and Portugal. The Man offered a more introspective take on pop. Drake’s “Passionfruit” and Calvin Harris’ “Slide” were the smooth, rhythmic tracks that became the backdrop of many summer nights, showcasing the seamless blend of R&B and electronic music.
Veterans like Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus reinvented themselves, leaving behind their pure pop personas for more mature, soulful expressions in “Sign of the Times” and “Malibu,” respectively. Meanwhile, SZA and Sampha delivered deeply personal albums that spoke to the complexities of relationships and self-discovery.
The indie scene was no less vibrant, with King Krule, St. Vincent, and The War on Drugs each offering a unique sonic experience that defied mainstream trends. And let’s not forget the poignant comeback of Kesha, who reminded us of the redemptive power of music.
As we reminisce about the tunes of 2017, it’s impossible not to feel the excitement and energy they brought into our lives. Each track on this playlist brings its own flavor to the table. It’s not just about the songs; it’s about the memories they evoke, the feelings they stir, and the way they become the soundtrack to our lives. Let’s crank up the volume, lose ourselves in the melodies, and celebrate the music of 2017.
Five years after then president of The Recording Academy proclaimed that women need to step up, the ladies have responded with “How’s this, jerkface?” Women dominate this year’s Grammy nominations. More importantly, all but two of the top 20 songs on my year-end list are led by female artists (with one guy showing up to provide guest vocals). That’s a record, I think, but don’t quote me on that. I’m too lazy to check. I don’t have a deep analysis for this phenomenon, but I do have a deep appreciation for the talent and diversity of these women (not that women have ever been underrepresented in my annual tallies). The highest placing male acts on my 2023 list are none other than The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Yes, you read that right. The legends are back, and they still can show the young-uns how it’s done. With their song “Angry,” The Rolling Stones have achieved a remarkable feat: the longest span from first appearance to most recent appearance in my year-end surveys. In 1981, my first year of making such lists, the group placed with “Start Me Up.” The 80s are also well represented by Kylie Minogue and Madonna, each of whom made a triumphant return to my list after long absences. Welcome back, ladies! And last but not least, let’s give a round of applause to Megan Thee Stallion, who has been in my top five for five years in a row. That’s a record, I think, but don’t quote me on that. I’m too lazy to check. Now, without further ado, here is my list of the best songs of 2023. Enjoy!
Ice Cream Man. – RAYE
vampire – Olivia Rodrigo
Kill Bill – SZA
Bongos – Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion
Not Strong Enough – boygenius
Flowers – Miley Cyrus
Escapism. – RAYE & 070 Shake
Paint the Town Red – Doja Cat
Lipstick Lover – Janelle Monáe
Nobody Gets Me – SZA
Dance the Night – Dua Lipa
Shirt – SZA
AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM – Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar
What Was I Made For? – Billie Eilish
Padam Padam – Kylie Minogue
Cobra – Megan Thee Stallion
Brenda Put Your Bra On – Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack & Pillbox Patti
Angry – The Rolling Stones
Now and Then – The Beatles
Cool About It – boygenius
RATATA – Skrillex, Missy Elliott & Mr. Oizo
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd – Lana Del Rey
Today’s playlist celebrates the December 2 birthdays of Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado, Naughty By Nature’s Treach, Whale’s Cia Berg, and Joe Henry; the December 3 birthdays of Ozzy Osbourne, Montell Jordan, Andy Williams, Starship’s Mickey Thomas, Jam & Spoon’s Rolf Ellmer, .38 Special’s Don Barnes, Lil Baby, and City Girls’ JT; and the December 4 birthdays of Carl Wilson, Jay-Z, The Byrds’ Chris Hillman, Anna McGarrigle, Adamski, Freddy Cannon, BTS’s Jin, Southside Johnny, Miss Toni Fisher, Dionne Farris, and Pansy Division’s Jon Ginoli.
Today’s playlist celebrates the October 10 birthdays of Thelonious Monk, Van Halen’s David Lee Roth, John Prine, Ultravox’s Midge Ure, Kirsty MacColl, Dave and Ansell Collins’s Dave Barker, Ivory Joe Hunter, Truth Hurts, Tanya Tucker, The Honeycombs’ Dennis D’Ell, Mr. Big’s Eric Martin, Marina and the Diamonds’ Marina Diamandis, Mya, and Oscar Brown Jr.; the October 11 birthdays of Daryl Hall, Art Blakey, Cardi B, Wheatus’s Brendan Brown, Jay-Jay Johanson, MC Lyte, Dottie West, Jane Krakowski, and Todd Snider; and National Coming Out Day.
Prince, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Kool & the Gang. It must be my list of favorite songs of 198-, uh, 2021. The aforementioned veterans rub elbows with Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Wet Leg, serpentwithfeet, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, The Avalanches, Adele and Little Simz.
Here are my top 100 songs of 2021:
Same Size Shoe – serpentwithfeet
Love Again – Dua Lipa
Body – Megan Thee Stallion
Black Like Me – Mickey Guyton
Easy On Me – Adele
Thot Shit – Megan Thee Stallion
Up – Cardi B
Save Your Tears – The Weeknd
Good Days – SZA
Under the Table – Fiona Apple
Wet Dream – Wet Leg
Rumors – Lizzo & Cardi B
Find My Way – Paul McCartney
Levitating – Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby
Chaise Longue – Wet Leg
I Love You, I Hate You – Little Simz
Best Friend – Saweetie feat. Doja Cat
Brando – Lucy Dacus
So I Lie – Miguel
We Go On – the Avalanches feat. Cola Boyyy & Mick Jones
Twerkulator – City Girls
MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X
Butter – BTS
Cold Heart – Elton John & Dua Lipa
Therefore I Am – Billie Eilish
Your Power – Billie Eilish
INDUSTRY BABY – Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow
Point and Kill – Little Simz feat. Obongjayar
Scratchcard Lanyard – Dry Cleaning
Security – Amyl and the Sniffers
Puppy and a Truck – Jenny Lewis
Don’t Judge Me – FKA twigs, Headie One, Fred again…
Pursuit of Happiness – Kool & the Gang
Savage Good Boy – Japanese Breakfast
Pay Your Way in Pain – St. Vincent
ARE YOU WITH THAT? – Vince Staples
Hot Summer – Prince
Diamond Studded Shoes – Yola
Solar Power – Lorde
chinatown – Bleachers feat. Bruce Springsteen
The Divine Chord – the Avalanches feat. MGMT & Johnny Marr
Don’t Go Yet – Camila Cabello
Strong Feelings – Dry Cleaning
Rainforest – Noname
Working for the Knife – Mitski
Take My Breath – The Weeknd
Boomerang – Yebba
ooh la la – Run the Jewels feat. Santa Fe Klan & Mexican Institute of Sound
Candypaint – Joey Purp
Free from Gravity – Django Django
Spanish Doors – Liz Phair
Roaring 20s – Flo Milli
Rhetorical Figure – John Grant
THAT’S WHAT I WANT – Lil Nas X
The Doll – Audiobooks
Strange – Celeste
WUSYANAME – Tyler, the Creator feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign
White Dress – Lana Del Rey
family ties – Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
Starlight – Yola
The Melting of the Sun – St. Vincent
Pick up Your Feelings – Jazmine Sullivan
I am not a woman, I’m a god – Halsey
Hertz – Amyl and the Sniffers
Please – Jessie Ware
The Adults Are Talking – the Strokes
Got Me – Laura Mvula
We’re Good – Dua Lipa
Kiss Me More – Doja Cat feat. SZA
I Don’t Live Here Anymore – The War on Drugs feat. Lucius
The Grammy Awards are being presented tonight. Woo. It’s billed as “music’s biggest night,” just as May 7 through May 16 is billed as “the biggest week in American birding,” if only because ten days is a lot for one week. Birders. Am I right, people? Performers at this year’s Grammys include Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak doing their new song, because what better way to celebrate the music of 2020 than with a single that was released last week? Performers I’m looking forward to include Miranda Lambert, Cardi B, HAIM, Megan Thee Stallion, Brittany Howard, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish, whose “Everything I Wanted” is up for Record of the Year. That’s my favorite of the nominees, though I think the award will go to Beyoncé for “Black Parade,” and I have no problem with that. However, if the award goes to that record I never heard of until I started typing this sentence, sneakers will be thrown at my television (though that record may be good for all I know). For Album of the Year my vote goes to Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, as it was handily the best album of 2020. It probably won’t win, seeing as it wasn’t nominated. What was nominated over Apple’s album? That Coldplay album you forgot about and the Jacob Collier album you never heard of until you started reading this sentence (though that album may be good for all you know). Of the albums nominated, I’d pick HAIM’s. It’s very good. Not Fetch The Bolt Cutters good, but very good nonetheless. If HAIM win I hope they hand their award to Fiona Apple live on the telecast, which would be super impressive, seeing as they won’t be in the same room. I’m sure tonight’s show will include a tribute to dead people done by living people who are no match for said dead people. I’d rather want a montage of clips of the dead people performing when they were living people. <Fill in the blank> screaming is not representative of what made Aretha Franklin amazing. No disrespect to <fill in the blank>, but there’s more to being the Queen of Soul than having a mic and ovaries.
It’s easy to shit on the Grammys, as they are so shittable, but to be fair, not every Record of the Year is as terrible as 1988’s recipient, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Here are thirty of the better winners:
Inspired by the February 15 birthdays of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, Megan Thee Stallion, Melissa Manchester, Birdman (Baby), UB40’s Ali Campbell, Denny Zager, Olivia, Incubus’ Brandon Boyd, and Harold Arlen.
I’m not going to write an essay about 2020. That’s been done elsewhere and I have nothing to add to the conversation. Though the three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote, “stink, stank, stunk,” there were some bright spots. Here are 85 things that brought me joy. Happy New Year, everyone!
everything i wanted – Billie Eilish
WAP – Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion
deathbed (coffee for your head) – Powfu feat. Beabadoobee
Savage – Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé
Stay High – Brittany Howard
Dynamite – BTS
Shameika – Fiona Apple
Tap In – Saweetie feat. Post Malone, DaBaby & Jack Harlow
Delete Forever – Grimes
Mariners Apartment Complex – Lana Del Rey
Polyaneurism – of Montreal
Didn’t Want To Be This Lonely – Pretenders
Stupid Love – Lady Gaga
Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better – the Streets feat. Tame Impala
Surrender – Will Butler
JU$T – Run the Jewels feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack De La Rocha
BLACK PARADE – Beyoncé
Lifetime – Romy
Fool’s Gold – Lucy Dacus
Identical – Phoenix
ilomilo – Billie Eilish
Hallelujah – HAIM
Quarantine Boogie (Loco) – Walter Martin
Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America – the 1975
Texas Sun – Khruangbin and Leon Bridges
Ghosts – Bruce Springsteen
Settling Down – Miranda Lambert
He Loves Me – Brittany Howard
Pictures of Flowers – Jess Williamson feat. Hand Habits
The Valley of the Pagans – Gorillaz featuring Beck
my future – Billie Eilish
hot girl bummer – Blackbear
Drinks – Cyn
I disappear in your arms – Christine & the Queens
Say So – Doja Cat
Sea Salt & Caramel – Dent May
Gaslighter – The Chicks
4 American Dollars – U.S. Girls
No Time to Die – Billie Eilish
Murder Most Foul – Bob Dylan
Lockdown – Anderson .Paak
When the Way Gets Dark – Lucinda Williams
Straight to the Morning – Hot Chip feat. Jarvis Cocker
Sleep at Night – The Chicks
Jason – Perfume Genius
Black Qualls – Thundercat feat. Steve Lacy & Steve Arrington
Smiley Face – Duck Sauce
Blinding Lights – the Weeknd
Country Radio – Indigo Girls
One and Done – Bright Eyes
Hole in the Bottle – Kelsea Ballerini with Shania Twain
Bluebird – Miranda Lambert
FTP – YG
You Can’t Rule Me – Lucinda Williams
Don’t Wanna – HAIM
Rager teenager! – Troye Sivan
SUGAR – BROCKHAMPTON
Bad Decisions – the Strokes
Miracle of Life – Bright Eyes feat. Phoebe Bridgers
Dora – Thierra Whack
On the Floor – Perfume Genius
Don’t Stop – Megan Thee Stallion feat. Young Thug
Front Lines – Conway the Machine
xanny – Billie Eilish
On My Own – Shamir
Without You – Perfume Genius
Why I Still Love You – Missy Elliott
The Streets Where I Belong – Annie
Leader of the Delinquents – Kid Cudi
Song 33 – Noname
Anthem – Father John Misty
Lilacs – Waxahatchee
Body Memory – Jess Cornelius
Come Thru – Summer Walker with Usher
Aries – Gorillaz feat. Peter Hook & Georgia
Riding Solo – Hinds
Cool Off – Missy Elliott
Sweeter – Leon Bridges feat. Terrace Martin
Video Game – Sufjan Stevens
Love Is a Drug – Empress Of
Kyoto – Phoebe Bridgers
ATM – Too Free
Momentary Bliss – Gorillaz feat. Slowthai and Slaves
Harlem River Blues – Steve Earle
In My Bones – Jacob Collier feat. Kimbra & Tank and the Bangas
