My 80 Favorite Songs of 2012

Last year, I decided to do a month-long list on this blog of the 100 best songs of 2011, in my modest, sometimes extreme opinion. I had a post dedicated to each song, including a writeup of four or five paragraphs and an embed of the song on YouTube, Soundcloud or otherwise.

That took waaaay too long.

That said, I still have this undying love of end-of-the-year lists, so I knew that, for 2012, I wanted to do something, even if was just a list of songs that I really liked.

So, here -- have one of those.

Note that I'm not calling these the "best" of 2012. In many cases, yeah, that's what I believe. But with others, I get that they might not be as inherently good as, say, Springsteen's new material (which you won't see on this list -- dealwithit.jpg). So if I call them my favorites, that absolves me from having to defend them. Right? Probably not. Whatever.

As I did last year, I kept a Spotify playlist of all my favorites in 2012. If you have the service, check it out. You'll notice that certain bands or artists are featured more than once on the playlist but not here. To avoid bogging down a list with too many songs from the same artist, I limit an artist's appearance to one on my list, unless they were a featured performer on another song, which is OK. This is my gift to all of you who have heard too much about "Channel Orange" in 2012.


80. "Ohio" - Lake Forest
79. "Swimming Pools" - Kendrick Lamar
78. "In the Beginning" - Todd Snider
77. "No. 1 Against the Rush" - Liars
76. "Overture" - Patrick Wolf
75. "Breath of Life" - Florence + the Machine
74. "Perfect World" - Gossip
73. "Cosmic Queries" - Willis Earl Beal
72. "Refill" - Elle Varner
71. "The Bravest Man in the Universe" - Bobby Womack
70. "Carry Me Back" - Old Crow Medicine Show
69. "Gangnam Style" - Psy
68. "Read 'Em John" - Carolina Chocolate Drops
67. "Sad Eyes" - Crystal Castles
66. "Roman Holiday" - Nicki Minaj
65. "One Engine" - The Decemberists
64. "State of the Art" - Gotye
63. "Lovers" - Brothertiger
62. "Eros and Apollo" - Studio Killers
61. "Let Yourself Go" - Green Day
60. "Easy Come, Easy Go" - Great Lake Swimmers
59. "Revolution" - Dr. John
58. "Ho Hey" - The Lumineers
57. "Some Nights" - fun.
56. "The Brightest Lights" - King Charles feat. Mumford and Sons
55. "DIY2K" - Pujol
54. "Hot Cheetos and Takis" - Y.N. Rich Kids
53. "Down the Road" - C2C
52. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
51. "45" - The Gaslight Anthem
50. "Better Dig Two" - The Band Perry
49. "Morning Sun" - The Wilderness of Manitoba
48. "Frozen Fields" - Jerry Douglas feat. Alison Krauss
47. "Hero" - Family of the Year
46. "Funtimes in Babylon" - Father John Misty
45. "The Wind" - Zac Brown Band
44. "Country Song" - Jake Bugg
43. "Myth" - Beach House
42. "Comeback Kid" - Sleigh Bells
41. "Myintrotoletuknow" - Danny!
40. "Run Daddy Run" - Pistol Annies
39. "Rock of Ages" - Black Prairie
38. "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" - Taylor Swift
37. "The Only Place" - Best Coast
36. "Kingdom Come" - The Civil Wars
35. "Gangs in the Garden" - Black Moth Super Rainbow
34. "Live and Die" - The Avett Brothers
33. "Adorn" - Miguel
32. "Madness" - Muse
31. "The Stranger" - Lord Huron
30. "Esmeralda" - Ben Howard
29. "1904" - The Tallest Man on Earth
28. "Old Oak Tree" - Southeast Engine
27. "Penitentiary" - Houndmouth
26. "I Like It" - Foxy Shazam
25. "The Fold" - Wickerbird
24. "Movement and Location" - Punch Brothers
23. "Silver Lining" - Guards
22. "Show Me Your Eyes" - Royal Canoe
21. "Neither Here Nor There" - Lost in the Trees
20. "Darkness" - Leonard Cohen
19. "Below My Feet" - Mumford & Sons
18. "Sod in the Seed - Why?
17. "Climax" - Usher
16. "Man on Fire" - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
15. "Valerie" - The Weeknd
14. "Heaven" - Emeli Sande
13. "Bel Air" - Lana Del Rey
12. "Thrift Shop" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
11. "Alone" - Trampled by Turtles
10. "Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns" - A.C. Newman
9. "Varuo" - Sigur Ros
8. "Simmer" - Silversun Pickups
7. "Sixteen Saltines" - Jack White
6. "Hole in the Ocean Floor" - Andrew Bird
5. "When I Write My Master's Thesis" - John K. Samson
4. "Emmylou" - First Aid Kit
3. "Simple Song" - The Shins
2. "Bad Religion" - Frank Ocean
1. "The House That Heaven Built" - Japandroids