Songs That Got Me Through 2020 (Part 3)

 Round 3, let’s go! Thanks to everyone who has joined me for this music series so far (you can check them out here) - every click makes my heart happy, so I truly appreciate your support. I’m returning today to some of the songs that got me through 2020, and this week’s selection come from right in the summer. They evoke memories of warmer weather, long cycle rides, and dreaming about summer’s still to come. Check it out!

 

Say It – Flume, Tove Lo

This song epitomised for me what summers have the potential to be – heading off somewhere hot and sunny to party with your friends, dancing under the strobe lights as the insane beat drop of this song hits. Sure, we might have had to have forgone some of this in 2020, but this song felt both nostalgic and optimistic for the future. I might have been the only one dancing to this song in ‘Club Ciara’ but at least I had a good time doing so. 

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50285609

 

Friends Don’t – Maddie & Tae

When I think of Maddie & Tae, I think of harmonies; and whilst their latest album The Way It Feels is chock full of them, I had to pick just one song for this list. It was a hard choice (seriously, the whole album is great), but Friends Don’t pipped the post because I love that it deals with a theme that I really haven’t heard in many songs – the sometimes obscure line between friendship and more. Maddie & Tae perfectly describe the confusing emotions that come with this, and wrap it up in a catchy song that’s just perfect for a shower karaoke session.   

Cover art courtesy UMG Nashville

 

Deserve – Chase Fouraker

I really have to give my thanks to Spotify for introducing me to this song, because I spent most of the summer absolutely loving it. Usually I’m listening to music in the background for whatever I’m doing – working, writing, painting – but for this song, I had to stop and give it my full attention. Deserve combines the production value of the likes of Charlie Puth with the songwriting that I love in country music. Definitely up there with one of my favourite new songs of the year, and I can’t wait to see what else Chase puts out in the future. 

 https://www.amazon.com/Deserve-Chase-Fouraker/dp/B087SYZ47D

 

The Less I Know The Better – Tame Impala

I know I’m late to the Tame Impala party, but I never thought that this would be the kind of music I’d like – I mean, psychedelic pop (Wikipedia’s words, not mine) – what even is that? But Spotify thought I might like it, and as per usual, it was right. Even though I kind of hate the word, ‘vibey’ is the best way to describe this song and I get how people can totally zone out to it with its incredibly catchy guitar solo (I’m sensing a theme…) Would also recommend New Person, Same Old Mistakes for equally trippy listening. 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49623672

Just Fine – Mary J. Blige

2007 Mary J. Blige came in to save 2020 with this absolute happy-inducing track. Whilst the world outside may have been on fire, Mary reminded me that actually, everything is probably going to be okay in the long run, and I’m probably going to be okay. Quite frankly, that’s exactly what I needed to hear. I’d paste the whole lyrics here if I had space, but this about sums up my feelings of this song: “You know I love music, and every time I hear something hot, it makes me wanna move, it makes me wanna have fun.” Listen whenever you’re having a bad day.

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15156329

 

Twenty Two – Pierre

I am actually disgusted that this song has less than 500 views on YouTube. Less than 500 views??? And some of them are definitely from me. That is criminal. Twenty Two is peak contemporary country and any and every fan of Dan + Shay, Morgan Wallen, Devin Dawson, Thomas Rhett – basically any male country-pop artist – needs to here this song. It is beautifully crafted, catchy, and has some lyrics that had me thinking for days: “I never ask you to change the way you change your mind, try to hold you back just to call you mine. Maybe we’d work a little further down the line, but I can’t catch you at 22.” 

https://open.spotify.com/album/3fZVvTiuPtaKQKxj9RgmnI

 

American Avenue – Leaving Austin, Cassadee Pope

Speaking of criminally underrated, can we talk about Cassadee Pope for a minute? She has such a strong and unique voice, and let me tell you that the competition is severely tough in country music, and yet I doubt she’d be on many people’s radar if I asked them to list some of their favourite country artists. Well, if you don’t know Cassadee yet, let me suggest you take American Avenue as a good entry point. You’ll get introduced to Cassadee and smooth trio Leaving Austin, and get a great song reminiscent of summer nights and movie scenes – what more could you want?

http://www.themcollective.com/press-releases/2020/7/1/0kubtah0wvl0pn0xuiwpg81lkxq3l8

 
Goes Without Saying – Old Dominion

As you may have gathered, music is a pretty big deal to me, so I won’t tell you that I love an artist unless I really mean it, and I really mean it when I say I love Old Dominion. I genuinely think that they have the best way with words out of any bands or artists that I know, and OD has some of the most clever lyrics that I have ever heard. Take Be With Me: “Like your daddy told you when you were a little girl – ‘you could be anything.’ Why don’t you be with me?” or the entirety of Song For Another Time which has more references to famous songs than I can count. Goes Without Saying doesn’t disappoint with its play on words that love sometimes does go without saying. 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62136449

 Wow, looks like summer for me was all about lyrics, and honestly I’d go as far as to say that I learned a fair bit from listening to these songs. Friends Don’t taught me listen to my gut; Deserve to know my worth; Just Fine that no-one can take away the way you feel about yourself; Twenty Two that we’re not the same people we were at 22. I hope this post, and the other blogs in this series have encouraged you to check out some music that maybe wasn’t on your radar – I’d love to hear about it! Drop me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry. Thanks so much for reading!

Songs That Got Me Through 2020 (Part 2)

Thank you to everyone who read my last edition of this series (check that out here!) You know how some songs remind you of a certain time, place, person, feeling? Today I wanted to take a trip back to some songs which remind me of the best moments of 2020. I may not really have left the house for the past eight months, but that hasn’t stopped me from having dance parties and going through just about every emotion known to man. Buckle up for Part 2 of the songs that got me through 2020 – enjoy!

Me On You – Teddy Robb

Thank you Spotify for continuing to make me aware of new artists and one of the many to come onto my radar this year is Teddy Robb. Some of you might know that country music is very close to my heart and I appreciate some good melody and lyrics. This song has both, and perfectly encapsulates that feeling when it’s hard to sleep because you have something (or someone) on your mind. 

https://musicrow.com/2020/04/teddy-robb-releases-debut-ep/

 

 

50/50 – Vantage

My last post mentioned the incomparable disco track The Hustle by Van McCoy and 50/50 is right up there alongside it. Who would’ve thought I’d be listening to disco music this year? Not me, that’s for sure, but Vantage has created a song that it’s literally impossible not to get up and dance to. Try it, seriously, I dare you. 

 https://soundcloud.com/vantagenoise/5050a

 

 
Let’s Get Loud – Jennifer Lopez

I needed this song this year. As someone who thrives on travelling, 2020 has been less than ideal for me, but J Lo brought Brazil and Carnival right to my bedroom. I’m talking trumpets, piano, spectacular percussion and the most upbeat ‘Hey’s’ in any song ever (you can quote me on that) So, whether you’re looking for a song to make you happy, transport you to Brazil, add to your party playlist, or do a Zumba class to, this is the song for you. 

 https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Loud-Jennifer-Lopez/dp/B073JSWQKV

 

 

Maybe You’re the Reason – The Japanese House

I think we have a contender for Ciara’s favourite song of the year. Again, neither this song or The Japanese House was on my radar before, but Spotify thought I might like this song, and it was damn right. I knew within the first few bars of this song that I was going to love it, and ended up sending this song to a few of my friends with the instruction ‘Vibe with me’. It’s almost inexplicable what this song does to you – the lyrics are sad but the melody is kind of happy; which I think sums up 2020 for me – happy and sad at the same time. 

https://genius.com/The-japanese-house-maybe-youre-the-reason-lyrics

 

Are You Bored Yet? – Wallows, Clairo

The answer is yes, Wallows, thanks for asking. Here we have another contender for Ciara’s favourite song of the year! Once again, this is literally all down to those first few bars – turns out if you start the song off right, you have me hooked. Like J Lo, this song had transportation powers, but this time to an era, not a place. I wasn’t alive in the 80s, but this song makes me wish I was. It has such a nostalgic quality that makes you feel like the main character in a coming of age movie. And I know I said the intro was phenomenal, but just wait til you get to the chorus. Thank me later. 

https://genius.com/Wallows-are-you-bored-yet-lyrics

This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole

This is the song I think of when I think of romantic comedy movies, and honestly it should be on the soundtrack of any and every romantic comedy movie ever, I would watch them just for this song. If you’ve never heard this song, yes you have – it’s on the soundtrack of movies like While You Were Sleeping, The Parent Trap and A Cinderella Story, and quite frankly epitomises what love is. I love this song so much! 

 By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55552976

 

X – Jonas Brothers, Karol G

I was a Jonas Brothers fan when I was 15, and I’m still a Jonas Brothers fan now. It’s hard not to be when they keep releasing bangers like this. If the last song was ‘love’, this song is ‘summer’ and should’ve been played at every pool party across the world if corona hadn’t cancelled them all. This song certainly has similarities with Let’s Get Loud in terms of the way it makes me feel, so if you want a song to make you move, turn X up. 

 By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63960656

 

Move – The Mamas

Speaking of move, here’s a song that I have a feeling with remain criminally underrated. Why? Because it’s a Eurovision song. Now, I love Eurovision as much as the next person, but the talent show has a bit of a reputation for sometimes producing some less than spectacular Euro-trash songs. Move is none of this – this is a quality track with incredible vocals that I think would be a hit on international radio under ‘normal’ circumstances. Good for this fantastic group to use Eurovision as a launchpad for their musical career, and I hope we hear a lot more from them soon. On the subject of Eurovision, if you haven’t seen the Netflix Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga movie, you’re missing out. Total fun, and honourable mention to the song Husavik for also being another song to get me through 2020! 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63236597

Man, did I mention how much I love music? This series is bringing me the most joy I’ve experience in months, and I would love to hear what songs have gotten you through this weird year – drop me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry. Heck, send me your own playlists if you have them! Looking forward to sharing more of my favourite songs with you soon – thanks for reading!

Songs That Got Me Through 2020 (Part 1)

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimised by 2020? Yeah, this year will hardly be going down as anyone’s ‘best year yet’, but the good thing is that it’s almost over, and that’s certainly cause for celebration. There’s been little to get excited about this year, but whilst many other aspects of the world were shutting down; musicians, bands, singers, songwriters and artists kept producing music to keep us going, and Spotify kept suggesting some fantastic tracks for me to listen to. So, I thought for my new blog series, we’d take a trip down memory lane to look at some of the songs that have helped get me through what has been a very weird year. Let’s go!

 

The Hustle – Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony

This song comes a bit out of left-field since it was first released in 1975, but you know what, I honestly think I needed to get as far away from 2020 as I could, and if that meant going back 45 years, then that’s what I’d do. The Hustle was exactly what we needed when things seemed very bleak – a good old fashioned disco track that you can’t help but move to. 

  By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55816798

  Break My Heart – Dua Lipa

I really appreciate the irony of the line in the chorus: ‘I should have stayed at home’ because honestly that’s what everyone should have been doing at the beginning of this year, and we shouldn’t have to have Dua Lipa to tell us it. Aside from that, Break My Heart is just an impeccably well produced track, as it the entirety of her album Future Nostalgia which I can assure you will make every trip to the supermarket so much more exciting.

 By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63428617

 

 

 Reality – Lost Frequencies, Janieck Devy

I like to think that quarantine wasn’t a total bust in that it encouraged people to get a bit more creative and try to learn new skills that they maybe didn’t have time for before. For me, this meant learning guitar, and Reality has an awesome guitar riff that was one of the first things I learnt to play. After trying out the riff myself, I went to check out the full song, loved it, and here we are. A must for anyone who appreciates a good guitar intro. 

 By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50683056

 

 

Drunk Me – Mitchell Tenpenny

Mitchell Tenpenny was not on my radar pre-quarantine, but Spotify suggested I might like his music, and this started with Drunk Me. This is a hard hitting song that you just know would sound amazing in a stadium, which gives me hope that I’ll get to hear it live once all this is over. Mitchell has some other great songs I picked up in quarantine too – if you like Drunk Me, you’ll love Alcohol You Later and Broken Up. 

 Photo credit: Jim Wright

 

 

Surrender – Natalie Taylor

Taking a slightly different route for this song. Surrender is the type of song you want to listen to as you watch the sun rise over the mountains, just you and no one else around. The lyrics and melody do have a bit of a sad vibe, but I can’t tell you how perfect this song is to listen to when you just need to breathe and take it in. It’s about time we all start making more space for ourselves, and maybe just listening to the three minutes of this song could be your first step. 

 https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/4680970

 

  

 ily (i love you baby) – Surf Mesa, Emilee

If you know me, you know I love to travel, and this year has been less than ideal for that. But, let me tell you that this song can give you that same feeling of being on holiday. This song is warm, and it reminds me of spending nights at the beach with friends, looking up at the stars and listening to the wave crash in front of us. Want that feeling too? Listen to this song. 

https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Surf+Mesa+feat%2E+Emilee&titel=ILY+%28I+Love+You+Baby%29&cat=s

 

 

I’ll Still Love You – Abby Anderson

We all have those songs that we think would sound good at a wedding, right? This is hands down the best love song I’ve heard all year – just take a look at these lyrics: “When the colours fade from these picture frames; when my hair turns grey, the seasons all change, and we've seen better days. Whatever this life puts us through, baby, I'll still love you.” I mean, I’m no expert, but they may well be some of the best love song lyrics of all time. 

 Abby Anderson YouTube

 

 

 Play Date – Melanie Martinez

Finally, let’s have a fun one. I think it must be so hard for artists to create music these days – I mean there’s only so many chords and rhythms available, right? So in a world where a lot of music has the potential to sound the same, I loved coming across Play Date which really wasn’t like any song I’d listened to you before. There’s so many distinct elements of this song that make it enjoyable and I feel like I discover something new with each listen. 

 https://www.deezer.com/en/track/105286434

 

 Honestly, even writing this post brought back a few good memories, and that's saying something when this year has meant that those are often few and far between. I'll be back soon with another instalment because there are plenty more great songs I want to share with you, but I'd love to hear some of the songs that have got you through this year too - drop me a message in the comments below or on Twitter @CiarasCountry. Thanks for reading!