My Top 40 Songs of 2024: #10-1

It's the thrilling conclusion to my year in music round-up!

Clockwise from top left: Chappell Roan, Maggie Rogers, The Scarlet Opera, Green Day

Hello readers! Welcome to the top 10 of my year-end countdown. If you want to see songs #40-11, then just click right here. (And here are the countdowns from 2022 and 2023.)

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and let me know about your own favorites for the year!

#10. “Messy as a Magnolia” by American Aquarium

“I’m gonna love you ‘til the wheels fall off of this thing.” It’s such a simple sentiment, but in this loud, joyous song, it explodes like a firework. The line comes at the end of the chorus, where the singer’s wife is trying to assure him that she’ll love him forever. He sings her thoughts with the wild abandon of someone who can’t believe his luck, and the chugging music underneath encourages us to celebrate with him. Love songs like this — about love that’s human and flawed — stick in my mind for years.

#9. “Falling Forever” by Dua Lipa

I hope people eventually reevaluate Radical Optimism, Due Lipa’s underappreciated third album. More to the point, I hope they embrace “Falling Forever,” a song that lets her prove what a great singer she is. Buoyed by romantic ecstasy, she hollers like a woman possessed. This is top-tier dance-pop, and in my heart, it will always be a #1 hit.

#8. “Bobby Sox” by Green Day

“Bobby Sox” is loud, brash, and bisexual. Billie Joe Armstrong flirts with everyone — we’re invited to be his boyfriend AND his girlfriend — and he does it with so much energy that I want to accept the offer. And that guitar solo? COME ON. That’s a clarion call to start moshing in your car, in your house, in a field… anywhere.

#7. “The Hurtin’ Kind” by Orville Peck and Midland

Once again, Orville Peck appears on this list with a sexy confession that he will absolutely break your heart. This one hits the top 10 because the guys from Midland show up to deliver some chill-inducing vocals of their own. The harmonies on the chorus get me every time.

#6. “Twenty-Five” by Lake Street Dive

Until I heard this song, I only knew Lake Street Dive’s jazzy, uptempo songs. (In fact, “Hypotheticals” was my favorite song of 2021.) Now I know that can break my heart. This song is just piano and vocal, but that’s all the band needs to express the melancholy of remembering a youthful love once you’ve become an adult. Meanwhile, the verse about macchiatos delivers a breathtaking extended metaphor that I think should be studied by songwriters everywhere.

#5. “Did You Ever” by Jamie Floyd

My friend Jamie is a sensational singer-songwriter who got a Grammy nomination this year for her contribution to the Madi Diaz album Weird Faith. She also knocked my socks off with this skin-stripping rebuke of a jerk who breaks his promises. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Jamie perform this song in my very own living room, and the studio version captures her power. The first time you hear the chorus, you might think you’ve known it forever. It has the immediacy of an instant classic.

#4. “God Damned Beautiful” by The Scarlet Opera

Lead singer Luka Bazulka might be the most exciting male vocalist currently making rock music, and the rest of the band equals his arena-sized talent. I love every song on their EP Mirror, Mirror, but my personal favorite is this roof-rattling refusal to accept the mean things that people say about you. The singing, the grandeur… I want it all, always.

#3. “Don’t Forget Me” by Maggie Rogers

As with Orville Peck, I was quite late to the music of Maggie Rogers, but now I’m all the way in. The title track from her new album captures her ability to inject mellow sounds with remarkable emotion. She starts by reflecting on how confusing other people’s relationships are, and she ends by admitting that she wants love anyway. She doesn’t want much — just someone who’s nice to her — but the husky passion in her vocal tells you how much she yearns for it.

#2. “We Were Never Alive” by Brigitte Calls Me Baby

Last year, when all they had was an EP, Brigitte Call Me Baby was #4 on my countdown with their song “Impressively Average.” Now that I’ve heard their album The Future Is Our Way Out, I’m even more excited about them. A mix of Elvis, The Smiths, and The Cure, they make mopey music that is nevertheless filled with life. They’ve got tears, and they’ve got hooks, if you know what I mean. Their crowning achievement (thus far) is “We Were Never Alive,” a song I have cranked up to top volume on many drives about town.

#1. "Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan

Last year Chappell Roan landed on my countdown twice, and even though she only released one new song in 2024, that’s all she needed to do to be my favorite. Structurally, this song is a thrill, including the way it sonically “dissolves” in the last few seconds, as Roan sings that the world would have to stop spinning in order for her lover to get over her. Lyrically, it’s sharp and frank and vivid. She’s singing to a woman who pretends she only likes men, even though Chappell knows better, and thanks to images of arms through sunroofs and heads in hands, I can picture their entire saga. And then there’s the vocal, which contains more personality than most reality series. It’s been great to see Roan become a superstar this year. I can’t wait to hear what she releases next.