Dear Wags,
We like the music we like. We’re not those judgmental snots down at the college radio station, sneering at people who don’t have the correct taste. Nor are we old school music editors, scrambling to hit all the right notes for the masses. You already know what they think. Most of our favorite songs of the year did not rocket up any chart, but they deserved to. Here’s our incomplete and eccentric roundup of 2023 earworms. We hope it’s music to your ears.
Yours Ever,
Marie De Salle
Oh, it’s been so long since I really felt known, sang Natalie Mering, the singer known as Weyes Blood. It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody was about a weirdly isolating era, which has made all of us strangers to one another. Could that change? Mercy is the only cure for being so lonely, went this orchestral pop number. Let’s try it. — Catherine Bexleyheath
I’ve done a couple bad things. Well, Alex G., you low-fi gift from Haverton, PA, we forgive you. Runner was a fun jangle rock number. We swear Tom Petty snuck out of his resting place at the Self-Realization Fellowship shrine to give it his blessing. The G is for Giannascoli, by the way. —Riff Randall
I can buy myself flowers/write my name in the sand/Talk to myself for hours/Say things you don't understand. Dame Miley Cyrus delivered an insidious ear worm with Flowers, a bit of fluff about doing your own thing after a breakup. Or as Miley preaches: I can love me better than you can! You said it, sis. — Alice Hyatt
Move over, Jack and Diane! I was out late sneakin’ into the neighborhood pool/
Then I woke up early and taught at the Sunday school, sang Asheville rockers Wednesday on Chosen to Deserve, a portrait of restless youth in a small town. Fuzzy guitars, a country twang, and a hint of Lone Justice were mixed with this shot of Wild Turkey. —Frankie Addams
Way back in the ‘90s, Glaswegians Belle & Sebastian became indie pop darlings. That was only yesterday! So in the Moment, was joyful and all about something they call the Springtime of Life. There’s even a reference to Paul McCartney and Wings! Take us back there, you floppy-haired Scottish imps! —Gregory Underwood
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