This Week's Top Ten - October 5, 2013

See? Guilt gets at me.


#10: "Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities
Weeks on Chart: 21
Peak: 8
Rank Shift: +2

It's heartening to know that this is still here. My opinion has not changed. I love this song. A lot.

#9: "Summertime Sadness" by Lana Del Ray & Cedric Gervais
Weeks on Chart: 11
Peak: 6
Rank Shift: +1

Did I ever get a chance to talk about this? I don't think I did. Well. I've listened to it over sixty times. I think that should say everything. Really, it just hits all the things I like about present-day music in kind of the same way that "Safe and Sound" does. When I hear a song and am compelled to buy an artist's entire discography, yeah, I like it.

#8: "Applause" by Lady Gaga
Weeks on Chart: 6
Peak:4
Rank Shift: -1

Todd in the Shadows has said all and more about the song itself. I like it. Very danceable. Watson has incorporated it into his boxing routine, which fits, it's very up-tempo and energetic.

#7: "Hold On, We're Going Home" by Drake feat. Majid Jordan
Weeks on Chart: 7
Peak: 7
Rank Shift: +2

I haven't heard this song. I'm apathetic about hearing it. A problem with this blog post emerges. I am aware of this and am working to correct things.

#6: "Holy Grail" by Jay Z feat. Justin Timberlake
Weeks on Chart: 11
Peak: 4
Rank Shift: 0

I'm baffled that this is still here. It's still not terribly good.

#5: "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke feat. ;alksdjf;lksadjfk you know all of this
Weeks on Chart: too many
Peak: fucking 1
Rank Shift: -1

Good. Good that it's still sinking. Bad that it's going to be remembered as THE hit song of summer 2013.

#4: "Wake Me Up!" by Avicii
Weeks on Chart: 13
Peak: 4
Rank Shift: +1

I really like Avicii. Watson has described this song as being "Mumford Man" (as in, artists that sound strongly like Mumford & Sons, think of Phillip Phillips) crossed with EDM. I like Mumford Men. I also like EDM. As I just said, I like Avicii. So this song is yet another that hits all sorts of I-like-this buttons. Yay.

#3: "Royals" by Lorde
Weeks on Chart: 12
Peak: 3
Rank Shift: 0

I've heard this a couple times. Watson really likes it. I guess it's decent? I dunno. I'm fairly ambivalent about it, which is more than I can say about some chart dreck. I'm fine with it being here. Maybe hearing it more will make me form a clearer opinion. Dunno.

#2: "Roar" by Katy Perry
Weeks on Chart: 7
Peak: 1
Rank Shift: 0

My opinion on this one is not exceptional. For a month or two prior to this song dropping, we had "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. Guess what sounds remarkably similar, in terms of both instrumentation and in inspirational message? Yeah. This song. I can't hear one without half-singing the other's chorus. It's frustrating. I don't know which was written first, and it was probably accidental, but I'm more mad at "Roar" for getting to be successful while being less interesting and seemingly sonically derivative. Let's be real: this song is charting because it's Katy Perry's return to the charts. The fact that it's "Brave" wearing an animal print bikini and ten pounds of self-tanner is irrelevant to its success or failure. And that's terrible.

#1: "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus
Weeks on Chart: 5
Peak: 1
Rank Shift: 0

The most upsetting offense committed here is that this song is BOOOOOORINGGGGG. So is the music video, honestly. Once you get over the fact that Miley Cyrus is, save for her boots, stark nekkid, nothing particularly interesting is happening. I get that the follow-up to a single that has EVERYTHING happening must necessarily take a step back, because, really, she wasn't going to top the scraggly-ass mess that was "We Can't Stop," but it's just very... dull. It reeks of trying-too-hard, specifically trying-to-hard-to-be-an-auteur. And she's not. She's really not. None of her camera angles are ground-breaking in the way she suggests they are. None of the imagery is especially imaginative. Subtlety is non-existent. The sterile brightness is retained from her last video, but that feels a bit like the wrong choice. Miley wants us to feel her pain, but the video works to alienate the audience. Everything feels at cross purposes. And the song is just not-terribly-good. So, no, I'm not pleased that this is the top song. I can't be too mad, though, because it's not advocating rape or drug use or anything like that. So, uh, good?


I dunno. I think part of this article worked. I think a lot of this is hinged on if I care about the songs I'm talking about, and even moreso that I care about them in a negative way. Right now, the top ten is mostly populated by "yay!" and "meh" and what I need right now is "argh, why?!" It's hard to blog about things that don't get my dander up. Hm. This was instructive. At any rate, I hope you appreciated it.

Next time: Possibly a review of BANGERZ by Miley Cyrus. Depends on whether it's actually available to stream, if I have the time, and if it's worth talking about.