“My Love Mine All Mine" by Mitski + Top 23 of '23 Honorable Mentions and song #2, Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Last year, the charts were filled with mostly the same multi-platinum stars, making it a rather boring year in pop music. There were a few break-out hit songs. One of the most interesting breakthroughs was Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine,” a slow, moody track that sounded almost like it was transported from the ‘50s. The song didn’t make my top 23, but I think it deserves an honorable mention. That’s what I’m posting today, my honorable mentions and a reason why they didn’t make the list. Then I'm going to post my #2 song of the year. I'm always discovering songs from years past, so always take this list with a grain of salt.
“Speed Drive” by Charli XCX, “Choose Your Fighter” by Ava Max, “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling, or maybe “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish. I didn’t blog about any of these songs. I prioritized songs I blogged about, but the Barbie soundtrack was excellent.
“ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine. This song would be in my Top 5, but I disqualified it because I stuck to songs released in 2023, even though it charted last year.
“I Can See You” by Taylor Swift. I told you last week that I cut this one at the last minute. Ultimately, while I thought it was an authentic 2023 song and even seemed like Taylor may have written it more recently than the original Speak Now sessions, I thought it wasn’t quite as lyrically interesting as it was musically.
“So You Are Tired” by Sufjan Stevens. This song will probably get a post at some point. I think this song sums up Javelin in a digestible way and gives us more sad boy Sufjan we’ve been waiting for, but we didn’t wish the tragedy on the sensitive singer-songwriter. I think the album needs to sit with me a bit more, though.
“Cupid” (Twin Version) by Fifty Fifty. This is a pretty good anti-love song that would be better when I was on the path to being an angry lonely white man. The group is a mess, and it’s a little fun to see how it’s playing out. But this song stands as an interesting effort in K-pop on mainstream American radio.
“Super Shy” by NewJeans was a critical darling last year. It’s school-girl simple but quite catchy. There’s not much more to say about it.
“Not Strong Enough” by boygenius. Phoebe Bridgers is the biggest name in boygenius, but it is Julien Baker and Lucy Ducas who bring the faith deconstruction to the iconically-queer critical darlings. There’s a lot to dig into on the record, and the guitar riff makes “Not Strong Enough” a good entry point.
“Talk to Me” by Mike Mains & the Branches. Memory Unfixed was another release that I wanted to get into. Following up 2019’s When We Were in Love was a tough act to follow. It’s listenable pop, and it seems to deal more directly with Mike’s faith and doubts, but the lyrics feel less poignant than the band’s third LP.
2. “Waffle House” by Jonas Brothers. Sometimes I get a little paranoid that content is designed just for me, and this song was it. It’s by three former fundie brothers on a deconstruction journey. The subject of the single, meeting up late at night at a Waffle House, presumably after a show. Whether their “determined mother” and “headstrong father” were present or if it was just brother time and their parents were the topic of conversation, the song gave me way too much nostalgia not to include on my list. The Album was surprisingly good too, bringing back yacht rock in a way that I couldn’t cringe off as a flaw.
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