Left to my own devices

Have we done the review of my favorite songs from last year yet? No? Right, here we go...

We're counting down my 100 favorite songs of the 2010-19 decade, ten at a time. You know the drill by now....

Alright, it's been a few weeks. The holidays, and adjusting to the new year sort of put things off-track with the countdown, but let's get back to it and finish this! Up next in our list of Matt's 100 favorite songs of the (last) decade, we crack the Top 50. Let's see what we find...

Here we are, the last batch of Top 100 songs before we enter the top 50 echelon. There are all good tracks, and I'm happy to talk about them, so, here we go...

To be perfectly honest, 2015 wasn't a year that particularly moved me, musically-speaking. And that's important to note, as the prime reason I listen to and enjoy music is to be moved. The emotional catharsis or introspection that results from a great song or bit of music is unlike anything else. I just wanted to get that out of the way, before providing my annual rundown of top tracks from the past year. I don't wish to diminish these songs by any means, only to note that not all Top 10 lists are made of the same stuff. And so....

I'm going to be honest. As far as recent years are concerned, 2012 was my favorite for doing these Top 10 Best Songs lists. I still listen to that playlist. Such great music. 2014 did have its moments, however, and here they are. Oddly enough, of my top ten favorite songs from last year, the list contains two by dead people. Remember: they just have to have been released in 2014, not necessarily recorded in 2014. Without further adieu...

It was a pretty solid year for music. Nothing too extraordinary, but lots of consistent goodness. When it came time to compile my list of favorite songs from 2011 , it felt as though I had to perhaps stretch it a bit in order to come up with ten tracks. With 2012, I'm leaving things on the cutting room floor. It is with great pleasure therefore that I present to you my favorite bits of music from the recently-departed 2012. Hope you find something you like!

I love music. Many different types: classical, operatic, film scores, rock & roll, R&B, pop, electronic, etc. etc. For the purposes of this blog post, I'm going to focus on pop music. You know, music + lyrics. Songs. So many of them out there, so many of them satisfying, for so many reasons. Pop songs can take us into a plethora of emotionally-sensitive territories. Today, I want to discuss a favorite aspect of pop songs: the contradictory lyric.