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#100 – 91 #90-81 #80-71 #70-61
60. “Spinning” – Grouplove
“Spinning,” off Grouplove’s third studio album, Big Mess is “kind of like a push and pull dialogue. It’s a song about overcoming struggle” the band told iHeartRadio. Grouplove has used male-female back and forth storytelling previously, but have perfected the art with “Spinning.”
“Say here I stand
I was broken, now I’m brave
Say here I am
Found my colours in the grey”
The songs relatable lyrics combined with beautiful vocals help solidify Grouplove’s place in modern mainstream rock.
59. “East Coast Girl” – Butch Walker
From spoken verses to a fist-pumping chorus, “East Coast Girl” is arguably the best track yet from what Rolling Stone magazine calls “one of America’s Best Singer-Songwriters,” Butch Walker.
Butch Walker is one of the music industries hardest working men, as he not only performs and produces his own music, but has written/produced hit after hit for some of the biggest names in the industry.
“East Coast Girl” is a story about Walker’s move to LA and the inevitability of getting older. Walker told Rolling Stone…
“I don’t know if there is a category for people that write songs [about midlife crisis] but i’ll probably be the spokesperson for helping guys get through their mid-life.”
Walker, lead singer of the 90’s band Marvelous 3, which produced the massive hit, “Flavor of the Week,” has proven time and time again that he is anything but the flavor of the week, and one of the most talented all-around musicians of the time.
58. “Lemonade” – Adam Friedman (feat. Mike Posner)
Co-written with Mike Posner, “Lemonade,” by Adam Friedman is about the search for love and the hope that there is still somebody for you out there.
“California, you’re my last hope/Give me someone I can take home/And, I don’t how much longer that I can wait/So make her 5’5″, big brown eyes and sweet like lemonade” sings Friedman as he desperately pleads with the universe to help him in his search for love.
Released around the same time as Beyonce’s hit album, Lemonade, Friedman welcomed the attention with open arms as he told People’s Choice, “It’s actually kind of nice because Lemonade was trending on Twitter. If one person discovered [my version of “Lemonade”] because they were looking for Lemonade by Beyoncé, and they happened to stumble upon it, I think that’s a win for us.”
And just like lemonade the song is fun, addicting, and meant to be enjoyed while kicking back and relaxing.
57. “Woman Woman” – AWOLNATION
Front-runner for video of the year, “Woman Woman” by AWOLNATION is about being comfortable in your own skin, man or woman. The video is simple, but genius. It shows a group of fully naked woman of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicities singing along with the song and preforming it as a band.
If you can watch this video and not want to rock out along with the ladies, you better check your pulse. Because you are probably dead.
56. “Everybody We Know Does” – Chase Rice
Whether or not you consider yourself a fan of country music, “Everybody We Know Does,” by Chase Rice is an anthem for anyone that considers themselves a hard worker. Simply put, it is a song about working hard and playing even harder.
Fun fact: In the seven years of “Top Songs of the Year,” Chase Rice has more songs included than any other artist. “Everybody We Know Does” is Rice’s tenth song in seven years to make the cut on a very rock heavy countdown.
Regarding this song in particular, I am not sure if “everybody I knows does” like it, but I know for damn sure that everybody I know should.
55. “Move” – Saint Motel
The best use of horns this year goes to the first track off of Saint Motel’s latest album, saintmotelevision, “Move.”
With a dynamic dance pop beat and an impossible to not sing along with chorus, “Move” is one of the most contagious songs of 2016. The only drawback is that I already hear “got to get up/got to get up/MOVE” about 9 times a day from my Fitbit telling me how inactive I am. I don’t need to be scolded by my music too.
54. “Sweet Disaster” – DREAMERS
“Sweet Disaster” by DREAMERS is presumably about the feeling you get when you know you are heading into a wild and crazy night. “Sweet Disaster” is a must-have on any playlist for bachelor or bachelorette parties heading to NYC or Vegas for the weekend.
“And so it goes/ we found our sweet disaster/ In a river of champagne/ Swimmin’ through the morning after/ We float away.”
2016 was anything but a sweet disaster for “Dreamers” as they are continuing to make a name for themselves in the alt rock world.
53. “Waste A Moment” – Kings Of Leon
What I would personally say is easily their best track in years, Kings of Leon’s “Waste a Moment” is proof that the band still has what it takes to produce radio hits and killer rock tracks.
The band told EW back in August that they are “in the best place they’ve ever been.” On the first track off their seventh studio album, Walls, the band begs listeners to step away from the daily grind and enjoy life, or as they call it, “waste a moment.”
Hopefully now that the band is in the “best place they have ever been” they will not waste a single moment to get back in the studio and work on creating more gems like this track.
52. “Nothing Personal” – Night Riots
This song rocks. Hard. That’s all I have to say about that. Sorry, Night Riots. Nothing personal.
51. “All We Ever Knew” – The Head and the Heart
“All We Ever Knew” is folk-rock band The Head and the Heart’s biggest radio hit to date and their highest charting single so far. The song is about trying your hardest to mend a relationship that you know isn’t going to work out.
The band told radio.com that “
The Head and the Heart have secured themselves as leaders in modern day American folk-rock, and with their success of “All We Ever Knew,” they are only further distancing themselves from the rest.
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