19 Songs From 2019 That Impacted Me Emotionally

Please tell me about music that you love!

The categories in the venn diagram above are as follows:

• Dancy Fun
• Kick-Butt Self Love
• Adventure
• Quiet Confidence
• Slow Power
• Oof
• High Key Just My Absolute Favorites That Impacted Me The Most

I refuse to number these as a sorted best-worst list, because these are all amazing. I decided that my year-in-review works best as a venn diagram of emotions.

Here’s a playlist to follow along:
https://pandora.app.link/HPGVR7yWk3

Dancy Fun

Only Human

by the Jonas Brothers

I like to dance. High energy stuff is my jam. This song is about... dancing at home. It BOPS and so do I when I listen to it. I also just love that the Jonas Brothers are back. I saw them in concert with my at-the-time-thirteen-year-old cousin, and they rock. Back then I thought it was a guilty pleasure. HECK THAT. No guilt for music we like. I love the song “Cool” too, and I made a music video to it, but I picked Only Human for this list because it’s just so danceable and I’ve danced so much to it. It makes me exceedingly happy no matter how many times I hear it on the radio. Just dance in the living room

Nice To Meet Ya

by Niall Horan

This song is how smooth Kvothe wishes he were when Denna disappears every time he turns around. (Kingkiller Chronicles reference.) And that connotation just deLIGHTS me every time I hear this. It makes ME feel smooth. It’s ridiculous and lovely and silly and SMOOTH. It bypasses any arrogant connotation for me and heads straight to over the top self aware silliness. Also asdkjashdkjsahkfjh I just melt into the floor when he sings “take you somewhere warm you know j’adore la mer;” bilingual king. J’adore la chanson.

Post Malone (feat. RANI)

by Sam Feldt

I started the year super confused that I liked a Post Malone song; the Sunflower one from Spiderverse. And now Circles slaps too. And here on my list is the one that just name drops Post Malone. I’m not a “partier” in the usual sense but I LOVE hype dance songs, as I mentioned before. And this one I have blasted so loud in my car so many times. Party on and find more adventures--WE ARE NEVER EVER GOING HOME
Anyway don’t let preconceptions deter you from finding amazing music. You never know what you might find.

Purple Hat

by Sofi Tukker

I found this one at the very end of 2019. Pandora makes a playlist of songs they think you might have missed that year, based on what you loved. Fair; in 2018 a Sofi Tukker song was one of my favorites. Listening to Purple Hat, though, is a journey. A very confusing journey. And you know what? LET’S BE WEIRD AND DANCE; I’m into it. People people.

Kick-Butt Self Love

(Dancy Fun + Adventure)

ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)

by Taylor Swift

I was accidentally awake for the YouTube premiere of this song and I did get swept away by the hype train. But I still love it now. I was at a point where I really needed the self love part. And I am the only one of me. Baby that’s the fun of me. :) I’ve been learning lessons about how people fit together, and how it doesn’t lessen either person if the fit doesn’t match exactly. I’m still ME and I’m still learning how to be ME and heck yes I will be loud and excited about it. Including the spelling part. I do not understand the hate for the spelling part; SPELLING IS FUN.

Soulmate

by Lizzo

Tough choice on which Lizzo song to put here, also. Juice was the first one I heard. And Good as Hell is catchy as heck. But for the reasons I wrote above for ME, Soulmate is the one that stuck into my soul the most, even though I rebelled against it at the same time. I do need friends. I need other people, and that’s human. But I can be my own soulmate at the same time. <3 The whole Cuz I Love You album is a treasure, to be blasted on repeat whenever I need a boost.

R.I.P. (feat. Rita Ora & Anitta)

by Sofia Reyes

This one I saw because Pandora featured it in a tweet. And hoo boy did it come at a good time. Sometimes you just need to get mad. And then get over being mad by calling it bullshit. Drama’s dead to me bye bye. It’s a fantastic song; catchy and just so on the nose. “RIP to the bullshit; brush it off like cool whip” lyrical genius right there, lol. Give it a listen; you won’t be able to get it out of your head and you won’t be mad.

Don’t Start Now

by Dua Lipa

Similar energy to RIP above. “So moved on it’s scary.” It’s a song about celebrating being past the drama. This one I sort of roleplay to rock out to; I’m not mad enough at anyone to fully mean the lyrics, but man is it fun to dig in and feel it anyway. The joyful peace, the exhuberant chill. The letting go and living; the feeling that nothing can stop you. I like living in that emotional space.

Adventure

Can We Pretend (feat. Cash Cash)

by P!nk

This one just soars. There are some songs that just feel like riding sidesaddle high on top of a motorcade speeding down a hill, holding an arm outstretched and belting out the grandiose hopes and dreams. There have been a lot of not-good things happening in the world, from a macro to micro scale. And yeah. Sometimes I like to pretend. This song is an escape into joyful nostalgia, just for a moment, and a plea for vast imaginations going forward. I need imagination and adventure in my life. (And those little “heh” noises in the song. Heh heh heh.)

The Upside (feat. Elle King)

by Lindsey Stirling

Another soaring adventure, acknowledging the darkness and levitating right out of it. It’s an invitation to charge forward no matter where you are. Lindsey Stirling’s violin can play directly on my heart, and when she layers lyrics like this on top, it just becomes an unstoppable song. Grab your sword and GO. We’re all on our way to the upside, even if you have to hack at some dark vines first.

Saw Lightning

by Beck

Loved this as soon as I heard it, and it has additional meaning for me now as basically the theme song to my 2019 Nanowrimo novel. I hear it and it feels like the after-credits song for my story. Triumph. I’m weak for any good songs about lightning, and this one has so much cool imagery packed into it. It’s a story in itself, if an obscure one. But that just makes it more intriguing to listen to. You can hear a different story every time.

Quiet Confidence

(Adventure + Slow Power)

Dragons (feat. The Lone Bellow)

by Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors

I almost skipped this when I first heard it because it sounded too folksy, but... it’s called Dragons? It has to be cool? It IS. :) What a beautiful story-song, and a quietly powerful statement that you can slay any dragons that stand in your way. Chill and pretty and comforting. It rocks you back and forth in a cozy hug. It says “I believe in you.” Incidentally: I believe in you. You can do it.

Slow Power

Armor

by Sara Bareilles

Just chock FULL to the brim with cliches, and amazing anyway. I bow down to the songwriting, that it can fit that many lyrics in there that made me just go wide-eyed and fist pump. Extremely timely, it’s a feminist song, and so so good. I can’t even pick one to emphasize. All of it. I hope this song goes in actual history books. There are scary things happening in the world and Sara Bareilles just gives me hope with this song, that we’re united, that maybe we can change some things.

Sycamore Tree

by Ruth B.

It’s a wistful mood, this one. All I want in this life are grand deep friendships. This song is about falling fast, skipping small talk to cut straight to dreams. My kingdom for this all the time. Do you want to be friends? I want your ideas on how you plan to save the world. (Actually tho. DM me.) I listen to this song and just want to curl up and dream.

Oof

(Slow Power + High Key Just My Absolute Favorites That Impacted Me The Most)

Honest

by Tessa Violet

...I called this section “oof” for a reason. This whole album of Tessa Violet’s (Bad Ideas) is rough to listen to, because it’s dark. But sometimes you need that acknowledgement of the tough times before you can climb out and dance again. And this is one hell of an acknowledgement. It’s a punch to the chest. The through line is “I’m not doing well.” And the repetition makes you admit it to yourself. Don’t pretend. But Tessa doesn’t leave you in the lurch; near the end of the song the audio switches a bit to feel like a startling but perfectly placed fourth-wall-shattering line: “Hey: you’re okay.” ...I cried. Multiple times. And then somehow this punch-to-the-chest song becomes a comfort.

High Key Just My Absolute Favorites That Impacted Me The Most

I know I said I wasn’t ordering the songs from best-worst or vise versa. But yeah, Honest + the following four songs are my five most impactful songs of the year. Some of them overlap with the previous categories but I did want to pull these out as the top of the list.

Swan Song (from Alita: Battle Angel)

by Dua Lipa

I saw this movie with my brother for his birthday. I didn’t expect much going into it, but ended up loving it. And this SONG. It’s an anthem to not giving up. It’s an anthem to turning challenges into fuel for a new life. The image (not actually from the movie) that plays in my head for this song is someone dragging two long flaming swords along the ground, slowly but surely advancing on the mountains in the distance. She’s gonna accomplish it, and it is everything. This one paired with R.I.P. from earlier were my get-fired-up-get-angry-get-over-it-and-LIVE lifeline. This song is a coiled spring. I can do the thing.

Face My Fears (English Version)

by Hikaru Utada & Skrillex

This is the theme song for Kingdom Hearts III. I am, have always been, and always will be a Kingdom Hearts fangirl. I had been waiting for Kingdom Hearts III for thirteen years. I started the game and cried through the whole opening. Like Swan Song, this is a song about overcoming obstacles. This one is more delicate, acknowledging tears. But it’s full of hope and determination. I too want to face my fears. The music perfectly fits the rising to meet obstacles and fighting. (Is Kingdom Hearts part of the reason I love electronic music? Kingdom Hearts and Lindsey Stirling probably!) This song is pure inspiration and hope and love to me.

Dreaming in Electric Blue

by Dave Barnes

Another gem recommended to me by Pandora. This song somehow sends me back to middle and high school, even though I didn’t listen to this type of song back then. I’m instantly a starry eyed kid just SURE that the future is wonderful and dreams are all possible and everything is bright pastel colors and the world is just perfect. Not that everything was perfect for me back then; this song just sends me to the moments that were. <3 Staring past the ceiling and daydreaming to the moon and stars and beyond. I had this song on repeat so so much this year.

Fearless

by The Goo Goo Dolls

This spot is really a placeholder for the entire album by The Goo Goo Dolls. Yes, the whole Miracle Pill album. Every. Single. Song. Is amazing. No exceptions. If I had to pick one I’d pick Fearless though. And it sums up everything I love about this whole list of songs, too. “I’m brave enough to feel this.” I live in emotions and I love songs that can help. This song, and this album, are a hug and a spring and everything I need. “Some days will be harder than others; so we gotta lean on each other... hands in the air, hearts on our sleeve.” <3 <3 <3

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Thank you for reading this far! I do hope you can share with me at least one song from 2019 (or whenever!) that impacted you emotionally too. Whether in the comments here, or wherever I posted it (Twitter is fun!) or private messages. I don’t care about metrics of comments or where they happen, I just wanna chat! And if you make a list like this I wanna read it!

While we’re here:

Honorable mention:
The Mandalorian theme. Yep. Just the instrumental music at the end of the episodes. OH MY GOD.