My Top 5 Songs of 2022

I’ve been working on a couple of top-ten lists for some time, but none of them are actually done because I’m putting way too much thought into them. I want to try posting a bit more though, so I decided to whip up a list that I figured would be fairly simple, if nothing else due to the fact that my choices are pretty limited.

Honestly, it was a bit tougher than I thought because I soon realized that I actually haven’t listened to much music from 2022. If I had decided to do this list a year or two earlier, it would have been much easier. For what it’s worth, 2022 has been a busy year for me and I haven’t been listening to music as much as I used to, but even still, I couldn’t even find 15 songs that I would feel good putting on this list (and three of the songs I did put on the list were by or featured one artist), so right from the get-go, I’m going to dumb down my top ten list into a top five list. Sorry.

And just to be clear, this is my own personal list. It’s not meant to be definitive by any means. Okay, here we go.

5. “Step To Me” by the Spice Girls

So in a previous post, my first impression of the Spice Girls’ discography was that it was underwhelming. I warmed up to a handful of their songs but made it clear that I was not a Spice Girls superfan or anything.

That’s pretty much all still true. I only listen to a few of their songs, but the thing is, I really, really enjoy those few songs to the point that, according to Spotify, they were my second most listened-to band this year (with Lush being the first, which was a bit of a surprise to me, as I wouldn’t call myself a huge Lush fan either).

And then, a few months back, they released the 25-year anniversary version of their album “Spiceworld.” “Spiceworld 25,” as it was called, featured some previously unreleased tracks, one of which was “Step To Me.” The song itself isn’t technically from 2022, but that’s when it was released, so I’m counting it.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I like it so much. It’s just a good song. Catchy, with enough variation to keep things interesting and not too much variation to the point where it feels jumbled or drawn out. I do have two gripes with it though, which is why it’s at number 5.

Firstly, the lyrics are fairly cheesy. Now, there’s something to be said about the fact that the Spice Girls were a pop act with a young target audience. I shouldn’t expect them to churn out music with Bob Dylan-like lyrics. It’s easy to overlook this in songs like “Wannabe” and “Stop,” which have tons of character. “Step To Me,” while still good, just isn’t on the same level. Lyrics like “but you and me belong to me and you” stick out here as being a bit tacky.

This kind of bleeds into my second complaint, which is the rap section. A lot of Spice Girls songs have rap sections and again, they’re not exactly lyrical masterpieces. Going back to “Wannabe,” I think the reason the rap section works better there is because I didn’t really know what the lyrics were exactly. It was bouncy, energetic, and catchy. That’s it, no analysis needed.

The rap section in “Step To Me” isn’t quite as lively, so maybe that’s part of the issue. I think the main thing here though, is that it goes like this:

“Why don't you step to me

If you think you've got what it takes

I heard the rumor about your loving, well it's fake

Chickity check yourself

If you think I'm gonna stand for that

What do you think I am some kind of pussycat?

Chit chat to the girls and the boys you call your friends

Tell them that you never been to the place where loving ends

You never graduated from the school of love you see

So come on boy, why don't you step to me?”

Maybe this is something that would have worked really well in the 90s, but in 2022, I can’t help but cringe at the command to “chickity check” oneself.

4. “Więcej Ciebie” by Carol Markovsky

I rambled about the Spice Girls more than I thought I would, but I’ll keep this one short. There’s not a ton of information about Carol Markovsky that I could find. I’m fairly certain he’s Polish. The song is in Polish, anyway. If I had to bet, I would guess “Carol Markovsky” is not how his name was originally spelled either. That’s about all I’ve got.

As for the song, the title can be translated as “More of You,” and it’s basically a love song about wanting more. Wanting to spend more time with someone, wanting to see their smile more, etc. Pretty straightforward stuff.

For me, the appeal of this song can be summed up in its first ten seconds, with that amazing, smooth guitar riff. It’s nothing too complex, but it taps into something that I talked about in my “Good Vibrations” post. There’s something about a descending melody that works so well and the riff used in this song executes it perfectly.

Why is this song at number four then? I just think there’s too much of it, ironically. It’s only about 3:39 long, but it feels much longer. The song as a whole, instrumentally and lyrically, is very repetitive and honestly kind of monotonous. That riff does a lot of heavy lifting and carries the song for 3 minutes. At that point, everything cuts out and the song sounds like it’s over. After a few seconds of silence, however, it all picks back up again. This time though, it sounds like a completely different song. This “new song” isn’t one I particularly like and it goes on for another 30 seconds before finishing for real. If “Więcej Ciebie” ended after 2.5-3 minutes, it might have topped this list for me, but tacking on that bit at the end just feels unnecessary.

3. “Clouds” by Strangers In My House

As I mentioned in my full review of their EP, Strangers In My House is a band I’m very excited about. Ever since I came across them, I’ve been eagerly waiting for them to release more music. This year, they delivered with their single, “Clouds.”

I can’t speak to the lyrics too much, as I don’t believe they’re transcribed anywhere. Overall though, they seem hopeful and uplifting, which, for me at least, contrasts with the instrumentals, which have a haunting quality to them. It all feels extremely dreamlike and ethereal. “Clouds” fits very well with Stranger In My House’s overall style, which I also mentioned in my post about them.

2. “take it back” by JAWNY feat. Beck

Just to get it out of the way, Beck is one of my favorite artists of all time and I have never heard of JAWNY before this song (no offense to JAWNY at all. I briefly checked out some of his other stuff and I think I’ll dig deeper when I get the chance). Also, Beck was the artist I mentioned earlier who had three songs that I was considering for this list (his cover of “Old Man” by Neil Young being one of them and “Chain Reaction” by Joy Downer being the other).

Anyway, it’s not difficult for me to figure out why I like “take it back” so much. This song is filled to the brim with great hooks. The guitar at the beginning, the drums during the verse, the vocals during the bridge, it all works so well. The song doesn’t try to draw itself out longer than it needs to, either. It’s 2:26 and manages to fit a lot in without feeling too cramped.

I like the lyrics to this song as well. They flow nicely and use a car theme that toes the line between literal and metaphorical. The instruments in the chorus can be a bit overbearing, but that’s a small complaint, and my only one.

1. “The Last One” by Dropkick Murphys feat. Evan Felker of Turnpike Troubadours

I was going through and listening to the songs I was considering putting on this list and as soon as I listened to “The Last One,” I knew it’d be, well, the first one.

I really enjoy both folk and punk music. When I learned that folk punk was a thing, I got excited, but I didn’t like any of the stuff I listened to. To me, “The Last One” is what folk punk should sound like. I love the harmonica, I love the acoustic guitar, I love the vocal harmonies, and I love the potent lyrics. I feel like I’m saying less and less about each song as I go up the list here, but I really don’t have much to say about this one. It’s catchy, meaningful, and perfectly fits the style of music I enjoy.

My apologies for the anti-climactic ending, but it is what it is: My top 5 favorite songs of 2022.