Songs Of 2014

 Every year, there are songs which stand out, songs which have a message which seems so personal but which you want to ask the rest of the world if they've heard. Years ago, my sister started keeping a playlist of those songs, and a few years ago, I began to as well. Here is my 2014 playlist, starting with my top seven favorites.


"Lanterns" - Birds Of Tokyo. 

Lately I've found
When I start to think aloud
There's a longing in the sound
There is more I could be
In darkness I leave
For a place I've never seen
It's been calling out to me
That is where I should be

On we march
With a midnight song
We will light our way
With our lanterns on
On we march
Till we meet the dawn
We will light our way
With our lanterns on

This was my anthem of the year. Hopeful, strong, and bold; I carried it with me to a new country and new experiences. The thunderous here-we-rise bridge creates perfection.

The beautifully shot music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbJ3vacGOhw


"Skinny Love" - Birdy (written by Bon Iver)

And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind

A classic, covered poignantly by young British singer Birdy. Her voice is perfectly imploring, yet not pitiful. There's a resolution to it which makes me put it on repeat.

"Brutal Romance" - Brooke Fraser.

Love and death, and death and love
Brutal romance
A silver thread, a sharpened knife
A spinning slow-dance
I can't remember before
Washing of wounds, won inner wars
Brutal romance

Thoughtful lyrics on life by my favorite artist. She layers deceptively strong juxtapositions within a drifting melody, and the result is arresting. The entire album is incredible: my vote for the best of 2014.


"Afire Love" - Ed Sheeran. 

And my father and all of my family
Rise from their seats to sing hallelujah

At first listen, if you only catch the refrain, it might seem like another love song. Sweet and all, when really, it's so much more. Sheeran sings about his grandfather who is loosing his memory, then dies, and how at the funeral his family is all together ("stapled together with the strangers and a friend"). The refrain is words of love his grandfather used to sing to his wife, so tenderly. I would have to post all of the lyrics to show the whole story, so instead I simply put a part of the ending, which so gloriously rejoices in life and love, even in the face of loss.


"The Hanging Tree" - from the "Mockingjay" soundtrack. 

Are you, are you, coming to the tree
I told you to run
So we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met
At midnight in the hanging tree

Since I first heard it on the big screen, I've been mesmerized by this simple, sad, haunting song. Slowly, carefully, it swells and grows to a breath-taking crescendo.


"Traveler's Song" - Future Of Forestry.

Sleep, and dream the dream of when you fly
When you fly
See, through traveler's eyes who want to give
To love and give
 If you travel here, you will feel it all
The brightest and the darkness

Piano and strings and talk of travel - wins my heart.
Lovely music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MVRRTIMl3U


"Flags" - Brooke Fraser

Come, tell me your troubles
I'm not your answer
But I'm a listening ear

Reality has left you reeling
All facts and no feeling
No faith and all fear

I don't know why a good man will fall
While a wicked one stands
And our lives blow about
Like flags on the land

Who's at fault is not important
Good intentions lie dormant
And we're all to blame

While apathy acts like an ally
My enemy and I are one and the same
... 
You who weep now will laugh again
All you lonely, be lonely no more
Yes the last will be first, of this I am sure

I've loved this song since I first heard it several years ago, yet after my aunt and cousin were killed in an accident last year, I found myself listening to it and singing it over and over and over.  I posted a large portion of the lyrics, because it was so difficult to chose: the whole song is perfect. Plus, it's a waltz melody, and those songs very often win my heart.


Other songs which struck me and found themselves on repeat ever since, whether because they have meaningful lyrics or well-composed music or are simply delightful, joyful and upbeat:

"Turn Away" - Beck
"Take Me To Church" - Hozier
"Burn" - Ellie Goulding
"Come With Me Now" - KONGOS
"Things We Lost In The Fire" - Bastille
"Artifice" - SOHN
"Lost Stars" - Adam Levine, from the "Begin Again" soundtrack
"Love Me Again" - John Newman
"Hooked On A Feeling" - Blue Swede ("Guardians Of The Galaxy" sountrack)
"Happy" - Pharrell Williams
"Wake Me Up" - Avicii
"Coming Of Age" - Foster The People
"Talking In Your Sleep" - cover by The Civil Wars
"The Boys Of Summer" - cover by KT Tunstall
"Ordinary Love" - U2
"Holding On For Life" - Broken Bells
"Stay Alive" - Jose Gonzales, from the "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" soundtrack