Empowered Pop

I received a “Year in Review” post today from YouTube Music, and thought it would be fun to share my top 5 most played songs of the year.

All of these songs have been great company throughout the year, and they’ve often resulted in me dancing around the lounge room. They’ve been great for stress relief and relaxation. I might be fast approaching 60, but I still love a good pop song.

1. Real Power by Gossip : I LOVE this fierce track which challenges societal norms on many levels and celebrates female empowerment, both lyrically and in the film clip’s imagery.

2. Flowers by Miley Cyrus : This is such a great sing-along song. “Flowers” is a breakup anthem that celebrates self-love and independence. Apparently, the lyrics are based on her own experience of a breakup. She was married to an Australian actor, I think, though I don’t care enough to look it up. I think my favourite bit of trivia about Miley Cyrus is that her god mother is Dolly Parton.

3. Dance Your Pain Away by Agnetha Faltskog : This upbeat disco track encourages you to let go of your worries and dance your pain away. This is a remix of a song released about a decade ago, hence no actual video clip. She’s doing okay for 74 years old!

4. No More Drama by Mary J. Blige : This has been a long-term favourite, in part because the track samples “Nadia’s Theme”, also the theme music to “The Young & The Restless”. In fact, she refers to herself as being “young and restless”. The theme of the song is about self-respect and overcoming toxic relationships. The video is compelling. Passionate!

5. Violent Thing by Benjamin Dolic : This was Germany’s entry to Eurvosion a couple of years ago, and despite the kind of haunting lyrics about love, violence, and addiction, it’s also a great song to dance along to. Ben also has fantastic eyelashes!!

BONUS TRACK : This was my number six song of the year. The incredibly catchy “Rush” by Troye Sivan. I’m only sharing it because it has a very suggestive (explicit??) video clip.

Today’s list also gave me a list of my favourite / most listened to podcasts of the year, but I won’t bore you with it, as it was all about politics.