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Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2024

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Turn up the volume, readers, because we are counting it down again. For the 11th time, I am back with my annual “Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of the Year.” I have made sure to open up my musically-illiterate ears over the past 11.5 months so I could compile a list of the hottest tracks in 2024.

As I say every year, and as I have already alluded to above, I really suck at music. I can’t carry a tune, I never played an instrument, and I can read music about as well as I can read Swahili. But that won’t stop me from giving my ill-informed opinions about the best mainstream songs from the past year. So, yeah, take my list with a grain of salt.

Before I present the countdown, my overall assessment of music in 2024 was average. I thought last year punched above its weight class while 2021 and 2022 were lackluster. To better explain my positioning, I can say this: I had a pretty good idea of my top 3 songs but had to undergo some discernment on the other two. In an above average year, I know all five songs immediately and usually have an honorable mention. In bad years, I struggle to even identify my #1 song.

Alright, enough of my babbling. Here are my top five songs of 2024…

For the 11th year, I highlight my top 5 favorite songs from the past 12 months.

5. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart – Taylor Swift

I live in a Swiftie house where Taylor’s music is played on a daily basis so what did you expect? For the third year in a row, Taylor Swift is on this countdown. I have said multiple times that I like Swift songs that are serious, echoey, and mysterious. While “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” doesn’t master this formula like “Is It Over Now” or “Blank Space,” it comes close enough. The intro is intriguing as I get “Baba O’Riley” vibes.

My favorite part of the song is when Swift sings All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting More (with that distinct emphasis on “more”). It just hits perfectly. More catchy lyrics follow with I was grinning like I’m winning, I was hitting my marks before concluding with the title of the song. Another superb track by Ms. Swift.

4. Put Some Miles On It – Marshmello and Kane Brown

Wait, this is just a song about a truck, right? I normally don’t choose a track that is such a shameless innuendo but when it energizes me like “Put Some Miles On It” I can make an exception.

In fact, a naïve and awkward blogger in his 30s can easily appreciate the song at surface level instead of entertaining the obvious double entendre. When I listen to it, I am totally following along with the story of a dude and his girlfriend breaking in a new vehicle. And because the lyrics at face value focus on a truck and the open road, it makes for the perfect driving song. Yep, cruising the mean streets of Spokane with this song made me feel like Superman as I listened to it mile after mile after mile.

3. Please Please Please – Sabrina Carpenter

Sandwiched between hits like “Espresso” and “Taste,” Sabrina Carpenter released a song that had me asking Alexa to please play. “Please Please Please” is a light, fun, and pleasant song that was kind of hard not to sing along to. With an almost dreamy-like melody, it is a song that releases stress and makes you happy. From the part where Sabrina sings I’m just kidding, but really…really…really to the big crescendo at the end, the song is just so dang catchy.

It is also really funny. Even after listening to “Please Please Please” a hundred times, I still find myself laughing out loud to different instances in the song, including when she calls her love interest a mother trucker (although Sid tells me that second word is a radio edit). Speaking of Sid, when Sabrina sings “the ceiling fan is so nice” it gives my wife ammunition to tell me how much we need to install our own ceiling fan. Thank you to “Please, Please, Please” for breaking up the serious and emotional tracks of satellite radio with something not so taxing—but really fun—on the mind/ears.

2. A Bar Song (Tipsy) – Shaboozey

Call it a multi-genre phenomenon. What happens when you cram country, pop, and hip-hop together? In the case of “A Bar Song” the answer is complete gold. Nothing sounded more unique in 2024 than Shaboozey’s smash hit. The guitar playing, the “oh lords,” and the theme of shenanigans at a bar just make this song memorable and a blast.

Speaking of memorable, songs that make my annual list are usually personally memorable. My family’s summer started in earnest during a mid-June weekend trip to Walla Walla and this song seemed to come on over and over on both legs of the drive. We were hooked! Now, whenever I hear that distinctive Shaboozey intro, I am immediately transported back to that hot weekend where we celebrated my aunt’s birthday, went to the water park, and drank milkshakes from the town’s popular drive-in.

1. I Had Some Help – Post Malone (featuring Morgan Wallen)

Irony. That probably best describes my love for this song. But before I address that, let me just say this: “I Had Some Help” SLAYS! What an engaging, rocking song. The collaboration between Malone/Wallen, the distinctive riffs, and its easy-to-sing-along nature led this track to the top of my list. I can’t begin to tell you how “I Had Some Help” increased my dish washing productivity as I played it on Alexa over and over as I did kitchen chores.

Okay, back to the irony. Although “I Had Some Help” is a song where the artists remind us that the significant other also shoulders blame for a bad relationship, I don’t necessarily listen to it that way. When I consume the song, I interpret the title phrase from a positive angle, because let’s face it—we all need some help to do great things. And although the cliché teamwork makes the dream work line is meant to convey that “it takes two to tango,” I view it in the optimistic sense that the phrase was originally coined. Maybe if the melody was slower I would take the lyrics at face value but the song is just so intoxicating I can’t appreciate it for anything else than a positive 3-minute musical ride.

One last thing: although I don’t usually let the music videos influence my decisions on this countdown, the fact that Post Malone and Morgan Wallen looked to be having so much fun when they filmed theirs definitely didn’t hurt “I Had Some Help.”

Incredibly, this is Post Malone’s third time earning top honors for my annual list. He earned the #1 spot last year for “Enough Is Enough” and he also topped this chart in 2019 with “Sunflower.” What an artist!

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What will happen with music in 2025? Will Taylor still rule the world? Will Sabrina Carpenter continue on her upward trajectory? Will Shaboozy release anything half as catchy as this year’s massive hit? We will just have to wait…and listen. Don’t Blink.

Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2023
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2022
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2021
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2020
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2019
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2018
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2017
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2016
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2015
Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2012

Sloan’s Taylor Swift-Themed 7th Birthday Party

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Watch a quick video of Sloan’s Taylor Swift-themed birthday party

There was no doubt the theme of Sloan’s birthday party this year. She developed into quite the Swiftie as a 6-year-old and for several months she had a pretty clear idea how she wanted to celebrate.

Are you ready for it?!…

We threw Sloan a Taylor Swift-themed birthday party!

On Saturday, March 16, 2024, Sloan had her 7th birthday party.

Thanks to Sidney’s creativity and the generosity of our friend, Fidela Perry, the party was just about as fun as attending an actual T.Swift concert.

Sloan had a great 7th birthday party.

Fidela ordered Taylor Swift Eras Tour VIP passes to make the girls feel special. She also ordered materials for a backdrop.

Each Swiftie was given a credential, microphone, and heart-shaped glasses.

Sidney turned our living room into an all-access backstage party hall. She spent a lot of time decorating, planning the party activities, and putting together a menu.

A look at Sidney’s handiwork.

Sloan and six of her best friends lived out their Taylor Swift dreams. They made friendship bracelets using a plentiful rainbow-assortment of beads…

The girls going through the line to pick up the materials they needed for their friendship bracelets.

I read to them the Taylor Swift Little Golden Book…

I read a Taylor Swift book at the party.

We negotiated with Disney+ to release the Eras Tour movie the night before the party so the girls could watch/sing along to it…

Thanks to lucky timing, the girls got to watch the Eras Tour movie.

Of course being a Swiftie requires a lot of enthusiasm so cake was needed to replenish energy levels…

Sidney bringing Sloan her cake.

And the backdrop provided a great spot to document the party animals who attended the special day…

These girls made the party so much fun!

The concert…I mean party…went off without a hitch. Sloan had so much fun and it was definitely her best birthday party yet. Even a dad like myself had a pretty good time 😉. Don’t Blink.

My Complicated History With Taylor Swift

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In 2007, I watched as a young aspiring country music star warmed up the crowd for Brad Paisley. This moment, over 10 years ago, was the first time I had ever heard of Taylor Swift. A part of Paisley’s Bonfires & Amplifiers tour, she shared the opening act stage with Jack Ingram and Kellie Pickler. After the concert, she literally had a small space out on the concourse where she went to meet fans, no meet and greet passes needed, face-to-face. Although I didn’t stand in line to meet her, I did walk past her. Swift had the largest grin spread across her face and her eyes conveyed genuine happiness. I thought, this girl might be special.

This is Taylor Swift in 2007 (not at the concert I was at). I remember her just like this when she performed in Spokane.

After you see someone in concert, you tend to take a little more stock in following their music and career. After that night in Spokane, I rooted for Taylor Swift to succeed. I like to think the positive vibes I sent her way played a small role in what was to follow.

Yeah, right.

With no help from me, Taylor Swift would take the country music world by storm. With hit after hit and award after award, she was the face of the industry. Through this stretch she remained humble almost to a fault. She would win accolades at these awards shows and go up to the stage with a look of bewilderment on her face, delivering an acceptance speech expressing surprise and astonishment over her latest honor. She was talented, young, and graceful.

Taylor would act shocked and humbled at award shows.

Taylor wasn’t done. She crossed over into mainstream and started dominating the Top 40 chart. She developed a passionate fanbase, a serious social media following, and a strong respect from the music world.

She hit her peak with me around November of 2014. Her latest album, 1989, was released to rave reviews. “Shake It Off” dominated in late summer and then one of my all-time favorite Swift songs, “Blank Space,” broke a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. In my mind, she had set herself apart from everyone else. She had mastered multiple genres of music, won every award possible, and conducted herself with class at all times.

But when you are at the top, there is only one way to go.

A present day photo of Taylor. She has changed over the course of 10 years.

My admiration for Taylor Swift started to wane a bit in 2015. She started to gravitate toward drama. She posted social media shade, engaged in feuds, and burned ex-boyfriends. She released music videos produced to shame others and wrote lyrics meant to confuse and generate controversy. This wasn’t the Taylor Swift I grew to admire.

This behavior has lasted the past three years. It isn’t just about her music anymore. Rather, it is about her feud with Katy Perry, her past relationship with Calvin Harris, her cryptic slights, and her demands she makes through her lawyers. It wasn’t a good look for Taylor this past week when the ACLU mocked her for issuing a cease-and-desist letter to a blogger. Swift’s attorneys attempted to take action against the person behind the blog for writing something that was, for all intents and purposes, false. However, most would agree that Swift has bigger fish to fry than to challenge the first amendment rights of a lowly blogger. When this story broke, my respect for Swift dropped to an all-time low.

Leave it to her to immediately get back into my good graces.

The 2017 CMA Awards took place last Wednesday. Taylor Swift was nowhere near Nashville but that didn’t stop here from stealing the show. When the category for Song of the Year came up, the melody performed by Little Big Town titled “Better Man” was a nominee. However, when it was introduced, there was no mention of Little Big Town. Rather, it was “Better Man” by Taylor Swift. Although it was no secret that Swift wrote the song, it felt funny that such a mega hit was being attributed to her rather than the group that performed it.

But it got better. The song actually won. Taylor Swift was introduced. She wasn’t there. Little Big Town went up to accept the award. An extremely popular country music band was giving an acceptance speech based on the work that a mainstream star, one who has been on earth almost as long as the group has been together, wrote for them. It was priceless.

It was also a testament. Specifically, it was a testament toward the talent of Taylor Swift. Sure, she has transformed from a down to earth country star to a celebrity drama queen. However, she still has unparalleled skill. Her life as a Nashville darling might be behind her but she can still have an incredible impact on the genre. No matter if the superstars of country are bitter at Taylor for turning her back on the music that provided her start, she can still capitalize from it.

Well played, Taylor.

I might not hold Swift in high regard anymore, but I do admire her talent. Don’t Blink.

Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2015

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I mentioned last week that with the arrival of December I can start focusing on Christmas. December also means that I can start reflecting on the past year.

For my Sunday blog post I am giving you Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2015. It is something I seemingly do every three years. To be honest, I had to think quite a bit about the songs that would make up this list, and not because I had many to choose from. While I knew my top song, I was a little underwhelmed with the amount of singles that really impressed me in 2015. With that said, let’s do this countdown.

5. “Downtown” – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

When it comes to the music of Macklemore, it is definitely hit or miss for me. Some songs I enjoy (i.e. “Cant Hold Us) and then other songs annoy the hell out of me (i.e. “Thrift Shop”). In my opinion, he made a winner with “Downtown.”

In the song, I can deal with the rap verses even though they test my patience a little bit. Why would a song that doesn’t “wow” me throughout its duration make this list then? Because it is all about that chorus! I love the buildup to, and then the actual performing of, the main part of the song. It sounds so triumphant and glorious, something that is really nice to drive to. In fact, I will probably have the belting out of “Downtown” in my head for the rest of the day. This song had enough to sneak on the list because the music video was shot in my hometown of Spokane.

4. “Where Are You Now” – Skrillex and Diplo & Justin Bieber

For me, this song is all about the melody. Although I do like Bieber’s vocals, I enjoy the part in the song the most when the performers stop singing and it is just that signature beat. The way the song goes slow on vocals and then fast on the music is a pretty cool and impactful technique.

3. “Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift

I know I risk the chance of having my masculinity questioned by including this artist on my countdown but I can’t turn my back to Taylor Swift and “Bad Blood.” In my humble opinion, this song just brings attitude!

I love the chorus, I love when Taylor says “Ohhhhhhhhhh it’s so sad to….”, and I love the rap insert by Kendrick Lamar. The song just packs a punch and Taylor sings it with conviction. Also, as with “Downtown”, the music video left an impression on me that just adds to my enjoyment of the song. I know she has numerous #1 hits, but I think “Bad Blood” will go down as a Taylor Swift classic.

2. “Sangria” – Blake Shelton

Mr. Shelton delivered my top song of 2012 and he earns a spot on my 2015 countdown as well. The one word I use to describe “Sangria” is smooth.

I enjoy the low key nature and simplicity of the song. It just flows so well and then of course you have Blake’s one-of-a-kind vocals. My favorite part of the song is how he sings “Only thing I want to do tonight is drink you like a Spanish wine.” The way he hits that lyric is just on point. Not an anthem song for Blake by any means but definitely a solid one for easy listening.

1. “Shut Up and Dance” – Walk the Moon

While it took a lot of contemplating to come up with what songs I wanted to include on this list, my #1 song was never in doubt. I absolutely love “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon and I am actually listening to it right now.

I was immediately grabbed by the up tempo and retro nature sound of the song. It literally made me want to: 1. Shut up if I (or someone else) happened to be talking and 2. DANCE! It was an automatic energy boost for me.

But believe it or not, there is something else about the song that I like most of all…that guitar solo though!! If I was a professional baseball player, that snippet of musical genius would be my walk up song. I don’t jam out often, but when I do, that solo from “Shut Up and Dance” is playing. The song brings back many good memories from this past summer and I will always equate it with fun and joy.

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There is my compilation of Brent’s Top 5 Best Songs of 2015. Now please excuse me while I take “Shut Up and Dance” off of repeat and put on a certain Kenny Chesney song. Don’t Blink.