Better late than never, here are 2018 tracks that kept me afloat and hanging for the past year, aka best songs of 2018 accdg to my ever-reliable music taste. Truth be told, the pain and joy these songs emit pretty sum up all the baggage and stresses I carried and endured as well as the small victories I had to celebrate for the year that was. And it's high time to share them in this very space.
1. High Hopes – Panic! at the Disco. There's just too much positivity that's too hard to ignore in this track. 'High hopes' is just overflowing with intensifying uproar for big dreams, the need to keep on trying, with head held high, which are the very reasons my ears were glued to it for a couple of months.
2. Youngblood – 5 Seconds of Summer. This one has been a reminder for that need of some introspection,and acknowledgment of the fact that we need a time off sometimes. Had a good run of sequential plays of this for most parts of my idle times. It’s one of those essential hits to most likely appear on my Youtube suggestions and automatically play whenever I sat down checking on e-mails and fishing on socmed feeds.
3. Shotgun – George Ezra. We all are villains in our own ways and forms, and this fear of being the prey of our very own villainous act is nature’s way to remind us that there ought to be a balance in everything.
4. Changes – XXXTentacion. This was my constant companion during those daily commutes from Batangas City to Laguna for the last few months of 2018. This has driven me to work and pushed me harder to continually endure those 70 kilometers or so bus rides on a daily basis. It’s just too homey playing this on the background while the distant greenery fields and mountains of Laguna and Batangas cascade beyond the bus window. And it was this song that made those rides very much tolerable and very much personally memorable.
5. New Light – John Mayer. Sans the hard-looking vid, the song could stand very well in itself. Blues has been an essential John Mayer formula and this one is a huge step back to that classic John Mayer blues reminiscent of the good old Room for Squares days which is definitely a good thing.
6. Nina Cried Power – Hozier ft Mavis Staples. It’s the song, not the singing, actually. One of the most powerful songs of 2018, effortlessly.
7. Idontwannabeyouanymore – Billie Eilish. Says it all in the title.
8. Paris in the Rain – Lauv. Perfection, anyone? Truthfully, I like my playlist better when it's with Lauv.
9. A Sky Full of Song – Florence + The Machine. Several times I have been tired; wanted to just rest. And this one was my saving song for all those times when I feel I'm about to fall, and the room begins to sway.
10. Sana – I belong to the zoo. Everyone deserves the truth, and it's just so painful when one begs another for it.
11. Prom –Nadine Lustre x James Reid. This, and ‘Never Not Love You’ underscored by Nadine Lustre were some of the best few things that graced my 2018. Of course, we can never go wrong with Sugarfree,
12. NanayTatay – Chud Festejo. Powerfully written, well deserved grand prize win for this year’s PhilPop. Literally, needed to vent out some masasamamng mga words everytime I give this an ear.
13. ABKD – Assembly Generals. Geniusly written, I still feel awed with goosebumps and all whenever I give this a listen. This actually reminds me of those tensed nights I have gone through due to those unfortunate turnouts of things that scarred the pleasantries of how I see the world. This would actually qualify as an anger trigger for me, as it often gives me this unsettling feeling that often leads to a huge internal rage. Simply, it gives me that warrant to feel the chaos, which is very bad and unfair, and improper in so many levels.
14 Utang – Kuya Dennis. Another worthy track off PhilPop, cos too intense & catchy.
15. Magic – She’s Only Sixteen. This one right here is a masterpiece. Everything about it is superlatively damn good. But unfortunately, my most vivid memory on this was that day I felt real bad over a heartbreaking event. But it’s comforting that I somehow un-associated the two from each other eventually. The next, and probably the better thing I remember about this track was right when this was played over Jam minutes before that ride to Buscalan. Right then, I knew things are bound to get better. And I’m destined to a better place.
16. Kung Hindi Rin Lang Ikaw – December Avenue x Moira Dela Torre. Guess we will all agree this dagger of a song could hurt to the core.
17. Takipsilim – Autotelic. Because, Autotelic is the real deal.
18. Kalachuchi – Munimuni. There are five glaring things I like about this track. Foremost, I dig how the accompaniment is very much defining kalachuchi itself. It effortlessly makes an instant conscious match with its banner. Secondly; the metaphors. It was one glorious day in my music-listener career when I came across this track for the very first time filling my head with the guessing air on what there is that lies beyond the great lyrics. I loved how it kept me thinking – for days. And hanging thereafter. Which leads to my third point; the appalling video that encapsulates the essence of the song – the cycle of events, how there is such a thing as the right time, season, and reason. Fourth, the vivid contrast in its bittersweet content, painful but hopeful; indulging one in an emotional rollercoaster, at one instant you find yourself in the dumps, then sky high on another. And lastly, the magic it sustains even after consecutive plays, that it officially naturally became the anthem of my year.
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2. Youngblood – 5 Seconds of Summer. This one has been a reminder for that need of some introspection,and acknowledgment of the fact that we need a time off sometimes. Had a good run of sequential plays of this for most parts of my idle times. It’s one of those essential hits to most likely appear on my Youtube suggestions and automatically play whenever I sat down checking on e-mails and fishing on socmed feeds.
3. Shotgun – George Ezra. We all are villains in our own ways and forms, and this fear of being the prey of our very own villainous act is nature’s way to remind us that there ought to be a balance in everything.
4. Changes – XXXTentacion. This was my constant companion during those daily commutes from Batangas City to Laguna for the last few months of 2018. This has driven me to work and pushed me harder to continually endure those 70 kilometers or so bus rides on a daily basis. It’s just too homey playing this on the background while the distant greenery fields and mountains of Laguna and Batangas cascade beyond the bus window. And it was this song that made those rides very much tolerable and very much personally memorable.
5. New Light – John Mayer. Sans the hard-looking vid, the song could stand very well in itself. Blues has been an essential John Mayer formula and this one is a huge step back to that classic John Mayer blues reminiscent of the good old Room for Squares days which is definitely a good thing.
6. Nina Cried Power – Hozier ft Mavis Staples. It’s the song, not the singing, actually. One of the most powerful songs of 2018, effortlessly.
7. Idontwannabeyouanymore – Billie Eilish. Says it all in the title.
8. Paris in the Rain – Lauv. Perfection, anyone? Truthfully, I like my playlist better when it's with Lauv.
9. A Sky Full of Song – Florence + The Machine. Several times I have been tired; wanted to just rest. And this one was my saving song for all those times when I feel I'm about to fall, and the room begins to sway.
10. Sana – I belong to the zoo. Everyone deserves the truth, and it's just so painful when one begs another for it.
11. Prom –Nadine Lustre x James Reid. This, and ‘Never Not Love You’ underscored by Nadine Lustre were some of the best few things that graced my 2018. Of course, we can never go wrong with Sugarfree,
12. NanayTatay – Chud Festejo. Powerfully written, well deserved grand prize win for this year’s PhilPop. Literally, needed to vent out some masasamamng mga words everytime I give this an ear.
13. ABKD – Assembly Generals. Geniusly written, I still feel awed with goosebumps and all whenever I give this a listen. This actually reminds me of those tensed nights I have gone through due to those unfortunate turnouts of things that scarred the pleasantries of how I see the world. This would actually qualify as an anger trigger for me, as it often gives me this unsettling feeling that often leads to a huge internal rage. Simply, it gives me that warrant to feel the chaos, which is very bad and unfair, and improper in so many levels.
14 Utang – Kuya Dennis. Another worthy track off PhilPop, cos too intense & catchy.
15. Magic – She’s Only Sixteen. This one right here is a masterpiece. Everything about it is superlatively damn good. But unfortunately, my most vivid memory on this was that day I felt real bad over a heartbreaking event. But it’s comforting that I somehow un-associated the two from each other eventually. The next, and probably the better thing I remember about this track was right when this was played over Jam minutes before that ride to Buscalan. Right then, I knew things are bound to get better. And I’m destined to a better place.
16. Kung Hindi Rin Lang Ikaw – December Avenue x Moira Dela Torre. Guess we will all agree this dagger of a song could hurt to the core.
17. Takipsilim – Autotelic. Because, Autotelic is the real deal.
18. Kalachuchi – Munimuni. There are five glaring things I like about this track. Foremost, I dig how the accompaniment is very much defining kalachuchi itself. It effortlessly makes an instant conscious match with its banner. Secondly; the metaphors. It was one glorious day in my music-listener career when I came across this track for the very first time filling my head with the guessing air on what there is that lies beyond the great lyrics. I loved how it kept me thinking – for days. And hanging thereafter. Which leads to my third point; the appalling video that encapsulates the essence of the song – the cycle of events, how there is such a thing as the right time, season, and reason. Fourth, the vivid contrast in its bittersweet content, painful but hopeful; indulging one in an emotional rollercoaster, at one instant you find yourself in the dumps, then sky high on another. And lastly, the magic it sustains even after consecutive plays, that it officially naturally became the anthem of my year.
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