The Biggest Hits Of 2013 That Never Made The Blog...Until Now

As frequent (or even casual) readers of this blog can attest, I have done a heckuva lot of music posts this year. Maybe I'm just on a music kick (okay, definitely I am) or maybe I just don't have much time to compile many other kinds of posts (that's true, too). Throughout the course of the year, I've posted a fair number of current hit songs – that's both coincidental and by design – but I did miss a few big ones here and there. Having thought of no better way to include the songs before year's end, I've gathered them all together here for your listening (and viewing) pleasure. Enjoy!   ~  JH

1)  AWOLNATION  ~  "Sail"  (Yes, technically, I did post an a cappella cover of this song a couple weeks ago, but in my book that doesn't count.)

2)  Katy Perry  ~  "Unconditionally"  (She has her faults, topically and lyrically speaking, but I have to give Katy Perry props for crafting some really good pop songs.)

3)  Maroon 5  ~  "Love Somebody"  (I've heard this song I don't know how many times, but I'd never seen the video till now – it's weird. Good song, though!)

4)  P!nk  ~  "Try"  (P!nk never ceases to amaze me – she's consistently awesome!)

5)  The Band Perry  ~  "DONE."  (Good song by a good modern country band – but I really wish those brothers would get new hairdos – Ughsville!)

6)  Lady Gaga  ~  "Applause"  (Somewhat questionable video, but a catchy song – annoyingly so!)

7)  One Direction  ~  "Story Of My Life"  (I must grudgingly admit that this is a surprisingly good song!)

8)  Taylor Swift  ~  "I Knew You Were Trouble"  (I know I should be embarrassed to admit it, but I really like [and own most of] Taylor Swift's music – this song is no exception!)

9)  Baauer  ~  "Harlem Shake"  (Don't worry, there's no booty shaking in this video – it's audio only.)

10)  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton  ~  "Can't Hold Us"  (I wish this guy didn't pepper the majority of his songs – this one mostly excluded – with foul language, because if so I would probably buy and listen to his music. Oh, well...)

11)  Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams  ~  "Get Lucky"  (It's an undeniably good tune, but I can't in good conscience recommend the lyrics. Big hit, though.)

12)  Eminem ft. Rihanna  ~  "The Monster"  (Sorry, music purists, I couldn't post the official music video for this one. It contained a couple of un-family-friendly words that weren't bleeped, and I prefer to keep it PG here.)

13)  Lady Antebellum  ~  "Downtown"  (This one's obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and that's a good thing. 'Cuz if not…)

14)  Carrie Underwood  ~  "Two Black Cadillacs"  (A darker song for Carrie, but no less enjoyable than her cheerier hits. Sorry that Sound Of Music Live! thing didn't work out so well for you, chica…)

15)  Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX  ~  "I Love It"  (Again with this song, I couldn't post the original music video because of some uncensored lyrics, but the clean version is just as good – no, better! – to me, even if it's not actually a video.)

Video wouldn't load properly – click link to view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TETp3OFNa3U

BONUS TRACK:  Ylvis  ~  "The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)"  (Would you believe I never even heard this song till last week? I didn't say "heard of" – I first heard of it a few months ago, but had somehow managed to avoid it till recently. I'm sorry it took me so long to experience it, because the song is hilarious – not epic, but hilarious – as it was obviously intended to be.)

Songs About "Something," Vol. 2

This is part 2 of 2, a compilation of songs with "Something" in the title. The last song in this collection is the inspiration behind this latest dumb idea of mine. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Mark Wills  ~  "19 Somethin'"

2)  John Mayer  ~  "Something Like Olivia"

3)  Hanson  ~  "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'"

4)  Elton John  ~  "Something About The Way You Look Tonight"

5)  Aaron Tippin  ~  "You've Got To Stand For Something"

6)  Parachute  ~  "Something To Believe In"

7)  Jamiroquai  ~  "You Give Me Something"

8)  Sugarland  ~  "Something More"

9)  Girls Aloud  ~  "Something New"

10)  Daft Punk  ~  "Something About Us"

11)  Secondhand Serenade  ~  "Something More"

12)  Two Door Cinema Club  ~  "Something Good Can Work"

13)  LeAnn Rimes  ~  "Something's Gotta Give"

14)  Poison  ~  "Something To Believe In"

15)  A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera  ~  "Say Something"

"Long" & "Short" Songs

An "Opposites" music post. Yet again. Deal with it. (Or don't.) Ready, set, go!  ~  JH

1)  Metallica  ~  "All Nightmare Long"

2)  Daft Punk  ~  "Short Circuit"

3)  Justin Bieber ft. Big Sean  ~  "As Long As You Love Me"

4)  Randy Newman  ~  "Short People"

5)  Lionel Richie  ~  "All Night Long (All Night)"

6)  The Heavy  ~  "Short Change Hero"

7)  Current Swell  ~  "Long Time Ago"

8)  Hee Sun Lee  ~  "Life Is Too Short"

9)  Everlast  ~  "Long At All"

10)  The Moffatts  ~  "If Life Is So Short"

11)  Soundgarden  ~  "Been Away Too Long"

12)  Travis Tritt  ~  "Nothing Short Of Dying"

13)  Josh Turner  ~  "Long Black Train"

14)  Jackson Harris  ~  "Long Story Short"

15)  The Hollies  ~  "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress"

16)  Collar Up  ~  "Short Term Memories"

17)  Backstreet Boys  ~  "As Long As You Love Me"

18)  Dude Lovett  ~  "Life's Short"

19)  Trampled By Turtles  ~  "Wait So Long"  (EXCELLENT band name, by the way!)

20)  Grace Potter And The Nocturnals  ~  "One Short Night"