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 Thinking And Knowing

Okay, same deal as yesterday. A bunch of songs with one thing in common – they all have either the word "Think" or "Know" (or some derivative of such) in their titles. Some good songs here – and a couple of mediocre ones. Enter at your own risk. (Not really.)  ~  JH

1)  Katy Perry  ~  "Thinking Of You"

2)  Chris Brown ft. Aaliyah  ~  "Don't Think They Know"

3)  Montgomery Gentry  ~  "What Do Ya Think About That?"

4)  Kelly Clarkson  ~  "Mr. Know It All"

5)  Keith Urban  ~  "You'll Think Of Me"

6)  Colbie Caillat ft. Gavin DeGraw  ~  "We Both Know"

7)  Céline Dion  ~  "Think Twice"

8)  Fall Out Boy  ~  "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light 'Em Up)"

9)  Public Enemy  ~  "Harder Than You Think"

10)  Collective Soul  ~  "The World I Know"

11)  Jessica Simpson  ~  "I Think I'm In Love With You"

12)  Norah Jones  ~  "Don't Know Why"

13)  Darius Rucker  ~  "Don't Think I Don't Think About It"

14)  Paramore  ~  "All We Know"

15)  Misha B.  ~  "Do You Think Of Me?"

16)  Adam Lambert  ~  "Better Than I Know Myself"

17)  Garbage  ~  "I Think I'm Paranoid"

18)  Ellie Goulding  ~  "I Know You Care"

19)  The Partridge Family  ~  "I Think I Love You"

20)  KISS  ~  "Sure Know Something"

Onomatopoeia Songs

Merriam Webster defines onomatopoeia as "the creation of words that imitate natural sounds," or "the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it," or "the use of words whose sound suggests the sense." Common examples include "buzz," "hiss," or "hiccup." All the songs in this collection contain at least one word of onomatopoeia in their titles. I've highlighted the word (or words) in italics in the the title of each song. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Dave Matthews Band  ~  "Crash Into Me"

2)  The Black Eyed Peas  ~  "Boom Boom Pow"

3)  Architecture In Helsinki  ~  "That Beep"

4)  R.E.M.  ~  "Bang And Blame"

5)  Katy Perry  ~  "Roar"

6)  LL Cool J  ~  "Mama Said Knock You Out"

7)  Dionne Bromfield ft. Mz Bratt  ~  "Ouch"

8)  Beyoncé  ~  "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"

9)  Ludacris  ~  "Slap"  (I think we all have days where we feel like slapping somebody – Ludacris wrote a whole song about it)

10)  Devo  ~  "Whip It"

"Hot" & "Cold" Songs

Because I seem to be on an "opposites" kick when it comes to music posts, here's another one. Enjoy? ~  JH

1)  Betty White ft. Luciana  ~  "I'm Still Hot"  (She still is, too...even at 91 years old!)

2)  Meg Myers  ~  "Cold"

3)  1987 Calgary Flames  ~  "Can't Touch A Flame When It's Red Hot"  (For non-sports fans, the Flames are a professional hockey team – and apparently, 25 years ago, they thought they could sing...)

4)  Current Swell  ~  "Too Cold"

5)  Katy Perry ft. Elmo  ~  "Hot N Cold"  (Despite its never actually having aired on Sesame Street, this version is much preferable to Perry's original song.)

6)  Janelle Monae  ~  "Cold War"

7)  Keith Urban  ~  "Long Hot Summer"

8)  Hammock  ~  "Cold Front"  (Don't hold your breath for the lyrics – there aren't any – but what an instrumental!)

9)  The Wiggles ft. Jamie Redfern  ~  "Hot Poppin' Popcorn"  (I can't even believe I'm posting a song by The Wiggles!)

10)  Typical Cats  ~  "Bitter Cold"

11)  Kool & The Gang  ~  "Too Hot"  (I can hear you singing along...just so you know...)

12)  Joshua Hyslop  ~  "Cold Wind"

13)  Buster Poindexter  ~  "Hot Hot Hot"  (What a dreadfully silly song...and dreadfully catchy, too!)

14)  Hank Williams, Sr.  ~  "Cold Cold Heart"  (For all of us old-school country music fans...)

15)  Led Zeppelin  ~  "Hot Dog"  (Not your typical Led Zeppelin song, but not bad...)

16)  Annie Lennox  ~  "Cold"

17)  LaToya Jackson  ~  "Hot Potato"

18)  Paloma Faith  ~  "Stone Cold Sober"

19)  The Sylvers  ~  "Hot Line"

20)  Adele  ~  "Cold Shoulder"  (Seeing as this is Adele's 4th appearance – so far – on my blog, you might have already guessed that I'm a big fan...)

Songs By Katies, Katys, Kates, One Katherine, And A Kat

Don't ask why. Just enjoy some good music by a bunch of women with basically the same first name! ~  JH

1)  Katie Melua  ~  "Nine Million Bicycles"

2)  Katie Costello  ~  "How Do We Know?"

3)  Katie Waissel  ~  "Fight For Love"

4)  Katie Sky  ~  "Sweet Sweet Melody"

5)  Katie Cole  ~  "Lost Inside A Moment"

6)  Katie Herzig  ~  "Lost And Found"

7)  Katie Armiger  ~  "Scream"

8)  Katy B  ~  "Broken Record"

9)  Katy Perry  ~  "Wide Awake"

10)  Katherine Jenkins  ~  "Love Never Dies"  (this one's almost too classy for this collection)

11)  Kate Bush  ~  "Running Up That Hill"

12)  Kate Nash  ~  "Mouthwash"

13)  Kate Winslet  ~  "What If"  (yes, that Kate Winslet!)

14)  Kate Havnevik  ~  "Mouth 2 Mouth"

15)  Kate Miller-Heidke  ~  "The Last Day On Earth"

16)  Kate Voegele  ~  "Only Fooling Myself"

17)  Kate Micucci  ~  "Walking In Los Angeles"

18)  Kate Earl  ~  "Melody"

19)  Kate Tucker  ~  "Everything Went Down"

20)  Kat Edmonson  ~  "Be The Change"