2016
So 2016 was the year that I finished school and started uni. It's also when I got Spotify Premium for the first time and therefore the first year in this post! Obviously, since I didn't get my Spotify account until I started uni all of the songs in this playlist were only from September onwards. I had such a stressful summer when I was awaiting A-Level results and university decisions but I think this selection of songs sums me up quite nicely for this time of my life.
 |  |
Human
Oscar Zia
I talk about Eurovision a lot, both on here and in real life, and after falling in love with the contest in 2015, this was the first year that I really started to follow it. This song was the runner up in Melodifestivalen that year so didn't actually end up representing Sweden but it is still one of my favourite songs ever and I still love listening to Oscar Zia's music and he was actually performing on tv while I was in Sweden so naturally, I forced my family to watch it with me which I don't think they hated too much. I actually wrote a blog about this song way back in the day and it definitely still stands up as one of my favourite songs ever!Nessun Dorma
Il Volo
This was the HEIGHT of my Il Volo obsessed phase (I still love them, I'm literally wearing my hoodie now) and the only reason that the rest of their music isn't on this list is because I bought it all on iTunes and listened to everything on my bright green iPod Nano. If you're unfamiliar, Il Volo are an operatic pop trio from Italy and when I tell you I was obsessed, I was OBSESSED! While this song is from their opera album I much prefer their operatic pop stuff. I've seen them in concert twice (once in 2016... during my A-levels) and they truly were my defining character trait for a solid two years. Literally, everyone who knew me knew me as the Il Volo girl - I actually used to be a pretty big deal in the fandom on Twitter like people would come up to me at concerts to say hi solely because they knew me on Twitter, it was a pretty wild time!Alexander Hamilton
The Broadway Cast of Hamilton
And naturally, the Hamilton cast album had to make it in some form. This isn't my favourite song from the show but I guess since it's the opener it'll always get the most play! I went to see Hamilton in London in 2018 which I wrote about here and it was such a fun experience! I miss going to see live theatre so much and writing this has just reminded me how much I really need to get back to London as soon as it's safe!2017
This was the end of my first year of uni and the beginning of my second year and was a big musical theatre year for me. I'm cheating a little and skipping a few because there's a couple all from the same show so I'll just expand a little when I address each one. There are also four songs for 2017 because I needed an honourable mention as it was a song that was very significant for me at this point in my life.
 |  |
Santa Fe
Jeremy Jordan
I am absolute TRASH for Jeremy Jordan. I got into him from watching him sing songs on YouTube (still to this date a favourite pastime of mine) and actually went to see the Newsies musical film on my birthday and when I heard him sing Santa Fe (which I've actually since heard him do live) I was well and truly floored. Something to Believe in is also in my top five because it remains one of my favourite duet songs if I could ever find someone to duet with!Words Fail
Ben Platt
I said it was a big musical theatre year for me didn't I! I was hooked on Dear Evan Hansen from the second Waving Through a Window was released but Words Fail has always spoken to me. I think as the years have passed I've grown much more fond of You Will Be Found but Words Fail definitely still makes me cry. As I mentioned that I'm hoping to go back to London soon I'd really love to see this in person someday!Too Much To Ask
Niall Horan
I've loved One Direction since they were on X-Factor. I was THAT One Direction girl in school like I think that's all I was known for! Flicker is SUCH a good album. I have very strong memories of lying on my bed listening to this song on repeat so it's not really a surprise that it ended up on this list! I was supposed to be seeing Niall in concert last year but COVID had other plans but I think out of all the One Direction boys, Niall is the one whose music I like the best. Harry's is great too but I just have such a soft spot for Niall.Lover, Where Do You Live?
HIGHASAKITE
2017 was also SKAM year so I couldn't let this year go past without mentioning this song. I still actively base my style and entire personality on Noora Sætre. As in, 'my most worn pair of jeans are the jeans I bought because they were the ones she wore on the show' level of based my style on her. This song is my Norwegian band HIGHASAKITE and for me pretty much sums up SKAM. It was used in the first series and it was used in the very last episode and it's just so so beautiful! I still love SKAM a lot and it's the show that I always find myself coming back to time and time again.2018
Let's talk about 2018. This was my second year of uni and the start of my internship. I also travelled a lot this year. I went to see Eurovision in Portugal which was most definitely a highlight! I also had the best year at uni with my friends so I guess you'll notice that with all the happy music that features! Sad Girl bops are a thing of the future!
 |  |
Alfie's Song
Bleachers
Have I mentioned that I love Simon Vs The Homosapiens Agenda? When Love, Simon came out I talked about nothing else for weeks and dragged my friends to see it on opening night and so a lot of my time was spent listening to the soundtrack and thinking about my beloved Simon Spier. Jack Antonoff actually provided most of the soundtrack for this film and this was my first introduction to his music (Bleachers) but he's now up there as one of my all-time faves - not to mention all his work with Taylor Swift.Here Again
Elevation Worship
This is one of the songs that I will come back to again and again and again. I remember the very first time I heard this song in a tiny little clip on Facebook I fell in love immediately and headed over to YouTube to listen to some unofficial recordings so when they finally released it in August I was all over it! There's actually two versions of this same song on my most played songs of all time list because that's how much I love it! The line 'not for a minute was I forsaken' is just my absolute favourite thing ever.Lie To Me
Mikolas Josef
Oh would you look at that, we're back to Eurovision again! This was the Czech Republic's entry and one of my favourite songs of the Eurovision year and definitely the biggest bop of the year. I also got to see this performed live when I attended semi-final 1 which made me love it even more. It's just so catchy I find myself still singing it today.2019
Ahhh 2019, the last year we knew peace. I finished up my internship and started my final year of uni which was the beginning of the end. I also went to Rwanda this summer which is still such a special memory. You can read all about that trip here.
 |  |
Stay Young
Maisie Peters
I bloody love Maisie Peters! She was also supposed to be in the Niall concert that I didn't get to go to which made me even more distraught because both of my faves together is a once in a lifetime sort of gig! Maisie makes such fun music and I honestly love absolutely everything that she's put out but Stay Young is definitely one of my favourites!Arcade
Duncan Laurence
Not to sound like one of those 'I liked it before it was cool people' but here we have 2021 smash hit Arcade all the way back in 2019 when it won the Eurovision Song Contest! 'Small town boy in a big arcade' remains one of my favourite lyrics too! Arcade is so important for Eurovision going forward because as it's started to receive chart success I'm hopeful that it will push the contest in a new direction and countries (cough cough UK) will start taking it a bit more seriously now that they can see what success can come from it.Soldi
Mahmood
And one more Eurovision track for good measure. This one is an absolute BOP! I challenge you to listen to this one without dancing and clapping along! This was actually my personal winner of the year but Arcade was such a worthy winner too! This one just has such good vibes and was so different from everything else that year - it ended up in second place overall!2020
And now we're all the way up to 2020. I actually shared my top songs of the year in this post but here they are again! I graduated in 2020 so that's a thing but all in all most of my time was spent inside like everyone else! I also watched a lot of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series as evidenced by this selection of songs!
 |  |
Wondering
Julia Lester and Olivia Rodrigo
THIS SONG MAN! I mentioned in this post that if I was going to have a theme song, it would be this one. The first time I heard this song I had a breakdown in the middle of the uni library because of how poignant the lyrics were for me and proceeded to listen to it obviously way too much - this was also before I'd even seen the show so once I watched it and swiftly became obsessed my streaming numbers for this one were through the roof. There were actually another two versions of it on my Spotify wrapped playlist, that's how much I love it.Think About Things
DAĐI FREYR
This song is a bop and I feel like that's all we needed in 2020. This was supposed to be Iceland's Eurovision entry for 2020 but with the contest being cancelled it never got its inevitable win. Even if you're not a Eurovision fan you probably know this song though because it was huge! Daði is back for 2021 though and I actually got to provide vocals for his song this year which is super fun!All I Want
Olivia Rodrigo
Fun story, I actually qualified as one of Olivia Rodrigo's top fans on Spotify and unlocked a special reward and while I adore drivers license and deja vu I'm pretty sure it's mostly down to how much I streamed the High School Musical The Musical The Series album! I predicted Olivia Rodrigo world domination last year and I was correct - I can't wait to see her take over the music industry but I most importantly can't wait for season two of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
Are any of these songs on your lists too? If you're interested in seeing just how similar our music tastes are you can do that here! Has your music taste changed much over the years or has it stayed pretty constant? I always love discovering new music too so make sure to leave some recommendations down below!
Post a Comment