At the end of each year I think about which song I liked the most. The past two years were dominated by Korean pop music (SUNMI, Chungha, BTS). Chungha topped my Spotify lists in 2021 with songs like Bicycle, X, and Masquerade. I think it’s because I love listening to upbeat music to get my mind off the stress of these dark times.
I pick a song that I think will remind me of what that particular year felt like.
Here are my previous picks for “song of the year”:
- 2020 – 3-way tie: Play (Chungha), Stay Tonight (Chungha), and On (BTS)
- 2019 – LALALAY – SUNMI
- 2018 – All the Stars – Kendrick Lamar ft. SZA
- 2017 – Flame – Tinashe
- 2016 – The Life – Fifth Harmony
- 2015 – Talking Body – Tove Lo
TBH there is no clear personal frontrunner for a “song of the year” in 2021. I liked Billie Eilish’ “Happier Than Ever” because it starts off slow and endearing… before lightning and thunder. That would be a favourite this year. But I don’t think I was that “angry” in 2021. (That’s good news.) Also on my playlist would be Olivia Rodrigo. I loved “good 4 u” and “traitor”. I think she’s someone to watch at the Grammys. Anyway, I’m sure I’m not the only millennial listening to all this Gen Z music.
Keeping with my blog tradition, I have to make a choice! This year’s song is not entirely in English. It’s not Korean too. The lyrics are about a love that needed to come to an end. The melody is perfect – it’s like you’re boarding a train and heading off to a faraway place. Since the lyrics are in both Japanese and English, I think it goes well with this past year. I started learning Japanese.
My song for 2021 is Utada Hikaru’s “One Last Kiss“, a song for the last Evangelion movie:
“I love you more than you’ll ever know” – one of her English lyrics.
And the translation of the last part of the song:
No one really knows what’s been consuming my mind the past few years. I don’t talk about it at all on my other social platforms. I can say that I feel better now. But the thoughts that took over my mind in December 2017 scare me sometimes. I think about multiverses. Maybe this, maybe that. But that’s something for Doctor Strange. This is the one timeline we get to work with. So let’s get to work. 🙂