The Bullpen's Top 100 Songs of 2017: Part 4: #25 to #11
- Alex Marchante
- Dec 31, 2017
- 11 min read
Some of the best tracks of this year came from these artists: Rag'N'Bone Man, Algiers, Foo Fighters, Tyler, the Creator
(yes, I chose to use that picture, perhaps the best expression ever), Paramore and Logic.
Business is really starting to pick up. We're almost at the finish line. Let's enjoy some amazing music.
THE BULLPEN'S TOP 100 SONGS OF 2017:
Continuing Disclaimer:
This part of the Top 100 will compose of the songs ranked #26 to #11 and will have links to all the songs on YouTube or in some cases, music streaming sites. It will also display the release package (album, EP, etc.) the songs came from as well as the release date and will have a more in-depth description/analysis of the song than what we had in the previous parts of this countdown, highlighting each track's overall presence in its backstory as well as the musical power that makes us love each song.
Qualifying for Top 100:
Songs must have been released in 2017 or have been a track of an album that was released in 2017 if they were released in 2016. Covers are eligible but scarce, as are remixes. In the cases of some of the songs on this list, songs not previously released and later released on a deluxe version of a previously released album prior to 2017 are also allowed.
#25: "Marcy Me" - Jay-Z
Track off the album 4:44, released June 30, 2017.
The year 2017 has been the site of some of the most personal albums in music. One of the greatest examples of this is Jay-Z's 13th studio album, which delves into nostalgia as well as obvious personal drama following Jay-Z cheating on his superstar wife Beyonce. Although there is much to unpack in the latter, we look at the prior with the ninth track of 4:44 in "Marcy Me". This track digs into the personal pride Jay-Z cherishes in his humble side of Brooklyn in the Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy for short) neighborhood. The titular apartment complex was the growing place of who we now know as Jay-Z. This track unveils the childhood Sean Carter knew as a child, unraveling layer after layer of nostalgia from the 1980s and 90s. As Jay-Z begins to conclude his track, he points out the gentrification of the place he considers the cradle of his identity, an evolving presentation of what used to be a lower-class minority neighborhood has become part of the Brooklyn we know today as a more hipster-friendly, middle-class area and Jay-Z, realizing this, creates lyrics like in "Marcy Me" to pay homage to how the real life was for him and his family in the days of his youth.
#24: "Cigarettes & Cush" - Stormzy ft. Kehlani and Lily Allen
Track off the album Gang Signs and Prayer,
released February 24, 2017.
A musical fixture that was featured in my Top 25 Songs of 2017 (So far) in late June, "Cigarettes & Cush" provides a unique view into a relationship with a dependence on the titular relaxing herb, while being stagnant otherwise. In another track dedicated to romance and the difficulty in maintaining a relationship following the busy schedule of hip-hop superstardom, Stormzy and Kehlani play parts of boyfriend and girlfriend that struggle to communicate when they're not under the influence of marijuana. As Kehlani sings in her verse, "Mary makes it easier to talk to you/'Cause sometimes I can't spill my thoughts to you". There seems to be a lack of resolution in the relationship due to the fact that the couple barely see one another. However, although the couple seem to concede and accept their fate as a couple that will only communicate when high, at the tail end of track, Stormzy opens up that it has been a month since he and his other half had parted ways and nothing had felt the same. At this point, he remains searching for love and with the lack of weed and his favorite person to spend time with, he finds himself wanting to leave London. This track opens another page into the life of Stormzy in his first ever full-length album and its bluntness, for lack of a better term, about this specific relationship is admirable and why it remains a top pick of the year.
#23: "(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano" - Sampha
Single off the album Process, released February 3, 2017.
As we have covered multiple times, Sampha opens up about his struggles with losing both of his parents to cancer. In this heartwarming track, the most popular on the album, Sampha delivers his storytelling about the importance of an old piano and the importance the instrumental resembles in the relationship he has with his mother. In this song, Sampha opens up about the connection and love he and his mother held for each other, as he moved back into his childhood home when his mother was suffering from cancer at the near end of her life. The struggle of religious beliefs we discussed in "Kora Sings" is faded in this track, as Sampha describes an angel present beside his mother during the times he wasn't able to be beside her. The embrace and closeness the two had when Sampha's mother had towards the end of her life resembles more powerfully than most human beings can understand for Sampha. The importance of a piano that came to the family home when he was three years old became a symbol of his childhood as a whole and more specifically, the relationship he and his parents had, more so with his mother as tracks on this album highlight. In an album that centers more so on the pain and hopelessness of loss in tragedy, "Like the Piano" serves as a beacon of hope and life, despite the hardest loss one can have occurring, representing the internal presence of a loved one being by your side because of the significance of the relationship you and that person had when they were alive.
#22: "Strobelite" - Gorillaz ft. Peven Everett
Track from the album Humanz, released April 28, 2017.
Damon Albarn and Peven Everett join forces for this club track that carries somewhat of an origin story for Albarn in his musical career. Similar to the single "Andromeda", which we have yet to discuss but will be discussed even further on this list, "Strobelite" serves as a piece of nostalgia for Albarn to his days in the early 80s. Albarn stated in an interview with the BBC that he owned a small strobe light and would turn in on when he would mess around with his first ever turntable. However, the content of "Strobelite" centers around love and the necessity of love to live a life worth living, for with love, our life suddenly changes like a strobe light. The catchiness and addictiveness of this track could easily make you begin to get down in middle of the dance floor. Take advantage of that moment however, because perhaps amongst all the bright, flashing strobe lights, you may find your strobe light.
#21: "1-800-273-8255" - Logic ft. Alessia Cara and Khalid
Single off the album Everybody, released May 5, 2017.
In a time in American society where, apart from the political drama and arguing, most people can get along and connect with each other freely and faster given the evolution of society and technology in social media, this track by Logic, featuring two of the best new artists of this year, reminds us that time is still difficult for the youth. American youth suffer from an alarming amount of stress and anxiety that generations before ours could not have anticipated or even yet to comprehend. Although this track targets a specific case of hidden sexuality and the battles that come from coming out, "1-800" targets all the situations in which someone may feel alone, depressed and powerless. The shifts in the song's lyrics from utter depression and resignation to an early death to a friend worried about their companion's well-being to the uplifting final victorious chorus of embracing and loving life unfortunately does not ring true to some of this generation. Some people find themselves trapped in the beginning of the song and that is what makes this track so relatable. Although many survive and are able to manage and defeat depression, there are also many that are still in that bout and the power of the music video's storytelling is beyond words. The title is a reference to the suicide hotline and there is no greater use of such a song title than the way Logic uses it in this track and the work these three young artists combined to create is working to serve a great amount of good to the youth community and those who suffer from depression and mental illness and for that, it is this high on the list.
Single off the album Human, released February 10, 2017.
Breaking out with his 2016 single "Human", British artist Rag'N'Bone Man decided to release an album of the same name, which qualifies this track to this list thankfully. This track, analyzing the element of human nature to blame someone, anyone or anything on failure to reach our expectations, is served by an incredibly passionate vocalist with a soulful voice and powerful lyrical prowess. Simple in its main point, "Human" is a powerful track that serves as a lens of reflection to our own ability to assess our expectations and how to deal with failure to reach them. Instead of blaming it on others who may or may not play a major role, if any, to our personal aspirations, we should either seek assistance from another person in the form of a higher being, or take our own fate in our hands and create our own destiny despite the limitations of humanhood. Simple yet effective, "Human" reminds us of what we and everyone else are, human.
#19: "Man of War" - Radiohead
Single off the album OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017, released June 23, 2017.
I've previously covered before how Radiohead love releasing music far after it has been worked on, mastered and perhaps remastered. In complying with the theme to "I Promise" and "Lift", the latter of which made its way onto this list, "Man of War" finds its origin in, of course, the mid-90s during the early stages of the British band's early years of breakout success. Previously titled "Man-O-War" and subtitled "Big Boots", "Man of War" is an illustration of the ultimate fate of all who live, death. In the consideration of all the accomplishments one man achieves in his lifetime, ultimately, nothing matters; As when one dies, one must ultimately play food to the worms that lay in the ground that seem minuscule and laughably insignificant to the human eye when alive. Dark and blunt in its tone, "Man of War" best fits the themes displayed in OK Computer, released 20 years prior to the final studio version of this song. Worth the wait, Radiohead fans will still enjoy this track for years to come as they await, as patient as always, for "new" tracks to be released decades after their initial creation.
#18: "Hard Times" - Paramore
Single off the album After Laughter, released May 12, 2017.
"Hard Times" is a story about the difficulties the band faced over the previous seven years with in-fighting and arguments that led to all but Hayley Williams remaining in the band. Essentially, Williams discusses her point of rock bottom, where there is no way to go but up. Fortunately, After Laughter did not disappoint despite the absence of former members of Paramore. At the end of the day, Williams and the new members of the band were able to leave a mark with the new definition of Paramore and the style exhibited in the album makes it one of their best albums to date.
#17: "Incomplete Kisses" - Sampha
Track off the album Process, released February 3, 2017.
"Incomplete Kisses" is a story about a faltering relationship that is slowly growing sour after a long time of stagnation. Sampha writes about a relationship in which he and his lover have been slowly fading away, with lyrics including, "A child stood at the cemetery/orange, yellow, purple, blue skies/And I hear those cries/Don't you leave me here/Don't you leave me here." These lyrics draw reference to Sampha losing his father at the age of 9 as well as an argument between he and his long-time girlfriend that resulted in one party saying "don't you leave me here". The concept of "incomplete kisses" is a relationship in where the affection and love for one another is not as it would be nor will it ever return to its former state.
#16: "Villains of Circumstance" - Queens of the Stone Age
Track off the album Villains, released August 25, 2017.
Much like the ending, titular track of previous album
...Like Clockwork, "Villains of Circumstance" displays the vocal talent of frontman Josh Homme in a culmination of some of the best instrumental work by Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Sherman, Dean Fertita and John Theodore. The
over-six-minute-long conclusion to Villains ends an incredible album that, although controversial to diehard fans, will remain a highlight of any live performance for the band for years to come.
#15: "Diaspora" - Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Track off the album Diaspora, released June 23, 2017.
The title track of Christian Scott's second album (of three) of 2017 is a track that displays the best unity of musical instruments in the entire album. Unlike
The Emancipation Procrastination, Diaspora's main track emphasizes more on the foreground rather than the background hip-hop instrumental in the background. The overwhelming power of trumpets and especially the flute solo towards the end of the track make this track stand out as a success for Scott in multiple albums during this year.
Single off the album Concrete and Gold,
released September 15, 2017.
Many critics will argue that the sound of Foo Fighters has been similar over the past two albums, Concrete and Gold and 2014's Sonic Highways, to the point that the band doesn't have as much to give to the rock scene as they did at the beginning of this decade with Wasting Light. Although I'll admit Concrete and Gold wasn't the band's best album, in fact, it was a sort of let down coming from one of rock's greatest musicians of all time, Dave Grohl, but "Run" is one of Foo Fighters' best tracks in some time. Strong in political overtones, the track has guts and Grohl's screaming lyrics and the track's aggressive tone make it easily the best thing to come from Foo Fighters in about six years or a decade if you're not a fan of Wasting Light.
#13: "The Apprentice" - Gorillaz ft. Rag'N'Bone Man,
Zebra Katz and RAY BLK
Single off the album Humanz, released April 28, 2017.
The amount of talent on this track is astonishing. In a song about rising to the occasion when the odds are greatly stacked against you, these four artists combine for a tune rich in political, societal and racial references to recent events, mainly the allusion to the 2016 Election, hence the reason why this track's title references the former reality show run by now-U.S. President Donald Trump. The greatest concentration of political and racial dialogue can be found in the final verse, performed by the only American on the track, New York's own Zebra Katz. Directly calling out the transition of power between the Obama and Trump presidencies, Zebra Katz provides a grim view into the new America that we have seen in the news where racism has become more prevalent.
#12: "The Underside of Power" - Algiers
Track off the album The Underside of Power,
released June 23, 2017.
Staying with the conversation of racism, Atlanta-based Algiers look back to the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the struggles that African Americans have suffered throughout history, alluding to slavery and racial violence at the peak of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era. While the first half of the track details the historic injustices done to the African American community, the latter half focuses on the prospect of change and how there is a promising end to this story. The final lines of the track detail the hope and faith of change at the turn of the 1960s and more recently in the 2000s with the presidency of Barack Obama: "Because I've seen the underside of power/It's just a game that can't go on/It could break down any hour/I've seen their faces and I've known them all."
Track off the album Flower Boy, released July 21, 2017.
Tyler, the Creator is one of the most interesting artists in the rap industry currently. One of the most controversial, outlandish and shocking artists in America today, Tyler is still a top talent and an incredible rapper and storyteller. Thus, due to his success with this year's release, Flower Boy, the California native received his first ever Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. In this track, Tyler discusses the struggle he has endured when turning away from his friends due to arguments or frustration, among other reasons. However, in the process of doing that, he realizes he's bored and has no means of entertaining himself or going out to do something. Instead, he remains at home, alone and unable to communicate with the outside world that leads him to become extremely bored and demotivated to do anything but continue his busy schedule as an artist. This track includes incredible singing from the featured artists as well as comical and truthful rapping by one of the best in the business on a topic that may seem boring to write about.
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