My 5 Favorite Songs of 2025

Didn't think I'd be on the other coast of the United States, alone, talking on Blogger about my 5 favorite songs, but here we here. With all the shit that's gone down, I have to force myself to listen to music sometimes, and other times it's the only way to escape. 

Rules: 

1. Songs had to come out in 2025, to the best of my knowledge. 

2. One entry per artist. 

Let's get this over with: 

#5 Shinedown "Three Six Five" 

If this isn't the closest thing to irony, I don't know what is. While this pop/rock ballad has a formulaic structure and Def Leppard-type guitar riff, the words are especially potent. 

"A lot can happen in a year." No fucking kidding. Singing this at karaoke with my friend Clay, I choked up on the word "hitch" because it was clear we were both taking leaps and bounds. He got a new job, and I abandoned everyone to move to the East Coast. I will say, my brain is feeling more like itself, and I can sleep at night, and my blood sugar has come down. I'm blogging again. I still miss everyone terribly, and I hope to see as many friends and family as I can while I visit back home for the holidays. Am I happy out here? No, I don't think so. Am I "brave"? No, I'm not. But things were unsustainable back in AZ. I was cracking hard, overworked, underpaid, stressed out beyond belief. Out here I've given myself some breathing room, if but for a while. 

#4 Corook "They"

You know who is an actual brave person? Corook. They finally released their first full album, with songs about them and their queerness and some songs that resonated with me, as well. "Ballerina" was a late '24 release and easily one of my favorite songs of last year. 

And then they got shat on by losers and posers. Shitheads started trolling Corook hard. Here was this upbeat song about their non-binary power, and while its intended audience and fans did enjoy it, more people enjoyed to trash it. The losers did what bullies always do - they went after Corook's weight and appearance. The jokes aren't fucking funny. Because of all this negative publicity in the wrong circles, I was genuinely afraid to go to their show in Phoenix this year. I even wrote a whole poem about it. The show went fine, fortunately, but it was a sign that this year was going to be a very painful one in multiple ways. 

Corook's been pretty offline lately. I don't blame them, but I hope they're doing well. (Suddenly, their song, "I'm not doing well" pops in my head and I wish I could hug them)

#3 Matt Berninger "Bonnet of Pins" 

I never really paid attention to The National, so I'm hearing the public-funded station I found after  moving and this song comes on. The deep voice, the clashes of of a love that's never gonna work out, the nice guitar solo at the end. I was hooked on the spot. My favorite version I've seen is the one he did for Jimmy Fallon. 

Tell me I'm getting older without telling me I'm getting older. 

#2 Of Monsters and Men "Fruit Bat"

I re-connected with OMAM after their 2019 album and subsequent singles they would sporadically release online. It was enough to keep me constantly poking in to see if there was anything else. Then they announced their album, "All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade." After hearing the first few singles, it was all really good. "Ordinary Creature" is the one they've been pushing on mainstream. 

In being on my own out here, I have been trying to explore the region and check out different places and events. You know, like the locals should. One Saturday, I was driving on the interstate coming back from a local fair. It was raining. I'm 99% driving and 1% looking for something to play on my Bluetooth from the phone. Then I see this song appear and press play and immediately go back to 100% on the road. 

It's a soft and slow song about growing up and growing apart. "You look like a portrait of your dad" is a line that I think I can only appreciate as an adult. The chorus brings both singers together, them both saying the same thing to each other. And yet, despite the separation, they're "like a fruit bat, hanging tight." 

And then the march begins. It is a mouse parade, after all. 

The song slides from a horn outro to a basic snare drum. It reminds me of their song, "I of the Storm" with a snare intro. I just lose it and start crying while driving. I'm barely hanging on tight. I'm all alone out here and there is nowhere to go but forward. So I push through the tears and I keep driving (safely). As the 8-minute song continues, the drummer is not alone. They are joined by more and more friends. The ambience builds layer by layer by layer. 

What are we all marching toward? An inevitable death, I guess, but, damnit, we'll get there together whether we know how to fix things by the end or not. 

And this is the song in the MIDDLE of the album!  

#1 The Beths "Til My Heart Stops"

I keep switching #1 and #2 in my head. I listened to them back-to-back-to-back to make sure I had them in the right order. Even now, I'm not 100% sure. 

Side story: My mom introduced me to Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" album when I was very little. There's a line in "Dreams" that goes "When the rain washes you clean, you'll know." It's very beautiful imagery, a thought I was held onto my whole life. I haven't felt that kind of cleansing since well, I was baptized as a baby but don't remember it.

When I heard The Beths were releasing a new album, I was excited. I heard about them from "Expert in a Dying Field" which was an amazing piece. After hearing the singles of "Metal," "No Joy," and "Mother, Pray for Me" I was beyond hooked and ready to declare any of those as their entry for song of the year. 

As they released the album and all the other tracks, this one struck me differently.  The whole composition has me floored. The lyrics that I immediately attached to - a relationship that we don't know how to fix, mixed with our personal and childish credos. The crash in the second verse, the way Elizabeth shouts "Hey!" near the end like there was no pain. But the backup vocals really completes it. From the constant preponderance of "Stay" or the simplicity of "In the rain, in the rain, in the rain" in the second half of the song, this song is their cleansing, the mending of their relationship, and the beginning of a new beautiful day. 

And I think that's where I want to fit in. I don't want to be afraid every day, I don't want to have to be prepared for battle, I am tired of these defenses.  I want to love until my heart stops.