The Best Songs of the 2010s: Runners-up

10 years ago, I posted a list of the 100 best songs of the decade, 2000 to 2009.

Now I'm doing it again with the decade that's coming to an end: 2010 to 2019.

But first, here are 100 runners-up — songs I like but didn't have room for in the top 100 — in no particular order. (The song title usually links to an album the song is on, and after that I embed or link to video.)

A Spotify playlist of these songs is at the end of this post.


Owen Pallett — "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt"



Zola Jesus — "Dangerous Days" — WATCH (official video)

Broken Bells — "Good Luck" — LISTEN

The face of evil is on the news tonight

We see the darkness over light

But have we ever really lived in better times?

The Naked and Famous — "Young Blood" — WATCH

Robyn — "Ever Again" — WATCH

The Goo Goo Dolls — "Miracle Pill" — WATCH

Frances Quinlan — "Rare Thing" — WATCH

I only managed to stay small by making giants out of strangers

Regina Spektor — "Small Town Moon" — LISTEN

The Tragically Hip — "In a World Possessed by the Human Mind" — WATCH

Estelle — "Wonderful Life" — WATCH

Wye Oak — "Glory"

How do 2 people make so much sound? Look at the drummer: he's playing keyboard at the same time!



I Don't Know How But They Found Me — "Nobody Likes the Opening Band" — WATCH

Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams) — "Get Lucky" — WATCH (acoustic cover)

Sophie Ellis-Bextor — "Come with Us" — WATCH

Feist — "How Come You Never Go There" — WATCH 
 
Faded Paper Figures — "Information Runs On" — LISTEN

Willie J Healey — "Polyphonic Love" — WATCH

David Bowie — "Sue (or in a Season of Crime)" — WATCH (rock version)

Lorde — "Tennis Court" — WATCH

Joanna Newsom — "Easy" — LISTEN

Hiatus Kaiyote — "Breathing Underwater"



Cults — "Always Forever" — LISTEN

Sky Ferreira — "You're Not the One" — WATCH (live)

Florence and the Machine — "Hunger" — WATCH

Marian Hill — "Down" — WATCH

Emeli Sandé — "Next to Me" — WATCH

Cage the Elephant — "Trouble" — WATCH

Rise Against — "Lanterns" — LISTEN

The Strokes — "80's Comedown Machine" — LISTEN

Wilco — "Art of Almost" — LISTEN

Aloe Blacc — "Loving You Is Killing Me"

I like the raw energy of the live version below, but here's the more polished recording.



Hot Chip — "Spell" — WATCH

Phantogram — "Fall in Love" — WATCH

Belle and Sebastian — "Party Line" — WATCH

Tame Impala — "The Less I Know the Better" — WATCH  

P!nk — "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" — WATCH

The Stepkids — "Art of Forgetting" — WATCH

Grizzly Bear — "Losing All Sense" — WATCH 

Rose Windows — "Native Dreams" — WATCH

Red Hot Chili Peppers — "The Hunter" — LISTEN

Kimbra — "Come Into My Head"

Check this blog later for a very different Kimbra!



Gregory Porter — "Don't Lose Your Steam" — WATCH

Frank Ocean — "Thinkin Bout You" — LISTEN

Alvvays — "Dreams Tonite" — WATCH

Daedelus (feat. Inara George) — "Penny Loafers" — LISTEN

Snarky Puppy (feat. Knower & Jeff Coffin) — "I Remember" — WATCH

U2 — "The Blackout" — WATCH

Caribou — "Odessa" — WATCH

Imogen Heap — "Lifeline" — WATCH

Bon Iver — "Holocene" — WATCH

Fleet Foxes — "Helplessness Blues"

I was raised up believing

I was somehow unique

Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes

Unique in each way you can see

And now after some thinking

I'd say I'd rather be

A functioning cog in some great machinery

Serving something beyond me…

Sharon Van Etten — "Seventeen" — WATCH

Jenny Lewis — "Wasted Youth" — WATCH 

Kacey Musgraves — "Follow Your Arrow" — WATCH 

Paul McCartney — "Alligator" — LISTEN

White Rabbits — "Heavy Metal" — WATCH

Raury — "God's Whisper" — WATCH

Cherri Bomb (later known as Hey Violet) — "Shake the Ground" — WATCH

nine inch nails — "find my way" — LISTEN

Oh Land — "Doubt My Legs" — LISTEN

Björk — "Notget"



Becca Stevens — "Queen Mab" — WATCH

HAIM — "The Wire" — WATCH

Anderson .Paak — "Put Me Thru" — WATCH

Sleater-Kinney — "Reach Out" — LISTEN

FKA twigs — "Two Weeks" — WATCH

Lady Gaga — "Judas" — WATCH

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers — "Red River" — LISTEN

Weezer — "Beach Boys" — LISTEN

Pearl Jam — "Sleeping by Myself" — LISTEN

Snarky Puppy (feat. Laura Mvula & Michelle Willis) — "Sing to the Moon" — WATCH 



MGMT — "It's Working" — WATCH

of Montreal — "Nursing Slopes" — LISTEN

Carly Rae Jepsen — "Call Me Maybe" — WATCH

The Kooks — "Junk of the Heart (Happy)" — WATCH

Keri Hilson — "Pretty Girl Rock" — WATCH

Pale Waves — "There's a Honey" — WATCH

M83 — "Midnight City" — WATCH

Beck — "Morning" — LISTEN

Labrinth & Zendaya — "All for Us" — WATCH

Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars) — "Uptown Funk"



Norah Jones — "Say Goodbye" — LISTEN

Well, it ain't easy to stay in love

If you can't tell lies

So I'll just have to take a bow

And say goodbye

The Horrors — "Still Life" — WATCH

The Smashing Pumpkins — "Panopticon" — LISTEN

Melissa McMillan — "Keep Coming Back To You" — WATCH

Parcels — "Overnight" — LISTEN

BØRNS — "Past Lives" — WATCH

Santigold — "Disparate Youth" — WATCH

Rival Sons — "Soul" — WATCH

Snarky Puppy (feat. Chris Turner) — "Liquid Love" — WATCH

Angel Olsen — "Lark"

This song has a stunning climax starting about 4 minutes in.



Spoon — "Do I Have to Talk You Into It" — LISTEN

Esperanza Spalding — "One" — WATCH

Kitten — "Like a Stranger" — WATCH
 
The Dodos — "Black Night" — WATCH

Intervals — "Moment Marauder" — LISTEN

Paul Gilbert — "Adventure and Trouble" — LISTEN

Death Cab for Cutie — "Codes and Keys" — LISTEN

Justin Timberlake — "Mirrors" — WATCH

Jónsi — "Sinking Friendships" — LISTEN

*

Thanks to all who offered suggestions for the list, including Akponoluo, Alex, Ariel, Brit, Chris, Francesca, Jamie, John, Matt, and Nick.

*

Here's a Spotify playlist of all the runners-up, except two songs that aren't on Spotify ("Easy" by Joanna Newsom, and "Nobody Likes the Opening Band" by I Don't Know How But They Found Me):




Click here for the full list of the best songs of the decade.