Zebra's Year End Charts - 2014

[hitseeker.]

Yas for Coldplay and Beyoncé! <3 I haven't listened to "Ghost Stories" in its entirety, but the tracks I've listened to are great!

The flawless #3-#5! <333

Oops sorry new page :(

[H.]

Partition and Riptide 

[surfy]

BEYONCE!!!

Riptide, and PARTITION!!! <3

[crystalphnx]

update: I did download "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" last night, and it'll prolly be my next No. 1, since I've already played it like...10 times? so thanks again for inspiring me to check it out!

05.) "Riptide" = I think I checked this out once before when I saw it on someone's chart, and I'm still not a big fan. the video's pretty cool, though. quirky.
04.) "Crying For No Reason" = I have "Broken Record" in my library, and it was a minor hit on my chart, but I don't think I've checked out anything else of hers. this one's pretty nice, though. definitely like when the beat really kicks in.
03.) "Partition" = I love how much you love this song! you must be givin' backseat blowies on the daily...

so I guess FYA will be No. 2, and then...hmmm....

[Zeebz]

Jan 19, 2015 17:29:11 GMT -5 hitseeker. said:

Yas for Coldplay and Beyoncé! <3 I haven't listened to "Ghost Stories" in its entirety, but the tracks I've listened to are great!

The flawless #3-#5! <333

Oops sorry new page :(

Glad you like those. <3 You should! It's a fantastic album. <333 No worries about the new page! Figured one was coming anyways. Anyways, thanks Hitseeker! :)

Jan 19, 2015 17:30:32 GMT -5 H. said:

Partition and Riptide 

Good to see that you're fond of those. Thanks, Shoosh. <3

Jan 19, 2015 18:07:59 GMT -5 surfy said:

BEYONCE!!!

Riptide, and PARTITION!!! <3

The love for Bey is always welcomed, haha. Thanks, Surf. :)

Jan 20, 2015 13:18:43 GMT -5 crystalphnx said:

update: I did download "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" last night, and it'll prolly be my next No. 1, since I've already played it like...10 times? so thanks again for inspiring me to check it out!

05.) "Riptide" = I think I checked this out once before when I saw it on someone's chart, and I'm still not a big fan. the video's pretty cool, though. quirky.
04.) "Crying For No Reason" = I have "Broken Record" in my library, and it was a minor hit on my chart, but I don't think I've checked out anything else of hers. this one's pretty nice, though. definitely like when the beat really kicks in.
03.) "Partition" = I love how much you love this song! you must be givin' backseat blowies on the daily...

so I guess FYA will be No. 2, and then...hmmm....

Woah! Glad you're enjoying it that much. As an aside, have you ever considered posting your chart here? It would be interesting to follow. :)

Re: "Crying For No Reason" - Definitely agree about the beat kicking in.
Re: "Partition" - Awh. Yeah, I really enjoy it. Paul, I'm not that much of a ratchet hoe. :kii: Lmao. 

Hmm. We'll see. ;) Thanks for the feedback! <3

[Zeebz]

Now for the top two! :)

Zebra's Top 100 Songs Of 2014: No. 2

02. “Follow Your Arrow” - Kacey Musgraves

Peak: 1 (1)
Weeks: 18
Chart Run: 60-37-35-32-31-30-29-32-55-63-73-85-out-23-12-09-01-/-04-08
Album: Same Trailer Different Park
Favorite Lyrics: "You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, so you might as well just do whatever you want" and "Make lots of noise, kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls if that's something you're into. When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight, roll up a joint (or don't), and follow your arrow wherever it points"

“Follow Your Arrow” has been a favorite of mine ever since I began my personal chart in June 2013 (85 weeks as of this current week!). I didn't chart it at the time because it wasn't officially a single yet, but I definitely should have. Instead, I charted it early in 2014 and gave it an absolutely terrible run after it became a single. Why? Possibly because I just thought of it as being so old or because competition was strong at the time. Whatever the reason, I just couldn't let it peak at a mere 29. I've consistently loved it throughout the year and when I started narrowing down the contenders for this list I re-listened to it. I've been addicted ever since. It re-entered at a brand new peak and I let it have the distinction of being no. 1 on the last week of 2014. I love it far more now than I ever did. 

What makes “Follow Your Arrow” so special? Everything, but if I had to highlight one feature of the song that I really enjoy it would be the message that it conveys. “Follow Your Arrow”'s principle theme is "live and let live", which is definitely something I can get behind. It's a refreshing reminder that we should follow our own "arrows" or paths throughout life. It's even more refreshing coming from a country singer. It's just amazing to hear her singing about equal rights when her genre (and for the most part, Southern culture) tends to be very conservative and non-supportive of these rights. Her songwriting really helps the message shine. I love how she runs through all of these stereotypes and just basically says they don't matter. Brilliant. I just love Kacey in general (so excited for new material from her this year!) but this is by and far my favorite thing that I've heard from her and from country music in general in a long time. Oh, and the video is fantastic. I thoroughly enjoy the western influences and her facial expressions never fail to make me laugh. I especially the eye rolling, lol. Works perfectly with the attitude of the song. “Follow Your Arrow” is just a fantastic song with an equally fantastic message that is applicable to anyone. So, so good. Words don't do my love for this song justice.

[Zeebz]

Zebra's Top 100 Songs Of 2014: No. 1

01. “Habits” - Tove Lo

Peak: 1 (1)
Weeks: 53
Chart Run: 01-02-02-04-05-06-11-15-15-14-19-23-20-23-27-35-42-51-58-60-50-37-39-38-34-26-25-25-35-43-59-62-82-79-62-57-52-47-53-64-88-48-43-49-48-49-47-46-41-53-56-/-65-68
Album: Truth Serum & Queen Of The Clouds
Favorite Lyric: "Gotta stay high, all my life to forget I'm missing you"

@jf816 deserves a shoutout here. He introduced it to me back in January and I was hooked instantly. I couldn't stop playing it in those first weeks, and that propelled it to become my second no. 1 debut. The chorus is what stood out to me upon first listen. She sings it with such intensity that it feels authentic. She's hurt. She wants to numb the pain. Etc. Anyways, I also really appreciated the quirkiness of the verses. Lyrics like "binge on all my twinkies" and "watching freaky people gettin' it out" are certainly among the most memorable of last year, if only for how strange they are. I just love everything about this. It has no burn rate with me, as is evidenced by its monstrous chart run. It's charted at least 20 more weeks than anything else that managed to chart in 2014. It charted every single week of the year barring one. It has had several rebounds after I hear it again. The list of remarkable things about its run go on and on. It definitely surprises me to see that I only gave this 6 weeks in the top ten considering how long its run is. Oh, and it's worth mentioning that it mainly charted on the strength of the original version. The remix is okay, but I absolutely prefer the original. 

Also, I was ecstatic to see this slowly rise and become a huge hit towards the end of the year. It was made all the more special because I had followed it ever since January and even before she had a Wikipedia article (I had a hard time figuring out anything about her until at least March). Definitely wish it had hit no. 1, but it was still gratifying to see it even make the top three. Being able to hear it all over the radio was cool as well and it definitely has been helping to give "Habits" the longevity that it has had so far and that it is continuing to have. I don't know how much longer it'll stay on, but there's no denying that it has had an incredible run thus far. I'm still not sick of it. When I create an all time ranking (2009-present, of course - hope to have that rolling later this year) it'll certainly be highly ranked.

[Zeebz]

Thanks

I finally finished! For a while it didn't seem like I would, lol. Anyways, that's not the point of this. What is the point, though, is to thank each and every person who has commented on, liked, or viewed both this and my weekly charts. I am thankful for all of your feedback and it has definitely helped to make this such an enjoyable experience. Thanks for your patience as well. I'm definitely looking forward to another full year of posting and charting. You're all fantastic!

---

Recap

Zebra's Top 100 Songs of 2014: 

001 - "Habits" - Tove Lo
002 - "Follow Your Arrow" - Kacey Musgraves
003 - "Partition" - Beyoncé
004 - "Crying For No Reason" - Katy B
005 - "Riptide" - Vance Joy
006 - "XO" - Beyoncé
007 - "Your Love" - Moko
008 - "The Worst" - Jhené Aiko
009 - "No Rest For The Wicked" - Lykke Li
010 - "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" - Paloma Faith
011 - "2 On" - Tinashe ft. ScHoolboy Q
012 - "I'm Not The Only One" - Sam Smith
013 - "Take Me To Church" - Hozier
014 - "Love Me Harder" - Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd
015 - "Bonfire Heart" - James Blunt
016 - "West Coast" - Lana Del Rey
017 - "You Don't Know What To Do" - Mariah Carey ft. Walé
018 - "Comeback" - Ella Eyre
019 - "Ice Princess" - Azealia Banks
020 - "Love Runs Out" - OneRepublic
021 - "Solo Dancing" - Indiana
022 - "Boom Clap" - Charli XCX
023 - "Shut Up And Dance" - Walk the Moon
024 - "Gold" - Sir Sly
025 - "Sonnentanz (Sun Don't Shine)" - Klangkarussell ft. Will Heard
026 - "Problem" - Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea
027 - "Changes" - Faul & Wad Ad vs. Pnau
028 - "Come To Me" - Goo Goo Dolls
029 - "The Heart Wants What It Wants" - Selena Gomez
030 - "Night Changes" - One Direction
031 - "Rollercoaster" - Bleachers
032 - "My Love" - Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne
033 - "All Of Me" - John Legend
034 - "Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Remix)" - Lilly Wood & The Prick
035 - "Don't Run" - Mr. Little Jeans
036 - "Ain't It Fun" - Paramore
037 - "Come With Me Now" - KONGOS
038 - "Stay With Me" - Sam Smith
039 - "Heaven" - Beyoncé
040 - "Falling" - HAIM
041 - "Midnight" - Coldplay
042 - "Right Here" - Jess Glynne
043 - "Gooey" - Glass Animals
044 - "I Got U" - Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones
045 - "People Help The People" - Birdy
046 - "Rather Be" - Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne
047 - "Jubel" - Klingande
048 - "Of The Night" - Bastille
049 - "Drunk On A Plane" - Dierks Bentley
050 - "Fancy" - Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX
051 - "Uptown Funk" - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
052 - "Drunk In Love" - Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z
053 - "Ultraviolence" - Lana Del Rey
054 - "God Made Girls" - RaeLynn
055 - "Addicted To You" - Avicii
056 - "Summer" - Calvin Harris
057 - "Ready For Your Love" - Gorgon City ft. MNEK
058 - "Turn Down For What" - DJ Snake & Lil Jon
059 - "Don't Tell 'Em" - Jeremih ft. YG
060 - "Beautiful" - Ben Rector
061 - "Say You Love Me" - Jessie Ware
062 - "Cops and Robbers" - Bean
063 - "High" - Peking Duk ft. Nicole Millar
064 - "Let It Go" - Idina Menzel
065 - "You Are My Pride" - Nora En Pure
066 - "I Wanna Get Better" - Bleachers
067 - "No Mediocre" - T.I. ft. Iggy Azalea
068 - "Secrets" - Mary Lambert ft. B.o.B.
069 - "Amnesia" - 5 Seconds of Summer
070 - "Instant Crush" - Daft Punk ft. Julian Casablancas
071 - "Girl In A Country Song" - Maddie & Tae
072 - "7/11" - Beyoncé
073 - "Talk Dirty" - Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz
074 - "Benediction" - Hot Natured
075 - "Blank Space" - Taylor Swift
076 - "Let Go For Tonight" - Foxes
077 - "Giant In My Heart" - Kiesza
078 - "Dangerous" - Big Data ft. Joywave
079 - "Chandelier" - Sia
080 - "Under Control" - Calvin Harris & Alesso ft. Hurts
081 - "Blame" - Calvin Harris ft. John Newman
082 - "5 AM" - Katy B
083 - "I Want It All" - Karmin
084 - "All About You" - Hilary Duff
085 - "Beggin' For Thread" - BANKS
086 - "I Hold On" - Dierks Bentley
087 - "Haunted" - Beyoncé
088 - "Heavy Metal and Reflective" - Azealia Banks
089 - "Stolen Dance" - Milky Chance
090 - "Bang Bang" - Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
091 - "Hideaway" - Kiesza
092 - "Snap Out Of It" - Arctic Monkeys
093 - "Faded" - Zhu
094 - "Kisses For Breakfast" - Melissa Steel ft. Popcaan
095 - "***Flawless" - Beyoncé ft. Chimimamda Ngozi Adichie & Nicki Minaj
096 - "You Haunt Me" - Sir Sly
097 - "Kings" - The Pierces
098 - "The Pressure" - Jhené Aiko
099 - "Day Drinking" - Little Big Town
100 - "Love Don't Die" - The Fray

[ry4n]

Great #1 :)

[Deleted]

Couldn't have picked a better #1 myself!

[Fancy]

yay same #1.

[H.]

Flawless number one.
Great list  :)

[crystalphnx]

2.) "Follow Your Arrow" = obviously, I'm a pretty big fan of this one ;) so it's very exciting to see that you love it this much too! I I don't think I touched on the video at all in my write-up, but I totally agree about her expressions (and some of those outfits) - too too cute. slay, Kacey...slay

1.) "Habits" = good stuff. I don't share your level of enthusiasm for it, but it was a moderate-ish hit on my chart (13 - *11* - OUT - 20 - OUT - 11 - OUT - 22 - 27 - 19 - OUT) and it would've landed somewhere in the 70's if my YEC went that low. while the remix is pretty great, the original is definitely my preferred version too

this has been a delight to follow, sir! I'm really glad that I checked it out and got to learn all about you + your tastes. <3

[popstop]

I love your year end - there is so much I like and I am just cacthing up now, and it would take too long, but I am really happy with Beyonce doing well on your chart. And Habits at #1 - what a great year end number one - It was in my top ten as well, and I also credit Invince.

I'm kind of kicking myself for never charting Hozier or I'm Not the Only One - I might still, but I'm so behind the curve on both of them. Both also greats ongs.

[Juan Carlos]

I guess I should say that your Top 3 from the artists is awesome! Good to see all of them there. Regarding your Top 5, it's great that we coincide with "Riptide". Not in the same spot, but both had it in the Top 5. Besides that, the rest are really good. "Habits (Stay High)" was expected to be atop, but I'm surprised that "Follow Your Arrow" is at #2. It's a good one, so I'm not complaining by the way.

Anyway, it was so good to follow this and I can't wait to see what this year brings for you in music terms.

[WotUNeed]

Absolutely love "Riptide", "Crying for No Reason", "Follow Your Arrow", and "Habits"! Awesome top songs to cap off an awesome list. Thanks so much for sharing it!

[surfy]

FOLLOW YOUR ARROW AND HABITS!!! <3

[hitseeker.]

Your Top2!!

This list was so great to follow; great job, friend! <333

[Zeebz]

Okay so I know this finished like two weeks ago and thus this is late, but I felt like I should thank everyone again for the feedback - I definitely wasn't expecting it to this magnitude and it was just really awesome to see the love. Much appreciated. Thanks, again, and I'll thank those who commented. <3

Jan 20, 2015 23:56:20 GMT -5 ry4n said:

Great #1 :)

Jan 20, 2015 23:56:27 GMT -5 @jf816 said:

Couldn't have picked a better #1 myself!

Jan 21, 2015 0:11:42 GMT -5 Fancy said:

yay same #1.

Jan 21, 2015 7:46:45 GMT -5 H. said:

Flawless number one.
Great list  :)

So glad that y'all enjoyed my no. 1. The love for "Habits" is amazing to see. Thanks ry4n, Invince, Fancy, and Shoosh for following. I appreciate it. <3

Jan 22, 2015 10:18:07 GMT -5 crystalphnx said:

2.) "Follow Your Arrow" = obviously, I'm a pretty big fan of this one ;) so it's very exciting to see that you love it this much too! I I don't think I touched on the video at all in my write-up, but I totally agree about her expressions (and some of those outfits) - too too cute. slay, Kacey...slay

1.) "Habits" = good stuff. I don't share your level of enthusiasm for it, but it was a moderate-ish hit on my chart (13 - *11* - OUT - 20 - OUT - 11 - OUT - 22 - 27 - 19 - OUT) and it would've landed somewhere in the 70's if my YEC went that low. while the remix is pretty great, the original is definitely my preferred version too

this has been a delight to follow, sir! I'm really glad that I checked it out and got to learn all about you + your tastes. <3

Re: "Follow Your Arrow" - Yes at us loving this so much. Twins? <3 Her outfits and expressions are definitely cute and help to amplify the songs appeal imo. Cannot wait for her new material.
Re: "Habits" - It's cool to see that this was at least a hit. So good to see that you enjoy the original more. 

Thanks, Paul! It's been a delight having you follow along and provide commentary for what you've enjoyed and thus learning about you + your tastes also. <3

Jan 22, 2015 13:16:03 GMT -5 popstop said:

I love your year end - there is so much I like and I am just catching up now, and it would take too long, but I am really happy with Beyonce doing well on your chart. And Habits at #1 - what a great year end number one - It was in my top ten as well, and I also credit Invince.

I'm kind of kicking myself for never charting Hozier or I'm Not the Only One - I might still, but I'm so behind the curve on both of them. Both also great songs.

Thanks, Popstop! You know I'm a fan of the Bey love, so it's nice to see more of it. Also, so good to see that you like "Habits" as much as I do. Chart them! They're perfect. <3

Jan 22, 2015 21:21:49 GMT -5 Juan Carlos said:

I guess I should say that your Top 3 from the artists is awesome! Good to see all of them there. Regarding your Top 5, it's great that we coincide with "Riptide". Not in the same spot, but both had it in the Top 5. Besides that, the rest are really good. "Habits (Stay High)" was expected to be atop, but I'm surprised that "Follow Your Arrow" is at #2. It's a good one, so I'm not complaining by the way.

Anyway, it was so good to follow this and I can't wait to see what this year brings for you in music terms.

Twins regarding "Riptide" tbh. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the rest of my top five also. I figured that "Follow Your Arrow" would be a notable surprise - it kept moving up in my year end rankings until it finally wound up here. There was no way that it was surpassing "Habits", though, even as much as I adore it. Thanks for following, Juan Carlos! <3

Oh and same.

Jan 23, 2015 21:35:11 GMT -5 WotUNeed said:

Absolutely love "Riptide", "Crying for No Reason", "Follow Your Arrow", and "Habits"! Awesome top songs to cap off an awesome list. Thanks so much for sharing it!

Glad that you love them as much as I do. Thanks for the kind words! It was my pleasure to share it. <3

Jan 26, 2015 0:30:24 GMT -5 surfy said:

FOLLOW YOUR ARROW AND HABITS!!! <3

PERFECT. <3 Thanks, Surf. 

Jan 30, 2015 11:28:13 GMT -5 hitseeker. said:

Your Top2!!

This list was so great to follow; great job, friend! <333

So glad to see that you enjoyed them and my list in general. Your feedback was greatly appreciated. Thanks, friend! <3