Defining song of 2021

[mikerivera]

I already did a thread for the defining song of every year since 1999, but with the end of the year now here, I’d love to hear everyone’s take on what this year’s defining hit was

[mikerivera]

Here’s my case for Good 4 U:
-biggest hit from this year’s break out artist
-was the most popular song in the country for 12 weeks (ignore the BTS sales manipulations), which is the longest a song has had that kind of sustained popularity since Old Town Road and only the second song with 12+ weeks at the top since Despacito
-one of the most understated trends of 2021 was the revival of pop punk, and this song was one of the main catalysts. First rock song to go to #1 in over a decade
-universally liked

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2021 10:45:52 GMT -5 mikerivera said:

Here’s my case for Good 4 U:
-biggest hit from this year’s break out artist
-was the most popular song in the country for 12 weeks (ignore the BTS sales manipulations), which is the longest a song has had that kind of sustained popularity since Old Town Road and only the second song with 12+ weeks at the top since Despacito
-one of the most understated trends of 2021 was the revival of pop punk, and this song was one of the main catalysts. First rock song to go to #1 in over a decade
-universally liked

[Deleted]

I'd say it's Heat Waves.

*2021's defining characteristic for me has been how much of a monotonous sludge it's felt like, as opposed to a year with distinct seasons or 'eras.' In past years, Spring and Autumn felt very distinct. In 2021, it all feels like one big continuation of the rest of the year where nothing new happened. The song that's stuck around so long and disregarded any and all boundaries between seasons that it broke the record for the longest climb to the top ten and still peaked in the top five[1] fits that bill quite well.
*As I said on the thread for DJ Earworm's YE mashup, it's been a relatively chill and downtempo but optimistic year, which again, fits Heat Waves perfectly.
*The 2020s in general have been defined by the impact of TikTok on popular music. Heat Waves blew up on TikTok before it became a mainstream hit.
*Blurs the lines between rock, pop, electronica, and R&B, representing the recent trend of popular music blurring the lines between genres.
*Nearly universally liked. (The only hate I've ever seen it receive was from people hating on MCYT stans associating it with a fanfic they wrote featuring it)

I could very easily see the argument for Good 4 U being the defining song of the year, too, though.

[1] Since I know people are going to get on me about calling Heat Waves "top five" - it'd be #4 without Christmas songs, and will likely still be in the top five once the Christmas songs go away.

[kimberly]

I would say, in order:

drivers license
Levitating
good 4 u
Montero (CMBYN)
Kiss Me More
STAY

[Joe1240]

My take it's between two of Olivia Rodrigo's major hits "Good 4 U" & "Driver's License" but both were huge in pop culture this year I would say "Good 4 U' takes it by a few inches just because it is remembered the most out of the two.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Dec 10, 2021 13:17:09 GMT -5 @gabingston said:

Dec 10, 2021 10:45:52 GMT -5 mikerivera said:

Here’s my case for Good 4 U:
-biggest hit from this year’s break out artist
-was the most popular song in the country for 12 weeks (ignore the BTS sales manipulations), which is the longest a song has had that kind of sustained popularity since Old Town Road and only the second song with 12+ weeks at the top since Despacito
-one of the most understated trends of 2021 was the revival of pop punk, and this song was one of the main catalysts. First rock song to go to #1 in over a decade
-universally liked

Shallow isn't a rock song...

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

drivers license.

because it introduced us to Olivia
because those streaming numbers were massive af
because of that epic bridge
because it had its own skit on SNL
and because people get drivers license every day and will probably think of this song first.

also,

drivers license and good 4 u are kinda like thank u next and 7 rings. good 4 u and 7 rings were bigger hits, but I think people associates drivers license/thank u next more to Olivia/Ariana.

[Fire]

drivers license for me

like, that was a moment when that song dropped and i still am stunned as to how much of a smash it was

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2021 23:19:48 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

Dec 10, 2021 13:17:09 GMT -5 @gabingston said:

Shallow isn't a rock song...

I think it fits into the category of Soft Rock. It may not be Motley Crue, but I'd say it meets the basic criteria for a Rock song, especially in the last minute.
Would you classify Circles as a Rock song?

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Dec 11, 2021 0:52:35 GMT -5 @gabingston said:

Dec 10, 2021 23:19:48 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

Shallow isn't a rock song...

I think it fits into the category of Soft Rock. It may not be Motley Crue, but I'd say it meets the basic criteria for a Rock song, especially in the last minute.
Would you classify Circles as a Rock song?

Soft rock yes, but it's more of a rock song than Shallow

[JukeboxJacob]

I see some of you chose your song based on impact/how big of a moment the song was, I'm going for the song that best represents the sounds/styles that were big this year. Y'all do you, but I don't understand choosing Driver's License. That song doesn't even SOUND like the 2020's. It sounds like a Lorde/Birdy song from 2014. This isn't a comment on the quality of the song, it's a great song, but not groundbreaking or novel in any way. Also, other songs had a bigger moment.

From the choices provided, I'm going with Stay because I think the biggest musical trend going on rn is the whole Lo-Fi, distorted guitar sound, and this song fits that best. It also sounds like a lighter form of hyperpop in terms of speed and verse structure, and I still think hyperpop will eventually become a defining genre of the decade, whether the genre itself goes mainstream or its influence just seeps into what is mainstream (kinda like dubstep in the 2010's).

[JukeboxJacob]

Dec 10, 2021 23:21:16 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

drivers license.

and because people get drivers license every day and will probably think of this song first.

It's funny you say that b/c just a couple days ago, my sister got her new license & we both immediately referenced this song

[phieaglesfan712]

Dec 10, 2021 10:45:52 GMT -5 mikerivera said:

Here’s my case for Good 4 U:
-biggest hit from this year’s break out artist
-was the most popular song in the country for 12 weeks (ignore the BTS sales manipulations), which is the longest a song has had that kind of sustained popularity since Old Town Road and only the second song with 12+ weeks at the top since Despacito
-one of the most understated trends of 2021 was the revival of pop punk, and this song was one of the main catalysts. First rock song to go to #1 in over a decade
-universally liked

Based on these points, Stay would have a better case. This was from the other breakout artist of the year.

G4u was the most popular song for 8 weeks. In Week 9, Stay was released, and it took the title from G4u and held it (save for CLB week and maybe IB’s debut) for 12-13 weeks until EOM was released, and even then Stay was the arguably the 2nd most popular song during that time.

If that wasn’t enough, Stay was the fastest song to 1 billion streams on Spotify, had the highest peak on radio in 2021, and is the longest running #1 on pop during the 21st century.

[CF15]

"good 4 u" is definitely far more iconic and year-defining than "drivers license". Longevity definitely separates the two ("good 4 u" actually lasted the 3-4 months of summer time near the top). I was torn between "good 4 u" and "Levitating", but decided on the former as the latter is a bit more 2020 than "good 4 u".

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Dec 12, 2021 18:15:53 GMT -5 CF15 said:

"good 4 u" is definitely far more iconic and year-defining than "drivers license". Longevity definitely separates the two ("good 4 u" actually lasted the 3-4 months of summer time near the top). I was torn between "good 4 u" and "Levitating", but decided on the former as the latter is a bit more 2020 than "good 4 u".

only because radio dropped DL after 10 weeks. If we remove all Xmas songs and Juice WRLD album, DL would be in the top 30 on Spotify. That's pretty huge for a one-year-old song.

[CF15]

Dec 12, 2021 19:51:23 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Dec 12, 2021 18:15:53 GMT -5 CF15 said:

"good 4 u" is definitely far more iconic and year-defining than "drivers license". Longevity definitely separates the two ("good 4 u" actually lasted the 3-4 months of summer time near the top). I was torn between "good 4 u" and "Levitating", but decided on the former as the latter is a bit more 2020 than "good 4 u".

only because radio dropped DL after 10 weeks. If we remove all Xmas songs and Juice WRLD album, DL would be in the top 30 on Spotify. That's pretty huge for a one-year-old song.

True, but I think "good 4 u" will still be higher than that in the same amount of time. "drivers license" just fell hard on the Hot 100 after the first three months or so.

[tim]

While I might not like the song, this seems like a strong contender:

[phieaglesfan712]

Dec 12, 2021 18:15:53 GMT -5 CF15 said:

"good 4 u" is definitely far more iconic and year-defining than "drivers license". Longevity definitely separates the two ("good 4 u" actually lasted the 3-4 months of summer time near the top). I was torn between "good 4 u" and "Levitating", but decided on the former as the latter is a bit more 2020 than "good 4 u".

The summer had weak competition, and Stay’s release hurts G4u’s case. Stay has been bigger than G4u from the get-go. CLB caused G4u to fall off the Top 10 in Week 17, while Stay remained in the Top 5 throughout Red (TV), 30, and now the Christmas season.

[Deleted]

Dec 13, 2021 14:52:05 GMT -5 phieaglesfan712 said:

Dec 12, 2021 18:15:53 GMT -5 CF15 said:

"good 4 u" is definitely far more iconic and year-defining than "drivers license". Longevity definitely separates the two ("good 4 u" actually lasted the 3-4 months of summer time near the top). I was torn between "good 4 u" and "Levitating", but decided on the former as the latter is a bit more 2020 than "good 4 u".

The summer had weak competition, and Stay’s release hurts G4u’s case. Stay has been bigger than G4u from the get-go. CLB caused G4u to fall off the Top 10 in Week 17, while Stay remained in the Top 5 throughout Red (TV), 30, and now the Christmas season.

Did Red (TV) and 30 fill up nine of the top ten slots, though?

[mikerivera]

Dec 13, 2021 4:56:44 GMT -5 tim said:

While I might not like the song, this seems like a strong contender:

no.

[Deleted]

Dec 14, 2021 8:21:09 GMT -5 mikerivera said:

Dec 13, 2021 4:56:44 GMT -5 tim said:

While I might not like the song, this seems like a strong contender:

no.

Walker Hayes: The poor man's Sam Hunt.

[chanman]

I'm used to hip hop, so hearing Good 4 U did stand out for me.

[notgoodenglish]

Dakiti and Pepas

[inverse]

Seems like it's pretty obviously Good 4 U, Levitating might have been a bigger hit but it was already a fairly beloved song in 2020 & Good 4 U felt like the breakout smash that really belonged to 2021 and no other year.

Surprised at the lack of mentions for Industry Baby, Montero CMBYN is a decent pick too but feels a bit overshadowed in retrospect

For top 5 I'd say like

Good 4 U
Industry Baby
Levitating
Stay
Easy On Me

[Deleted]

I’ve got to say drivers license gets the W on this one. Sure, Good 4 U was a bigger hit, but part of its success was due to DL. I think the plan was for DL to only be on the radio for a short amount of time to get listeners hooked, but it was the song everybody was talking about for a very long time. Plus, I’ll hopefully get my drivers license in about 6 months, so this will be one of my favorite songs for life!!!

[phieaglesfan712]

Well, the BBMA’s proved that Stay was the defining song of 2021. Stay won the awards for Top Hot 100 song, top streaming song, top collaboration, Top Global 200 song, and Top Global excl-US song.

[Gary]

The BBMA year was from April 2021 to March 2022

So not quite 2021

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

also, defining ≠ biggest

[Fire]

Dec 10, 2021 23:29:07 GMT -5 Fire said:

drivers license for me

like, that was a moment when that song dropped and i still am stunned as to how much of a smash it was

i still stand by this

stay was definitely a huge hit and definitely the "biggest" hit released in 2021 but it just doesn't feel like a defining song of that year at all