ThE bEsT 75 sOnGs Of 2022 & wRiTiNg ExCiTiNg iNtRoDuCtiOnS | Sound of Pen

How do the best songs of 2022 help us make sense of the texts we’re studying at school? Look at the list of our top 75 tracks of the year – then have a go at the activities at bottom of this page!

MUSIC FOCUS: Years & Years; LOLO; Maggie Lindemann; Against The Current; Machine Gun Kelly; Sigrid; Bring Me The Horizon.
ACTIVITY FOCUS: You will write introductions that sum up your feelings about your favourite music. You will then see how these introductions (with just a couple of tiny tweaks) will work as original and exciting openings to the essays you’re being asked to write at school.

You can listen to the soundtrack of the year while you work!

75. One Step Closer: ‘Dark Blue’
74. Yours Truly: ‘Careless Kind’
73. Cavetown: ‘1994’
72. Future Palace: ‘Dead Inside’
71. Movements: ‘Barbed Wire Body’
70. MUNA: ‘Kind Of Girl’
69. Crawlers: ‘Fuck Me (I Didn’t Know How To Say)’
68. VV: ‘Loveletting’
67. girli: ‘I Really F**ked It Up’
66. Exit Dream: ‘last cadence’
65. Crosses: ‘Vivien’
64. sadeyes: ‘jaded’
63. Sueco: ‘Loser’
62. Elton John feat. Britney Spears: ‘Hold Me Closer’
61. Scene Queen: ‘Pink-G-String’
60. Static Dress: ‘such.a.shame’
59. Charlotte Sands: ‘Dress’
58. My Chemical Romance: ‘The Foundations Of Decay’
57. VUKOVI: ‘I EXIST’
56. Lauren Hibberd feat: Viji: ‘Hot Boys’
55. Stephany Joanna: ‘cry 4 u’
54. Palaye Royale: ‘Lifeless Stars’
53. Brutus: ‘What Have We Done’
52. Enter Shikari & WARGASM: ‘The Void Stares Back’
51. Ethel Cain: ‘American Teenager’
50. Jimmy Eat World: ‘Something Loud’
49. Bush: ‘More Than Machines’
48. Machine Head: ‘SLAUGHTER THE MARTYR’
47. Cassyette: ‘Sad Girl Summer’
46. Boston Manor: ‘Passenger’
45. Leah Kate: ’10 Things I Hate About You’
44. Hundred Reasons: ‘Glorious Sunset’
43. Waterparks: ‘SELF-SABOTAGE’
42. Magnolia Park: ‘Don’t Be Racist’
41. Prospa: ‘Make The Night Last’
40. Halsey: ‘So Good’
39. Pretty Sick: ‘Human Condition’
38. Deaf Havana: ’19Dreams’
37. Goalkeeper: ‘Sooner’
36. Carline Hanson: ‘Girls In Line For The Bathroom’
35. John Floreani: ‘Good Boy’
34. Hot Milk: ‘The King and Queen of Gasoline’
33. Wet Leg: ‘Being In Love’
32. Ava Max: ‘Maybe You’re The Problem’
31. Dayseeker: ‘Crying While You’re Dancing’
30. The Big Moon: ‘Wide Eyes’
29. Kim Petras: ‘If Jesus Was A Rockstar’
28. Frank Turner: ‘A Wave Across A Bay’
27. Dashboard Confessional: ‘Everyone Else Is Just Noise’
26. Taylor Swift: ‘Carolina’
25. Rina Sawayama: ‘This Hell’
24. Holly Humberstone: ‘London Is Lonely’
23. Paramore: ‘This Is Why’
22. Bring Me The Horizon: ‘sTraNgeRs’
21. Holding Absence: ‘Coffin’
20. Trophy Eyes: ‘Nobody Said’
19. chloe moriondo: ‘Fruity’
18. Charli XCX: ‘Good Ones’
17. Royal & The Serpent: ‘THAT SUX’
16. Black Veil Brides: ‘Saviour II’
15. Pale Waves: ‘Jealousy’
14. Sam Smith & Kim Petras: ‘Unholy’
13. Bow Anderson: ‘Selfish’
12. Sophie Powers feat: Satori Zoom: ‘You Love It’
11. Lauv: ‘All 4 Nothing (I’m So In Love)’
10. Tate McRae: ‘she’s all i wanna be’
9. Lady Gaga: ‘Hold My Hand’
8. Maggie Lindemann: ‘Cages’
7. YUNGBLUD, ‘The Funeral’
6. The Summer Set & Chrissy Costanza: ‘Teenagers’
5. Years & Years: ‘Sooner Or Later’
4. Machine Gun Kelly: ‘Twin Flame’
3. Against The Current: ‘Wildfire’
2. Sigrid & Oli Sykes: ‘Bad Life’
1. LOLO & Maggie Lindemann: ‘debbie downer’

ACTIVITY 1

We have written an intro (in pink) that summarises our thoughts about each of the year’s top 5 songs. We have then picked out a quote (in red) we would use if we wanted to support that intro with evidence – and we’ve made a note of the techniques we would analyse.

Your job is to then think about which A-Level text that same intro seems relevant to. Rewrite the intro – simply changing the writer’s name and text name to suit the text you’re linking to. Then pick a quote from the text and make a note of the techniques you would analyse within that quote!

See the ‘Years & Years’ model (the sections in orange) for an example of what you’re aiming to do.

Then, look at MGK, ATC, Sigrid and LOLO reviews. Adapt our intros to match a text of your choice.

The aim is to give you some new ideas for your essay writing, to show you how adaptable good ideas are and to give you the nuts and bolts you need for an intro and tt least half a brilliant opening paragraph!

5. Years & Years: ‘Sooner Or Later’

In defining love as fatal – yet somehow also fabulous – Olly Alexander does what the most thrilling, most romantic art has done since the beginning of time. ‘Sooner Or Later’ is the sound of us dancing towards our doom.

Years & Years Evidence: “you’ll be the death of me / sooner or later” – pronoun/hyperbole/adverbs = responsibility/extent of pain/inevitability

In defining love as fatal – yet somehow also fabulous – F.Scott Fitzgerald does what the most thrilling, most romantic art has done since the beginning of time. ‘The Great Gatsby’ is the story of us dancing towards our doom.

Fitzgerald evidence: “boats against the current” – metaphor/preposition/metaphor = small & vulnerable/effort & strength/inevitable

4. Machine Gun Kelly: ‘Twin Flame’

In capturing that multi-layered feeling of standing on the edge of commitment, ‘Twin Flame’ proves that falling in love is both easy and not easy at all! An ode for the ages.

MGK Evidence: “I cannot kiss you yet, you’re magic” – negative verb form//pronoun/metaphor = fear & putting lover on pedestal / all-consuming/fantasy of love & appearance vs. reality.

In capturing that multi-layered feeling of standing on the edge of commitment, ‘________’ proves that falling in love is both easy and not easy at all! An ode for the ages.

(Author) Evidence:

TIP: If you’re studying ‘Othello’, maybe you want to think about this quote: “chains of magic”. If you’re studying ‘The Great Gatsby, this quote might be interesting to consider: “He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God.”

3. Against The Current: ‘Wildfire’

It’s easy not to notice that the people who are meant to be looking out for you aren’t actually looking out for you. Against The Current’s ‘Wildfire’ is a lesson in taking control before you stop noticing that you have none.

Against The Current Evidence: “I keep feeling the flames ’bout to boil my blood / Oh, kingdom getting so tired” – fricative alliteration/metaphor/plosive alliteration/symbolism = frustration / danger & intensity / force of feeling / archaic ideals.

It’s easy not to notice that the people who are meant to be looking out for you aren’t actually looking out for you. _______’s ‘_______’ is a lesson in taking control before you stop noticing that you have none.

(Author) Evidence:

TIP: If you’re studying ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, maybe you want to think about this quote: “in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it”.

2. Sigrid feat. Oli Sykes: ‘Bad Life’

Just because no one can see the sharks doesn’t mean they’re not there. You know it. And Sigrid knows it too. ‘Bad Life’, though, is a crucial reminder that we can survive the infested waters.

Sigrid Evidence: “Head above water in a swimming pool of sharks” – preposition/metaphor/metaphor = determination & potential/ironic – swimming pool is a human construct and designed for fun & relaxation/extremely dangerous.

Just because no one can see the sharks doesn’t mean they’re not there. You know it. And ________ knows it too. ‘________’, though, is a crucial reminder that we can survive the infested waters.

(Author) Evidence:

TIP: If you’re studying ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, you might consider this quote: “Well, he’s not going to marry her. Maybe he was, but he’s not going to jump in a tank with a school of sharks–now!”

1. LOLO feat. Maggie Lindemann: ‘Debbie Downer’

‘debbie downer’ is an anthem for all the girls who ever got told they were too much – when really it was all the others who weren’t enough.

LOLO/Lindemann Evidence: “That girl is too aggressive, too, too aggressive” – adverb/adjective/repetition = excessive in context of expectations & male-devised standards/negative interpretation/overbearing & controlling.

‘________‘ is an ________ for all the girls who ever got told they were too much – when really it was all the others who weren’t enough.

(Author) Evidence:

TIP: If you’re studying ‘Othello’, you might want to link to this moment when Desdemona says, “Alas, she has no speech.” Then Iago replies, “In faith, too much;”.

ACTIVITY 2

Consider the fact that all your favourite music, books, TV shows and films are constructed around ideas and concerns that connect to the ideas and concerns at the heart of your A-Level texts. Think about this while you’re reading/watching/listening whatever it is you’re reading/watching/listening! Come up with an intro that summarises the concerns of your favourite song (or album or whatever). Then think about how that same intro would work as a powerful opening to an A-Level-related essay!!

Enjoy our favourite albums of 2022, then have a look back at our favourite EPs/abums of 2021 and the songs we loved most in 2020!