Martin Canine's Top Ten Songs of 2013 (As of February 10th, 2018)

Okay, at this point in my retrospective series of best lists, it got really tough compiling my ten favorite tunes. After all, the oldest possible song picks were released more than five years in the past. I started making music lists sometime in 2015 (on other sites than TheTopTens, which I joined in mid-2016), but back in 2013, I just listened to the music I like without spending much of a thought on which songs I liked best. It did happen that I really loved a song that received much airplay back then, but didn’t buy it because it was already everywhere I went, but once the hype dropped off, I forgot about it despite it being absolutely great. For example: the German band Frida Gold was very popular in 2013, and back then, their hit single “Liebe ist meine Rebellion” was one of my favorite songs of the year. But then they somehow went off the radar with the music that followed, couldn’t continue their success, and their 2013 songs also didn’t receive any retrospective attention in the years to come, and with tons of other great music released month after month, I unfortunately kind of forgot about them, as I don’t own their album. To avoid something like this and don’t include a masterful song, I quickly checked out what were the 200 most successful songs of the year in my country (this is also how I re-discovered the group). Nevertheless, this is no guarantee that I didn’t overlook any song, but it still improves the overall quality. Frida Gold were shortlisted for my top ten songs of 2013, but eventually didn’t make it, because in the meantime I got to know other songs of the year that I like better. While most of the tunes I included on here are actually songs I like SINCE 2013, there are also some that I haven’t heard until three or four years later, which is also why I can’t stress enough that these lists are just what I regard as the best songs of the year at the very moment I release them.

So, 2013 was not only a tough choice because it was quite some time ago, it was also pretty hard to decide which songs get a spot in my ranking because several were really great. Rapper Shindy had released his chart topping debut album and caused the German hip hop scene to accept different styles than just gangsta and pop rap. Miley Cyrus departed from her previous image and while much of the focus was on her as a person, she matured as an artist and delivered some great singing. Justin Timberlake released not only one, but two full length albums to show us how much you can get out of pop music with sheer creativity. The ever brilliant lyricist Eminem crafted a sequel to his most classic album that surprisingly is indeed a sequel (maybe the sequel-that-actually-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-previous-installment thing only occurs when your last name happens to be Carter). And Avicii showed us how folk isn’t dead, but just got a certain update to fit into our modern time without losing its essence. Well, those were the artists that didn’t make it into my list although it really tore my heart out. But I only got ten spots, and I just had to decide, although it’s a close race.

Of course there will also be a post going along this list which explains in more detail why I picked these songs.

10. An Cafe - Inazuma no Senritsu
9. Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up)
8. Beyoncé feat. Frank Ocean - Superpower
7. Bushido - Leben und Tod des Kenneth Glöckler
6. Kanye West feat. Justin Vernon & Chief Keef - Hold My Liquor
5. Adel Tawil - Lieder
4. Idina Menzel - Let It Go
3. Tarja feat. Justin Furstenfeld - Medusa
2. Stromae - Papaoutai
1. Hozier - Take Me to Church

The Top Ten

1 Take Me to Church - Hozier