25 Songs I Couldn't Stop Listening to in 2013

Who doesn’t love a numbered list to round out the year and bring in the new?  I’ve spent a lot of time listening to music this year, a lot more than previous years and I have to say that it’s done me well.  I’ve expanded my horizons and found that I do really enjoy listening to pop/r&b/rap if I take the time to really listen to the content and not rush to conclusions like I have been known to do previously.  This year I’ve also found that I’m pretty much in love with Luke Bryan and would love to be a part of his tour somehow, even if I was the one to fetch beer for the band and crew!  2013 has taught me that country music is a part of me and will always be the one I turn to when I need a pick me up in a rough time.

So, because I’ve spent so much time listening to music, I should have a fairly easy time picking my top 25…right? Not hardly! This was probably one of the hardest lists I’ve had to complete myself because I enjoyed so much music this year.  Several songs on this list weren’t released in 2013 but somehow found their way into the list one way or another because I discovered some songs I either forgot about or might have overlooked from years previous. 

Without further ado, here’s my list of 25 songs I couldn’t stop listening to in 2013!

25. Up All Night | One Direction I can't lie, it's catchy and makes me want to stay up all night and dance!

24. Pledge Allegiance to the Hag | Eric Church I have an obsession with Eric Church. Not nearly as much as my obsession with Luke Bryan but it's still there. I just love this song, pure Eric Church paying homage to one of my favorite outlaws in country music, Merle Haggard.

23. Downtown | Lady Antebellum Ever since I heard this play on the radio I've loved it; It's super fun to dance and sing along to in the car while stuck in traffic...downtown. See what I did there?

22. Bait a Hook | Justin Moore I've got an obsession with Justin Moore too. What can I say, I love country music and the fellas that sing it!  I like to sing this song by switching the lyrics up a bit, so it sounds like a woman is singing it about a man instead of vice versa.

21. Do My Thang | Miley Cyrus Don't roll your eyes! Let me explain.  Although I don't agree with the way that Miley has done some things in the past year, I really enjoyed her new album, and out of all the songs this one got the most attention from me.  No reason, I just like the beat and I find it fun to jam out to in the car.

20. 400 Lux | Lorde She's just amazing and I love all of her music. It was seriously difficult to pick just one of her songs!

19. It’z Just What We Do | Florida Georgia Line What's that? No obsession with these boys? Oh no, it's in the works, check back in a few more months. If I recall, this was one of the first FGL songs I heard that wasn't on the radio.  Let me be honest: when Cruise first hit the radio scene, I hated it.  This song however, showed me how much FGL has to show for their talent.

18. Roar | Katy Perry Katy made up the majority of my "CALM THE EFF DOWN" playlist that I would listen to on the way to work when my anxiety was in overload.  When Roar came out I might have played it on repeat for an entire day because it's just that good and it got me pumped to go to work at 5:30 in the morning.

17.  Truck Yeah | Tim McGraw I will always love Tim.  Always.  I just really loved this song and might have blown one of my speakers out in my car because I played this one a few too many times at max. volume.

16. Here’s to Never Growing Up | Avril Lavigne Catchy to dance to in the car and a must on my cleaning playlist!

15. Hell on Heels | Pistol Annies First off, can we talk about how fricking wonderful and clever the band name is? Because it's my favorite band name, ever.  Hell on Heels is just...buh, I don't know how to say it. It's just something I enjoy listening to and can relate to in a weird way that doesn't involve pink guitars, Lincoln town car, or a yacht. Oh, and because it reminds me of some of the older country ballads just by the instrumental focus on this song.

14.  Lutheran Swag | Agape When I first heard this I was in the Superdome in New Orleans in July of 2012 with 33,000 other Lutherans, most of which were youth.  I didn't really like it at first, to be honest.  I guess after I came home and listened to it again I actually really liked it because over a year later I'm still listening to it!

13.  Kings & Queens | Audio Adrenaline I fell in love with Audio Adrenaline with this song.  I found it on a local Christian radio station while I was driving one afternoon.  I didn't catch the name or the band when I first heard it due to the commercials.  If I'm ever in a low mood this song really picks me up. I loved it so much that I even bought the album!

12. Thrift Shop – feat. Wanz | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Spent entirely too many late summer nights driving around town blaring this in our cars and singing along to it with my friends.  I think I love it because of the ridiculous memories it brings me from summer.

11. Barefoot Blue Jean Night | Jake Owen I have a very, very, very minor obsession with Jake Owen. I think he's super underrated in the country music realm and would very much love to see him sky rocket in 2014 and really show all the potential I see in him and his music.  Also another song that I used to spend hours listening to while driving, especially during the summer.

10.  Made in America | Toby Keith My love for Toby Keith is completely irreplaceable let alone specifically repeatable to another person in country music.  I was over the moon ecstatic when Made in America came out.  I just love it!

9.  Kiss My Country Ass | Blake Shelton I fell in love with this song when I heard it on Pandora on my Barefoot Blue Jean Night radio.  But then I kind of forgot about it for a while.  Until I went to a club. Yep. A club. Club Rodeo was my first clubbing experience and I went with one of my closet friends, Kayla.  The reason I even remember that night (because my anxiety was so terrible I like to not think about it at all) was when I poorly two stepped with a guy to this song and we ended up just focusing on singing along the best we could in key with Blake.

8.  DONE. | The Band Perry This was one of my "I don't care where I go as long as I'm on the road" songs.  It made for a great karaoke sesh with Kayla too!

7.  You Never Let Go | Matt Redman I've listened to this song so many times since January and it's gotten me through a lot of the toughest moments I've had to go through in my life, just in this year.  I'm so blessed for my worship outreach friends that taught me this song.

6. Homeboy | Eric Church I told you I had an obsession! This is my favorite Eric Church song, and I particularly like the live version of it as well.

5. Lightening | Alex Goot This one has been on many playlists in 2013 including all of the ones I have mentioned in this list and several more.  I love dancing and singing along to it!

4.  Furious | Jeremy Riddle Another one that my worship outreach friends told me about and has helped lift me up on many of my blue days.

3.  Express – Burlesque Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Christina Aguilera Because I love the beat and of course I dance to it in the car. No other reason, really. Well unless you want to count that if I could actually dance, I would dance up a storm to this song.

2.  The Only Way I Know (with Luke Bryan and Eric Church) | Jason Aldean Three men that I love on one track? Of course it's on this list! Definitely one of my top favorite country songs, ever. And believe me, that's something for me to say!

1. Drink a Beer | Luke Bryan This was the first song off of Luke Bryan's newest album that I connected to.  I don't know how many times I listened to it on repeat and cried. Hell, I'm ready to cry just thinking about the song lyrics and how much they convey.

A note: I only put one song by Luke Bryan on the list because I’ve listened to his music so much it would have taken the whole list with his new album this year and his older songs.  The one I did chose however means a lot to me and I think it’s a good song for nearly everyone to listen to.

Also, I just realized that I could probably turn this into a country music blog if I really wanted to.  I don't think it'll ever happen; just know that I have plenty of blogging ideas to fall back on if I need to!

What are some of your most played songs in 2013?