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The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2023

🕑 Added 2024-01-21 22:34:25 +0000 UTC

Comments

Arbor Rainier

oh wow no escapism is WILD

Irfan

W2NTWN

MikeVG

I thought that hashtag was about the whole Kanye thing in 2016

Nadine

Another year where I only know 5 out of the Top 10 🥲

Allison Driskill

Pedantic, but "Cruel Summer" isn't a breakup song. The Bananarama one is, but this is a flip on that concept - it's about falling in love at an inconvenient time. It's a cruel summer for her in general (the year of the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty), but it's a cruel summer with him, not without him.

Charles Kieser

Kinda curious, what are your thoughts on Zach Bryan?

RedBedroomRecords

I always hated that band and after WinstolnMarshall turned out to be a right-wing wackjob(he promoted fascist Andy Ngo's godawful book)i'm eternally grateful that I never liked them.

RedBedroomRecords

she's alright but as far as Disney stars-turned singers go she does not stand out much for me.

RedBedroomRecords

Dial Drunk just bores the shit out of me, can't recall ever hearing that one on many of my local stations. Personally I would've put that Selena Gomez song on the list over that crappy song.

Shiny Skunk

I completely fell for the Billie fakeout, btw. You fuckin goblin.

Shiny Skunk

Todd, for whatever it is worth, you are really fucking good at making these videos. This was funny, smart, well-written, and entertaining the whole way through. Also HELL YEAH, VICTORIA!

Joseph Hart-Winks

No Zach Bryan just feels wrong

Tristan Shelby

surprised boys a liar or escapism wasn't on here but other than that taste

Leo Prince

Yeah, Dial Drunk and Stick Season were big hits. Not to mention great songs.

Will Seamon

I’ve seen that #1 coming from a mile away, pretty much since it came out and Todd wouldn’t shut up about it on twitter. But I’m not complaining — it’s the most I’ve agreed with a #1 on the best list since probably Green Light by Lorde.

Will Seamon

whoa, never seen anyone else talk about her! Highly agree with this

Jackson S.

I still don't get the Sabrina Carpenter appeal

Jeremy Hanna

Not gonna lie, the fake out upset me.

Jeremy Hanna

Also, just realized "Todd in the Shadows" as an acronym is tits. Well.

Jeremy Hanna

I assume I'm not the only person with a TitS Best Song playlist? I'm excited to see the new additions

Juhani Aho

That #1...I forgive you Todd.

Kim P.

r/popheads is gonna eat this list up

stolitzsilas

We don't care if it's late, we love it! Thanks for your service Todd.

Moizza Khan

How could you snooze on "Snooze"? That was my number one tune. Way better than Olivia Roderigo's predictably rehashed 90s alt-rock.

Jack Levis

Agreed I wouldve replaced in your Mama with Rush personally

Adequately Sized Dog

I think there's a mixing error at the end when Olivia's music is too loud. Also, ever think of doing some sort of "Ask Todd in the Shadows" episode? A quick video where you reply to questions from social media (or just Patrons or whatever works). It could be something that'll take much less effort than having to research a new video to recover after doing the top 10s.

Alx

Time to update my playlist

The Hand Of The People

I think this is the first year in a while that I stood up and cheered for more than half the picks on this list

Joseph Petersen

Interesting... no Troye Sivan "Rush" in the top 10?

Judgesaturn507

I've just resigned myself at this point - the extended eligibility criteria makes it near impossible to predict what's going to be on here.

Katastrophe

A thing that has been true for me from the very first concert i attended is that even mid bands and music can be boosted a whole lot by being Good In Concert. I like a lot of bands and songs only because they were great live... i had like 7 concerts scheduled for 2019 because i assumed the world was ending from buu

Sadie S

I loved Mumford and Sons back in the day and had somehow never heard Noah Kahan before, so I'm really excited to check him out. Always here for more banjos in pop music.

Shosh

(a) I am so here for the Usher Renaissance (b) Where tf is Paint the Town Red

Erik Danielson

As much as I LOVE “bad idea, right?”, “get him back”is easily the standout from GUTS for me. Initially I was apprehensive about Olivia continuing in the rock influenced pop lane that she was in for SOUR but after hearing bad idea, right and get him back.. she can make all the rock influenced songs she wants cause they kick ass

Matt Evans

Yeah, if you wanna keep enjoying NewJeans, I highly recommend NOT listening to Cookie...

Erik Danielson

SAME

Erik Danielson

This list has 4 artists sho absolutely dominated my 2023 (Taylor, Lizzy McAlpine, Olivia, Sabrina), so therefore I am obligated to say 10/10, 0 notes on this list

Erik Danielson

As someone who has been on Team Lizzy McAlpine since I first heard her album five seconds flat, when you started talking about the surge of slower songs blowing up on Tik Tok, I was like “oh god, PLEASE tell me he’s gonna talk about ceilings”, and words can not describe the size of the smile that spread across my face when you revealed it as your #8. I saw Lizzy live in 2023, while obviously, the Eras Tour was the best concert I saw last year, I’d actually make the argument that I enjoyed the Lizzy Mcalpine show *more*. The Eras Tour is pure pop specticle and I love it for that, but I went into Lizzy’s show a fairly big fan and left a stan. It gave me such an appreciation for her as an artist and a performer

Anirien

I had a feeling you’d love Dial Drunk! I didn’t get into Noah till like October of this year, but that album is so damn good.

CarlWheezer24

Thank you for not putting that Ken song on the list. Overrated for 3/4, only good part is the ending

Thryn

is there a list of all the songs that stop on the word stop you have already?

Will E.

every year the ateez jumpscare gets longer and if the end up on a list one year I will have a mental collapse

Janel Brown

Love it! Thank you for continuing these! I thought your voiceover during the honorable mentions part was very soft and harder to hear.

Noah Ramon

LITERALLY punched the air on number one.

Matt Cramp

honestly, man, if there's one thing I hope you can take away from the whole thing a couple of months ago, it's that if you wanted to branch out and do non-music stuff for a bit, people would turn up. The thoroughness of your work is what gets people coming back, although also #4 was _very_ funny and that also helps a lot. I imagine it's the thoroughness that gets to you, though, and that's, uh, hard.

Kristen Boyer

The way I went "thank god" after the #4 reveal 😅 Will never doubt you again

Andrew Behm

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.3832185657.7946/bg,f8f8f8-flat,750x,075,f-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.jpg

Andrew Behm

Nooo pls don’t retire you’re so sexy aha

Zachary Grizzle

Subtitle at 28:50 needs an update- it misses the lyric change to "I'll die a drunk"

Joe Moyer

Good list. Hadn’t heard of Noah Kahan until his SNL performance, which was really good.

duke86fan

surprised by the lack of boy's a liar pt 2 on the list and for non hits that should be honorable mentions, rush by troye sivan or psychedelic switch by carly rae jepsen

David Claiborne

On a positive note: I had heard Stick Season and thought it was acceptable. But Dial Drunk is REALLY good!

Herbieguy98

"An Usher comeback is gonna happen." Damn it, Todd, don't use your reverse-card powers for evil!

David L. Lebovitz

Weird audio mix at 35:35. Otherwise, great list. The aughts alt-rock influence is part of it, but I don't think I've ever seen an artist express what it's actually like inside the head of an 18-20 year old better than Olivia Rodrigo -- trapped and thrashing but not in that artificial way of the people who influenced her.

nursermk

Surprised by a couple but appreciate your take on each selection, and I always learn something. Hoping once your energy returns you will take some chances and branch out on other subjects... Always look forward to the Best and Worst list; thanks for your hard work.

Jamie Pfent

Every year you keep pushing me with this Morgan Wallen business. I'm still hanging on though.

Omri Gropper

Fantastic video. One of your most thoughtful and uplifting video. Just the right balance of funny and thoughtful. All picks were great to be remminded of or introduced to. Absolutly nailed it with this one Todd!

Jonathan P

last year todd announced he was using some other list because Billboard's list "is full of Christmas songs and songs from last year"

NB

Also Todd, if you like Olivia Rodrigo, you need to check out Sydney Sprague. She’s excellent and I’d argue does this sound better and for longer.

NB

Noah Kohan, while good, is for people too scared to listen to Jason Isbell.

PuzzleTea

Noah Kahan!!!! OMG what a jump scare. I didn't realize his new album was popular enough to count for the list :D

David Claiborne

The Lizzy McAlpine song peaked at #54 and didn't make the YE list. How does it qualify?

Jason Schneiderman

I feel it's important to mention that Olivia Rodrigo's "get him back" is a sideways cover of "Pepper" by the Butthole Surfers.

Jay Dee

maybe the only year i didnt feel really any picks on this list (aside from billie ellish, of course. and supershy on the honoroble mentions) Then again, its getting way harder to even know what music is of the current year.

Sarah, the Creator

Nonsense and Cupid are both such simple and unpretentious but perfectly crafted pop earworms. Never got sick of either of them!

Jonathan P

Matchbox Twenty appears on a Todd in the Shadows Best of 2023 list? Matchbox Twenty is still making new music?!?

Lanth

I gasped and said "no Todd!" out loud at the number 5. I love how more off the wall this list gets every year though, I have a whole bunch of stuff to look up now.

Gemini Man

Thank you for your hard work Todd.

Taylor Abrahamse

Beyond that, take care of yourself, follow your bliss. You are not a slave to being a music critic if you don't want to be, or a slave to the drink. I'd say we're as much here for the music as we are for you, it won't all fall apart if you try new things this year that excite you.

Taylor Abrahamse

Edit suggestions - just a few! Little sound pop at 21:48, 22:01 could maybe use an audio fade cos of the cutoff breath. 22:35 audio pop. 34:45, music missing a fade and overlapping your speaking too much. Also, would be cool if the music disappeared on your 'fuck it its fine' and comes back again, just like the song. 34:47 audio pop. ... Lastly, maybe its youtubes encoder, but the video resolution seems a bit lower quality somehow that usual, even at 1080p? Especially in some of the music videos. Maybe export at a higher bitrate? idk.

Jonathan P

At 16:47 is the intention of that quick cut to come back to you already halfway through the word "genius"? Also I'm surprised that you had that and "Cupid" back to back without mentioning Sabrina was on a remix of "Cupid" for idiots like me who want all our songs in English.

Lizzy Gravelle

Excellent list, only right answers

Leo Prince

I admit I haven't heard any of the songs on this list that weren't on the year end, but you've convinced me to check them out, including your #1. I saw #10 coming and yeah it's nothing special, but it is one of her best hits in her catalog. An Usher comeback definitely needs to happen. Just don't do something like OMG ever again. #7 was a great song, it was great to see a K-Pop song blew up organically. #4 is the best song from that soundtrack (though not my favorite). And #2 is an incredible song and I missed that sound getting popular. Also loved the honorable mentions as well as the song from the piano intro and the outro song. Great list, worth the wait.

wassupmolly

number 1 is missing the number on the title card, otherwise great work! i appreciate all the stuff you make for us

Alina

You deserve your rest... after fixing errors, I guess? When subtitling Noah Kahan, you have "I'll dial drunk" for both that line and "I'll die a drunk". And at 34:35, right after you say "Olivia can curse", the music goes back to full volume while you're still talking. Ok, that's out of the way - Cupid? Nooooo. Maybe I'm just sick of it, because I swear, if I click on one more video or walk into one more store and some remix of Cupid is playing, I will shoot myself.

Zack

Great video, but you wrote "i dial drunk" twice instead of once. You also forgot the title card on 1.

Taylor Abrahamse

I think 'Cupid' has legs. Its too simple and universal not to, and the circular chord progression too familiar. Even just the three words 'I'm feelin lonely' have never been so clearly said in such an instantly grabbing way in a hit before. And the 'lonely' lands on the one, which gives it more umph, and thats certainly the word you'd want on the one in that sentence fragment. The group - yeah, I can see them not having staying power, absolutely... but the song will.

Taylor Abrahamse

Its officially been 20 years since Confessions, which was his Thriller in terms of success, and the law is whatever was cool 20 years ago gets recycled... so its prime Usher time. I feel like we're going to get all sorts of late 90's-mid00's throwbacks on the charts. But it won't last as long as our fixation on bringing back the 80's, cos the late 90's to mid 00's were also a fucking bloated bipolar mess for the music industry.

nostalgiatrip1

Thank you Todd!

Kamu

thank you todd for your hard work!!

Deanna Banana

Best birthday present 🥳

Jaszon Alexzander

Thanks for not going to sleep yet and pushing the button Todd ;p

Lilrq loves anime

I think the video got privated

Juliane Davis

fixitfixitfixit

Henry Kiley

TODD YOUR STICKS

Jaszon Alexzander

Gotta be 3 right? Going over.

Sarah, the Creator

Alright gang, over or under 2 country songs??

Charlie Lawton

Todd is intentionally torturing the people who instantly click on the link... hope it's not private soon.

Julian

Can't wait to watch it! Video is marked as Private though so I can't

The Dopefish

I respect your commitment to the bit by having numbers 10-8, 6-4 and 2-1 all being 'Bitch I'm a Cow'.

Joshua Ambrose

Todd you ninny! The video is private! …you’re not a ninny. I apologize. I just need your opinion otherwise how do I know what to think about pop music?

Neo Ultra Mike

Yeah same hope that is fixed soon.

Paul Looney

Todd, I just want you to know that I genuinely screamed when I saw this. Thank you for your hard work as always. <3 (Also, the video's still on private.)