As a look back on 2013, I decided to pick out my top 13 songs of the year.  These are not necessarily songs released in 2013, but songs that specifically resonated with me throughout the last year.

Enjoy.

13. The Boxer by Jerry Douglas feat. Paul Simon and Mumford & Sons

I really love the original by Simon & Garfunkel (how cool is that Bass Harmonica?), but I had to choose this version for its drive and anthemic take on the chorus.  I feel like I can relate to the lyrics, about being away from home (in the cold…haha), looking for a job in an unfamiliar place, and even when you get knocked down and want to just give up, standing strong.    This is a great example of great musicians interpreting a great song, and it really works!

Favourite Lyric:

“In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminder of every glove that laid him down and cut him, till he cried out in his anger and his shame ‘I am leaving I am leaving!’ but the fighter still remains.”

12. Edmund’s Song by Lindsey Minaker

Am I biased because I know the artist who wrote and recorded this song?  Maybe.  But just give it a listen, and you’ll understand why I love it so much!  I’m a big fantasy literature fan; it’s easy to get caught up in the stories of the noble heroes who never waver in their quests for good!  But I love the story of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, partly because of the very relatable character of Edmund Pevensie, who is enticed so easily by evil.  The story of Aslan’s sacrifice and Edmund’s redemption is such a beautiful retelling of the redemption I’ve received myself.  The song really personalizes that redemption, for both the singer and the listener.

Favourite Lyric:

“I have been saved forever by a king who would die for a traitor”

11. I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons

I had Mumford & Sons’ first album on repeat for a long time after I discovered them for the first time on the Grammy’s.  I was excited for their follow-up to Sigh No More, and while I don’t think Babel quite stacks up to the first album, this song stood out.  The writing of this album came largely out of the grueling tour schedule that the band was experiencing, and the song is about being away from those you love.
Over the last few years, I’ve really felt like I was in a place of waiting, not exactly sure what was going to happen next, and certainly not sure when.  When I finally felt that the time was right to make the trek west, it was not an easy move, but it was the right one.

I’ll always be able to identify with the feeling of missing someone that you love, because when I am east I miss the people in the west, and when I am west I miss the people in the east.  But in the end, I guess I’m just lucky to have so many great people in my life.

Favourite Lyric:

“These days of dust which we’ve known
will blow away with this new sun”

10.  Border Song (Holy Moses) by Aretha Franklin

Elton John’s original is good, and was one of his first hits in North America, but you just can’t beat Aretha Franklin in her prime!  What a voice!
Elton John has been quoted as saying that the song was written about the alienation Bernie Taupin felt in and about London at the time.  It’s a feeling I can relate to, with lots of changes in my life last year, and saying goodbye to Country Hills church and Kitchener, the song almost feels autobiographical.  With a lyric like “I’m going back to the border,” living in Lloydminster, how can I not feel a connection?

Favourite Lyric:

“I’m going back to the border
Where my affairs ain’t abused
I can’t take any more bad water
I’ve been poisoned from my head down to my shoes”

9.  Home by Phillip Phillips

I got to take a LONG road trip across Canada this past June all by myself.  I really enjoyed it, I’d never done a drive like that on my own, and it gave me the opportunity to make stops, and see things, and reflect.

It’s always felt like a homecoming when I turn down the road to Manitou Lake Bible Camp, but with my move to Saskatchewan this year, it felt like something even bigger.  So to have this song playing as I pulled into the camp felt very appropriate.  And the first thing anyone said to me when I walked into the dining hall was “welcome home”.  It couldn’t have been more poetic if I had planned it.

Through all the questions, and wondering about the when and where and what of living in Lloydminster I’ve had great people here to help me out!
Thanks to everyone who has been a part of making this place my new home!

Favourite Lyric:

“Settle down, it’ll all be clear.
Don’t pay no mind to the demons, they fill you with fear.
The trouble it might drag you down.  If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you’re not alone, cause I’m gonna make this place your home”

8.  Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) by Chris Tomlin

Like any summer working at camp, we have our share of trials and battles.  Sometimes the spiritual war becomes very visible to us staff, and there are many days when we come to the end of ourselves.  This song really stood as a reminder this past summer of the need to rely on God, and that he would never fail us, especially in those weeks where the battle seemed to start to overwhelm us, He never let us go, and we were victorious!

Favourite Lyric:

“I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies is always by my side”

7.  Forever Reign by Hillsong

I think this was like a theme song for our summer at MLBC.  Through the loss we experienced, through the weeks where we felt like we couldn’t go on, through the days when we wanted to quit, it was another reminder that we were not alone.

Favourite Lyric: 

“You are peace, You are peace when my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy, You’re the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life, in You death has lost its sting”

6.  Here’s To Us by Halestorm feat. Slash

I discovered Halestorm earlier in 2013 through a co-worker at Bulk Bar.  I absolutely love Lzzy Hale’s voice!  When it really comes down to it, it’s just a song about remembering the good times in life with your friends (kind of like my New Year’s Jar), and not letting the bad times drag you down.  I’ll drink to that!

The original has some swears, so I’ve posted the clean, “Glee” version for your listening pleasure.

Favourite Lyric:

“Stuck it out this far together, put our dreams through the shredder
Let’s toast cause things got better
And everything could change like that, and all these years go by so fast
But nothing lasts forever”

 

5.  Something Beautiful by needtobreathe

I really dig needtobreathe’s sound, and lyrics.  Some friends of mine got to see them live this past year, definitely jealous!  There’s just something about this song, about the desire to seek out something better than what we have here, that I really connect to.  I love the sound of desperation in Bear Rinehart’s voice as he sings out “I just want something beautiful!”  It’s a desperation I hope I can hold onto.

Favourite Lyric:

“And the water is risin’ quick, and for years I was scared of it
We can’t be sure when it will subside So I won’t leave your side, no I can’t leave your side”

4.  Shake It Out by Florence + The Machine

Florence Welch is such a unique artist!  I love how she expresses herself.  The song is a great expression of frustration with how hard it can be to move forward and past dark times in your life.  She sings “I’m always dragging that horse around…tonight I’m gonna bury that horse in the ground”

Its so easy to get stuck in our pasts.  But we are more than what we have done and we are more than what has happened to us.  A great reminder.

Also, a great song to dance to.

Favourite Lyric: 

“It’s hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off”

3.  Into The Woods by The cast of KWMP’s Into The Woods

It’s hard to pick just one song from this show, so here’s a medley from the Tony Awards in 1988.  It’s introduced by Angela Lansbury, so that’s a bonus.

I can’t express how much being in this musical meant to me.  The music, the story, the people I met, all changed my life.  I had come to a point where I had basically given up on Theatre in my life, and getting that call that I had gotten the Baker totally altered the course how I can see music & theatre in my future.

The themes of heading out into the unknown, loss, and wishing, were all very relevant as I changed the course of my life in moving west too!  Too bad there are no actual woods in Saskatchewan.

Favourite Lyric:

“Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood.
Do not let it grieve you, no one leaves for good.
You are not alone, no one is alone.”

“Into the woods you go again, You have to every now and then.
Into the woods, no telling when.  Be ready for the journey”

“The way is dark, the light is dim,
But now there’s you, me, her, and him.”

2.  Lord I Need You by Matt Maher feat. Audrey Assad

I first heard this song a few years ago when Chris Tomlin recorded it for a Passion album.  Matt Maher released a studio version this past year, and it re-introduced the song to me.
What I really love about this song is its simplicity, a cry out for help, and a reminder of why we need a saviour in the first place.
A moment that gave me shivers was at camp last summer, while leading this song, just stepping back from the microphone and hearing the voices raised singing out “Lord I need you, oh I need You, every hour I need You.” Absolutely beautiful!

Favourite Lyric:

“When I cannot stand I’ll fall on You
Jesus, You’re my hope and stay”

1. Wake Me Up by Avicii feat. Aloe Blacc

Where do I even start with this song?
Apparently, the combination of a Swedish DJ, the guitarist from Incubus, and a smooth-voiced soul vocalist, with a song that has been described as sounding like “Mumford and Sons on speed”, is musical gold.  Avicii and Mike Einziger wrote most of the music, and when they brought in Aloe Blacc to pen some lyrics, it all just clicked.

And it all just seemed to click for me too!

A good friend and I spent a lot of time this spring talking about how hard it is to be 27 (or more specifically, to be at that place we call “quarter-life”) It’s a place of uncertainty, of questions, of evolving hopes and dreams, and of lots of change.  Growing up is hard, and this song addresses some of these really universally felt ideas lyrically, in addition to having a super-infectious hook, beat and melody.

I love listening to this song, I love singing this song, and I love dancing to this song.  Wake Me Up is my number one song of 2013.

Favourite Lyric:

“All this time I was finding myself
And I didn’t know that I was lost”