2022 in: songs that defined the year
Hey friends, glad to see you here! Welcome to a/the [lol] Yearender! This year has mostly been about consuming media & constantly finding things to like and feeling a lot of feelings about said media/things, so—I hope you find something new/useful/relatable in this list! -K
We had good music this year—lots of good music. In fact, my favorite part of this year is, hands down, discovering new music to play while working at home or walking to work. But there’s just something about some of these songs in that they tug harder at a listener’s heartstrings.
This is that list. This year: A mix of local, k-pop (of course), songs about love. In general.
Rec your end of year playlist by leaving a comment :)
Anyway, onto the list:
Girls Generation - Forever 1
Oh, I was obsessed with this. I was completely out of their orbit during their heydays in the late-00’s/early 10’s, but thankfully, I did not miss this comeback marking fifteen years since their debut. As far as SNSD is concerned, they have nothing more to prove—and I do love an anthem that celebrates longevity and friendship, above all. Something about girls being in long-term friendships really does it for me.
I have three songs from our favorite Bangtan boys, who had a MASSIVE year. It’s been an emotional 2022, with Jin finally entering military service this month, and RM releasing his amazing no-skip debut studio album, Indigo.
Anyway, there’s always something so sincere and heartfelt about their songs. I remember when the ‘Permission to Dance’ MV dropped and they had all these people taking off their masks, ready to emerge from the pandemic, and I was like, how is this so emotional?? It’s like, a BTS song knows exactly when to find you.
I’m glad their tracks found me again this year. Some standouts for me:
BTS - Yet To Come
This opens with the fist-to-chest line, Was it honestly the best? and truly, every single elder millennial bone and cell in my body proceeded to have an existential crisis. Like, simultaneously. This really felt like a song for someone who’s ready to turn a page and usher in a new era.
BTS Jin - Astronaut
YO THIS SONG. I have a space-feels playlist (about feelings and outer space in general?? Doesn’t everyone??) and this one is definitely on it. Jin really released a song about a lonely traveler going on a solo adventure and I’m just—shaking and crying at all of it, just thinking about it. When I’m with you, there is no one else. From Super Tuna to this—the whiplash.
BTS RM - Wild Flower
NAMJOON my god, where do I begin with Namjoon??? I haven’t watched this video in full without it blurring over.
Anyway—four tracks from my beloveds. It’s been a massive year for TWICE as well—I suppose I could do a separate yearender just tracking all the things they’ve done this year: they staged their world tour (Dec 2021-May 2022), released Nayeon’s solo album (June), launched a Japanese comeback album (July), renewed their contracts (!!!) (July), released their Korean comeback (August-September) and marked their seventh anniversary with a five-day fan meeting in Japan (October)—at this very busy rate, this year had considerably fewer comebacks (they had six comebacks in 2021—SIX! crazy) but this year, in between music schedules, they managed to also have some visibility as models and endorsers (Sana for Prada in Italy in September was CRAZY, and of course, Mina for Metrocity throughout the year has been a gift that keeps on giving), more solo OSTs for Jihyo and more melody projects for Dahyun.
In any case, this shortlist has been hard to whittle down to just four, but I sure as hell tried.
TWICE - Celebrate
This song dropped the week that TWICE renewed their contracts—so it’s just fitting that Chaeyoung opens it with, Tonight, we celebrate our love—after all this time, we’re still together. It’s crazy. It’s the title track of their Japanese album of the same name (a no-skip banger, if I may note here), and from the first note, I am in love. Like, for real. It’s the sound, it’s the lyrics. It’s really something… celebratory haha. It sounds like an honest-to-goodness celebration anthem, and I love how unapologetic it is about that, and I love how the girls are as obsessed with each other as I am about them?? I mean, good for you guys??
My favorite exchange is between Sana and Jeongyeon: No matter what happens, we'll face each other / Even on days when you smile, even on days when you cry—because! It’s an acknowledgment that there are days when the going isn’t easy! And isn’t that the main thing? Soldiering on through and despite? Also: Jeongyeon last chorus. I remember watching this when it dropped at midnight Japan time, we totally lost it when we saw Jeongyeon do the last chorus. Tears in our eyes, definitely.
TWICE - When we were kids
I definitely had a hard time choosing which track from their Korean album, “Between 1 & 2” to put here, so I’m going for the track I wish more people loved. Dahyun wrote ‘When We Were Kids’ before they renewed their contracts, so I suppose that contributed a lot to the emotional quality of this—it wields the nostalgia and the longing like a double-edged sword, both looking forward and looking back. Equal parts acknowledgment and aspiration. Wish I could meet the younger me, the girls sing, and I’m like, oh man. In many ways, it feels like this song and ‘Yet To Come’ are both sides of the same elder millennial having a midlife crisis-coin.
TWICE Nayeon - Love Countdown
As the first TWICE member to release her own solo, Im Nayeon set the bar pretty high. Her title track, ‘POP!’ is totally the soudtrack of my 2022. Like, if you were to play it years later, it would transport me to the halfway mark of 2022, no fail. And since we’re all already familiar with ‘POP!’, I figured I’d list down a different song, and I chose ‘Love Countdown,’ a collaboration with Wonstein, and for which Nayeon has song writing credits.
TWICE Jihyo - Stardust love song
Also among the songs that filled our playlists this year were Jihyo’s OST songs—she did ‘Stardust Love Song’ for the popular K-drama Twenty five, Twenty One; ‘I Fly’ for her best friend Kim Sejeong’s show, Today’s Webcomic; and most recently, ‘A Strange Day’ for Summer Strike.
I personally think it’s a great direction for Jihyo’s career (also awating her solo in 2023 with fingers crossed and breaths held, etc) as her voice is perfect for these ballads, and I look forward to more OSTs in the years to come.
I have also picked out two OPM tracks for this list:
Nica del Rosario - Balang Araw
One of this year’s biggest heartbreaks for me is when we had to skip Nica’s 12th anniversary concert because I was down with Covid :( But still, I’m loving this song that talks about an “eventually”—not simply a “someday”, but an eventuality. I hope. The fight continues.
BINI - Huwag muna tayong umuwi
YO I LOVE BINI. I think their songs are catchy, and that they are talented as hell. This song is actually also a Nica song—which is GREAT because it is so queer-woman coded!!! I love that entire “hey let’s hang on to this day a little longer” vibe—it’s so lesbian lol I LOVE IT (and this darlentina fan edit to the song—hello). I remember when C first played this out loud in our room—her Release Radar had just dropped, and I just had to ask, Who is that!?! It was love at first listen. Still in love with it at this very moment.
And three Western artists!
Oh Wonder - Magnificent
We caught Oh Wonder’s concert at Filinvest Tent earlier this year, and it’s definitely one for the books. They played songs from their latest album “22 Make”, and talked about their journey from playing together, getting together, nearly breaking up, writing what is technically a break-up album and eventually getting married (and food poisoned in Boracay LOL). What a duo. I remember the two of them clarifying that they were just bandmates when I first saw them live five years ago… how far they have come :)
I have a recording of their live rendition of ‘Magnificent’—hands down, the best four minutes my phone is housing at the moment. Here’s a better view from the same night. :)
Taylor Swift - Labyrinth
It’s hard to choose just one fave from Taylor’s latest album “Midnights”—so I’m going with the one with the catchiest line: Uh-oh, I’m falling in love / Oh no, I’m falling in love again. Oh, the helplessness. How relatable.
Carly Rae Jepsen - Surrender my Heart
Capping off this list with a track from our queen, CRJ—I have no words for how excited I was when she was finally announced as a headliner for next year’s Wanderland!!! Our bodies (and hearts!) are ready!!!!
If you got this far—thank you very much! I tend to ramble about things I really like, and I really liked these things I listed above, hehe. Hope this has been useful. :) Still working on a couple more yearenders—I am optimistic I will be able to finish them in time. Fingers crossed.
Have a good 2023, friend! See you around.
XO,
K