NPR Music - Our no. 1 songs: 2024

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

In our final look back at our number one songs from the past 25 years, we visit Modesto, take an existential stroll through Petco, and find it all so confusing.Note: This is a recurring series in celebration of All Songs Considered’s 25th anniversary. A shorter version of this episode ran earlier in the year.Leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with a friend.Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Stephen Thompson. Hello, Robin. We made it. We did. Not just to the end of the year, 2025, but to the end of our look back at the past 25 years of all songs considered. It's for our anniversary this year. I look forward to never reflecting on anything ever again. Well, we've been doing a lot of reflecting looking back at our number one songs from each year.

All of our picks and the Empire Music team's picks for 2025 are up. They're out in the world. People can go online or listen to earlier episodes of this podcast. to hear what's on those lists. But we have one more year from our anniversary shows that we need to do, and it's 2024. I've got a couple things that I immediately think of for 2024, but why don't you go first?

And this is sort of your last chance to play Stump the Chump with a song that I can't even remember or never heard even though it was just a year ago. You know, I'm going to go, oh, man, there's so many directions I could go because there were so many great, like, big monoculture pop hits and also just songs that wrecked me in various ways,

which I'm sure we're going to get to. But I think I'm just going to go with this banger, and I bet you don't know this song. Well, you're correct. Oh, well, this does sound really familiar. Don't know it. This is a song called. called Highlands by the band Middle Kids.

Oh, yeah, I know Middle Kids. And Australian band, and Middle Kids is one of these bands. They've been floating around for years. And every single time they put out a song or an album, I hear it and I'm like, this is phenomenal. Who is this? Oh, right, a band I already love. A band I already love.

And this particular song, to me, the fact that this song has not been, like, widely embraced by the entire world as one of the... the greatest most inspirational songs in the history of the universe is beyond me. I thought for sure you might go with Maddie Diaz's God Person. Oh my God, that song? Is that your favorite song, would you say, of 2024? Talk about songs that just wreck me, songs that make me cry every time. You and I have bonded over our shared love of this song,

to the point where I was almost a little hesitant to bring it just because you and I have, I think, on a podcast, openly wept listening to that song. Yeah. Godperson, Maddie Diaz, I could very, very, easily pick that, but I'm going to go with this one that I'm pretty sure you're going to know. Modesto. Oh, he says the name right there. That does help narrow it down from Pedro the Lion.

Most I worked a vacuum cleaner salesman job. Men I later recognized in Glen Gary Glenn. I only sold one. She couldn't afford it. She rode out the check and burst out the sobbing. This song, kind of like the one you played, for me, it just keeps building. And by the end, I think life is beautiful and I want more. And it's really, it's just a simple story that he tells about how he came to art,

music and to appreciate things like that and follow that as a career and life path for him. But really, the song is about chasing dreams, youthful idealism, and how you hold on to those dreams as you get older. You know, it's like for most people, all those dreams don't always come true. And, you know, I guess this song is kind of a reminder that sometimes they do in small ways that you're not even aware of. And I don't know. This song kind of crushes me in the best way.

I mean, David Bazzan has been crushing me in the best way since the early days of Pedro the Lion in the 90s. And he's continued to be such a vital songwriter. And he's had this string of albums, each of which is kind of named for a different place in his life, where he's reflected on his childhood and his behavior. And a truly, truly gifted storyteller, too. Yeah. Yeah. Then he handed me a tape and headphones pacing by the speakers in the age.

Was a beautiful, hilarious tragic mess that sent tears streaming down my face. Grab me by the lapels, stood me up and put a four track in my hand and told me, son, make all the mess you can. advantage to me and I'm gonna find out of Seattle be the drummer in a band there's a girl from there that Friday's on my

lunch break I write letters too and I think she likes me too and I'm gonna find out I'm gonna go to Bible college all my cousins

die in my mobile way speeding on I know I'm okay we need to take a quick break here but when we come back, we'll have more songs that remind us of 2024. What else do you think of when you think of 2024?

Well, I certainly think of a number of huge pot-banger, some of which are so ubiquitous that I'm not going to punish people by playing them, like espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, a song that I actually really love, but upon the like 490 octillionth listen have started to wear on me a little bit. I mean, the entirety of Charlie X, CX's brat, you know, was... Oh, girl's so good. Girl so confusing, the one featuring, especially the remix of it that features Lord. It's so confused.

Yeah. Is a song that I just felt was like a real revelation in 2024 and so crucial to anyone, anyone interested in experiencing empathy for pop stars should listen to that song. But while we're talking about songs that wreck us, man, you know, I could talk about great grandpa and their song, Kid, which was probably my favorite. song of 2024. But I really want everyone to hear this song by Omar Apollo from his album, God said no. If he die underneath this tree, giving life to with the leaves. Yeah, I actually only have a couple of songs of his from this record, and this is one of them.

It's plain trees, right? Plain trees featuring Mustafa. Yeah. who is a wonderful, wonderful singer in his own right. And when his voice comes in in a later verse, it will wreck you even more than the rest of this song. And, you know, it's this song and this line that comes through in the chorus over and over again. Our presence made the ground glow.

Our presence made the ground glow. And, you know, when you're reflecting, like on breakups or, you know, or hardships or just people you miss and you think about them, when you're looking at those relationships in a warm and wistful and maybe even grief-stricken way, that is such a beautiful way of describing how like a strong memory of a personal or romantic connection can feel. And so this song for me is just like, it is, it's a feelings bomb in the best way. And just, God, the way their voices come together. So beautiful.

Everybody should love this song. I know this stuff hasn't really been out that long, and it seems kind of silly to get terribly nostalgic for it. But I thought for sure you were going to go with this. Petco? Yeah. Like Cassandra Jenkins? Yeah.

Oh, my God. You talk about an artist who can capture every complicated feeling or idea. In the tiniest detail? Yeah, like walking through a pet co. Walking through a Petco, staring into the eyes of a lizard and contemplating whether you're able to take care of another living thing. Right. Which is, like, if I'm in a, I go to Petco all the time because I have a cat. Yeah.

And I still contemplate whether I'm able to. I have two children. They're adults. And we hadn't really played her, so I thought for sure. Well, I guess we did. We mentioned hard drive. Yeah, we mentioned Hard Drive in a previous. one of the best songs of the 21st century.

Oh, so good. I would also mention Laura Marling's patterns. Oh, that song. Z. You're squared your toes, but your friend. Linnos hangs around. You still live forever. Dinos.

The ground. Evermore. relief and repeat can begin Really, really beautiful You didn't mention Good luck, babe

Yeah, well, we talked about Chaparone We talked about Chaparone. We talked about Chaparone. But certainly that song, man, what a piece of songwriting. It's fine. It's cool.

Yes, I... But we'll go out on this. And normally I would say until next time, Stephen, but this is it. We're out of years. There will be no years. There will be no more years.

No more. Be no more years. No more years, no more music. But thanks so much, Stephen. As always. Thank you, Robin. And for NPR music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's all songs considered.