Almost impossible to follow up the best ALBUMS OF THE DECADE list we've seen this decade (SO FAR), but here are our favorite songs of the past 10 years, lovingly culled from a running list of over 500 tracks, all of which we adore. The absurdity of ranking songs occurred to us often while making this (and every other) list, but we can assure you there were no spreadsheets, no meetings, no overwrought blurbs, and absolutely no voting involved here; these are just my favorites*. It's also worth mentioning that everything that ends up on this site on a daily basis is among my favorite songs that I encounter in a given year, so if you're curious what fell just beyond the top 100, you can browse the archives + our previous year-end best songs lists here. Here are the songs that defined the past decade for us:

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[*no Luminelle releases allowed]

50 JAMIE XX | Gosh

49 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER | I Only Have Eyes For You

48 FAYE WEBSTER | Remember When

47 YAEJI | Raingurl

46 USHER | Climax

45 D'ANGELO | The Charade

44 DANNY BROWN | Ain’t It Funny

43 ANGEL OLSEN | Sweet Dreams

42 ALVVAYS | Archie, Marry Me

41 KENDRICK LAMAR | Money Trees

40 WHITNEY | No Woman

39 JPEGMAFIA | Free the Frail (feat. Helena Deland)

38 RADIOHEAD | True Love Waits

37 LAUREL HALO | Thaw

36 TIRZAH | Holding On

35 JAMES BLAKE | CMYK

34 PLAYBOI CARTI | Magnolia

33 SUFJAN STEVENS | Fourth of July

32 AUTRE NE VEUT | Play by Play

31 FORD & LOPATIN | Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)

30 TWIN SISTER | All Around and Away We Go

29 JESSY LANZA | It Means I Love You

28 ARIANA GRANDE | No Tears Left to Cry

27 YOUNG GALAXY | New Summer

26 AMEN DUNES | Believe

25 CHARLI XCX | Track 10

24 CLAIRO | Bags

23 LANA DEL REY | Ride

22 GAMES | Strawberry Skies

21 SHABAZZ PALACES | Forerunner Foray

20 MEN I TRUST | Tailwhip

19 PANDA BEAR | Alsatian Darn

18 CLAMS CASINO | I’m God

17 CARLY RAE JEPSEN | Run Away With Me

16 ALDOUS HARDING | The Barrel

15 FRANK OCEAN | Pyramids

14 JAI PAUL | Str8 Outta Mumbai

13 LANA DEL REY | Video Games

12 ROBYN | Dancing on My Own

11 CHROMATICS | Cherry

10 GRIMES | REALiTi (demo)

09 BURIAL | Come Down To Us

08 SOPHIE | Bipp

07 BEACH HOUSE | 10 Mile Stereo

06 LANA DEL REY | Mariners Apartment Complex

05 HELENA DELAND | Baby

04 ARIEL PINK | Round & Round

03 GROUPER | Headache

02 JOANNA NEWSOM | Baby Birch

01 GRIMES | Oblivion

NEXT 50 (alphabetical by artist):

ARIANA GRANDE | Into You

AZEALIA BANKS | 212

BEACH HOUSE | All Your Yeahs

BICEP | Just

BIG THIEF | Jenni

BLOOD DIAMONDS + GRIMES | Phone Sex

CHAIRLIFT | I Belong In Your Arms (Japanese version)

CULTS | Go Outside

DAFT PUNK | Doin’ It Right (feat. Panda Bear)

DANNY L HARLE | Broken Flowers

DEAN BLUNT + INGA COPELAND | The Narcissist

DIANA | Born Again

ERYKAH BADU + ANDRE 3000 | Hello

FEAR OF MEN | Green Sea

FKA TWIGS | Water Me

GEORGE CLANTON | It Makes the Babies Want To Cry

GIL SCOTT-HERON | Me and the Devil

GLASS CANDY | Warm in the Winter

HINDS | Bamboo

JAMIE XX + YOUNG THUG | I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)

JAI PAUL | All Night

JAPANESE BREAKFAST | The Woman That Loves You

JENNY HVAL | Conceptual Romance

JHENE AIKO | Stranger

JOANNA NEWSOM | Good Intentions Paving Company

JOHN MAUS | And the Rain

JULIA HOLTER | Maxim’s I

KERO KERO BONITO | Sick Beat

KYLE DIXON + MICHAEL STEIN | Stranger Things theme

LEON BRIDGES | Coming Home

MAJOR LAZER | Get Free (feat. Amber Coffman)

MGMT | Me & Michael

MICA LEVI | Love

MITSKI | Your Best American Girl

MOLLY NILSSON | I Hope You Die

OTHA | I’m On Top

PURITY RING | Lofticries

ROSALÍA | Pienso En Tu Mirá

SCHOOLBOY Q | There He Go

SOPHIE | Immaterial

SZA | Julia

THE WEEKND | House Of Balloons/Glass Table Girls

TOPS | Anything

TOPS | Diamond Look

VINCE STAPLES | Norf Norf

WESTERMAN | Confirmation

WHITE DENIM | Street Joy

YOUNG EJECTA | Build a Fire

YOUNG THUG + METRO BOOMIN | Free Gucci

YUMI ZOUMA | Song for Zoe & Gwen

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previously:

GORILLA VS. BEAR’S ALBUMS OF THE DECADE | 2010-2019