HSQB's Favorite Hit Songs of 2015

[jonpin]

Hello, it's me. I'm just Thinking Out Loud about which songs had the Style to stay in our heads for Centuries, and which ones were just Cool for the Summer. Previously, "Call Me Maybe" and "Latch" have won the coveted title of HSQB's Favorite Hit Song of the Year, so let's find out which song has Earned It in 2015.

Once again, I'll be running a poll to find out what songs HSQB forum readers like the most and least. I know some of you may have your eclectic tastes, but I'm looking for common ground, and that means just the hits, baby. Specifically, Billboard's top 100 songs of the year*. Pick your top 10 and/or bottom 10 of those songs, and either post in thread or (preferred) PM me. All the better if you have some sort of remarks as to why you've picked the songs you have.

Some rules:
1. Re: that * above. Seven songs from Billboard's Year-End 100 are disqualified as they were really 2013 songs that lingered: "Shake it Off", by Taylor Swift; "All About that Bass" by Meghan Trainor; "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith; "Habits (Stay High)" by Tove Lo; "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, et al.; "Chandelier" by Sia; "Don't" by Ed Sheeran are ineligible. The only song on both lists which is higher this year (and thus eligible) is "Animals" by Maroon 5.
2. You must RANK your picks. You can't just send me a list of 10 songs and say "I love all of these!"
3. You may choose only to make a list of good songs, only a list of bad songs, or both. Whichever list(s) you make, you must list between 5 and 10 songs. If you just say "WHERE ARE U NOW IS MY NUMBER ONE AND THAT'S ALL I'M RANKING" you will be ignored.

If you find yourself looking at the list and wondering "wait, what song is that?", you might find this video helpful.

Voting will remain open until at least December 31. Again, you can PM your ballot to me or post it in thread.

[Maury Island incident]

I'll get this going.

THE BEST
1. Hotline Bling (Drake)- THE MEMES. THE MEMES. THE MEMES.
2. Classic Man (Jidenna ft. Roman Gian Arthur)- This song gets the unfortunately robbed Kendrick Lamar into the top 10 by virtue of its remix.
3. Back to Back (Drake)- This song is #1 this year in terms of deaths caused. Meek Mill, may you RIP.
4. Lean On (Major Lazer etc.)-This song is catchy.
5. Wildest Dreams (Taylor Swift)- All we need is somebody to lean on!
6. My Way (Fetty Wap)- This song is Fetty’s representative at #6, since Trap Queen will permanently be at #1738.
7. Can’t Feel My Face (The Weeknd)- Who doesn’t love a good, clean, radio-friendly song about cocaine?
8. Here (Alessia Cara)- This would probably be below Ex’s & Oh’s had it not been for the latter’s music video.
9. Ex’s & Oh’s (Elle King)- This song probably would’ve been higher had it not been for the music video (which I’m too lazy to link).
10. Talking Body (Tove Lo)- If we’re talking body, you’ve got a perfect one. If we’re talking songs, this one was decent, I guess.

THE WORST
1. Kick the Dust Up (Luke Bryan)-Yes, bro-country artists of the world, I know you love beer and am deeply sorry that your girlfriend cheated on you with a tractor.
2. Cool for the Summer (Demi Lovato)-What in the world was the person smoking who decided that Demi Lovato could sing?
3. Lips Are Movin’ (Meaghan Trainor)-Had I not used a 1 song per artist rule for the worst, a sizable chunk of this bottom 10 would just be Meaghan Trainor.
4. Ayo (Chris Brown and Tyga)-It’s not even a word.
5. House Party (Sam Hunt)-Maybe you should have just stuck with the whole quarterback thing, Sam. The Cowboys could’ve used you this year.
6. Stitches (Shawn Mendes)-Generally I’d give a pass to Bieber-type artists and just ignore them. Shawn Mendes is too bad to ignore.
7. The Heart Wants What It Wants (Selena Gomez)-See Lovato, Demi.
8. Marvin Gaye (Charlie Puth ft. Meaghan Trainor)-The existence of this song means I get to put Meaghan Trainor on here twice. Guess Christmas came early this year.
9. Hey Mama (David Guetta etc.)-There’s just too many things wrong with this song for me to explain in a two-line blurb.
10. Uptown Funk (Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars)- This song used to be fun, and then I heard it for the millionth time.

[Cody]

I listened to a lot less (current) music this year, but:

TOP. TEN.

1. AlunaGeorge's "You Know You Like It" (DJ Snake Remix). It's a good thing I was already on the floor when this came up in the video! I'm not familiar with the remix, but I absolutely love this song and am super pleased to see it was pretty popular.
2. Sia's "Elastic Heart". This song is ridiculously addictive. I am very disappointed and very entertained that the music video stars Shia LaBeouf, though.
3. Adele's "Hello". I constantly momentarily confuse this song for "Hello! Is it me you're looking for?"
4. T. Swizzy's "Blank Space". I will dance to this song under extraordinary circumstances. I don't dance. I can't dance.
5. Tove Lo's "Talking Body". I'm always surprised that, somehow, this song is not as raunchy as "Drunk in Love".
6. Ariana Grande's "One Last Time". Yours Truly >> My Everything, but this song is pretty good (and far superior to "Love Me Harder").
7. Hozier's "Take Me to Church". I really like this song.
8. T. Swizzy's "Style". Smoking hot take: I like this song better than Bad Blood.
9. T. Swizzy's "Bad Blood". I don't like enough songs this year to not have a bunch of 1989 songs on this list.
10. Sam Smith's "I'm Not the Only One". This song is okay, but I'm mostly including it because I lost my...stuff...when I saw ~Danny Castellano~ in the music video.

Honorary mentions: Kelly Clarkson's "Heartbeat Song", Jennifer Lawrence's "The Hanging Tree", Elle King's "Ex's and Oh's".

Excluded: anything on the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack, which is so good it deserves it's very own ranking.

[peachykeen]

Top 10:
1. “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. The song, the myth, the legend
2. "The Hills" by The Weeknd. Best song about cheating and self-hatred of the year
3. "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon. Infectious and I still like it even after hearing 6 times in one hour car trip
4. "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. T-Swizzle uses her media image for gain and profit and it's wonderful
5. "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink. I'm a sucker for a saxophone
6. "Ex's & Oh's" by Elle King.
7. "Take Me to Church" by Hozier. Blasphemy at its finest
8. “Style" by Taylor Swift. Slick, smooth, and self-destructiveness romanticised
9. "Uma Thurman" by Fall Out Boy. Just a fun piece of pop
10. "Drag Me Down" by One Direction. The best of boy band pop

Honorable Mention: "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Riptide" by Vance Joy, "Budapest" by George Ezra

Bottom 10:
1. "Good for You" by Selena Gomez featuring A$AP Rocky. Selena, you may just wanna look good for him, but I really don't wanna hear about it
2. "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten. Faux-empowering garbage
3. "What Do You Mean?" by Justin Bieber. She means she's uncomfortable saying no to you, Biebs. That's on you
4. “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. too damn schmaltzy
5. "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth.
6. "Where Are Ü Now" by Skrillex and Diplo featuring Justin Bieber
7. "The Heart Wants What It Wants" by Selena Gomez
8. "Girl Crush" by Little Big Town. Lady up and have a girl crush on a woman, not the shadow of your ex-boyfriend
9. "Dear Future Husband" by Meghan Trainor. Antiquated gender roles: Bad for the whole family!
10. "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" by Meghan Trainor featuring John Legend. She just swings into annoying on this one

[High Dependency Unit]

Top ten
1. Wildest Dreams
2. Riptide
3. Bad Blood
4. Style - this song will never go out of style
5. Blank Space - get the feeling I like Taylor Swift?
6. Love Me Like You do
7. Sugar
8. Lean On
9. Uma Thurman
10. Talking Body
Honorable mention: "Hello", "Centuries"

Bottom Ten
10. Watch Me
9. Girl Crush - literally makes me want to fall asleep
8. Stitches - exactly what this song needs
7. No Type
6. Blessings
5. Hit the Quan
4. GDFR
3. B**** Better Have My Money
2. Only
1. Nasty Freestyle

[1992 in spaceflight]

Top 10 favorite songs:
1. Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon: This song is so energetic, it's hard not to like it. And it helps that I haven't heard it a million times.
2. Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars: Overplay brought this song down to 2 for me. Doesn't make this song any less great.
3. 679 by Fetty Wap ft. Remy Boyz: I only recently started listening to this song, but it's a surprisingly good song.
4. The Hills by The Weeknd: This is dark and mysterious and creepy, I love the mood that this song sets.
5. Style by Taylor Swift.
6. Talking Body by Tove Lo.
7. You Know You Like It by AlunaGeorge and DJ Snake: As Cody said, this song is awesome. I personally prefer the remix that is shown here.
8. Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy: Controversial opinion time: Uma Thurman and Irresistible are the best songs from American Beauty/American Psycho.
9. Lay Me Down by Sam Smith.
10. Ghost by Ella Henderson. Jesus, is Ella Henderson talented.

Top 10 least favorite songs
1. Take Me to Church by Hozier: This is just way too preachy for me.
2. Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammar: Oh, how wonderful. Thank you for romanticizing the idea that you shouldn't cheat on your significant other when you go out to a bar.
3. Fight Song by Rachel Platten: This is basically a combination of every motivational song ever. And it's all of their worst parts.
4. Marvin Gaye by Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor: Jesus. H. Christ. This is the least sexy song about sex ever. Also, Marvin would be rolling over in his grave if he could hear this song.
5. Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor: I too wanted to return to 1950s gender stereotypes. Because then Meghan Trainor wouldn't exist!
6. B**** Better Have My Money by Rihanna: Really? You're advocating for beating up people for owing you money when you were a victim of domestic violence, Rihanna?
7. I Don't F*** With You by Big Sean ft. E-40: E-40 is the only tolerable part of this song. I don't understand why people like Big Sean's whine.
8. Truffle Butter by Nicki Minah ft. Drake and Lil Wayne.
9. No Type by Rae Sremmurd: Please just go away.
10. Kick the Dust Up by Luke Bryan: Bro country, please go away. Sincerely: everyone.

[Santa Claus]

Top:

• 1. Uma Thurman (Fall Out Boy) - best
  2. Uptown Funk (Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars)
  3. Centuries (Fall Out Boy)
  4. Bad Blood (Taylor Swift)
  5. Animals (Maroon 5)
  6. Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon)
  7. Can't Feel My Face (The Weeknd)
  8. Riptide (Vance Joy)
  9. Budapest (George Ezra)
  10. Sugar (Maroon 5)

Bottom

• 1. No Type (Rae Sremmurd) - most worst
  2. CoCo (O.T. Genasis)
  3. Only (Nicki Minaj ft. Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown)
  4. Kick the Dust Up (Luke Bryan)
  5. Blessings (Big Sean ft. Drake & Kanye West)
  6. Tuesday (I LOVE MAKONNEN ft. Drake)
  7. Back to Back (Drake)
  8. 679 (Fetty Wap)
  9. Trap Queen (Fetty Wap)
  10. House Party (Sam Hunt)

things I learned today:
1. i hate fetty wep
2. i hate same hunt
3. taylr swift is cool
4 .fallout bot is great
(maroon) 5. is still cool like a decade later
7. seriously what i really don't like fatty wap for some reason
8. also drake pls no

[Frater Taciturnus]

Good god, after the eligibility cuts this is an awful, awful list. I could barely find ten songs to put in a "Top 10."

1. "Elastic Heart"- I'm not going to really question why this is eligible while a song from the same album isn't, because I have to actually have something to put here.
2. "Exs and Ohs"- The song's title and concept makes a helluva lot more sense once you figure out that the title isn't meant to be "X's and O's," which I am calling dibs on for my upcoming song about Tic-Tac-Toe.
3. "Take Me to Church"- I'm a sucker for the chorus of this song.
4. "Hey Mama"- Fun! Upbeat! Catchy! Guetta and Nicki! What's not to like?
5. "Uptown Funk"- I'm pretty sure this is at least the catchiest song of the year.
6. "Cool For The Summer"-I don't get why this song has people so hot under the collar this winter.
7. "Hello"-Eh. This is where I've started listing things that I just 'don't actively hate.'
8. "Renegades"- Whatever. It got a little run into the ground by Jeep ads, but its a song on the list I will actually listen to in the car.
9. "Style"- This song makes the cut because I think this is a really good song until it hits the chorus and because a much, much worse song.
10. "FourFiveSeconds"-A song during which I don't turn off the radio! Officially Not Unbearable!

Now for the other list, this time going down from ten to one, because what am I if not arbitrary, whimsical, and inconsistent?

10. "Photograph"- Higher than the other Ed Sheeran entry solely because you can now google the word photograph without Nickleback being the top result now.
9. "What Do You Mean"- Honestly, this song's worst offense is just being another generic Bieber song. It didn't mean to be bad, it just... was.
8. "Hotline Bling"-If it wasn't for the memes, I feel like this song would be way more overwhelmingly seen as the garbage it is.
7. "Honey, I'm Good"- actual musical torture.
6. "Blank Space"-I will never understand the decision to pen a song openly suggesting the singer quickly becomes unbearable to be around.
5. "Thinking Out Loud"- The only passable Ed Sheeran song was the one from The Hobbit.
4. "Sugar"- I'm honestly not sure Maroon Five has had a good song since 2002 but darn it they just keep on trying.
3. "Budapest"- I probably wouldn't hate this song quite as much if it, like Sheppard's "Geronimo" had not been pumped into my work every 8 minutes for six months straight.
2. "Jealous"- The annoying warbly squeak in this song was pretty much my single least favorite sound in any song this year, and the vocals for this song are near unlistenable.
1. "Riptide"- This is my second least favorite song ever, behind only "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

[Auks Ran Ova]

THESE SONGS ARE BAD

10. "Kick the Dust Up" (Luke Bryan) - Set aside for a second that this song isn't worth a bucket of warm piss. Titles of other Luke Bryan hits include (I am not making these up) "Drink a Beer", "We Rode in Trucks", "Country Man" AND "Country Girl", and "Huntin', Fishin' & Lovin' Every Day". All of them are bland pop songs loaded up with "country music" signifiers and a very slight vocal twang, and despite banking largely on his youthful image, Luke Bryan is almost 40. What can we conclude? The country music industry in 2015 is a stygian abyss from which nothing worthwhile can escape.
9. "Earned It" (The Weeknd) - Breathy, whiny R&B is cool now. Great.
8. "Ex's & Oh's" (Elle King) - OH MY GOD THIS IS ROB SCHNEIDER'S DAUGHTER. Shouty, jangly "soul" music isn't going to get her away from that mark of eternal damnation. Also, the title you were looking for is "Exes and Ohs".
7. "Hit the Quan" (iLoveMemphis) - Apparently there can only be one "do this other artist's dance" song that's even moderately listenable, and it's not this one.
6. "CoCo" (O.T. Genasis) - I'm distressed that this is the worse this year's of two songs about the joys of cocaine, because the other one's by the Weeknd. Also, the Golden State Warriors' star-crossed love of this song was great. I still don't want to listen to it, though.
5. "Marvin Gaye" (Charlie Puth feat. Meghan Trainor) - This is the worst thing to happen to Marvin Gaye since April 1984.
4. "The Hills" (The Weeknd) - Possibly the most overrated song of the year. In the world of generally upbeat, generally bland pop music it's easy to confuse "dark" with "good", and this is distinctly not the latter. It takes a rare talent to be screechy and mumbly at the same time, and when you throw in plodding, this is just a big zero.
3. "Take Me To Church" (Hozier) - Congratulations, you made a metaphor. It's not a good song though!
2. "7/11" (Beyonce) - Remember when Beyonce made music you could enjoy? What happened?
1. "Dear Future Husband" (Meghan Trainor) - The year's worst song by the year's worst musical artist. Go away please.

THESE ARE GOOD THOUGH

10. "Uma Thurman" (Fall Out Boy) - I'm delighted these guys are still around and charting. This is, I don't know, maybe my thirtieth-favorite Fall Out Boy song, but in this context it's top ten!
9. "GDFR" (Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini and Lookas) - As stupid as any Flo Rida song, but I guess he does my kind of stupid. I like the sax riff.
8. "Centuries" (Fall Out Boy) - This one is better than "Uma Thurman". If I remember anything about them for centuries, though, it's certainly not going to be from this album, because I WAS THERE FIRST YOU SNOT-NOSED KIDS
7. "What Do You Mean" (Justin Bieber) - I really like the flute-y synths and the tick-tock beat of this song, and it's chill in a good way without getting overly breathy or precious. (Keep an eye out for fellow former-insufferable-tween-turned-competent-professional Ryan Sheckler in the video!)
6. "Cheerleader" (OMI) - I have to assume this is the Felix Jaehn remix given that that's the one that charted--the trumpet and piano parts are a delight (I'm always a sucker for brass) and are more than enough to offset the occasional weird sharpness of OMI's voice. Good stuff.
5. "Bad Blood" (Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar) - The with-Kendrick version is much better than the without. Also, Mariska Hargitay's in the video. It's good!
t3. "Shut Up and Dance" (Walk the Moon) - Teetering dangerously on the brink of tiresomeness, but part of that is my own fault, since I played it a bunch myself shortly after I first heard it. In any case, it's still really good.
t3. "Blank Space" (Taylor Swift) - Takes an odd failure of imagination to not understand why an artist might take a history of comic self-deprecation to a hyperbolic extreme. In any case, it's a good song and might be my favorite from 1989; hard to say if it edges out "Shake It Off" though.
2. "Downtown" (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz) - This song is a delight! How had I missed this for so long? The concept is charmingly nonsensical, Eric Nally's featured vocals are great (especially his entrance), the featured 80s rappers are awesome too. I love it.
1. "Uptown Funk" (Mark Ronson + Bruno Mars) - It's the best one.

HERE ARE SOME HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
"Where Are Ü Now" (Skrillex and Diplo with Justin Bieber) - I still can't decide if I like the shakuhachi-sounding riff from the drop of this song or if it's really irritating. Apparently it's actually a super-processed sample of Bieber's voice, though, and that's cool.
"Lips Are Movin'" (Meghan Trainor) - I might've been a little harsh on Ms. Body Positivity For Boring White People back there. If I could get rid of all of her hits but one, this is the one I guess I'd keep, because like the rest it's undeniably catchy but unlike the rest it's not unbelievably stupid.
"Sugar" (Maroon 5) - I admire their longevity and this is probably their best current song ("Animals" is kind of annoying).
"Love Me Like You Do" (Ellie Goulding) - Kind of slow for me but I like Ellie Goulding.
Waves (Mr. Probz) - More good chill.
Cool For the Summer (Demi Lovato)
Ghost (Ella Henderson)

HERE ARE SOME DISHONORABLE ONES
"Hotline Bling" (Drake) - I don't like the song at all, but the video's just charming enough that I can't hate it. Oh, Drake, you lovable scamp.
"Honey I'm Good." (Andy Grammer) - I was okay with this song for like a week, but after that it was like a switch flipped and it became completely insufferable. Where else am I supposed to get my Baha'i pop music fix, though?
the collected works of Fetty Wap - I don't get trap music, I guess. I sure didn't like Beyonce's attempt at it!
the collected works of Ed Sheeran - Your sins include titling albums "+" and "×" and being a ginger with no discernable soul. Way to live up to stereotypes, buddy.
that haircut (The Weeknd) - [Abel Tesfaye walks into a barber shop and sits down] "Yo, uh, you ever wonder what it would look like if Little Lord Fauntleroy was a pineapple?"

[Auks Ran Ova]

fallout bot is great

[jonpin]

the collected works of Ed Sheeran - Your sins include titling albums "+" and "×" and being a ginger with no discernable soul. Way to live up to stereotypes, buddy.

I'm genuinely curious if his next album will be "^".

Good god, after the eligibility cuts this is an awful, awful list. I could barely find ten songs to put in a "Top 10."

As Todd in the Shadows put it at one point, this year's music was so insubstantial that "Cheerleader" was the #1 song in the land for six weeks. But I think there are some good songs out there still.

"Elastic Heart"- I'm not going to really question why this is eligible while a song from the same album isn't, because I have to actually have something to put here.

Based on when it was a radio/Billboard hit. "Chandelier" was released early 2014 and peaked last year. "Elastic Heart" (the solo version at least) was released in January 2015, so it's a hit from this year.

"Exs and Ohs"- The song's title and concept makes a helluva lot more sense once you figure out that the title isn't meant to be "X's and O's," which I am calling dibs on for my upcoming song about Tic-Tac-Toe.

WORDPLAY.

(maroon) 5. is still cool like a decade later

No they're not. But I wonder whether those people just coming into their own as connoisseurs of pop music will ever be able to understand how cool they were in the Songs About Jane era.

[Auks Ran Ova]

the collected works of Ed Sheeran - Your sins include titling albums "+" and "×" and being a ginger with no discernable soul. Way to live up to stereotypes, buddy.

I'm genuinely curious if his next album will be "^".

Followed, of course, by "↑".

[Beevor Feevor]

Because of my ongoing crusade against negativity, just a top 10 list for me. I actually quite liked songs from this year though!

Top 10 Favorite Songs

10. Want to Want Me by Jason Derulo: Damn, that dude's talented. Horny, but talented. Love the falsetto parts, though I'm sure my dormmates disapprove.
9. Ghost by Ella Henderson: The chorus that she kicks up an octave brings out whoops in me every time. Nice short staccato phrases at the start of the verses. I'm definitely a fan of her transitions between those and the choruses.
8. Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn remix) by OMI: As a trumpet player, can't say how many requests I've gotten for this thing. The solo's pretty fun to play, and it's just a really upbeat and happy song. I just really appreciate his simplicity and kind-heartedness, you know?
7. Hotline Bling by Drake: Slightly possessive and creepy, but the video's adorable, and the dance is wonderfully entertaining. The beat is really easy to just flow to as well.
6. Night Changes by One Direction: I liked them before, but this song and their new album kicked it up a whole 'nother degree. I'm a big fan of the storytelling in this song; it's really quite poignant. The modulation is always a nice touch at the end, if the voices can pull it off, and this song does an excellent job of that.
5. Ex's and Oh's by Elle King: Head-banger in the car. Does exactly what it needs to do there, even though the title is misspelled. Honesty, it's just really catchy, and I don't have any better reason for putting it up this high.
4. Blank Space by Taylor Swift: None of my favorite songs from 1989 are on the top 100 list, but this one'll have to do. Fell in love with new Taylor Swift just as easily as every other iteration of Taylor Swift ever. Music video's wonderful, and some of the lines are just delicious. "Got a long list of ex-lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane" is sung really well over the chords.
3. One Last Time by Ariana Grande: I love songs with terrible themes, and asking an ex to cheat on their current girlfriend is pretty awful. Still, the riff at the beginning is insanely catchy, and the use of the sus4 chords really gives it a cool sound. Better than the other Ariana stuff this year, that's for sure.
2. Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson: As someone who's big on songs that you can flail around to and not be criticized for, this song is basically perfection. The horn line is dope, and it's just such an entertaining listen that I fail to see how anyone could remain still. The guitar's chromatic figure in the build-up is also incredibly hype.
1. Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon: If a song makes me go "YAAAAS" when hearing the opening riff, even after 8 months of listening to it, it's a keeper. Thank you, Walk the Moon, for making me about 2000% times more entertaining at senior prom, and for always picking me up when I'm feeling blue. The key is actually quite annoying for pretty much every instrument to play, which really is my only possible gripe about this lovely piece of perfection.

[Steeve Ho You Fat]

I'll repeat what I did last year and listen to them all, while listing the ones I particularly did or didn't like, or have comments on

Worst:
100: Shut Up and Dance - Shut up and get off my radio! Seriously though, I don't understand what makes this song remotely attractive - it's repetitive, boring, and frankly annoying.
99: Take Me To Church - Does this guy really not possess the emotional maturity to differentiate between religious feelings and romantic love? It bothers me. The song also does that thing where it goes on for four minutes and nothing happens. It's just there, still going on, still extending an unwieldy and weird metaphor.
98: Thinking Out Loud - Why are sad white guys so big again? I don't want to listen to music and have some guy with the worst possible kind of red hair acting miserable.
97: Honey I'm Good - It's not a sad white guy, it's a white guy who has to be oh so responsible and then make a song about how much more responsible than everyone else he is, over a weirdo techno folk hybrid beat and with a melody that's blatantly ripped off of Cotton Eye Joe.
96: Dear Future Husband - Kevin Kadish: public enemy #1
95: Centuries - Was this song ever intended to exist for anything besides ESPN promos?
94: House Party - Am I the only one who finds this song really creepy? He's just inviting himself over for HMM I WONDER WHAT.
93: Marvin Gaye - Charlie Puth looks 14 in this video.
92: Kick The Dust Up - He's got a jar full of clear, what about the cream?

Songs that I don't particularly like or dislike, but have Thoughts on:
The Hills - This song exists in the odd space where I don't have a strong opinion on it, besides that Abel is a super weird dude and I don't know that I'd want to hang out with him.
Hello - It's all right, although nowhere close to her best. I'm mostly mentioning it to advertise the Rick Ross remix, which really is wonderful
You Know You Like It - I like this version well enough, but the original, non-remixed version is actually really good.
Back to Back - He says that he's "back to back like (he's) Jordan '96 '97". While this is technically true, it kind of reduces Jordan's accomplishments...was the 1998 NBA season cancelled in Canada?

Best:
14: Blank Space - I feel a need to atone for severely underrating Shake It Off last year, but this song is pretty good too!
13: Budapest - This song actually does the folk rock vibe right, good job.
12: CoCo - This song is at least 10% as cool as Draymond Green.
11: El Perdon - I'm amazed to see this so low on the list, because it gets played on the New York City urban hit radio stations all the time, but maybe it's a regional thing. Anyway, it's a fun song.
10: Bad Blood - I didn't really get why people flipped over the video, but it doesn't get much better than T Swizzle and K Dot.
9: The Hanging Tree - Perhaps one of the more unlikely pop hits, it's actually really good. She sings it surprisingly well, it's well written, and I appreciate the chorus joining partway through, although the dramatically swelling strings kind of take away the simplicity that makes the first verse cool.
8: 679 - I never got why Fetty became so huge - his other songs are all fine, not bad, but never really appealed to me. This one is so catchy though, and it's great. I also don't get the whole numerology thing - this apparently is a reference to his birthday and 1738 is Remy, but I expect in 30 years they'll make National Treasure 17 about hidden meanings in Fetty songs.
7: Style - Cody is wrong about some things, but he's right that this is a better T Swizzay song than Bad Blood.
6: Wildest Dreams - Hmm, I guess T'Swizz had some popular, good songs this year.
5: Elastic Heart - I erred last year by not ranking Chandelier in the top three, and sadly I don't like this song nearly as much.
4: Good For You - I never thought I would say this, but I really, really like this song. ASAP's verse is weird, but her voice and the beat are so ethereal, and lyrics are actually pretty well written too. This song gets stuck in my head a lot, and I'm actually OK with that.
3: Flex (Ooh Ooh Ooh) - It's no Type of Way, but it bangs just as hard. I appreciate an open embrace of his deserved success.
2: Hotline Bling - I've consistently dissed Drake at every opportunity since 2010. I've listened to this song at least five times every day for weeks now, and can't stop, and don't want to.
1: FourFiveSeconds - From the stripped-down guitar line, to the melody and lyrics, this isn't just the best pop hit of 2015, it's flat-out one of the best songs of 2015.

[Aaron's Rod]

K "Uptown Funk," "Shut Up and Dance," and many others very much came out in 2014. So, not counting that.

BEST
EVERYTHING FALL OUT BOY

WORST
I HATE "Love Me Like You Do."

I also just don't like The Weeknd. It all just kind of sounds the same to me.

BEST, BUT WORST
"Wildest Dreams" by Taylor Swift, because that song turns me into a blubbering, incoherent mess.

WORST, BUT BEST
So many guilty pleasures. "B**** Better Have My Money," "Blessings," "Bang Bang," and especially "Stay High."

NOT LIKE YOU CARE BUT MORE COMMENTS
Pop songs like "House Party," "Here," and "My House" I find underwhelming, but definitely a sign of the times.

"Budapest" really grew on me. Why is "Hotling Bling" so weirdly hypnotic/addictive???

[1992 in spaceflight]

BEST
EVERYTHING FALL OUT BOY

If Irresistible had made it onto the Year-End chart, I would agree with you. At least I know one song for my 2016 list!

EDIT: I didn't include Centuries on my best list because I like punk rock Fall Out Boy much more than I like "let's try and act like swaggering rock gods" Fall Out Boy. Centuries is very much in the later category of Fall Out Boy songs.

[adosreme]

Best of 2015

1. Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato. 2015 has been a year with a lot of songs I really like, but nothing stands out as head-and-shoulders above the rest. That said, this was easily my favourite song of summer 2015. The power-pop style is something I will probably never get sick of.
2. Fight Song - Rachel Platten. Nothing earth-shattering here. But basic white girls on pianos will always be one of my favourite subgenres of pop music.
3. Elastic Heart - Sia. Okay, so not technically 2015, but Sia is probably one of my favourite singer/songwriters and this did not fail to disappoint.
4. Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding. The second-best song on the Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack, after Skylar Grey's "I Know You."
5. Ghost - Ella Henderson. And thus ends the four songs whose placements are pretty much interchangeable on my list.
6. Night Changes - One Direction. Very easy to forget after the anthemic style of "Steal My Girl," but this is a solid pop ballad.
7. Post To Be - Omarion feat. Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko. This gets my vote for the song that I least expected that I would like.
8. One Last Time - Ariana Grande. Pure formulaic pop...and that is great. It should be noted that Max Landis doesn't seem to understand what the song is about, though.
9. I'm Not The Only One - Sam Smith. The version with A$AP Rocky is far better than the one without. If not for that version, this song doesn't make my list.
10. House Party - Sam Hunt. So this is bro country? I suppose I can deal with that. Don't remind me of Survivor contestant Baylor Wilson's appearance in the video.

[Rococo A Go Go]

There were more songs I liked this year than songs I absolutely hated, which I think is because I'm listening to more Top 40 radio for a variety of reasons, and not an increase in quality over past years. Here are my rankings:

1. Bad Blood (Taylor Swift): 2015 was the year of Taylor Swift, and Bad Blood was my favorite of her string of fantastic hits that dominated the charts this year. Extra points for that great Ryan Adams cover as well
2. Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon): This was a fun, catchy dance-pop song. I choose to enjoy that; if it got old, it was because I couldn’t stop listening to it on repeat.
3. Hello (Adele): Adele returned with a splash this fall, and this song immediately worked its way into my head for pretty much the last six weeks.
4. Elastic Heart (Sia): If we'd done these rankings in May, this song would have been the clear winner. I think I like it even more than Chandelier.
5. Uma Thurman (Fall Out Boy): This isn't peak Fall Out Boy, but it's close enough to deserve my attention. Much better than Centuries in my opinion.
6. Blank Space (Taylor Swift): Not as good as Bad Blood or Shake It Off, but a strong entry nonetheless.
7. Ex’s & Oh’s (Elle King): I’ll forgive her relation to Rob Schneider, because this song was catchy and fun.
8. Hey Mama (David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj): This song is just really enjoyable to listen to. Guetta/Minaj is a pairing that I would enjoy more of.
9. Renegades (X Ambassadors): I have bought 3 Jeeps thanks to this song. Please help me.
10. Talking Body (Tove Lo): I like Tove Lo, and this song was fairly good.

Honorable Mentions: Take Me to Church (Hozier), Lean On (Various Artists), Good for You (Selena Gomez), Stiches (Shawn Mendes), Love Me Like You Do (Ellie Goulding)

91. Cheerleader (OMI): This song gets creepier when you find out OMI is actually Sylar from Heroes. “Oh I think that I’ve found myself a cheerleader…” RUN!
92. Marvin Gaye (Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor): If we play this song backwards while sacrificing Puth and Trainor to Satan, will we get Marvin Gaye back? Surely it’s worth a try.
93. Hotline Bling (Drake): I turn my radio off every time this song comes on. There is no noticeable difference.
94. Earned It (The Weeknd): Honestly this just makes the Bottom 10 for excess quantities of The Weeknd.
95: Animals (Maroon 5): The lyrics to this song are the answer to “Why is Adam Levine hiding in the bushes with a knife?”
96. Budapest (George Ezra): A wealthy European humblebragging to impress somebody does not make for a compelling story, and George Ezra’s voice is annoying.
97. The Hills (The Weeknd): I stand by my assertion that every song by The Weeknd is whiny, boring, and annoying. This song is about The Weeknd having sex with a married woman, which I guess is edgy if you live in 1855.
98. Honey, I’m Good (Andy Grammer): The background noise to this song consists of a toddler playing with all their toys at once. I hope the narrator of this song’s wife is sleeping with The Weeknd.
99. Take Your Time (Sam Hunt): Because modern country singers are literally all dull pickup artists from redneck bars, it’s no shock this song was shoved down America’s throats this year.
100. Dear Future Husband (Meghan Trainor): It took a few weeks to get more than tired of “All About That Bass,” but this was almost instantly unlikable. Trainor’s inspired reinterpretation of gender roles creates a world where men and women are both in perpetual suffering! Heterosexuality has never looked so unappealing.

[Ndg]

1. "One Last Time" - What's there to say? It's perfect
2. "Uptown Funk" - Still objectively fantastic, even if I don't want to listen to it anymore
3. "Shut Up and Dance" - Go ahead. Try to hate this song. Just try. It's not possible. Doesn't matter how stupid it is.
4. "Love Me Harder" - So good, even The Weeknd can't ruin it.
5. "Budapest" - I can't get enough of George Ezra's voice
6. "Cheerleader" - Corny in all the right ways
7. "Blank Space" - By far my favorite Taylor Swift song, ever.
8. "Fourfiveseconds" - Rihanna is fantastic on this song. Hard to believe she could release something as off-putting as "B____ Better Have My Money" barely two months later.
9. "Want to want me" - At first, I only liked this ironically just because it wasn't the detritus Mr. Derulo released last year. But what do you know? Turns out it's actually good!
10. "What Do You Mean?" - Of the many weird instrumental hooks that have graced the charts recently (e.g. "Where Are U Now", everything by DJ Snake), this panflute thing works the best with the rest of the song.

---Honorable Mentions---
"Locked Away" - I'm still shocked that I could like a song featuring Adam Levine so much.
"Elastic Heart" - Pretty meh compared to the rest of Sia's oeuvre, but still good.
"Ex's & Oh's"
"Talking Body"
"Hotline bling" - Not really. I just thought "Cel U Lar Device" was funny.

---Dishonorable Mentions---
"Earned It"
"Renegades" - Something about this song has never felt right to me. It feels darker and heavier than it ought to be, as if the band were being forced at gunpoint to have fun.
"Dear Future Husband" This is tolerable as long as I manage not to think about the lyrics to much, so it stays off the list.... I've always been disappointed that "Title" (title track from the EP entitled Title) was never released as a single, since it's the only one of her songs where the comes remotely close to working.
"Coco" - Mr. Genasis keeps that single rhyme going for just long enough for me to keep his nausea-inducing sing-song voice out of the bottom ten. Ultimately, this song is too bizarre for me to hate.

91. "Lips are Moving" - No, I want a real chorus here. You don't get to write one line and fill the rest with nonsense syllables. Is that really too much to ask?
92. "Marvin Gaye" - Ew.
93. "The Hills" - Can't think about this song for long enough to come up with something witty to say.
94. "I Don't F___ with You" Good. Stay away.
95. "Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)"
96. "Hit the Quan" - I'm not sure what to say here. Can you get any more obnoxious than this?
97. "Watch me" - Turns out you can.
98. "Blessings" - I hate Drake's voice so much
99. "Back to Back" - Like, a lot
100. "Only" - Seriously, he's the worst.

[alexdz]

My favorites:
1. "Drag Me Down" - One Direction - 1D's finest work to date. Doesn't have that boyband vibe from early on. Yeah, it's missing Zayn, but the video has the boys dressed as astronauts!
2. "Honey, I'm Good" - Andy Grammer - Maybe going against popular opinion here, but I find this song reminds me of the kind of country music I grew up with (cf. some of the songs in my bottom half). And Colton Haynes is in the video if you look close enough. :)
3. "Uma Thurman" - Fall Out Boy - Bari sax FTW.
4. "Jealous" - Nick Jonas - I find this to be just the right amount of catchy without being annoying. Does he strain the rhyme hellish/jealous? Yeah. But I forgive him.
5. "Hello" - Adele - HELLO FROM THE OTTER SLIDE
6. "What Do You Mean?" - Justin Bieber - A decent production from the Biebs. He's annoying, but he's got a good voice which he shows off pretty well here.
7. "Riptide" - Vance Joy - This is the kind of music I spent my college years listening to.
8. "Downtown" - Macklemore et al. - Silly, strange, and catchy enough.
9. "Take Me to Church" - Hozier - Not my favorite Hozier piece, but it's the one that got him noticed. The music video is pretty boss, though.
10. "Budapest" - George Ezra - When I realized this guy was younger than me, *mind blown*.

Some honorable mentions: Chains, Renegades, Centuries, FourFive Seconds, Locked Away, Stitches, Cheerleader

I didn't consider any songs I didn't know (like most of the hip-hop and R&B), so there's probably some of those I would not be a big fan of.

Bottom 10:
91. "Worth It" - Fifth Harmony - Repetitive and kind of boring, tbph.
92. "Waves" - Mr Probz - The kind of song I tolerate only when every other station is on commercial. Not bad enough to completely turn off the radio, though...
93. "Heartbeat Song" - Kelly Clarkson - Kind of same as above. When it gets stuck in my head I am not happy about it.
94. "See You Again" - Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - So I actually like Charlie's music, and I used to kind of like this song, but I really can't stand it anymore.
95. "Cool for the Summer" - Demi Lovato - Not cool for any season, really, Demi.
96. "The Heart Wants What It Wants" - Selena Gomez - I wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-want this song to stop playing.
97. "Hey Mama" - David Guetta - These lyrics are TERRIBLE.
98. "House Party" - Sam Hunt - Only because it's the most tolerable of the three bro country songs.
99. "Kick the Dust Up" - Luke Bryan - Bro country is terrible and no one should listen to it.
100. "Take Your Time" - Sam Hunt - And the only thing worse than bro country is the bro country ballad.

[Dirty Water]

1. Where Are Ü Now (Skrillex & Diplo ft. Justin Bieber) - I was that guy who in middle school defended Bieber as a vocalist. This is a song I can use to back me up. Of course, he comes second to Skrillex and Diplo's production work: I think the two are able to negate each other's faults, with Diplo providing a melody-heavy radio single, while Skrillex polishes up the beat and brings it up a notch on the sophistication scale.
2. Downtown (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz) - Listening to Nally's introduction for the first time was probably one of my favorite moments in music this year. Macklemore still knows how to have some fun.
3. Jealous (Nick Jonas ft. Tinashe) - Who knew that a Jonas would end up this high on my list? Of course, he needed the help of Tinashe – who's up there in my top five female singers of the moment – but I just really love the driving yet mild production on this one.
4. Want To Want Me (Jason Derulo) - Hate him if you will. Yes, I hated Wiggle as much as the next guy (I think it was my worst song of the year on last year's poll), but I love his bright, pop tracks. I think WTWM is a quality track that's a level above his string of his late-2000s tracks such as In My Head, Ridin' Solo, and Watcha Say. Plus, he doesn't need to sing his own name anymore.
5. Can't Feel My Face (The Weeknd) - I like his music, okay? And I believe that Max Martin is actually a lizardman who has access to every single American's musical preferences. There's no other explanation for his ability to dominate radio. I'm really looking forward to seeing In The Night on this poll next year.
6. Uptown Funk! (Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars)
7. I'm Not The Only One (Sam Smith ft. A$AP Rocky) - I'm not a Rocky fan, but the remix is far better than the original. This is my favorite Sam Smith song, if that's a sin.
8. Here (Alessia Cara)
9. Thinking Out Loud (Ed Sheeran)
10. Earned It (The Weeknd)

Honorable Mentions: Love Me Harder (Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd); Photograph (Ed Sheeran); Animals (Maroon 5); Time of Our Lives (Pitbull & Ne-Yo); Take Me To Church (Hozier)

91. Cheerleader (OMI)
92. Honey, I'm Good (Andy Grammer)
93. Budapest (George Ezra)
94. Kick The Dust Up (white bro)
95. Locked Away (R. City ft. Adam Levine) - I really felt an "As Long As You Love Me"-style whining from this song. Except I kinda enjoyed listening to that on radio.
96. Cool For The Summer (Demi Lovato)
97. 679 (Fetty Wap)
98. Hit The Quan (iLoveMemphis)
99. Coco (O.T. Genasis)
100. House Party (white bro)

[CaptainKirk]

Good songs, in no order:
679 - Fetty Wap
What Do You Mean - JBiebs
Lean On - DJ Snake
Renegades - X Ambassadors
Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy
Where Are U Now - Skrillex, Diplo, JBiebs


Undesirable songs:
CoCo - O.T. Genesis
Lips Are Moving - Megan Trainor
Take Me To Church - Hozier
Watch Me - Silento
Cheerleader - OMI
Worth It - Fifth Harmony

[shrayo]

Good Songs
Blessed, Big Sean
Back to Back, Drake
Downtown, Macklemore
Classic Man, Jidenna
Exs and Ohs, Elle King
Uma Thurman, Fall Out Boys
Truffle Butter, Drake and Lil Wayne
679, Fetty
Only, Nicki Minaj
Budapest, George Ezra

Bad songs
Watch Me, Silento
Coco, OT
Kick the Dust Up, Luke Bryan
Dear Future Husband, Meghan Trainor
Bitch Better Have My Money, Rihanna
Cheerleader, Omi
Slow Motion, Trey Songz
Ayo, Chris Brown
Good for you, Selena Gomez
Slow Down, d4nny

[needhamquizteam]

Good Songs
No Role Modelz by J.Cole
Alright by Kendrick Lamar
Feelin Myself by Nicki Minaj
Hills by The Weeknd
Photograph by Ed Sheeran
No Type by Rae Sremmurd




Bad Songs
My Way by Fetty Wap
679 by Fetty Wap
Hotline Bling by Drake
Hello by Adele
Coco by O.T.

[Unicolored Jay]

Unlike last year, I knew a good number of these songs before looking at the list because I play the radio in the car a lot now.

Top 10

1. Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd - I'm not a fan of this guy but this song got pop correctly. If only more of his songs like this...
2. Elastic Heart by Sia - I'm not sure why Chandelier didn't make it my list from last year. Sia is a good artist.
3. Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
4. Centuries by Fallout Boy - Mainly because this kept getting played during last year's college football playoffs so it reminds me of how Ohio State won the championship. It's still good on its own, though.
5. Uma Thurman by Fallout Boy - The lyrics make no sense (which is a thing these guys do from what I understand), but it's a lot of fun to listen to regardless. Using the Munsters theme makes for an interesting effect.
6. Hello by Adele - Not her best work and it's a little slow but her voice is great as usual.
7. Ghost by Ella Henderson - My favorite song out of all the ones I hadn't listened to before looking at the list. Henderson is talented.
8. Like I'm Gonna Lose You by Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend - I don't hate Trainor like a lot of others do; I think she's gotten better since All About that Bass (although there wasn't really any direction to go but up after that). This song is boosted by its style and John Legend being around, mainly.
9. Here by Alessia Cara - Hey a song that describes myself somewhat!
10. Four Five Seconds by Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney - Well-executed song.

Honorable Mentions:

Blank Space just barely missed the cut, leaving me with the odd distinction of not having Taylor Swift on my lists.
Ex's and Oh's was good, too.



Bottom 10

1. Hit the Quan by iLoveMemphis - This was very annoying.
2. House Party by Sam Hunt - Bro country is stupid.
3. CoCo by O.T. Genasis - Hilariously bad and weird, but songs that make me laugh can't be the worst for me (such as last year's Wiggle).
4. No Type by Rae Sremmurd - Boring, bland, unoriginal.
5. Stitches by Shawn Mendes - Lyrics are a mess and I don't like the way he sings them.
6. The Hills by The Weeknd - Mr. Tesfaye's voice aside, I hated the pacing of this song the most. It's overly torpid and the dark tone actually makes it worse.
7. Good For You by Selena Gomez ft. ASAP Rocky - This song disturbs me.
8. Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor - Landed on here for its lyrics. If you're trying to sing about female empowerment, Meghan Trainor, this song does the complete opposite of that!
9. Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran - zzzz
10. Kick the Dust Up by Luke Bryan - This is silly country.

Dishonorable Mentions:

Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammer - Got annoying quickly.
Classic Man by Jidenna ft. Roman GianArthur - I'm confused by this song. Its beat also reminds me of Fancy, which is also not a good thing.
7/11 by Beyonce - Wow, did not expect this from her.

edit: put actual numbers in the best 10 list to show what order I was putting them in

[jonpin]

I'm gonna contribute my own vote hopefully tonight and then tabulate the votes in the next day or two.

[coldstonesteveaustin]

Best
1. Elastic Heart
2. Trap Queen
3. Hotline Bling
4. Hey Mama
5. Cheerleader
6. Night Changes
7. The Hills
8. Can't Feel My Face
9. Classic Man
10. Waves

Worst
10. Truffle Butter
9. Only
8. 7/11
7. Ayo
6. Bitch Better Have My Money
5. House Party
4. Watch Me
3. No Type
2. Lips Are Movin
1. Dear Future Husband

[jonpin]

My favorite hit songs of 2015
10. The variety of voices and moods that The Weeknd provides in Can't Feel My Face is outstanding. I wish his other hits lived up to the energy of this one.
9. Ella Henderson's powerful voice in Ghost brings out the chills.
8. In past years' top tens, I have praised Katy Perry, Pink, and Pitbull. Never did I think I would have a good word for Jason Derulo. Want to Want Me changed that. Somehow.
7. Yes, I do in fact want to turn Heartbeat Song up, up, up, up, all night long (oh up, up all night long).
6. Taylor Swift has got her tongue so far in cheek she doesn't even realize it in Blank Space. I'm putting my money on "go down in flames".
5. I mentioned to some friends that Elle King was Rob Schneider's daughter, and they lost their damn minds. How could someone so talentless in every way give us the woman who produced the utterly delightful Ex's and Oh's is a mystery we may never solve.
4. I feel like if I had more time to ponder Alessia Cara's Here, it might have moved even further up the list. How many people are looking at this song and thinking "This person has apparently been looking over my shoulder at every party I've ever hated being at"?
3. Last year, Taylor Swift was responsible for the worst moment in pop music ("this. sick. beat."). This year, she redeems herself with the (second) best moment, the contented but longing sigh that ends Wildest Dreams.
2. OH DON'T YOU DARE LOOK BACK JUST KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME I SAID YOU'RE HOLDING BACK SHE SAID SHUT UP AND DANCE WITH ME.
1. No matter how crappy my day has been, if I get in my car, turn on the radio, and hear "Doh. Do-doh-doh, do-doh-doh, do-doh" I will be instantly in a better mood. Every bit of Uptown Funk is terrific. C'MON!

Honorable Mentions
I should've put "Chandelier" on last year's list, and Elastic Heart came very close to this year's list.
Stitches is a good song, but Shawn Mendes sounds like the poor man's Ed Sheeran, and I've been burned by Ed Sheeran twice already.
The meme of young people asking who this newcomer Paul McCartney is after the success of FourFiveSeconds would've made this song worth it no matter its quality.
The seeming effortlessness of Drake's putdowns in Back to Back is something to behold.
One Last Time: An Ariana Grande song with lyrics that form sentences and paragraphs? Sign me up!

Songs that I haaaaate
10. For a performer as devoted to detail as Taylor Swift is, the fact that she thought "You made a really deep cut" and "If you're coming my way, just don't" were quality burns is shocking and quite terrible. The solo version of Bad Blood is just awful.
9. "Under the lamppost back on Sik / sth street". You can't do that to words, Ed Sheeran. Not the worst song called Photograph, but giving Nickleback a run for their money.
8. The exact opposite of the energy in "Can't Feel My Face" is The Hills. Is 5:30 a particularly scandalous time for cheating on someone?
7. Can we as a society stop letting quote-"Dance"-unquote songs like Watch Me get popular?
6. It's not that I don't like Ellie Goulding. I just don't like any of her songs (up until "On My Mind"). Love Me Like You Do is another meaningless phrase. It could mean something if the "you" were emphasized, but it's not.
5. "Just one mistake is all it will take" "and I can't get you out of my head" is exactly how I feel about Fall Out Boy 2015. Except that they made two mistakes. Centuries is worse.
4. "It's my right to get hellish / I still get Jealous". Oh, off, Nick Jonas.
3. If Adam Levine did in fact get Locked Away, I would love him exactly the same as I do right now. Which is not at all.
2. The whitest girl in all of music singing "Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on" is bad enough, but Meghan Trainor's worst is without a doubt Dear Future Husband.
1. I don't know where Andy Grammer has been for the last three or four years, but if it took him that long to think up Honey, I'm Good, he can go right back into hiding. "I got her, and she got me, and you got that ass" is just a catastrophically bad line. The entire point of this song is to say "I'm a good person, because I *could* cheat on my girlfriend with you, but I'm not going to. [wink]"

Dishonorable
I didn't have room on this list for Take Me to Church which is just not an enjoyable song for me to listen to. AAAAAAYYYYYYYY-MEEEEEEEEEEEEN.
I don't know how to transliterate the repetitous sounds that permeate through Lean On and I don't care to look it up.
Sometimes a song will be overplayed in commercials, and that will lead me to being sick of it. I was sick of Fight Song even before it showed up in every Ford commercial.

[jonpin]

Thanks to Joe Nutter for reminding me to post the final rankings for this thing.

THE BEST SONGS

10. Wildest Dreams, Taylor Swift (29 points, 4 ballots, 1 #1 rank, no hate) "That song turns me into a blubbering, incoherent mess."
9. Style, Taylor Swift (29/7/0, no hate) "Slick, smooth, and self-destructiveness romanticised."
8. Hotline Bling, Drake (31/4/1) "I've listened to this song at least five times every day for weeks now, and can't stop, and don't want to."
7. Hello, Adele (31/5/0, no hate) "Her voice is great as usual."
6. Ex's and Oh's, Elle King (32/6/0) "Head-banger in the car. Does exactly what it needs to do there."
5. Uma Thurman, Fall Out Boy (38/8/0, no hate) "I'm delighted these guys are still around and charting."
4. Blank Space, Taylor Swift (58.5/9/1) "I will dance to this song under extraordinary circumstances. I don't dance. I can't dance."
3. Elastic Heart, Sia (59/7/2, no hate) "This song is ridiculously addictive. I am very disappointed and very entertained that the music video stars Shia LaBeouf, though."
2. Shut Up and Dance, Walk the Moon (66.5/8/2) "Go ahead. Try to hate this song. Just try. It's not possible." "Thank you, Walk the Moon, for making me about 2000% times more entertaining at senior prom."

and to the surprise of absolutely no one except the objectively wrong Colin Cantwell, HSQB's #1 song of 2015 was...
Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (85/10/3) "No matter how crappy my day has been [...] I will be instantly in a better mood." "The song, the myth, the legend." "The horn line is dope, and it's just such an entertaining listen that I fail to see how anyone could remain still."

Honorable mention (mentioned on at least 5 ballots): "Can't Feel My Face" 6; "Bad Blood", "Take Me to Church", "Ghost", "Talking Body" 5.

THE WORST SONGS

10. The Hills, The Weeknd (25/5/0) "In the world of generally upbeat, generally bland pop music it's easy to confuse "dark" with "good", and this is distinctly not the latter."
9. Take Me to Church, Hozier (27/3/1) "Congratulations, you made a metaphor. It's not a good song though!"
8. Only, Nicki Minaj f/ Drake et al (29/4/1, no love) "Seriously, [Drake]'s the worst." nobody else even included a comment
7. Coco, O.T. Genasis (31/4/0, no love) "This is the worse [of] this year's two songs about the joys of cocaine."
6. No Type, Rae Sremmurd (31/5/1, no love) "Please just go away."
5. Hit the Quan, iLoveMemphis (34/5/1, no love) "I'm not sure what to say here. Can you get any more obnoxious than this?"
4. Kick the Dust Up, white bro (aka Luke Bryan) (35/8/1, no love) " am deeply sorry that your girlfriend cheated on you with a tractor." "This song isn't worth a bucket of warm piss." "Bro country is terrible and no one should listen to it."
3. Honey, I'm Good, Andy Grammer (40/6/1) "Actual musical torture." "A melody that's blatantly ripped off of Cotton Eye Joe." "The background noise to this song consists of a toddler playing with all their toys at once."
2. House Party, white bro (aka Sam Hunt) (44/7/1) "Bro country is stupid." "Am I the only one who finds this song really creepy?"

and the worst song of the year according to HSQB is...
Dear Future Husband, Meghan Trainor (56/8/3, no love) "Almost instantly unlikable." "Antiquated gender roles: Bad for the whole family!" "The year's worst song by the year's worst musical artist. Go away please."

Dishonorable mention (mentioned on at least 4 ballots): "Marvin Gaye" 6; "Thinking Out Loud", "Watch Me" 4.


THE MIXED BAG
Songs which received votes in each direction, ranked by an arbitrary weighting formula I came up with a few years ago.
5. "Shut Up and Dance", Walk the Moon (66.5/8/1 +; 10/1/1 -; score of 9.58). The only song to get a vote for best song and for worst song.
4. "Budapest", George Ezra (15/4/0 +; 17/3/0 -; score of 9.68)
3. "Cool for the Summer", Demi Lovato (15/2/1 +; 20/3/0 -; score of 9.77)
2. "The Hills", The Weeknd (20/3/0 +; 25/5/0 -; score of 12.99)
1. Take Me to Church, Hozier (25/5/0 +; 27/3/1 -; score of 14.86)