My 25 Most Played Songs, 2021 edition (Patreon)

To anybody who though that the end of the Christmas blogs would mean that I was done rambling about music I like, YOU’RE ALL FOOLS! But seriously, the same time I swapped out my computer and wrote down my old Christmas music song stats, I also wrote down my top 25 overall most-played songs. And if I was gonna do a sequel to the Christmas song list this year, you’d better BELIEVE I was going to do a sequel to the other one as well! The world must know which Pink Floyd songs I’ve listened way too many times!

To repeat myself from the previous blog, this “most-played” list is not the same thing as a “my favorite songs” list, as it skews very heavily towards relaxing instrumentals and ballads just because I’ll keep those playlists as background noise. That, and a lot of the genres I really like the most are self-sabotaged by the fact that I’ve got so MANY of those songs in my library. I fired up my big Beatles-themed playlist as part of my traditional “no more Christmas music” palette cleansing, and was startled to find lots of songs that I knew for a FACT I’d heard hundreds of times with less than 5 plays. But said Beatles playlist is also over nine hours long, so of COURSE setting that thing of shuffle won’t lead to may repeat plays for any individual track. That’s the whole point. But it does mean that the comparatively smaller body of New Age/Contemporary Instrumental songs I have on file get a deceptively larger play count. That, and like so many other people, I haven’t been out and about over the past year anywhere as much as I used to, so that’s affected my listening habits quite a bit as well. I need an entirely different kind of background noise when I’m sitting at my computer working on something than I do when I’m on a long drive trying to stay awake. Maybe when I finally have places to go on a regular basis things will start to shake up more dramatically. We can only hope that happens soon, right?

All that said, the list for 2021 is still different in a decent number of places, and even many of the songs that make repeat appearances still places very differently. Let’s see what I was putting into my brain this year!

25. “Glass Green” – Tim Story 

Okay, right away we’ve got a pretty substantial upset. “Glass Green” was all the way up at number 3 last time, so this is a pretty major drop. This is one of the most New Age-y songs on the list, as in “super repetitive meditation music” kind of Ambient, and looking over the rest of the list, it does seem like my listening habits have shifted a bit from that this year. Not entirely, but at least little…

24. “Against All Odds” – Rick Wright 

Here’s a new entry on the list, although it honestly won’t sound like it to a lot of people. Rick Wright was the keyboardist for Pink Floyd, and his 1978 solo album Wet Dream sounds pretty much exactly what you’d expect a solo album from Pink Floyd’s piano player to sound like. My “Floyd and stuff that sounds like Floyd” playlist got a lot of playtime this year, so its contents will be even more prominent than it was last time. Speaking of which…

23. “Joli Papillon” – Richard Vimal 

Obscure French artist Richard Vimal turned up last year with the song “Serpetrion” from his 1978 album Migrations. Surprisingly, that song dropped off the list entirely for 2021, but THIS song off of 77’s Transparences takes its place. Pretty much the entirety of Transparences sounds even more like a Pink Floyd spinoff than Rick Wright’s album, great music for being lazy on a dreary grey. (Note: the only posting of the song I could find on YouTube has different titles than the copy of the album I have. This is one of those albums where songs kind of flow into each other, so tracks can be separated in any number of different ways)

22. “The Long Riders” – Richard Souther 

Another surprising upset, as this was actually the SECOND most-played song last year. Down a whole twenty spots in one year! Again, “The Long Riders” is an especially Ambient track, albeit with more intricate synths and Jazz-influenced chord changes than “Glass Green” before it. Still, apparently this got to be a bit too formless for my tastes by the time the year wrapped up. Not that I wasn’t still listening to relaxing music, mind you…

21. “Silence Before The Storm” – Nobuo Uematsu 

I watched a video just the other night about some random glitch in Final Fantasy VII, and it struck me all over again just how much nostalgic power the Final Fantasy soundtracks have on me. While FFX doesn’t have as many iconic moments as previous games Nobuo Uematsu worked on, it nevertheless has one of my absolute favorite Final Fantasy tracks. “Silence Before The Storm” is as calm as the title implies, but it’s not Ambient by any means. Rather, the dual layers of keyboards are deceptively complex and lively, in a sort of fairytale lullaby sort of way. More geek rock cover bands need to cover this one.

20. “No City Lights” – Gordon James 

Another high-placing song from last year that’s fallen quite a bit the second time around, this time from 9 to 20. That’s not QUITE as precipitous as “Glass Green” or “The Long Riders” but it’s still fairly significant. And again, this is an especially quiet track, just two layers of guitar with no additional accompaniment. I guess there really is something to the theory that I wasn’t listening to as much New Age stuff this year, but then again…

19. “Evening Star” – Fripp & Eno 

Here’s another new addition to the Top 25, and it’s one that throws all that speculation about me growing out of my New Age phase all into disarray. This product of Ambient pioneer Brian Eno playing with loops of Robert Fripp’s guitar is every bit as much the fodder of a mall massage parlor as any of the previous songs, so the fact that it clawed up onto the list year clearly means I didn’t stop listening to this stuff. Maybe I finally collected enough examples of this genre that it’s starting to experience the same “eating into each other’s play count” effect that keeps so much Rock off these lists?

18. “Submerciful” – Disasterpeace

Another repeat appearance that slipped down, though this time it’s just from 14. Still one of the few Chiptune songs I still listen to on any kind of regular basis, “Submerciful” only barely sounds like what most people refer to as “Chiptune,” thanks to a plethora of actual instruments 9or at leasy more advanced synths than an NES).  Instead, it sounds more like an abnormally blip bloopy form of Chillout, which just now makes me notice that Air and Zero 7 both fell off the list completely this year. I guess that’s another place in which my listening tastes have shifted.

17. “Paperback Writer” – The Beatles 

Wow, THIS sure sounds out of place on this list. There’s only a handful of tracks here that most people would classify as “Rock” at all, let alone as fast and punchy as this. In fact, this is the only Beatles track to make the Top 25 at all, which is a major anomaly unto itself. Still, if they’re going to be represented by any one song, I’m glad it turned out to be “Paperback Writer.” I feel like this song gets unfairly overlooked as a last gasp of their Yeah Yeah Yeah days by critics in a hurry to talk about their Psychedelic-era stuff. “Paperback Writer” might not be as ironic as “She Loves You,” but it’s every bit as masterfully constructed. Also, this song is actually UP from its place at 24 last year! Congratulations!

16. “Island Sunrise” – Software 

From 6 down to 16, we have another significant slip from last year. This time, the victim is the Granddaddy of all Vaporwave songs, and seeing as how I’ve only barely listened to Vaporwave in general this year, I guess the slip of this one is less surprising than some of the others. Still, I’m glad it got a FEW more listens than it’s legions of imitators. At least the guys in Software actually wrote a new song of their own instead of just recording a clip of some Smooth Jazz song on a phone from across the room.

15. “Since You Asked” – Sheldon Mirowitz 

Another new appearance on the list for this year, and maybe the song that leeched some of the play time from “No City Lights.” I mean, I don’t ACTUALLY think that, since they don’t really sound anything like each other, but they ARE the only two songs on this list that are unaccompanied guitar instrumentals. “Since You Asked” is a much more lovely little ditty, though, which is yet more evidence that I was feeling more lively in my song choices. But then again…

14. “Mediterranean C” – Rick Wright 

Dang, TWO songs off of Wet Dreams, and we haven’t even gotten to any actual Pink Floyd songs yet! Actually, “Mediterranean C” is the less Floyd-ian of the two Wright tracks to make the Top 25, but not for lack of trying. This densely packed instrumental has all the production tricks of Dark Side of the Moon, but none of the weight. It honestly sounds less like Pink Floyd and more like The Alan Parsons Project trying to sound like Pink Floyd. I don’t say that as a bad thing (Parsons was the engineer on Dark Side, after all), just pointing out how it’s distinct from…

13. “Time” – Pink Floyd 

Here we go, Floyd time. There’s not actually any more Pink Floyd tracks on this list than last year (in fact, spoiler warning: it’s the exact same four), but with all the solo tracks and sound-alikes, it sure FEELS like there’s more Floyd here. I think, in a way, the parts of my listening habits that didn’t shift says something about the parts that did. While Pink Floyd is definitely more rock than any Ambient/New Age stuff, I still wound up listening to the comparatively gentle tracks. “Time” may be on here, but “Money” isn’t, and guess which one of those DOESN’T have a lively 7/4 time signature and a frantic rave up for the bridge? Also, another song that actually rose in the ranks, up from 20! A lot better than…

12. “Cheyenne” – Peter Maunu 

Dang, this fell down from number 5 last time. For a list with as many repeat titles, this actually DOES have a lot of shake ups. Here we have yet another guitar instrumental, though a lot more electronic and synth-laden than “No City Lights” or “Since You Asked.” But then again, Maunu technically got to climb the chart by a few spots thanks to his connection to the following tune…

11. “Pleasure In Progress” – Group 87 

Up five spots from 16 last year, “Pleasure In Progress” is one of the livelier tracks on the list this year, though in an especially electronic form. I’ve said it before, but a bit part of the reason I got bored with Vaporwave was because I found I’d rather just listened to the songs THOSE songs were made out of, at their proper speed and with a thousand percent less fuzz. I don’t actually know if any song ever sampled this one, but Group 87’s sadly small discography is full of tracks that sound like they SHOULD have been used that way.

10. “On An Island” – David Gilmour 

Wow, TWO Pink Floyd members have solo tracks on this year’s list? Actually, the more surprising thing is that nothing from 2006’s On An Island made it onto the previous list, because it’s a better Pink Floyd album than any actual Pink Floyd album since Wish You Were Here. Seriously, most of Dave’s solo albums are pretty spotty affairs, a few decent instrumentals surrounded by generic Classic Rock filler, but just about every track from On An Island is solid, not the least of which is the title track. Glad to see it up in the Top Ten.

9. “Never My Love” – The Association 

Now this is interesting. The Association made my Top Ten last year with “Cherish,” which fell off completely this time, but hit nearly the same spot with an entirely DIFFERENT song this time. It’s especially interesting since, on paper, “Never My Love” and “Cherish” seem like very similar songs –harmony driven ballads by sappy Oldies Radio stalwarts– but in practice the mood is wildly different. “Cherish” is a big, bold, theatrical show of a song, but “Never My Love” is gentle, muted, and intimate. Maybe I really WAS wrong to say I spent the year shifting towards livelier music?

8. “Speak To Me/Breathe” – Pink Floyd 

Another song that’s moved up the list a few spots since last year, “Breathe” has that “first song on the album” advantage that helps it rack up more plays than, say, “The Great Gig in the Sky” or “Us and Them,” even though I objectively like them better. And that’s not to say I DON’T like “Breathe” and it’s superfluous opening segment that’s only counted as a separate composition to give drummer Nick Mason some songwriting royalties. There’s a reason every track on Dark Side of the Moon not called “On The Run” is considered a classic.

7. “In The Blue Distance” – Mark Isham 

Hey look! Another new addition to the list! What’s more, Mark Isham joins Peter Maunu as another member of Group 87 making a solo appearance. If Patrick O'Hearn had turned up with a solo song, the whole core of the band would be here! As it is, they’re tied with Pink Floyd for most solo band member appearances, and since I can promise you that no Roger Waters song will ever be one of my most listened to ANYTHING, they’ve got a shot at pulling it off. As for “In The Blue Distance,” this one ABSOLUTELY shoots down my theories of shifting away from Ambient soundscapes this year, because this song is pure formless New Age sound blobs the whole way. I like it, obviously, but it’s clearly intended as the soundtrack of something, not to be actively listened to on its own.

6. “Flightpath” – John Serrie 

SPEAKING of things that sound like soundtracks, I’ve found a surprising number of excuses to talk about John Seerie’s “Flightpath” over the past year, and every time I feel compelled to compare it to the opening theme of some local news show. Seriously, go listen to the old ABC News Brief theme, and tell me John Serrie wasn’t going for exactly the same vibe here. The stuttery, urgent synths in “Flightpath” might not specifically be trying to evoke a teletype feel, but the attempt to sound energetic and propulsive ends up in the same place. This is good music to wake up to in the morning, and easily the liveliest New Age track on this list.

5. “Time” – The Alan Parsons Project 

Huh. THIS has never happened before, two separate songs on the list that happen to have the same title. And what’s more, they’re by artists who are unusually intertwined. Remember what I said earlier about Alan Parsons being the engineer on Dark Side of the Moon? Yeah, you can definitely hear that experience in “Time,” which sounds like a more orchestral version of “Us and Them” (though that just makes me more annoyed that the ACTUAL “Us and Them” didn’t make the list). And speaking of Pink Floyd…

4. “Mudmen” – Pink Floyd 

One of my low key goals in life is to make “Mudmen” a better known Pink Floyd song. This instrumental off of Obscured by Clouds is sort of a dry run for all the tricks employed on Dark Side of the Moon, including the fact that it uses the same chord changes as the song “Burning Bridges” to create a sort of recurring theme. It’s also great chill out background music, not as obtrusive as “The Great Gig in the Sky” with its wailing vocals but still interesting enough to not be repetitive. Definitely seek this one out if you haven’t heard it already. And along those same lines…

3. “Oblio” – Goblin 

Okay, this isn’t the most obscure track on this list, but it’s absolutely the ODDEST. If that artist name looks familiar, then you must like Italian exploitation films, because yes: this is the same “Goblin” that did the soundtrack to Suspiria and all those other movies. Specifically, “Oblio” is a track off of the Italian version of the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack (a.k.a. “Zombi”). Anyone expecting a pulsing Prog Rock anthem will be confused by “Oblio,” however, as it’s a slow, gentle workout on piano and saxophone that doesn’t at all sound like it should be accompanying scenes of gut munching. This track is another prominent feature on my “sounds like Pink Floyd” playlist, which tells you all you need to know right there. And on an ironic note…

2. “A Pillow Of Winds” – Pink Floyd 

…for the second year in a row, the most played Pink Floyd song on my list is the one that sounds the LEAST like a Floyd song. “A Pillow Of Winds” has more of a Neo-Folk feel to it than the spacy Jazz/Prog Rock we all associate with the band. Obviously, this isn’t a bad thing since I keep listening to it, but it is odd that “Oblio” sounds much more like the Floyd than the actual top Floyd song. Clearly, I need to listen to “Us and Them” a lot more in 2022 to correct this. And speaking of things that haven’t really changed…

1. “Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim” – Harold Budd 

For the second year in a row, Harold Budd’s collaboration with Brian Eno takes my top spot. And yeah, for all my speculation about whether or not I still like Ambient/New Age music, this seems to put that question right to bed. Songs don’t come much more loose and formless as this, no matter how much Marion Brown’s saxophone tries to ground it. Of course, that’s the very thing I like about this song, and really early ambient compositions in general. Back before synth keyboards were advanced enough to just hold the same note for minutes at a time, artists who wanted to create Minimalist music still had to, you know, write music. And as spread out as it may be, the music in “Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim” is still lovely. There’s a reason why it’s still my go-to musical happy place after all these years.

So there you have it! The Soundtrack of My Life for the past year… which at no point seems to have included the band The Soundtrack of Our Lives. And what have we learned? We’ve learned I seriously need to listen to more Beatles songs over the next twelve months, dang it! Also, where’s all the Japanese bands? I make such a fuss about slipping at least one Japanese track onto all those Far Out There character soundtracks, and even do a whole series on songs I think would make good Anime themes, but only ONE song off the Top 25 is from Japan? And where’s all the Metal? Or the Psychedelia? Or the turn of the millennium Lounge-influence Indie Pop? Come on, me! Quit listening to so much music from 80s instructional videos!