LOOKING BACK AT '22 - FAVORITE SONGS (PART 2 OF 6)

 

Reclaim The Day, from Get To The Point Festival. Left to right - WVIU bassist of the year Logan Morehouse, drummer Tristan Harris, lead vocalist Becca Sugg, and WVIU lead guitarist of the year Marcus Sugg. Did this band have any songs on my 15 favorite songs of '22? If so, how many?

Those of you familiar with my blogs and posts know I give lists on both fiction and non-fiction books. But how about music? 

To be honest, our budget for new books and records is usually zero, so I make use of the library for my reading. I regularly get CDs from there as well, but most of the time it's classical with some music like Yanni, and for the purpose of relaxing at night (which is why I don't check out Stryper). It's recently I started listening to more recent music on Spotify (and I also plan on listening some next year to WVIU and Silent Witness Radio (click here if you missed my interview with Gothdad of SWR).

So this year, I'll list my 15 favorite songs from this past year. With my books, I don't claim my favorites were all written that year, but rather were read that year (which allows Agatha Christie and Allistair MacLean to compete against Kerry Nietz, Nancy Mehl, and Donna Fletcher Crow). The music, I'm trying to deal with '22 songs, though a '21 song might sneak in there. (For example, one of my favorite songs came out last year as a single, but was on a EP and won the WVIU award for best rock song this year, so it qualifies).

Part of the reason of these lists is to encourage the artists included, but I want to be a good dad and not show favortism, so I pick a number (often, 10 is too limited so I make sure I expand it to include all my strong favorites), and then list the entries alphabetically by title. After all, I don't want an author or musician to think, "Oh, I'm #10 on a list of 10? I just barely missed it."

Before I start, I'll state that all of these songs can be found on Spotify. There are some artists who are yet to be on Spotify that I really enjoy (e.g. True Revival Band) or have a single out this year that didn't get on Spotify yet (e.g. Worhol) that I'd love to have on the list, or a song I heard live that's not recorded yet (speaking specifically of "Relief" by Tempus Unum). Hope to see them next year!

I'll admit I haven't seen the lyrics for most of these songs, so some of those comments will be more about style. But I really enjoy each song on the list. So are you ready? (And again, the numbers don't relate to ranking.)

1. "Captain Rescue Me" by Hubbards Marsh. Hubbards Marsh consists of my good friends Gary Wixtrom and his wife Amy Shreve. Amy has several excellent albums out as well. (By the way, I'd love to interview Gary and/or Amy for the blog.) This is probably one of the mellower songs on this list.
   
2. "Fear" by Divine Martyr. I absolutely love this song, which deservedly got nominated for best rock song in the WVIU awards.
   
3. "Framing My Perception" by Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh (aka GFM Band). Some of this band's songs are a little too hardcore for me, but I especially enjoy this song. GFM consist of three sisters, for those who haven't read my interview with them.
   
4. "Future" by Undefeated. A good rock song by another family group (two sisters and a brother; definitely want to get to hear them!).
   
5. "Give Me Faith" by Becca Sugg. Becca is lead vocalist and guitarist for Reclaim The Day (pictured above), which also has other entries on this list. I think this is a song that technically is a '21 song, but I'm counting it because I just discovered it a week or two ago.
6. "God of Revival" by Forsaken Hero. I love the title of the song, and I absolutely loved the song. When I interviewed Casey Price, I learned this was a cover of a Bethel music song, but I like this version better than the original. This also got a nomination for the WVIU awards (Another band I want to hear live.)
   
7. "Mystique" by Divine Martyr. This is a unique entry on the list because it's the only instrumental. 
8. "Remnant" by Ignescent. The title definitely got my attention, because I think the American Church too often forgets God usually works through the remnant. This hard rock song is as good as the title.
9. "Send Down The Fire" by Beth Hall. This is one of two songs by Beth on Spotify, the other being a Christmas song. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more from her.
10. "Sentenced To Life" by Reclaim The Day. I fell in love with this song when I first heard it. This song was the winner for Best Rock Song in the WVIU awards.
11. "Testimony" by Hush Harbor. This song blew me away first time I heard it, and I had the privilege of hearing them do this song at the Get To The Point Festival.
12. "Truth" by Divine Martyr. Yes, the third and most recent Divine Martyr song on this list. And would you mind if I mentioned it's my favorite by them? One night last week, as I was lying half asleep, this song was going through my brain (with Bruckner's 6th symphony, 1st movement alternating with it).
13. "World Gone Mad" by Upstanding Gents. This band's music reminds me of Lifesavors and Altar Boys from the '80's. 
14. "You Chose Me" by Toni LaShaun. The most uplifting song I heard this year. Thus, I wasn't surprised when it won the award for "Songs that remind us of our purpose."
    
15. "Yours Alone" by Reclaim the Day. If you count Becca's solo song, Reclaim the Day tied Divine Martyr with most entries for this year's inaugural list.

But what will be on my list this coming year? I guess we'll have to wait and see.