The War on Drugs | photo courtesy of the artist
Your top 50 XPN songs of 2017
Year-End Mania is the Key’s annual survey of the things below the surface that made 2017 incredible. In this installment, WXPN’s listener-voted best songs of 2017.
We played songs, you listened. You voted, we listened. Today, after tallying up the numbers and playing back the jams, we are delighted to bring you Your top 50 XPN songs of 2017.
You’ll notice a lot of recurring themes, whether it be the mission statement of Strand of Oaks — “play it, play it loud on the radio” — or multiple cuts from epic space rockers Lo Moon, who made a galvanizing introduction this year; art popster St. Vincent, who won over the masses with the daring MASSEDUCTION; disco infultrators LCD Soundsystem, who returned from retirement in top form; or Philly’s The War on Drugs, whose major label debut is their strongest and most confident artistic statement to date.
A Deeper Understanding was a massive winner in our listening community, and you voted four of the album’s ten songs in to the overall top 50 list. Revisit the ranking below, or scroll to the bottom of the page to listen to the entire package in one handy dandy Spotify playlist. And whatever you wind up doing tonight, have a safe and happy New Year. We can’t wait to discover more music with you in 2018.
50. Strand of Oaks – “Radio Kids”
49. Preservation Hall Jazz Band – “Santiago”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y-riOgbe28
48. Fleet Foxes – “Third of May”
47. Lo Moon – “This Is It”
46. Spoon – “Can I Sit Next To You”
45. Gregg Allman – “My Only True Friend”
44. Earl St. Clair – “Ain’t Got It Like That”
43. Mondo Cozmo – “Shine”
42. Margo Price – “A Little Pain”
41. Iron + Wine – “Call It Dreaming”
40. Lo Moon – “Loveless”
39. Dan Auerbach – “Shine On Me”
38. LCD Soundsystem – “Tonite”
37. Maggie Rogers – “Alaska”
36. Mondo Cozmo – “Automatic”
35. Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Hungry Ghost”
34. Father John Misty – “Ballad of the Dying Man”
33. The xx – “On Hold”
32. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – “Matter of Time”
31. Lana Del Rey – “Love”
30. Beck – “Dear Life”
29. The War on Drugs – “Strangest Thing”
28. LCD Soundsystem – “Call The Police”
27. Laura Marling – “Wild Fire”
26. Dhani Harrison – “All About Waiting”
25. Josh Ritter – “Showboat”
24. Beck – “Up All Night”
23. St. Vincent – “New York”
22. Ryan Adams – “Do You Still Love Me?”
21. Low Cut Connie – “Revolution Rock and Roll”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO73a0HjuHg
20. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit – “Hope The High Road”
19. Waxahatchee – “Silver”
18. Ron Gallo – “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me”
17. Hurray for the Riff Raff – “Living In The City”
16. The Killers – “The Man”
15. Spoon – “Hot Thoughts”
14. The National – “The Day I Die”
13. Tash Sultana – “Jungle”
12. Sweet Spirit – “The Power”
11. Greta Van Fleet – “Highway Tune”
10. The War on Drugs – “Thinking Of A Place”
9. St. Vincent – “Los Ageless”
8. Phoebe Bridgers – “Motion Sickness”
7. Lukas Nelson – “Find Yourself”
6. The National – “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness”
5. Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile – “Over Everything”
4. The War on Drugs – “Pain”
3. The War on Drugs – “Holding On”
2. Portugal. The Man – “Feel it Still”
1. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit – “If We Were Vampires”