09. Raining in my heart (Buddy Holly cover) by Graham Nash

Probably the closest to the original Buddy Holly recording without sounding exactly just like it. I love this song a bunch.

The cover appears on Rave on Buddy Holly (2011). The original was released as a single in 1959.

06. Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey (Video game, 2011)

“Wow wow wow” were my first 3 words to describe this song. Granted, it was in consideration of the video that accompanied it, too. Nevertheless, it made me an instant fan, reservation be damned. While I don’t care much for Video Game (her poker hand is too obvious in that one - can you say easy pandering to the video gamers of the internet?), Blue Jeans is a gorgeous flower in full bloom, steeping in epic, tragic emotions that only a persona as big as Lana del Rey - and her sultry pipes - could pull off.

09. The Words That Maketh Murder - PJ Harvey (Let England Shake, 2011)

The peculiar thing about this song is how sing-songy it is, considering its subject matter. I mean:

I’ve seen and done things I want to forget;
I’ve seen a corporal whose nerves were shot
Climbing behind the fierce, gone sun,
I’ve seen flies swarming everyone,
Soldiers fell like lumps of meat.

This is no typical light-hearted fare that hook-laden pop is accustomed to. This is certified PTSD re-imagined in a perfectly crafted pop song. She sings of the invisible cost of war, the kind that can not be simply made better with a medal or two. It makes the sting of the end chorus, “what if I take my problem to the United Nations?” all the more potent. Maketh murder is made of chills, and that’s why it’s been on the top 10 all year.

11. Easy Please Me - Katy B (On a mission, 2011)

As I wrote last summer, “I friggin’ love this song.” And here it is, on the top 25, hovering just outside the top 10.

How Will I Know - Whitney Houston

From her debut album (released in 1985), and the first video I ever saw from Whitney as a kid. Sad to hear of her passing. She was such a talent, whose music will continue to influence.