Best Songs of 2023: Staffer and student opinions on what the best songs released in 2023 were

2023 delivered an exceptional lineup of music releases, from a new Travis Scott album to chart-topping hits by Taylor Swift. With tons of great songs released in 2023, picking the best song is difficult. But here’s what staffers and students thought the best songs of 2023 were.

By Maggie Kissick

Between the two full-length albums she released in 2023, Taylor Swift blessed her fans with tons of standout songs this year. But her best by far, and the best song released in 2023, is “You’re Losing Me” — a surprise release that she dropped as a thank you to her fans after winning Spotify’s 2023 most streamed artist.

A vault track from her 2022 album “Midnights,” this song describes the impending end of a long-term relationship, specifically the end of Swift’s six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn. Through her powerful metaphorical lyrics, she takes the ending of a relationship and makes it mean so much more.

Right off the bat, Swift drops the listener into the middle of a fight with a romantic partner. She highlights the stark difference between the beginning of their relationship and the end with the line, “Remember lookin’ at this room, we loved it ’cause of the light / Now, I just sit in the dark and wonder if it’s time” — a prime example of her strong use of metaphor.

I loved how Swift doesn’t try and sugar coat the end of her relationship. Through lyrics like “I gave you all my best me’s / My endless empathy,” she shows how she fought for her relationship, and she longs for her sacrifices to be acknowledged. Lyrics like these made me feel like I was right in the relationship with her. 

As the instrumentals speed up and get louder throughout the song, Swift’s voice gets louder and more powerful — an excellent contrast to show the frustration of a breakup in an inimitable way.

This song is packed with parallels, not only to her past albums and songs about Alwyn, but also connects to medical jargon. In medical dramas like “Grey’s Anatomy,” characters exclaim “We’re losing him!” or “I’m losing her!” when a patient’s heart is giving out. This metaphor is woven throughout the song, representative of her dying relationship.  There’s also a heartbeat throughout that fades once the song ends — which gives me chills every time.

And the bridge is incredible. Lyrics like “I wouldn’t marry me either, a pathological people pleaser” are not only extremely relatable to many, but are also extremely honest and reveal her insecurities and strongest wishes. On top of being insanely catchy, the bridge is an outpour of Swift’s emotions. 

The powerfully honest lyrics and raw representation of heartbreak throughout this song make it one of the best released in 2023.

By Greyson Imm

“At what cost?” is the central question indie singer and musician Jane Remover asks on the title track from her newest album, “Census Designated.”

The 18-year-old singer, songwriter and producer has become one of the most successful and influential acts in the indie and hyperpop scenes in recent years, but on “Census Designated” she takes a step back from her typical uptempo, pop-leaning sound. The 6-minute, multi-part rock ballad explores the predatory nature of the music industry for young musicians like herself, while pushing her creative limits to the extreme in an undefinable musical high.

Though she pulls inspiration from shoegaze, glitchpop, emo, experimental and noise genres, the instrumentals don’t allow the song to be confined to any one specific sound. It transcends genre entirely. Walls of deafening sub bass have just as much of a place on “Census Designated” as glitched-out guitar riffs. 

Thematically, the messy, noisy amalgamation of countless musical influences reflects how Remover feels about herself — nothing more than a carefully manufactured product of the industry.

Her lyricism is on point here. With evocative references to herself as “young blood” and “fresh meat,” she forces the listener to consider ever-present themes of exploitation and sexuality throughout the song.

Cleverly heartbreaking lines draw criticisms of the industry in unorthodox ways. Remover expertly uses extended metaphor to call out injustice:  “Pinned to the wall, all I could ever imagine was you / wiping me down like a trophy / something I could earn.”

All the while, fuzzy guitars, rich bass and glitchy synths layer in a beautifully chaotic cacophony of pure noise rock heaven. But rather than overpowering the lyrics, it builds them up.

The genius lyrical-instrumental interplay is most apparent on the emotionally charged outro. It starts with a simple, stripped-back riff. Remover gently sings, “Earn him money like a man / nails in my back remind me where I am,” painting a disturbing picture of this twisted industry. It’s a line that still sticks with me after hundreds of listens.

As she delivers the next line, voice tinged with desperation, the song thematically and sonically mutates into a much darker beast: “‘I’m barely legal,’ I told him as I spent all my advance / ‘You fucked me.’” Musical chaos ensues.

The riff distorts, and a wall of noisy power chords crashes down. During the last minute of the track, the listener is left to ponder the questions of originality, exploitation and abuse as the massive pillar of instrumentation collapses in on itself, drowning the listener in bass and angst.

By Emmerson Winfrey

Mindless drives with friends, upset rants, chill hangouts or big parties should all have one song in common — “Dawns” by Zach Bryan and Maggie Rogers.

The majority of the song focuses on mourning the loss of a love and the need to move on, beginning with Bryan painting a scene of him asking his ex for his things back. This imagery gives listeners a look into his life and truly being able to imagine the scene instead of just finding relatable lyrics. 

The track also mourns the loss of Bryan’s mother, while lyrics such as “It just dawned on me life is as fleeting as a passing dawn” cover how fast life truly moves. This realization gives a not-so-niche topic fans can relate to.

The wide range of topics that jump from one thought to another throughout the song show the uncensored rawness of Bryan’s work, something I really enjoy. Bryan uses “Dawns” to express his real experiences and thoughts, in contrast to… other artists such as Morgan Wallen  and Blake Shelton who I can tell fabricate storylines for relatability.

Rogers joins for the second part of the song, flawlessly blending with Bryan’s raspy, bare voice with her more upbeat country sound. Her verse gives us the insight on the other person’s perspective of the relationship — something most breakup songs fail to do.

The upbeat tempo and brighter vocals from Rogers on top of these lyrics to help make this song fit any mood.

The relatable lyrics for anyone going through a breakup or mourning a loss make “Dawns” a go- to track for when you want to cry are simply upset.

The upbeat tempo and catchy melody make it easy to turn on during hangouts or parties to sing with your friends and dance around to.

Bryan’s gritty simplistic vocals also allow you to throw the song on in the background due to their low-key nature versus more pop-y sounding vocals that can easily become overpowering when trying to focus on other things.

The versatility and relatability of “Dawns” without a doubt makes it the top song of 2023.

By David Allegri

I feel bad saying this, but why should I care what other people think? If you want the answer to that question, then you should listen to the best song released in 2023: “Sorry Not Sorry” by Tyler, the Creator.

The song opens with apologizing to people close to him in a genuine, heartfelt way. He feels sorry for not spending enough time with his mom, he apologizes to ex-friend group because he wishes they were still friends and to people that he has led in relationships due to his sexuality.

But despite the sincerity of the intro, the song transitions to show that he doesn’t really mean it.  He starts rapping faster, the chords ring louder and he starts to get aggressive saying lyrics like “Blah, blah, blah, blah ’bout trauma / You ain’t special, everybody got problems.” 

The contrast of the calm, apathetic verses and the I don’t care anymore verses initially feels dissonant and out of place. As the song progresses, you’re able to listen and feel the emotional transition between being “Sorry” and being “Not sorry.”

Tyler conveys emotions that many people have, but don’t know how to expresses. He yells the thoughts in the back of his head by using different alter-egos to say what he really wants to say, but he can’t because of the criticism he would face. 

The strong emotional release from Tyler makes me feel the same. When I heard this song, I could cry, yet during the last verse of the song I felt like I could run through a wall. All of the emotions Tyler felt, I felt.

There is that aggressive phrase in the beginning, the drums stop and the chords become more lighthearted. Still, the words that he said are ringing in your ear — why should I care what people think, why should I change for them? While those questions are left in your head, Tyler begins to answer.

The last verse of the song has some of the deepest lyrics addressing his haters and how they could never accomplish what he’s done. He raps about how they don’t know the grueling childhood he has been through,  “And claim that I don’t know about minimum wage or Section eight / Water in the ketchup bottle to stretch when n***** ate.” 

When you hear him start screaming that people can’t accomplish what he does, it makes me think that no one can do what I do. The people that have judged me based solely on what they have heard about me — they don’t know me. 

Tyler is belting his heart out, releasing all of his emotions while the music crescendos before climaxing with a hail of gunshots.

Then all of his emotions of the songs are summarized in two words — “F*** ‘em.”

This song didn’t get much recognition as it was released as a bonus track on “Call Me if You Get Lost” and many people seemed to overlook it, but the amount of emotion relayed by this song along with the dramatic composition, makes it the top song of this year.

By Lucy Stephens

After the closing scene of the new “Hunger Games” movie “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” I anxiously anticipated what the end credit song for the movie would be. I didn’t think anything could top Taylor Swift and Lorde’s outstanding end-credit performances in the previous two “Hunger Games” movies with their songs “Safe and Sound” and “Yellow Flicker Beat.” 

As the credits started rolling, I heard the faint echo of guitar chords which was followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s soothing voice. My jaw dropped. There is no way Olivia did the end credits song for the “Hunger Games” prequel. She was one of the last artists I would’ve expected to do this song because of her recent album drop but I don’t think there is any other artist who could have executed this song as well as her. 

The way the guitar complemented her voice made me pick up my phone to add “Can’t Catch Me Now” to my liked songs  — without even hearing it fully. 

I sat in shock, listening to how Rodrigo’s voice added a softer tone to this dark, violent film —  which sounds ironic given these two things that couldn’t be more different. Through the lyrics and acoustics, she adds a lullaby feeling to this song which isn’t something you would expect after watching this film. And she made it work effortlessly. 

This song is a different style from the majority of Rodrigo’s other indie pop songs on her albums “Guts” or “Sour.” I’m used to her songs having a more screaming-at-the-top-of-your-lungs vibe and not a mellow crying-your-eyes-out” feeling — which I loved. This change in tone suits Rodrigo’s vocals because she can fit this range flawlessly and it’s not seen in her music a ton.

The lyrics like “Shadows of us are still dancin’/ in every room and every hall” embody not only the plot of the movie but also the message of a lost lover that you seem to still see everywhere. Rodrigo also uses her varied vocal dynamics to portray this story and she makes it work so nicely. You can picture the exact love story she is conveying which doesn’t happen in most sappy romantic songs. 

Every time I listen to this song I find another element that Rodrigo hid that makes me enjoy the song even more. Once it’s the sudden change in pace during the bridge of the song that gives me goosebumps. The next time it’s how she closes the song with the lyric “Yeah you thought this was the end” paired with an excellent vocal fade-out that leaves me speechless. 

This song definitely got the recognition it deserved, being played at the end of “The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes” and receiving over one million Spotify streams which makes it the best new song of 2023.