The 50 Best Songs of 2012

Just like our picks for the 50 Best Albums of 2012, the editors of Spinner and AOL Music put our minds together, tallied our votes, demanded recounts and came up with this list of the best songs of the year. Have a listen to them all below!

50. Lianna La Havas, "Is Your Love Big Enough?"


2012 was undoubtedly a year for girl power, and Lianne La Havas delivers with refreshingly rich embellishments on age old ideas. This song interrogates both the world and Lianne herself, asking if they can take on the challenges that loom, all with the velvet sweetness in her voice and the stories it seeks to tell. -- Caitlin White, Editorial Assistant for AOL Music

49. Of Monsters and Men, "Mountain Sound"


Iceland's latest, greatest rock 'n' roll export crafts whimsical indie pop in the vein of Arcade Fire, minus the seriousness. This track is just one of many highlights on their debut album, My Head Is an Animal. -- Dan Reilly, Editor of Spinner.com

48. Michael Kiwanuka, "Home Again"


The rising British singer-songwriter sounds like a soul man who just jumped out of a time machine from the '70s to deliver this compelling mellow jam. -- Dan Reilly

47. St. Vincent and David Byrne, "Who"


What a perfect pair! St. Vincent and David Byrne's combo album Love This Giant carries two distinct sets of prints, but lead single "Who" is where the pair shine as one. Byrne's pithy horns spit purse-lipped retorts to Annie Clark's laser-cannon guitar lines. An angular rhythm and a toe-tapping beat make this track such a nerdy gem of 2012. -- Cameron Matthews, Associate Editor of Spinner.com

46. Grizzly Bear, "Yet Again"


2012 found the Brooklyn four-piece evolving ever-farther away from the spaced-out ambience of their earlier works, opting to tighten up arrangements and flex their songwriting muscle. On the wistful "Yet Again," Ed Droste's vocals float over the gorgeous guitar work of Daniel Rossum and Christopher Bear's propulsive drumming as the track builds to an explosively cathartic ending akin to some of Radiohead's most beloved sonic freakouts. -- Adam Horne, Industry Relations for AOL Music

45. Mark Lanegan Band, "Harborview Hospital"


Singing about the Seattle hospital he once lived near, Lanegan sings of sickness and disgrace while asking for a mercy he doesn't expect. His tattered, harsh voice adds the dramatic weight to this seemingly autobiographical song leaving you to wonder how heavy his heart is today. -- Dan Reilly

44. Patrick Watson, "Lighthouse"


Delicate and mildly eccentric pianist Patrick Watson has built his reputation on gauzy, beautiful and slightly cracked compositions, and "Lighthouse" from his Adventures in Your Own Backyard album is probably the most perfect realization of this. There's a cinematic, magical realist tone to Watson and his band guiding us through the dark of night on a search for a lighthouse in the woods. You'll know when they find it. That's when the trumpets, strings and drums blind you with their light. -- Aaron Brophy, Deputy Editor for Spinner Canada

43. Polica, "Amongster"


The ethereal layers of fuzzed-out vocals, synths and strings give a triumphant, heavenly vibe to this song of heartbreak. You'd think Channy Leaneagh was in ecstasy as she shouts "you're still a liar/your words are not enough" over and over as the song builds to its dueling-drum kit crescendo. -- Dan Reilly

42. A Tribe Called Red, "Look At This"


A Tribe Called Red's story is worth merit on its own -- the Native Canadian DJ trio has matched traditional powwow drumming and chants with various EDM sub-genres to create some new and unique. None of which would matter it the experiment sucked -- but it doesn't and "Look at This" best exemplifies Tribe's signature sound. Though they're connected to the Mad Decent crew, this isn't something trendy for hipster idiots walking around Coachella in headdresses. What Tribe are doing is tapping into a thousand years worth of primal beatmaking and the resulting music is something worthy of that heritage. -- Aaron Brophy

41. The Weeknd, "The Fall"


In 2011, Abel Tesfaye announced himself as one of the era's most exciting artists via three online mixtapes, capped off with the late-December release of Echoes of Silence, which included this typically dark-hued rumination on his sudden success. Like an avant-R&B Icarus, The Weeknd's voice soars high, dodging dubby handclaps and druggy sonics as he tries to prepare himself for the inevitable collapse. Oh, and even if his narrator sounds unreliable, claiming "I ain't scared of the fall," Abel won't be facing it anytime soon considering his major-label re-release Trilogy went Top Five despite having already been doled out for free. -- Joshua Ostroff, Senior Editor of Spinner Canada