A long time ago. A galaxy far, far away

We are heading into Halloween in a matter of hours so it's (probably) safe to say the Russian Nesting Doll that is 2020 is starting to wind down, at least in quantitative terms. It's equally safe to say there will be enough WTF moments between now and December 31 to fill up a normal calendar year. I don't have a crystal ball or, as the last, nearly 10 months have revealed, the imagination necessary to conjure up a litany of once-unplausible headlines and news stories that will orbit our consciousness the next couple of months and change. My brain explodes a little just thinking about it. Instead, let's venture backward to a distant time when everything felt decidedly different.  

It's pretty much a given that 2019 was the last 'normal' year of our collective existence for a good long while. The #1 song on my top 100 of 2019 (playlist below) was by a band I barely had heard before and would finally see live this past February. Fitting that it turned out to be my last live show for the foreseeable future. I wasn't blogging about the music of 2019 as it was happening. I wanted to. Many times. I had plenty to say, but, no. I was spending some part of every workday poring over my company's blog posts in order to craft concise, meaningful posts for my company's social media channels. The last thing I wanted to do when my workday ended was to continue sitting in the same chair in my home office, working on my personal blog and social media posts. I just couldn't. I had to detach. This was the case for the past four years to varying degrees, but true burnout occurred this year. That said, as of October 1, blogs and social media are no longer the focus of my professional career. Finding my next job is. 2020's stench finally caught up to me and I was one of the dozens laid off by my company at the start of this month. And that's okay. I have no doubt that this will prove itself to be a blessing in disguise, but I digress.

2019 was the year I obsessed over new albums from Vampire Weekend and Lana Del Rey, two acts who I instantly loved upon hearing their first singles and albums in 2008 and 2010 respectively, but drifted apart from in the years that followed. It was the year that I discovered great rap albums from Earl Sweatshirt, Chance the Rapper, Denzel Curry, and Sheck Wes. Great new and new-to-me artists like Chloe Lilac, Clairo, Beast Coast, and EARTHGANG. Perhaps, most importantly of all, it was the year I surrendered and became a full-on Swiftie.

I had dabbled in a song here, a video there. I knew she had songs about her exes, lots of albums, tons of fans, and a wealth of talent. I respected how she took care of her fans. In 2019, she released Lover and I was sucked into her world. "Cruel Summer," "Lover," and "Death by a Thousand Cuts" were standouts with the first two landing in the top 30 of my top 100 of 2019 and the latter a shoo-in for 2020's top 15. Not to mention the songs that grabbed me off of this year's front-to-back excellence known as "folklore," an album that has truly been one of the very few personal beacons of comfort and enjoyment I've known during the dumpster fire known as 2020.  

Check out my top 100 of 2019 and maybe find yourself a new favorite from the past.