The 100 Best Songs Of 2017
The best songs we heard this year reflected a deep sense of collective need. For safety, for respect, for self-definition. For money or sex or revolution. Maybe we just hear what we crave, but on huge hits and semi-obscure album cuts alike, it seemed that musicians in 2017 were facing down eternity or the possibility of annihilation. Both Sylvan Esso and Jason Isbell linked love with death. Kendrick Lamar gave us his most tender song yet, as well as his harshest condemnation. Ibeyi and Kesha gave us righteous anger and forgiveness. Sharon Jones faced the end. Harry Styles pivoted from cheery pop to epic rock while glancing over his shoulder at the apocalypse. It's just a song, right? But if the end really is near, here's our countdown: the 100 best songs of 2017.
100. Chris Stapleton
"Broken Halos"
Chris Stapleton is the embodiment of sturdy country masculinity, and that's not just because of his mountain man appearance. He often walks the line between deep feeling and stoicism, bending notes and belting as a man who bears up beneath emotional burdens, who owns his failings, who faces his sources of pain. Stapleton plundered his back catalog of songs for a couple of albums this year, and
