Intro | 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1
50. Take Me To Church - Hozier
Peak: 2 (December 20-27); Weeks on chart: 18; December 27 position: 2
Ireland's Andrew Hozier-Byrne burst onto the scene late this year with his hit "Take Me To Church". At year's end, the song interrupted a three-month run of Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor owning the top two songs on the Hot 100. The song about institutional oppression of the global LGBT community hits home because, as Hozier told New York Magazine in March, "it's not even a gay issue or a civil rights issue, it's a human rights issue, and it should offend us all."
49. Show Me - Kid Ink feat. Chris Brown
Peak: 13 (February 15); Weeks on chart: 31; December 27 position: NR
Another DJ Mustard-produced hit, "Show Me" spent the last three months of 2013 climbing the charts, breaking into the top 30 last December. The Kid Ink track with guest vocals from Chris Brown spent the first 10 weeks of this year in the top 20. Despite spending the entire second half of 2014 off the Hot 100, "Show Me" ended up as one of the year's biggest hip-hop hits.
48. Bailando - Enrique Iglesias feat. Sean Paul, Descember Bueno and Gente de Zona
Peak: 12 (August 9); Weeks on chart: 30; December 27 position: NR
One of my favorite songs this year was "Bailando", a catchy Latin dance track by an artist of whom I'm not particularly fond. Although I actually prefer the Spanish version popular on Spotify to the English that played on most U.S. radios this year, both versions of the song are easy to dance to. We danced to Enrique, Sean Paul et al. in the latter half of the summer and into the fall; "Bailando's" 11-week top-20 run stretched from July to October. If you have a small knowledge of the Spanish language as I do, the following line from the "Spanglish" version of the song should amuse you: "[I've] gotta have contigo."
47. Demons - Imagine Dragons
One of the greatest modern rock albums, Imagine Dragons' Night Visions just completed its second full year listed in the Billboard 200, with two singles spending over a year each on the Hot 100. "Demons" had the most 2014 success of the two, remaining one of the top 30 songs in America through the first four months of the year. Dragons' most recent single, "I Bet My Life", sat at 63 in the last Hot 100 of 2014 and is a song to watch as the band's success continues.
46. Wake Me Up! - Avicii feat. Aloe Blacc
"Wake Me Up!" enjoyed a yearlong stay on the Hot 100, but was on the decline during its 28 weeks on the chart in 2014. Still, Avicii's breakout hit spent the month of January in the top 10, February and the first two weeks of March in the top 20 and was a top 30 song through the first week of May. The song was also the frontrunner for Aloe Blacc's solo success with "The Man" in the first half of 2014.
45. Ain't It Fun - Paramore
Peak: 10 (May 24); Weeks on chart: 24; December 27 position: NR
When Paramore charted with "Still Into You" last year, they created the ultimate disconnect between lyric and music: a hardcore grunge song about being head-over-heels in love. This year's Paramore hit took the same hit, but flipped the script. With a happy backing track, First Lady of Rock Hayley Williams sarcastically sings about how life in the real world in fact sucks. The catchy tune and snarky lyrics earned "Ain't It Fun" one week in the top 10 and a year-end finish in the top half of the Top 100.
44. Don't - Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran's most successful single of the year ended 2014 with 12 straight weeks in the top 20. The song, presumably about Sheeran's relationship with the incredibly underrated Ellie Goulding, was one of the biggest songs this fall. My favorite moments of the song are when Sheeran replaces the f-bomb with a sharp intake of breath - subtle, but effective.
43. Loyal - Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne, French Montana Or and Too $hort
Chris Brown's signature 2014 hit spent the first two weeks of May in the top 10; "Show Me" had five additional top 15 weeks. This R&B track, just like many 2014 contemporaries, is a not-so-wholesome examination of the false loyalty of certain promiscuous women. The track proved to be a smash for Brown.
42. Burn - Ellie Goulding
Peak: 13 (December 28, 2013, January 11-18); Weeks on chart: 36; December 27 position: NR
My favorite song on this entire list, "Burn" began an obsession with Ellie Goulding that lasted all spring and into the summer. I now own three Ellie Goulding CDs thanks to this song; Spotify listed Halcyon Days as my most-listened to album as 2014, which I feel is incredibly accurate. Nationally, "Burn" spent the first 11 weeks of the year bouncing around between No. 13 and No. 16, staying in the Top 30 through May 3.
41. Best Day Of My Life - American Authors
Peak: 11 (April 19, May 10); Weeks on chart: 36; December 27 position: NR
This unique crossbreed of Imagine Dragons and One Direction had the right formula with their Hot 100 debut, "Best Day Of My Life". The song broke into the top 30 in the last chart of February and remained there nearly four months. "Best Day" peaked in April and May, when it spent nine weeks in the top 15.
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