My top 5 songs that got me through November

Happy December! Happy festive season! Happy hot vaxxed (and hopefully not too rainy) summer! And happy Spotify Wrapped day!

We made it to the end of November besties, and some things happened. The semester finished, work started picking up, I turned 21 and Taylor Swift AND Adele gifted albums for me, and we all nearly floated away in the rain in the process. But all together, it was good. But I’m also happy to see the end of it.

Without further ado, here are the songs that got me through the month of November. You know the drill.

Number 5: Cry Your Heart Out – Adele

I have a complicated relationship with Adele. Not as much as Matt Doran does (lol), but when her new album 30 was coming, I felt significantly less excited than rest of the world was. Aside from a select few songs, namely Chasing Pavements, Turning Tables, Hello and Hometown Glory, Adele was never an artist I would actively listen to and enjoy myself while doing it. I know. Blasphemy. Adele puts her ALL in her songs, and they’re mostly immensely heartbreaking in one way or another, and I very rarely find myself feeling in the mood for the big ballads. But 30 is different.

From start to finish, the album tells a story. The songs are more jazzy (but equally as heartbreaking), and the older I have gotten, the more I enjoy songs that sound exactly like that. Usually, and I’m sure I’ve mentioned this many times before, it bothers me majorly when successful artists change their sound, but in this scenario, I BELIEVE (don’t come for me) it’s exactly what Adele needed.

The only reason I picked this specific song to put into this post is because it’s the one I’ve been listening to the most, but I flipping LOVE the album in its entirety. My Little Love kills me (trust Adele to write a song about telling a child you’re divorcing his father), Oh My God makes me want to strut around like a bad bitch, and the lyrics to I Drink Wine are just… Mwah. Chef’s kiss. If you haven’t listened to the album yet, whatthefuckareyoudoing?

Number 4: Eyes On The Prize – Allday

Talk about both ends of the spectrum huh? Allday is back and he is rapping again, and I was not even a little bit surprised when I promptly became obsessed with this song after I heard it for the first time. Allday (who is 30 by the way?!!?!??!!?) could not be any less like Adele. Starting his career as Australia’s favourite strine-y rapper, he has since released three albums of rap songs and one of him singing, and he could literally do anything on record and I would listen to it.

Not to be confused with his song Eyes On The Road (also excellent), Eyes On The Prize is about working SO hard for something; literally going from the bottom to the top and being content with it, without showing it off, just realising you have made it. At the same time, it’s filled with many many Allday-isms such as ‘Ruth just left, I’m Ruth-less’, ‘jet ski through the pond, sorry if I scared the ducks’ and ‘put the past behind me like a ponytail’ that make his music truly his.

Long story short, I’d listen to and love anything Allday produces (he was my fifth most streamed artist on Spotify this year for the second year in a row). And I met him one time. That’s important to mention too.

Number 3: Kitchen – Ruby Fields

Speaking of Australian strine, here’s a song by Ruby Fields. The older I have got, the more I have been getting into Australian music – and MAN it’s good (my top genre on Spotify this year was actually Australian Indie). But from the moment her song Dinosaurs entered my ears, I (and the rest of the well (musically)educated population of Australia) knew Ruby Fields was one to watch.

The whole album, Been Doin’ It For A Bit, is Australian music at its finest, but Kitchen is an absolute stand out. It’s a song about love, borderline alcoholism and general life problems, with the word ‘mate’ said six times, and I’m so obsessed with it. The ending of the song is phenomenal (seriously listen up loud with your headphones in), and my favourite lyric is ‘you buy my beers love, you kiss me even when I’m unclean, you hate the things that I hate, and that’s just fine with me’. I think that says it all.

Number 2: Red (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift

Whhhhhhhhho’s not even remotely surprised? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d know that Red (Taylor’s Version) came out in November, and we all went nuts. I don’t actually think I need to say too much about this one that hasn’t already been said, but Taylor Swift is one of my favourite people in the whole damn world (she was my SECOND most listened to artist this year, ALSO for the second year in a row) and I will be streaming this album and song until the day I die.

Like Adele, the whole album (ALL 30(!!) OF THE SONGS) are absolutely amazing, and I just picked this song as a way to represent them all. Red (Taylor’s version) is such an iconic song, from the first little twang twang twang at the beginning, to the imagery all throughout the song, to when you’re crying at the end (right?). Special mention to All Too Well (all 10 minutes of it), Come Back… Be Here and Forever Winter for also being on repeat all month.

And most importantly, fuck you Jake Gyyllenhaal. That is all.

Number 1: Seventeen Going Under – Sam Fender

Yeah, this is the song about hitting someone from TikTok. But it’s also REALLY GOOD!

Look me in the eyes and tell me that you were not once too scared to hit someone, but you would hit them in a heartbeat now. I know I was, and I know I would. But seriously, the song says a lot about feelings that are held in that haven’t been acted upon, and what they can do to you in the long term. And alongside that, it’s also a freaking bop. What more could you want.

I relate to the lyrics of this song, particularly ‘the boy who kicked Tom’s head in still hurts me now, and that’s the thing it lingers, and claws you when you’re down’. I am the person that sits in silence and thinks of shitty things people have done a long time ago and gets angry about them still. I am a fiend for justice (so it seems), and I think this song appropriately mirrors how it feels both in the lyrics and in the way it sounds. I have forced so many people to listen to this song ever since the first TikTok I saw using it, and it’s definitely a contender for my Hottest 100 votes. Watch this space.

And there we have it ladies and gents. My November in songs. What a weird variety. Hope you enjoy! As always, here is my playlist for the month of November should you wish to listen. It’s a weird one.