Every Friday, I’m publishing my top ten songs from a single year and this week it’s the turn of 2016.
For previous top ten tunes, please click on the year:1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019
Full of so much joy that they won
Oh 2016. Ok, let’s do this.
In 2016, junior doctors strike over contract conditions, former Eastenders actor Sian Blake is murdered along with her two sons by her partner, all four members of British indie band- Viola Beach are killed along with their manager in a car crash in Sweden, a major incident is declared as one person is killed and three remain missing after an explosion at Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire, 6 people from Rotherham are jailed for a combined sentence of 103 years for the grooming, sexual assault and the rape of 15 teenage girls, three bombings take place in Brussels and are declared a terrorist attack- 35 people are killed and over 300 are injured, thousands of people protest austerity cuts in central London, the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday, for the first time in history Leicester City win the Premiership defying all odds, Labour MP Sadiq Khan is sworn in as the new Mayor of London, a shooting takes place in an Orlando, Florida nightclub and 49 people are killed, Andy Murray wins the Wimbledon Mens Singles for the second time, a terrorist attack takes place in Nice, France when a lorry plows into a crowd at a Bastille Day fireworks display and kills 86 people many of whom were children, the Olympics take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Team GB finish 2nd in the medals table, the BBC loses the rights to broadcast Great British Bake Off, 7 people are killed and 50 are injured when a Tramline tram derails in Croydon, a terrorist attack takes place at a Christmas market in Berlin leaving 12 people dead and 56 injured, people of Syria are mercilessly bombed for several months by their government in an attempt to bomb and starve them into submission- tens of thousands of lives were lost.
Labour MP Jo Cox is shot and stabbed to death in public by far-right supporter Thomas Mair. She was 41 and had two young children.
51.9% of people that voted in the United Kingdom’s EU referendum vote to leave the European Union. It becomes the first country in the 59 years of the organisation to vote to leave it. David Cameron resigns as Prime Minister and Theresa May replaces him.
In the USA, reality TV star Donald Trump is elected as President of the United States.
And Pete Burns, David Gest, Kenny Baker, Frank Kelly, Paul Daniels, George Martin, Liz Smith, Leonard Cohen, Ronnie Corbett, Terry Wogan, Caroline Aherne, Gene Wilder, Alan Rickman, Victoria Wood, Muhammed Ali, Prince, Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, George Michael and David Bowie all pass away.
FFS.
The films Zootopia, Arrival, Deadpool, La La Land, Moana, Moonlight, Ghostbusters, Manchester By the Sea, Sully, the BFG, I, Daniel Blake and Hackshaw Ridge are released and I celebrate my 40th birthday.
I mean, fuck 2016, right? But, we did have the Olympics and Paralympics and I had my 40th and there is all the below music. I’m a big fan of this week’s playlist, but it is quite the emotional one. There’s Bowie, there’s Beyonce, there’s Gaga and then there’s Nick Cave laying his emotions bare. Spotify playlist at the end as per. List in no particular order as per. I don’t like to change things round here much.
An embarrassing display of photos of me throughout my life for all to laugh at, at my 40th birthday party.
1. Tilted by Christine and the Queens
2. Where Are You Now? by Lady Leshurr
3. Don’t Touch My Hair by Solange
4. Formation by Beyonce
5. Secret Love Song by Little Mix featuring Jason Derulo
6. Best to You by Blood Orange
7. The Orange Monkey by PJ Harvey
8. Lazarus by David Bowie
9. Million Reasons by Lady Gaga
10. Distant Sky by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds– where do I start with this song (and performance). I can barely listen to a few seconds of it without the tears starting. For those of you that don’t know, Nick’s 15 year old son, Arthur, died in a cliff fall whilst Nick was recording the Skeleton Tree album that this song is taken from. If you ever get a chance to watch the accompanying film One More Time With Feeling, I strongly recommend you do. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
While Formation and Secret Love Song are close runner-ups, my favourite is undoubtedly the stunning Distant Sky. Come on, don’t be shy- let me know which is your favourite.
See you next week for 2017! And then we’ll be all caught up, gang!
Just Another Blog From a Woman 
I really thought 2016 was gonna be a good year – I got married in the June just a few days before the Brexit vote and then it all spiraled into doom while we were on honeymoon for the rest of the UK really. Can we just forget about 2016 what a total crapper of a year?! Urrrghhhh soo many bad things happened! Man we lost some amazing people in 2016 didn’t we?
Back to the music I think I’m gonna go with Million Reasons Lady Gaga as my fave.
Rachael | https://rachaelstray.com/
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It’s a gorgeous song- good choice. Oh we should just remember 2016 for your wedding then. That can be the beacon of light in the middle of a shit storm. Also, maybe it was a good thing you were away whilst the country sunk into some kind of warped depression.
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We were in New York about to fly to Antigua when we found out about the Brexit vote – not going to lie I did not feel proud to be British that day!
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I bet. Oh dear.
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Hello! I like the Blood Orange track best, but the instrumentals on Lazarus are pretty awesome. It was hard to listen to Distant Sky given the story you shared. Before I had a child, I thought it was sad when a child died. Now, I get tight in my guts and my skin gets clammy whenever I think of it–for myself or any other parent. Such is the blessing and curse of experience. Now I can better feel the pain of that kind of loss, and thus am a more complete human, but the pain is a real and physical thing.
And agree that 2016 was a rough one. Its difficult even reading about it in your synopsis. So much senseless death, and so much reactionary politics. I read a book called Indian Boyhood, written more than a hundred years ago by a man who had a Native American mother and a white father. He described how the braves in his tribe itched for war when the food was plenty and the weather was mild. I wonder if, as humans, we get all agitated and fight amongst ourselves when we don’t have some larger crises at hand.It’s like a common enemy is the only thing that can unite people in a big way. Can’t we agree that climate change and racism and cancer could be our enemies instead of each other? I know I sound naive–but sometimes I just wish these things could be true.
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Hi love. I’m so glad you love the Blood Orange track. I love the energy of it. Also, very pleasing that you’ve picked up on the greatness of the instrumentals on Lazarus. Like you, I can barely think or talk about a child’s death. It was bad enough pre-motherhood, but now I’m a mess. The whole Nick Cave album is stunning, but I found it very hard to listen to when it first came out. I went to see the accompanying film by myself. Huge mistake. I sobbed throughout it. It was amazing though. This might sound strange, but there was something beautiful and inspiring with the way they dealt with Arthur’s death. Is Nick Cave known or liked over in the US? He’s very popular over here.
Thank you so much for your thoughts on 2016 and the political and social unrest that accompanied it. You are so very right. I don’t think you’re being naive. It’s such a simple thing- humanity uniting against things that threaten us as a whole. Why can’t we all see this, all agree on this? It’s not being naive, it is the simple, but seemingly & frustratingly unattainable solution.
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Nick Cave isn’t well known here–or at least I haven’t heard about him (but I am a little on the nerdy/lame side when it comes to music).
I’ve been thinking that I wish I had a megaphone and could say–hey, remember people, we can be better than this.
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Ah I see. I think I recall you liked his song that I chose from 1997 too. He’s very good at writing beautiful/haunting songs.
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God, 2016 was shit wasn’t it? I clearly wrapped myself up in some bubble because I don’t think I know ANY of these songs (apart from Bowie, obvs) off the top of my head. So my ridiculously guilty pleasure pick of 2016 would be Little Mix with Shout Out To My Ex (woooh!) which really does my street cred no good at all…
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If anything, I’d say that makes you even more credible. Love a bit of Little Mix me. 2016 was SUCH a knob.
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This is where I know I’m getting old… I’d probably recognise the songs if I hear them, but I recognise none of the titles lol!!!
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Haha. I draw a blank from most chart songs from the 10s too. I listen to 6music a lot though, so that’s where I get most of my musical influence from these days.
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😜🤣
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Bowie and GA GA 🌹🌹💜
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Yes and yes. Very good choices Willow x
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Thank you 💜
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I can barely listen to Bowie on that album without getting teary. He was one of my favourite artists.
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I hear ya. I think Bowie is the only celebratory that I actually cried about when they died. It took me a while to listen to his music again without tearing up. I can do it now, thought there’s still something about Lazarus.
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I know. I also cried when Chris Cornell died, and sobbed when Gord Downie passed (although if you’re not Canadian, you probably don’t know who Gord was). It’s funny how these people touch our lives so deeply with their music.
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2016 was the year our dreams were shattered; we’d moved back to the UK in 2014 from the US to give our kids the opportunity to live/work/study in Europe in the future. So much for that idea. Then, unbelievably, the US also went tits up with Trump. I’d never cried over politics before, but I cried the morning after the referendum, and the morning after the US election. So utterly ashamed of both my countries (I’m British-American), and I felt devastated about all the things that were being taken away from us.
Music-wise, though, what a year. Think I’ll go with Christine and the Queens, but you have so many great tracks in your list!
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Eurgh, it was just so devastating. And yes so many great opportunities for us and our children just whipped from under our feet.
However, the music was great that year and Christine & the Queens is a wonderful choice.
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