The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - The List (+Spotify Playlist)

For the benefit of those who like cold, hard data, here is The Metaphorical Boat's top songs of 2017 in easy to digest list form -

1. CHAMPS - The Garden Is Overgrown
2. Confidence Man - Bubblegum
3. Drones Club - Hurricane
4. Tom Williams - Everyone Needs a Home
5. Dan Auerbach - Shine on Me
6. Ten Fé - Twist Your Arm
7. Lauren Bird - That's The Truth
8. The War On Drugs - Holding On
9. Childish Gambino - Redbone
10. Confidence Man - Better Sit Down Boy
11. Sam Fender - Play God
12. Fjokra - Sick Kids
13. Dagny - Wearing Nothing
14. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Anymore
15. Liam Gallagher - Wall Of Glass
16. Japandroids - No Known Drink Or Drug
17. Catholic Action - Propaganda
18. Childcare - Kiss?
19. Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains - Grand Dérèglement
20. Imagine Dragons - Believer
21. Richard Thorncroft - You Can't Handcuff the Wind
22. SAINTE - With or Without Me
23. Glass Wings - Jana From Barcelona
24. The Shimmer Band - Jacknife And The Death Call
25. Beck - Dear Life
26. The War On Drugs - Strangest Thing
27. Paths - Last One Standing
28. Ten Tonnes - Silver Heat
29. Howl - Lost
30. Public Service Broadcasting - You + Me
31. The Go! Team - Semicircle Song
32. Bicep - Glue
33. Apache Darling - Go
34. Remington Super 60 - Robo learns to whistle
35. Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still
36. British Sea Power - Keep On Trying (Sechs Freunde)
37. Cold War Kids - Love Is Mystical
38. Spoon - Hot Thoughts
39. Parekh & Singh - Panda
40. Anteros - Bonnie
41. Owen Denvir - You Don't Want to Love Me
42. Aidan Logan - Turbulence
43. The Vegan Leather - Shake It
44. Darren Doherty - Kites (feat. Lauren Bird)
45. Jennifer Hudson - Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight
46. Malojian - Ambulance Song
47. Hannah Grace - Praise You
48. Girl K - Neighbors
49. Ibibio Sound Machine - Give Me a Reason
50. Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl

And for those of you who do that whole Spotify thing, here is a playlist of all 50 songs in order of awesomeness -

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - Number One

1. Champs - The Garden Is Overgrown

And so Isle of Wight duo Champs join The Vaccines, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Public Service Broadcasting, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Ten Fé & Bears Den in claiming the crown of The Metaphorical Boat's song of the year, with "The Garden Is Overgrown".

"The Garden Is Overgrown" is a song about the passage of time & the ebb and flow of priorities, which is delivered over a psych-synth-pop backing, with an irresistible chorus.

So congratulations to Champs, and click the 'play' button below to enjoy our favourite song of 2017 -

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs on 2017 - 5-2

We're nearly at the end of countdown now, but before we see what our favourite song of 2017 is, let's see what came in at numbers 5 through 2 on our countdown -

5. Dan Auerbach - Shine on Me

A solo outing from 1/2 of The Black Keys, "Shine On Me" is a sunny, guitar-pop song that feels like a lost George Harrison single. An unexpected delight, and a fun music video too.

4. Tom Williams - Everyone Needs a Home

Having been familiar with him for many years without absolutely falling for his music, 2017 was the year that Tom Williams finally smashed into our consciousness with his fantastic single "Everyone Needs a Home". It's a song inspired by the refugee crisis, and harks back to 70s rock, and is topped off with lush, string-swept melodies.

3. Drones Club - Hurricane 

The London based musical collective-cum-cult Drones Club delivered a dark banger in the form of "Hurricane", a politically-charged electronic number with sinister undertones & an earworm-y central hook. If you see them live, it is a pretty arresting sight seeing a room full of people going crazy to this track.

2. Confidence Man - Bubblegum

And just falling short of the #1 position is the second entry in the top 10 for Australian band Confidence Man, this time with "Bubblegum", the song that made us fall in love with them in the first place.

"Bubblegum" is the kind of bonkers, hyperactive, cut & paste pop that we absolutely love to pieces. As well as calling to mind The Go! Team, and Deee-Lite (it's been called by some as a modern-day updating of "Groove Is In The Heart"), it also reminds us very much of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour in how its constituent parts slip and slide out as the song progresses. Ruddy great fun, and even more fun when you see the band performing it live. 

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 10-6

We are now into the creme-de-la-creme of 2017's songs, with the songs that come in at numbers 10 through 6 in the countdown. Here they are, alongside the reasons why we think they're such fantastic songs -

10. Confidence Man - Better Sit Down Boy

Australian band Confidence Man make fun, uplifting pop music with a lack of cynicism, but a large dollop of attitude. "Better Sit Down Boy" is the kind of song you could imagine Girls Aloud taking straight into the chart 10 years ago if it were given a Xenomania lick of paint. It's a fun, un-guilty pleasure from start to finish.



9. Childish Gambino - Redbone

Ah "Redbone", or as it's also known, the song that spawned a million memes (this one was our personal favourite). With its instantly recognisable unique instrumentation and the soulful vocals of Donald Glover, "Redbone" sounds like it was an old R&B classic from the 70s that had only been re-discovered, yet was very much a product of the here and now. A fantastic song from a genre that we usually aren't too fussed on.

8. The War On Drugs - Holding On

Well, "A Deeper Understanding" was so full on bangers that it's no surprise to see another song from the album make our list of favourite songs of the year. "Holding On" sees The War on Drugs at their heaviest, with its driving, America rock somewhat tempered by its glockenspiel-inflected rhythm. 



7. Lauren Bird - That's The Truth

I've mentioned before the idea of a tune that is an 'Asda Car Park' song. What this means is that it is a song that when I listen to it in the car, I get so emotional, and my eyes get so bleary, that I need to turn the car into the nearest car park (which is usually an Asda one for some reason) to allow me to compose myself and recover my vision before continuing on my journey. We in Northern Ireland are used to road safety adverts on TV that warn of the dangers of drink-driving, and rightly so. However, there is yet to be one that warns of the dangers of listening to emotional music whilst driving, and I feel that this is a major oversight.

This brings us nicely on to "That's The Truth" by Lauren Bird, a song that for us at least, fits the very definition of an 'Asda Car Park' song. It's a beautiful, emotional, ukulele-lead song that contains one of the most beautiful, yet tragic, lyrics we've heard in a song all year - "I'd rather be nothing than be a burden to you".



6. Ten Fé - Twist Your Arm

Having seen Ten Fé play the song "Twist Your Arm" live at The Great Escape, we had a feeling that when they finally released a studio version of the song, it would become a real favourite, and gosh darn, those boyos went and made sure we kept that promise to ourselves.

Given their versatile sound and live presence, we'd imagine Ten Fé to be a modern day successor to Primal Scream, and "Twist Your Arm" is one of those songs that helps to cement that belief, as its dancey, droozy sound sounds like it owes a debt to songs from their "Screamadelica" album, "Come Together" in particular due to its use of a gospel choir. We're also got some David Bowie "Memories of a Free Festival" vibes, and for some reason that we couldn't put our finger quite on, a little bit of Simple Minds as well.

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 15-11

We're getting closer and closer to the top spot, as we look at the songs that came in at numbers 15 through 11 on our countdown. Songs from the biggest name in Britpop, the artist responsible for our #1 song of 2014, Norwegian pop, Irish eclectic-indie, and an artist who's being tipped by the BBC for big things in 2018 -  

15. Liam Gallagher - Wall Of Glass

14. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Anymore 

13. Dagny - Wearing Nothing

12. Fjokra - Sick Kids 

11. Sam Fender - Play God 

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 20-16

We are in to the top 20 now, as we edge ever closer to finding out what our favourite song of 2017 is. Up next we have the songs ranked 20 to 16 in our countdown, and features one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, French indie, a band fronted by a male nanny, a sub 2 minute slice of energy, and some Canadian noise-rock -

20. Imagine Dragons - Believer



19. Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains - Grand Dérèglement



18. Childcare - Kiss?




17. Catholic Action - Propaganda




16. Japandroids - No Known Drink Or Drug

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 25-21

We are now into the top half of the countdown, with the songs that ranked 25 to 21 on the countdown. This batch features a musical chameleon, British alt-rock, a country-inspired Northern Irish singer/songwriter, American pop-rock, & a pastiche of 80s music featuring one half of The Mighty Boosh -


25. Beck - Dear Life

24. The Shimmer Band - Jacknife And The Death Call 

23. Glass Wings - Jana From Barcelona 

22. SAINTE - With or Without Me 

21. Richard Thorncroft - You Can't Handcuff the Wind

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 30-26

We are about to hit the halfway stage in this year's countdown, as we reach the songs that made it to number 30-26 in our countdown. This batch features the artist responsible for our #1 song of 2014 (and his first time taking lead vocals too!), two emerging UK indie-rockers, Northern Irish electro, and one of the bigger indie groups doing the rounds at the moment -


30. Public Service Broadcasting - You + Me

29. Howl - Lost



28. Ten Tonnes - Silver Heat



27. Paths - Last One Standing



26. The War On Drugs - Strangest Thing

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 35-31

Tracks 35-31 now. In this batch, we have a breakthrough hit, an infectious whistling hook, electro pop, a rave-inspired Northern Irish electronic duo, and a ruddy massive brass band -


35. Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still

34. Remington Super 60 - Robo learns to whistle

33. Apache Darling - Go 

32. Bicep - Glue



31. The Go! Team - Semicircle Song

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 40-36

We are up to the songs at numbers 40 to 36 next, featuring two stalwarts of American indie-rock, one stalwart of British indie-rock, now newer Indian indie-rock, and Anteros, who make good music as well - 

40. Anteros - Bonnie

39. Parekh & Singh - Panda

38. Spoon - Hot Thoughts 

37. Cold War Kids - Love Is Mystical



36. British Sea Power - Keep On Trying (Sechs Freunde)

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 45-41

We follow up the songs that were at #50 to 46, funnily enough, with the songs that at 45-41 on our list of top songs of 2017. In this part of the countdown we have a proper version of "Golden Slumbers" (if your cover version doesn't conclude with "Carry That Weight", then it doesn't count. Sorry Elbow), Paisley based art-rock, and a brace of some of the best local singer-songwriters that Northern Ireland has to offer -

45. Jennifer Hudson - Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight

44. Darren Doherty - Kites (feat. Lauren Bird)

43. The Vegan Leather - Shake It 

42. Aidan Logan - Turbulence 

 41. Owen Denvir - You Don't Want to Love Me

The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2017 - 50-46

Time for the annual listageddon here at The Metaphorical Boat. Over the next few days we will be counting down the blog's top 50 songs of 2017. There will be songs that have featured on the blog, songs that didn't feature on the blog, songs that have graced our lovely Spotify playlists over the last 12 months, and songs that really should have featured. But regardless, they are all awesome, and hopefully there will be a few songs here that will float your Metaphorical Boat.

Let us begin, as we normally do, with the songs at numbers 50 through 46 in our favourite songs of 2017. This batch features song local string-swept singer songwriters, a Fatboy Slim cover, some indie-pop, and in what will most likely come as a surprise to many of you, a multi-platinum ginger.

50. Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl




49. Ibibio Sound Machine - Give Me a Reason

48. Girl K - Neighbors 

47. Hannah Grace - Praise You 

46. Malojian - Ambulance Song