The Metaphorical Boat's Top Songs of 2019 - 5-2

We're getting closer to finding out which song has clinched the top spot in our favourite songs of 2019, but before that, let's see the still-fantastic songs that just fell short at the final hurdle -

5. Vampire Weekend - This Life

Like another song in our top 10, "This Life" was a song that was all over the radio during the summer months without translating into a bona fide hit in its own right, mores the pity. The song is perhaps the most straightforward pop song that Vampire Weekend have recorded to date, a jaunty-sounding track that we've seen compared to "Brown Eyed Girl", whose lyrics belay a mournfulness that juxtaposes the sunny melody.

4. UVERworld - Touch Off

Japanese alternative-rock band UVERworld's song "Touch Off" rose to prominence in 2019 through its use as the theme to the critically acclaimed Japanese series The Promised Neverland. It's perhaps one of the few heavy-rock songs that manages to use a saxophone prominently throughout without sounding a bit weird.



3. The Radar Station - Zanzara

This song first came to our attention when the Belgian band in question were known as Sun Gods, although due to legal reasons the band are now known as The Radar Station.

"Zanzara" (which is Italian for mosquito), is a tender electro-stomper of a song that calls to mind the production of Prides or Bear's Den circa "Red Earth & Pouring Rain", with a songwriting style that draws fond comparisons with The Waterboys.


2. Sean McConnell - I Could Have Been An Angel

And just missing out on the top spot is "I Could Have Been An Angel" by Massachusetts country-folk singer-songwriter Sean McConnell. It's a song built around two separate narratives of two people who have taken the wrong turn in life, and trying to rationalise why they didn't have the power within themselves to be good. There hasn't been a song that has affected me emotionally in the same way in 2019, even now I get a little bit bleary eyed whenever the guitars swell up in the post-chorus.