The Best Songs of 2012

In my opinion, 2012 was a pretty decent year, music-wise. That's one great thing about the charts not having as much sway in this era of downloading a song here and a song there: so many different genres can shine. The single is hotter than ever. Which means, of course, that full albums seem like an afterthought sometimes. You don't get many "concept albums" these days.

Here is my list of 2012's top eleven songs (because I couldn't narrow it down to ten). I've included links to all the videos or, in cases where the videos are awful, live performances.

I'm curious to hear what you all think. Do you agree? Which awesome songs did I forget?

11. "Starships" by Nicki Minaj
As a rule, I'm not a fan of Nicki Minaj's, but this song is so catchy and tight. And I can't deny her talent...or her bravery. I love how she pretty much seems certifiably insane, appears to do whatever the hell she wants, and can make a so-so song (hello, Justin Bieber) way better just by rapping a few lines. I can't wait to watch her special kind of crazy on American Idol. Check out the video for an eyeful of her INSANE bod.

10. "Kill the D.J." by Green Day
The last Green Day song I loved was from American Idiot--which came out in the Aughts, for goodness sake. Green Day is one of the few popular bands still putting out concept albums, but unfortunately for them, the concepts have been lame. I haven't heard much from their latest trilogy (UNO!, DOS!, and TRE!), but if this song is any indication of their new direction, I'm diggin' it.

9. "The Keepers" by Santigold 
The weirdest thing about this song (and there are a LOT of weird things about it) is that it sounds like the 80s song "Send Me an Angel" by Real Life in the beginning. It's actually a very 80s-ish song throughout, which isn't what I expected. Because Santigold has been lumped into the "Urban Female Artist" category, I assumed she was a rapper. My bad. This song is surprising on so many levels. And check out the cool "Family of the Corn" video.

8.  "212" by Azealia Banks (warning: it's explicit!)
I'm a little obsessed with Azealia Banks. This song sounds like a few different tunes wrapped into one, and Ms. Banks sings in four distinct voices throughout. And while the song definitely stands on its own, it's Ms. Banks' magnetic personality--which shines so brightly in the video (those braids! that smile!)--that makes this spectacular. As Simon Cowell would say, she has serious IT factor. Oh, and it's really dirty.

7. "Change" by Churchill
My current favorite song--it's catchy, catchy, catchy! I love vocalist Bethany Kelly's sweet voice; she looks about sixteen and is too cute. You can feel her pain when she sings: You've got the story all made up inside your head./You write me out of it and use your words instead./You hold me just out of reach, but you keep me pounding the beat,/to take all the soul you can get. Oh, honey, I've been there.

6. "Simple Song" by The Shins
Oh, the irony. This song is anything but simple. Well, the composition isn't terribly complicated but the lyrics belie a deeper (painful) story. And the video, about siblings fighting over their recently-deceased father's inheritance, is funny, complex, and disturbing. James Mercer is one bizarre dude.

5. "Hold On" by the Alabama Shakes
The first ten times I heard this song, I thought it was a guy singing. Then I saw the video and was all, What?! Whoa, that woman can wail. And she's surprisingly young--like early-20s young. But Brittany Howard sings as if she has been to hell and back again. She sings like a woman who has lived a long, hard life. Which is sad. And awesome.

4. "I'm Shakin'" by Jack White
I'm not sure if this should even be on the list because it's not new and Jack White didn't actually write it. The song was written in the 1950s by a doo-wop and R&B songwriter named Rudy Toombs, and it has been recorded twice before: first by R&B singer Little Willie John in 1960 and then by rockabilly/punk band The Blasters in 1981. But the bottom line is it's a great song. And Jack White sets it on fire and takes it to a whole new level of awesome. The video is a typically stylized Jack White affair--with a palette that's all light blue and charcoal for a change.

3. "Never Go Back" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
I love this song for so many reasons: the killer intro reminds me of vintage Pat Benetar, Grace Potter's voice is sublime, and the lyrics are everything you've ever wanted to say to that jerk ex-boyfriend who played with your mind and wasted your time. When Grace wails, Oh no, oh no! I'm never going back there no more the pain, defiance, and strength in her voice is like nothing I've heard before. And it doesn't hurt that she happens to be one sexy mama.

2. "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men
This strange Icelandic group is hard to define, so I won't try. I do love vocalist and guitarist Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir's (?!) sweet voice, which is little girl-ish and angelic at the same time. And the back and forth between Nanna and co-vocalist Ragnar "Raggi" Porhallsson is beautiful and unusual in popular music these days. This is straight out a fabulous song--gotta love the HEY! shouts throughout--and the video is probably the best of the year.

1. "Somebody I Used to Know" by Gotye
I know, I know. You are SO SICK of this song--the regular, stripped-down version, the dance version, and the dub club one. I didn't want to put this in the number one spot, either, but I had to. Sure, it's been over-played, but that doesn't change the fact that it's fantastic--and took the world by storm. I love the way it starts so quietly and you really have to pay attention to hear the lyrics--which isn't something most pop songs do. And the lyrics happen to be great ones about a terrible, gut-wrenching breakup. Sure, Kimbra steals the show with her haunting solo, but it's strange Gotye (real name Wouter "Wally" De Backer) who wrote the song and deserves credit.

Are We Failing Our Boys?

I keep hitting the refresh button on the CNN homepage, hoping to read something that will help make sense of today's tragedy. But, really, what could possibly explain away 20 innocent kids killed? Nothing. But still, I look.

Because here's the thing: whenever I hear some awful story--say of a mother drowning her own children--I need to try to figure it out. Usually, it comes down to simple insanity. It's not as if I can relate to a mother who listens to and obeys the voices in her head instructing her to kill her kids because the world is a horrible place, the kids are cursed, and they'll be happier in heaven. But I can understand how mental illness can take over a person and make them do crazy things that they, in their deranged state, think will help.

You know what I'm saying?

Insanity that's directed inward or toward family I can...not understand, exactly...but I guess wrap my brain around how things could possibly get twisted that way in someone's head. Young women more often take their anger, hatred, angst, even mental imbalance, out on themselves (or their families). Eating disorders, body dysmorphia, cutting, suicide attempts: troubled women hate themselves first and foremost. Of course, this is horrible...but it sure beats shooting up a school.

Young women don't open fire on packed movie theaters or mow down classrooms of defenseless children. Yes, there have been women serial killers (only a few), but as far as I know, there have been ZERO female mass murderers. Correct me if I'm wrong.

What I will never, ever, ever understand in any way, shape, or form is how the insanity ends up turning outward in such a cold, impersonal way--like it too often does with disturbed young men. Adam Lanza didn't know those kids. And his mother wasn't even there; he'd already killed her. Why go outside the family?

So this is what I keep coming back to when I think about today: how have we so completely failed in the raising of our boys?

Because there's no way this is all nature, or hormones, or brain chemistry, or any of that crap. No way. A little bit, maybe. Yes, young men are more volatile and aggressive by nature than women. But how do they get to the point where they are walking into an elementary school outfitted like they are going into battle? How does a (I'm guessing) sad, lonely, angry, alienated 10-year-old boy turn into a murderous 20-year-old man? How can 10 years (or even 20) be enough time for things to go so horribly wrong?

How do these young men get this way? How many people had to have failed them as they navigated their way through childhood and adolescence for them to end up this way?

Every psychiatrist out there needs to put aside what they are working on to figure this out: what is the awful combination of factors that turns a young man into a ticking time bomb? Nothing seems more important right now.

Sure, there are other things we can do:

- YES, we need better gun control. I'd be happy if firearms were outlawed 100%, including hunting rifles and the like. BUT...a particularly motivated individual would always be able get his hands on one (or four)--or another equally destructive weapon--regardless of the law.

- YES, we need to be better educated about how to spot the signs that someone is about to blow. Because you know Adam Lanza gave off warning signs. Hey, maybe someone was even paying enough attention to notice. BUT...somewhere along the way, that someone--or, more likely, many "someones"--failed him.

Are these things maybe too little too late, though? Shouldn't we be starting at the beginning? How about we figure out what we are doing to create these unhinged killing machines in the first place and STOP DOING IT? Something is so, so broken here. But can we even figure out which part it is that needs fixing?

I don't know. But it just takes one look into my son's sweet, innocent, trusting face for me to know that we have to try. We need to help our precious boys.