100 Greatest Songs From 2012

Criteria: These records were chosen and ranked based on their initial and lasting popularity, and on their impact on the overall scope of musical history.

Note: Yearly song lists go by earliest 'release date' (Single, Album, or Country of first release). Not necessarily the year a song peaked in the U.S. charts.

1. Gangnam Style
Psy
2. Payphone
Maroon 5 (featuring Wiz Khalifa)
3. Diamonds
Rihanna
4. Live While We're Young
One Direction
5. Locked Out Of Heaven
Bruno Mars
6. Starships
Nicki Minaj
7. Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
Pink
8. Climax
Usher
9. Thinkin' Bout You
Frank Ocean
10. Ho Hey
Lumineers
11. Thrift Shop
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (featuring Wanz)
12. Some Nights
fun.
13. Radioactive
Imagine Dragons
14. I Love It
Icona Pop (featuring Charli XCX)
15. Whistle
Flo Rida
16. Just Give Me A Reason
Pink (featuring Nate Ruess)
17. Let Her Go
Passenger
18. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Taylor Swift
19. Swimming Pools (Drank)
Kendrick Lamar
20. Scream & Shout
will.i.am (featuring Britney Spears)
21. I Will Wait
Mumford & Sons
22. Adorn
Miguel
23. Good Time
Carly Rae Jepsen (with Owl City)
24. Mercy
Kanye West (featuring Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz)
25. Stay
Rihanna (featuring Mikky Ekko)
26. Scream
Usher
27. Summertime Sadness
Lana Del Rey
28. Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)
Ne-Yo
29. Try
Pink
30. Same Love
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (featuring Mary Lambert)
31. I Knew You Were Trouble
Taylor Swift
32. When I Was Your Man
Bruno Mars
33. Sweet Nothing
Calvin Harris (featuring Florence Welch)
34. Next to Me
Emeli Sandé
35. Chasing the Sun
The Wanted
36. Harlem Shake
Baauer
37. One More Night
Maroon 5
38. Demons
Imagine Dragons
39. Madness
Muse
40. I Need Your Love
Calvin Harris (featuring Ellie Goulding)
41. Fuckin' Problem
A$AP Rocky (featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar)
42. The House That Heaven Built
Japandroids
43. Die Young
Ke$ha
44. Anything Could Happen
Ellie Goulding
45. Little Things
One Direction
46. Pound The Alarm
Nicki Minaj
47. Take A Walk
Passion Pit
48. Give Me All Your Luvin'
Madonna (featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.)
49. Sixteen Saltines
Jack White
50. Holes
Passenger

51. Angels
The xx
52. What Now
Rihanna
53. Breezeblocks
alt-J
54. Clique
Kanye West (with Jay-Z and Big Sean)
55. Let's Go
Calvin Harris (featuring Ne-Yo)
56. Who
David Byrne & St. Vincent
57. Read All About It, Pt. III
Emeli Sandé
58. I Belong In Your Arms
Chairlift
59. Stubborn Love
Lumineers
60. Kiss You
One Direction
61. Elephant
Tame Impala
62. Hold On
Alabama Shakes
63. Oblivion
Grimes
64. On Top Of The World
Imagine Dragons
65. Happy Pills
Norah Jones
66. White Walls
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (featuring Schoolboy Q, Hollis)
67. Youth Without Youth
Metric
68. Oh Love
Green Day
69. The Descent
Bob Mould
70. The Veldt
deadmau5
71. Cherokee
Cat Power
72. Into The Black
Chromatics
73. & It Was U
How To Dress Well
74. Yet Again
Grizzly Bear
75. Daughters
Nas
76. Myth
Beach House
77. Breathing Underwater
Metric
78. 45
The Gaslight Anthem
79. Autre Temps
Alcest
80. We'll Be Coming Back
Calvin Harris (featuring Example)
81. Ruin
Cat Power
82. Va Va Voom
Nicki Minaj
83. My Kind Of Love
Emeli Sandé
84. Put It Down
Brandy
85. This Summer
Superchunk
86. Hey Jane
Spiritualized
87. The Celestials
Smashing Pumpkins
88. Dance For You
Dirty Projectors
89. Bad Girls
M.I.A.
90. Song For A Warrior
Swans (featuring Karen O)
91. Among The Leaves
Sun Kil Moon
92. Losing You
Solange Knowles
93. Tempest
Deftones
94. My Kind Of Woman
Mac DeMarco
95. Pyramids
Frank Ocean
96. Comeback Kid
Sleigh Bells
97. Simple Song
The Shins
98. Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Father John Misty
99. The Only Place
Best Coast
100. White Flag
Guided by Voices
20 more worth mentioning.
101. Baby
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (featuring Dam-Funk)
102. Teenage Icon
The Vaccines
103. That's Why God Made The Radio
The Beach Boys
104. We Take Care Of Our Own
Bruce Springsteen
105. All Your Gold
Bat for Lashes
106. Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe
Kendrick Lamar
107. Lightning Bolt
Jake Bugg
108. Big Beast
Killer Mike (featuring Bun B, T.I. and Trouble)
109. Every Single Night
Fiona Apple
110. Met Before
Chairlift
111. Caravan
Rush
112. The Pit
Silversun Pickups
113. Zero Dark Thirty
Aesop Rock
114. Weather In My Head
Donald Fagen
115. You're Early
2:54
116. Would That Not Be Nice
Divine Fits
117. Girl Gone Wild
Madonna
118. Boozophilia
Low Cut Connie
119. Tattoo
Van Halen
120. A Night and a Day
Pepe Deluxé
DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 2012
An unheralded great record from 2012
Lew's choice:
* Emmylou
First Aid Kit
Ryan's choice:
* Tiptoe Through the True Bits
Los Campesinos!
Adam's choice:
* 20/20
Graveyard
Bruce's choice:
* Love To Flirt
Mud Morganfield
    2011   |   2013

Edited By:
Last Updated: 2015-04-11