The 100 Best Songs of the 2020s So Far

These are the singles and deep cuts that have defined the decade so far.

If “What is the defining album of the 2020s so far?” wasn’t already an impossible question to answer, then “What is the defining song of the 2020s so far?” is perhaps even more unknowable. This decade began with Fiona Apple and, at the time I'm writing this, the remix of Charli xcx's BRAT is making its rounds. Why a “best songs of the decade so far” is far more difficult to assemble than a “best albums of the decade so far” list can be attributed to one simple thing: There are far more songs than there are albums. There's more material to sift through, and you have to decide whether to emphasize singles or deep-cuts. Usually, the most “correct” is someplace in the middle of all that. We have five years to consider (well, four years and 10 months, but who's counting!), and striking a proper balance between 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 is no small task. Add too many tags from this year , and questions of recency bias come rushing in. Add too many songs from 2020, and it's like you're living too far in the past.

But, we gave it our best shot, polling Paste staff, cross-referencing previous year-end rankings and, above all, attempting to put together a comprehensive list that best reflects this magazine's editorial populace for half a decade. In turn, all of these songs were released between January 1, 2020 and October 1, 2024, and their genres vibe through jazz, synth-pop, country, singer-songwriter and beyond—featuring artist comebacks, cuts from debut LPs and, more than anything else, career-defining phenomena. It's messy, groovy, a little bit sad and, likely, a little bit nonsensical. But hey, you know? Without further ado, here are Paste 's picks for the 100 best songs of the 2020s so far. — Matt Mitchell, Paste Music Editor

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