Hot 100 Top 40: Week of December 26, 2020 - Taylor Swift (1)

Taylor Swift (1)

Hey guys, so yeah, I realize that I'm a bit behind with my Hot 100 posts and the reason for that is that I'm really just trying to focus on my Year-End posts right now. I have the entire list for My Top 45 Songs of 2020, so I'm just working through the reviews on that, so expect that to be out in a week or so. As for the 2020 Ultimate Rank, it's gonna start as soon as I get all of my Year-End posts out. So if you want to do Community Rankings (which are just mini rankdowns of the reveals) the link for that is right here. Remember that Community Rankings are more crucial than ever this year and if you want to find out why, just go and click the 2020 Ultimate Rank tab for an explanation on that and any more info you might want on the 2020 Ultimate Rank.

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To

Monster - Shawn Mendes/Justin Bieber (#38) [#8] {3 weeks}

(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays - Perry Como (#37) [#32] {? weeks}

Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) - Gene Autry (#36) [#28] {? weeks}

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas - Michael Bublé (#33) [#33] {2 weeks}

On Me - Lil Baby (#30) [#30] {1 week}

Last Week's #1: All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey (4)

#40: gold rush - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [0 weeks On the Verge] {1 week}

#39: 'tis the damn season - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [0 weeks On the Verge] {1 week}

#38: White Christmas - Bing Crosby/Ken Darby Singers/John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra (-6) [#12] {? weeks}
#37: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love (-6) [#29] {? weeks}
#36: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish (-13) [#2] {5 weeks}
#35: 34+35 - Ariana Grande (-9) [#8] {7 weeks}

#34: no body, no crime - Taylor Swift/HAIM (DEBUT) [0 weeks On the Verge] {1 week}

#33: Bang! - AJR (-5) [#24] {13 weeks}
#32: Santa Tell Me - Ariana Grande (+7) [#32] {2 weeks} *new peak*
#31: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry (+3) [#16] {? weeks}
#30: Kings & Queens - Ava Max (-8) [#13] {12 weeks}
#29: Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry (+11) [#29] {? weeks} *new peak*
#28: Underneath the Tree - Kelly Clarkson (-3) [#25] {? weeks}
#27: Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby (-) [#20] {7 weeks}
#26: Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season - Andy Williams (+3) [#24] {? weeks}
#25: For The Night - Pop Smoke/Lil Baby/DaBaby (-4) [#6] {24 weeks}
#24: Lemonade - Internet Money/Gunna/Don Toliver/NAV (-5) [#6] {15 weeks}
#23: DÁKITI - Bad Bunny/Jhay Cortez (-6) [#5] {7 weeks}
#22: Body - Megan Thee Stallion (-4) [#12] {4 weeks}

#21: champagne problems - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [0 weeks On the Verge] {1 week}

#20: I Hope - Gabby Barrett/Charlie Puth (-8) [#3] {40 weeks}
#19: Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes (+1) [#19] {? weeks} *new peak*
#18: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd (-11) [4 weeks at #1] {51 weeks}
#17: Laugh Now Cry Later - Drake/Lil Durk (-9) [#2] {18 weeks}
#16: Go Crazy - Chris Brown/Young Thug (-3) [#9] {28 weeks}
#15: The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) - Nat King Cole (+1) [#11] {? weeks}
#14: Last Christmas - Wham! (-3) [#11] {? weeks}
#13: Holy - Justin Bieber/Chance the Rapper (-4) [#3] {13 weeks}
#12: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como/The Fontane Sisters/Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra (+23) [#12] {? weeks} *new peak*
#11: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Dean Martin (+4) [#11] {? weeks} *new peak*

#10: Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano (-) [#10] {? weeks}

#9: Dynamite - BTS (+15) [3 weeks at #1] {17 weeks}

#8: positions - Ariana Grande (-4) [1 week at #1] {8 weeks}

#7: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams (-1) [#6] {? weeks}

#6: A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives (+8) [#4] {? weeks}

#5: Mood - 24kGoldn/iann dior (-3) [6 weeks at #1] {18 weeks}

#4: Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms (+1) [#3] {? weeks}

#3: Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee (-) [#2] {? weeks}

#2: All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey (-1) [4 weeks at #1] {? weeks}

#1: willow - Taylor Swift (DEBUT) [1st week at #1] {1 week}

Last Year's #1: All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey [2/4 weeks at #1]

Yeah, so Taylor Swift released yet another surprise album this week titled evermore. It's extremely similar to folklore, but in my opinion it was an improvement on folklore, although I recently watched folklore: the long pond studio sessions on Disney+ and it made me grow a deeper appreciation for folklore. Anyways, the first song from evermore this week is called gold rush and this is definitely a solid song. The chorus is pretty good and as always, Taylor sounds really good here. The best part in my opinion would be the production in the post-chorus, as it just sounds really good. Yeah, this is a pretty solid track.

Immediately after that one, coming in at #39 is 'tis the damn season from the same album. This is one of my favourite songs from the album. Mainly, it's just because of the chorus. It really stood out to me and I think it's honestly just pretty well-made. Yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say on that one.

My favourite song from evermore is next, no body, no crime featuring HAIM. Oh, this is so good. The first thing I want to touch on is that the story is actually just really compelling and not too hard to follow, as I found with a lot of Taylor's new songs. They were really well-written, but needed a little explanation for me to fully get a grasp on what they're about. Other than the writing, the song itself is just a little more upbeat and both artists sound pretty good here. The chorus is especially really good and this is just a great song. The only part I don't love is when the person from HAIM says "She was with me, dude" it just sounds a little out of place, but whatever. Still a great song.

Next, at #21 is champagne problems. This song's a little slower than I'd like, but that's really my only issue with this. The writing's good, Taylor sounds great and the melody's pretty good too. Not too much to complain about, just a really solid track.

So Taylor's single from evermore actually managed to dethrone All I Want for Christmas Is You halfway through its #1 run, which a surprising feat. But anyways, willow is our new #1 this week. I've talked about this a couple times on my blog already, as it's already decently high on the Weekend Countdown. Listening to the rest of the album, I'd say that this is one of the stronger tracks on the album and I'm definitely beginning to like it more and at this point, I'd go as far to say that it's better than cardigan. Personally though, I prefer the dancing witch version, featuring ELVIRA, as it's just a little more upbeat and radio-friendly, but there's nothing wrong with this song.

Best Debut: no body, no crime - Taylor Swift/HAIM

Biggest Drop: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish (-13): Yay! Hopefully, the Christmas songs can move this out of the list entirely, although it'll probably be back as soon as all those songs leave.

Biggest Jump: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como/The Fontane Sisters/Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra (+23): No comment.

My Top 5 Picks

#5: Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby
#4: Mood - 24kGoldn/iann dior
#3: positions - Ariana Grande
#2: Lemonade - Internet Money/Gunna/Don Toliver/NAV
#1: no body, no crime - Taylor Swift/HAIM

My Bottom 5 Picks

#5: N/A
#4: N/A
#3: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish
#2: Body - Megan Thee Stallion
#1: Underneath the Tree - Kelly Clarkson

Top 20 Ranking

0 - Crap:

NONE!

1 - Bad:

NONE!

2 - Mediocre:

NONE!

3 - Decent:

#20: Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano

#19: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como/The Fontane Sisters/Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra

#18: Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes

#17: Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

#16: A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives

4 - Good:

#15: The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) - Nat King Cole

#14: All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

#13: Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms

#12: Laugh Now Cry Later - Drake/Lil Durk

#11: I Hope - Gabby Barrett/Charlie Puth

#10: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Dean Martin

#9: willow - Taylor Swift

#8: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams

5 - Great:

#7: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

#6: Holy - Justin Bieber/Chance the Rapper

#5: Dynamite - BTS

#4: Go Crazy - Chris Brown/Young Thug

#3: Last Christmas - Wham!

#2: Mood - 24kGoldn/iann dior

#1: positions - Ariana Grande

Overall Score: 82/100 = 82%

On the Verge

Tequila Shots - Kid Cudi (#41) [1]

It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas - Michael Bublé (#42) [1; 2nd time]

(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays - Perry Como (#43) [1; ?nd time]

tolerate it - Taylor Swift (#45) [1]

Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney (#46) [2]

Deck The Halls - Nat King Cole (#47) [1]

She Knows This - Kid Cudi (#49) [1]

happiness - Taylor Swift (#52) [1]

Whoopty - CJ (#53) [2]

Show Out - Kid Cudi/Skepta/Pop Smoke (#54) [1]

HOLIDAY - Lil Nas X (#56) [4; 2nd time*]

evermore - Taylor Swift/Bon Iver (#57) [1]

Take Me Home For Christmas - Dan + Shay (#58) [1]

Better Together - Luke Combs (#59) [4; 2nd time]

On Me - Lil Baby (#60) [1; 2nd time*]

Before I start going through new On the Verge songs, Bublé's It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas and Home for the Holidays left the Top 40 and re-entered On the Verge. It's funny because with all of the Taylor Swift, some Christmas songs actually had to leave. Oh yeah, On Me also left the Top 40.

So Kid Cudi also released an album this week titled Man On The Moon III: The Chosen and three songs from it debut On the Verge this week, the first one being Tequila Shots. I actually quite like this song. I think Kid Cudi sounds really good here, actually much better than he did in THE SCOTTS, and he works really well with the production here. Pretty good song.

The next song from Taylor Swift's album evermore, is called tolerate it. This definitely isn't my favourite. It's kind of boring and pretty slow, as is the case with every other song from evermore that I'm gonna talk about. The only reason it's decent is because Taylor sounds good and it's not too boring.

Deck The Halls by Nat King Cole is next. Whatever, it's just another Christmas song.

The next Kid Cudi song is next, called She Knows This. This is a pretty solid song. (It also reminds me of the SNL character, Dr. Wenowdis... just comment if you get that reference) Kid Cudi sounds pretty good here and works well with the production. I think the production's also pretty good here. I especially like when it speeds up a bit though.

Jumping back to Taylor Swift, we have happiness. This song's very boring and honestly kind of substanceless. Taylor still saves it from being bad though. Also, when the piano line actually starts, that helps it a bit.

Geez, we're really flip-flopping here, as we're jumping back to Kid Cudi. It's Show Out with Skepta and Pop Smoke. This song's good. In the hook here, Pop Smoke is using the vocal effects that he used in Dior and I'm not too much a fan of that, as I think he was better when he sounded like how he did in The Woo and songs like that. Skepta sounds pretty good here and I really like his flow, but unfortunately, Pop Smoke stops this from being too good, which kind of sucks because I like Pop Smoke.

Okay, we're going back to Taylor Swift now, with the title track from her album, evermore featuring Bon Iver. This was so disappointing. After exile, I had pretty high hopes for this song, but for starters, it's kind of boring. It picks up a little when Bon Iver comes in, but geez, he doesn't sound good here. He's singing way too high and honestly this just isn't a good song.

Okay, finally, we have a Christmas song from Dan + Shay, Take Me Home For Christmas. I think this is actually a pretty good modern take on a Christmas song. I already like Dan + Shay and I think they literally just made a Dan + Shay song and put Christmas lyrics to it... and I love it. Great song, I'd really love for this to start re-entering every year.

Best Debut: Take Me Home For Christmas - Dan + Shay

On the Verge Ranking

0 - Crap:

NONE!

1 - Bad:

#15: On Me - Lil Baby

2 - Mediocre:

#14: evermore - Taylor Swift/Bon Iver

#13: happiness - Taylor Swift

3 - Decent:

#12: (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays - Perry Como

#11: Deck The Halls - Nat King Cole

#10: Better Together - Luke Combs

#9: tolerate it - Taylor Swift

#8: Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney

4 - Good:

#7: Show Out - Kid Cudi/Skepta/Pop Smoke

#6: Whoopty - CJ

5 - Great:

#5: She Knows This - Kid Cudi

#4: It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas - Michael Bublé

#3: Tequila Shots - Kid Cudi

#2: Take Me Home For Christmas - Dan + Shay

#1: HOLIDAY - Lil Nas X

Overall Score: 53/75 = 71%

I Think He Blurbed It But I Just Can't Prove It

The only other exits from the Top 40 were Monster and Here Comes Santa Claus. Sad to see the former go, I don't care at all about the latter.

Our On the Verge exits were Errbody, Big, Big Plans, Diamonds, Hawái, Ain't Always The Cowboy, Happy Anywhere, Starting Over, Under The Mistletoe, I Should Probably Go To Bed, Love You Like I Used To and B.S.. I expect most of these songs to re-enter soon.

There was literally nothing to talk about this week, so I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Hot 100 Exits from Past Top 40/On the Verge Songs

Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685/Jason Derulo (#44) [1 week at #1] {26 weeks}

More Than My Hometown - Morgan Wallen (#49) [#15] {26 weeks}

Happy Anywhere - Blake Shelton/Gwen Stefani (#57) [#36] {20 weeks}

Under The Mistletoe - Kelly Clarkson/Brett Eldredge (#59) [#59] {2 weeks}

7 Summers - Morgan Wallen (#69) [#6] {17 weeks}

Wonder - Shawn Mendes (#70) [#18] {10 weeks}

Midnight Sky - Miley Cyrus (#73) [#14] {17 weeks}

LA NOCHE DE ANOCHE - Bad Bunny/ROSALÍA (#74) [#53] {2 weeks}

Hit Different - SZA/The Neptunes/Ty Dolla $ign (#82) [#29] {14 weeks}

Took Her To The O - King Von (#84) [#47] {5 weeks}

pov - Ariana Grande (#85) [#40] {6 weeks}

Don't Stop - Megan Thee Stallion/Young Thug (#86) [#30] {10 weeks}

SO DONE - The Kid LAROI (#90) [#59] {7 weeks}

Somebody's Problem - Morgan Wallen (#92) [#25] {3 weeks}

Life Goes On - BTS (#93) [1 week at #1] {3 weeks}

Heather - Conan Gray (#95) [#46] {15 weeks}

Again, I expect most of these to re-enter eventually.

Kwaheri, everybody! See you all tomorrow.