Week of April 10, 2021 - Taylor Swift (3)

Hey guys! Before we jump into this week's Countdown, I have a couple of announcements. First of all, I know I'm falling behind in my Hot 100 posts and I hope to catch up with those relatively soon. Second, March Madness is currently in a tiebreaker round, so if you haven't gone and voted for that yet, you definitely should. As for the Countdown this week, it was... interesting. We got rid of some old songs, which was good and there were a couple of surprising debuts this week. But not all of our Hit-Bound debuts are so great. Here are the exits for this week.

Songs We're Saying Goodbye To

Monsters - All Time Low/Demi Lovato/blackbear (#29) [4 weeks at #1] {29 weeks}

Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby (#27) [3 weeks at #1] {25 weeks}

my ex's best friend - Machine Gun Kelly/blackbear (#22) [#2] {27 weeks}

Put Your Records On - Ritt Momney (#15) [#15] {21 weeks}

Last Week's #1: willow - Taylor Swift (2)

#30: Calling My Phone - Lil Tjay/6LACK (DEBUT) [4 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#29: Remember That Night? - Sara Kays (DEBUT) [8 weeks in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#28: Patience - KSI/YUNGBLUD/Polo G (+2) [#28] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#27: Once In A Lifetime - All Time Low (DEBUT) [1 week in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#26: Too Late - Cash Cash/Wiz Khalifa/Lukas Graham (+2) [#26] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#25: Peaches - Justin Bieber/Daniel Caesar/Giveon (-) [#23] {3 weeks}

#24: First Time - ILLENIUM/iann dior (+2) [#24] {3 weeks} *new peak*

#23: Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5/Megan Thee Stallion (-3) [#19] {4 weeks}

#22: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X (DEBUT) [1 week in Hit-Bound] {1 week}

#21: I'm not Pretty - JESSIA (-8) [#13] {9 weeks}

#20: Astronaut In The Ocean - Masked Wolf (+1) [#20] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#19: The Eulogy of You and Me - LILHUDDY (+5) [#19] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#18: What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke (+5) [#17] {25 weeks}

#17: Heat Waves - Glass Animals (-1) [#15] {11 weeks}

#16: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic (+1) [#16] {5 weeks}

#15: Way Less Sad - AJR (-1) [#13] {7 weeks}

#14: We're Good - Dua Lipa (-7) [#7] {8 weeks}

#13: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI (+6) [#13] {10 weeks} *new peak*

#12: pov - Ariana Grande (+6) [#12] {2 weeks} *new peak*

#11: Save Your Tears - The Weeknd (-8) [#2] {21 weeks}

#10: you broke me first - Tate McRae (-6) [#4] {28 weeks}

#9: Anyone - Justin Bieber (+2) [#9] {13 weeks} *new peak*

#8: My Head & My Heart - Ava Max (+2) [#8] {11 weeks}

#7: Till Forever Falls Apart - Ashe/FINNEAS (+5) [#7] {5 weeks} *new peak*

#6: forget me too - Machine Gun Kelly/Halsey (+3) [#6] {7 weeks} *new peak*

#5: drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo (-3) [4 weeks at #1] {13 weeks}

#4: Overdrive - Conan Gray (+4) [#4] {7 weeks} *new peak*

#3: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish (+2) [#3] {21 weeks}

#2: Treat People With Kindness - Harry Styles (+4) [#2] {13 weeks} *new peak*

#1: willow - Taylor Swift (-) [3rd week at #1] {16 weeks}

Last Year's #1: Adore You - Harry Styles [9/10 weeks at #1]

Countdown Extra: Met Him Last Night - Demi Lovato/Ariana Grande

Our first debut at #30 is actually a really surprising one, Calling My Phone by Lil Tjay and 6LACK. Hits 1 switched it to some sort of remix, but I really have no clue which remix it is. I will say that the remix makes it more upbeat and more interesting, so it's probably better, but still not enough to bring it up from pink. Anyways, this song's fine. Both artists sound decent and the sample's alright, too. Overall, I'm definitely fine that this is here.

This song has been on Hit-Bound for a pretty long time, so I'm really surprised that it actually managed to debut. Sara Kays makes her Countdown debut with Remember That Night? this week. This is a pretty good song. The writing tells a really interesting story and it's actually pretty compelling. Sara Kays sounds pretty good here and the production sustains the song pretty well and keeps it from getting boring. I hope that this sticks around for a bit here.

I reviewed both of these last two songs last week, so I'll keep the reviews relatively short. At #27, we have All Time Low with Once In A Lifetime. I've always liked ATL's music and this song's definitely not an exception. Great instrumentation, the chorus is pretty catchy and I like Alex Gaskarth's voice here.

Lil Nas X scores his fourth Countdown song this week. It's MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name). This is definitely my least favourite of his songs to be on Hits 1 so far, but it's definitely still an enjoyable song. He sounds good and the song's catchy. It could probably be longer, though.

Best Debut: Once In A Lifetime - All Time Low

Biggest DROP!!!: I'm not Pretty - JESSIA & Save Your Tears - The Weeknd (-8): I'm surprised to see I'm not Pretty dropping, I guess its jump was pretty short-lived. As for Save Your Tears, I feel it's leaving a bit early, but it's fine.

Biggest Jump: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI & pov - Ariana Grande (+6): I never really expected WITHOUT YOU to become as big of a hit as it's becoming, so I guess that's good, even if it's fading on my slightly. As for pov, this is making me hopeful that this will become Ariana Grande's first #1 on the Weekend Countdown.

Countdown Ranking

0 - Crap:

#30: Peaches - Justin Bieber/Daniel Caesar/Giveon

1 - Bad:

#29: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish

2 - Mediocre:

NONE!

3 - Decent:

#28: you broke me first - Tate McRae

#27: Till Forever Falls Apart - Ashe/FINNEAS

#26: Calling My Phone - Lil Tjay/6LACK

#25: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic

#24: Patience - KSI/YUNGBLUD/Polo G

#23: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

#22: Heat Waves - Glass Animals

4 - Good:

#21: We're Good - Dua Lipa

#20: Treat People With Kindness - Harry Styles

#19: Remember That Night? - Sara Kays

#18: willow - Taylor Swift

#17: I'm not Pretty - JESSIA

#16: The Eulogy of You and Me - LILHUDDY

#15: What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke

5 - Great:

#14: Save Your Tears - The Weeknd

#13: Once In A Lifetime - All Time Low

#12: Anyone - Justin Bieber

#11: Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5/Megan Thee Stallion

#10: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI

#9: drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo

#8: First Time - ILLENIUM/iann dior

#7: Too Late - Cash Cash/Wiz Khalifa/Lukas Graham

#6: My Head & My Heart - Ava Max

#5: forget me too - Machine Gun Kelly/Halsey

#4: pov - Ariana Grande

#3: Overdrive - Conan Gray

#2: Astronaut In The Ocean - Masked Wolf

#1: Way Less Sad - AJR

Overall Score: 120/150 = 80%

5 Oldest Songs

#5: Anyone - Justin Bieber, drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo & Treat People With Kindness - Harry Styles {13 weeks}
#4: willow - Taylor Swift {16 weeks}
#3: Save Your Tears - The Weeknd & Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish {21 weeks}
#2: What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke {25 weeks}

#1: you broke me first - Tate McRae {28 weeks}

#1 Recommendation for Hits 1: This Is Heaven - Nick Jonas

My Favourite Song Last Year: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

My Least Favourite Song Last Year: Adore You - Harry Styles

Most Missed Countdown Song: Rockabye - Clean Bandit/Sean Paul/Anne-Marie

Hit-Bound

Met Him Last Night - Demi Lovato/Ariana Grande [1]

Track Star - Mooski [1]

Follow You - Imagine Dragons [2]

Good Without - Mimi Webb [1]

Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon [1]

deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo [1]

Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift [1]

The Business - Tiësto [7]

Up - Cardi B [2]

Fly Away - Tones And I [2; 2nd time]

CHICKEN TENDIES - Clinton Kane [4]

Obsessed - Addison Rae [3]

Sucks Being Sober - Annika Wells [3]

Goosebumps (Remix) - Travis Scott/HVME [9]

Sacrifice - Bebe Rexha [5]

Ok, so that just happened. All seven of our Hit-Bound entrants were the first seven songs to play on Hit-Bound. Let's do this thing!

Our first debut this week replaces Dancing With The Devil. It's Met Him Last Night by Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande. When I saw that these two were collaborating, I thought that the song would be super upbeat and fun. Yeah, I'm kind of disappointed. While both artists sound good here, nothing about this grips me or really sticks with me at all. It's honestly kind of forgettable. I honestly want Dancing With The Devil back, which probably won't happen.

Yup, this is about as surprising as Calling My Phone debuting here a couple months ago. Track Star by Mooski makes its debut here. I've already reviewed this on my Hot 100 Overview post, but that was a while ago, so I'll do a full review. This song's alright. I definitely wouldn't call it one of the best rap songs of the year, but it's definitely not bad. Mooski doesn't sound great here, but he doesn't sound bad either. The chorus is interesting and the beat's alright. Also, funnily enough, it's one of the few rap songs today that's actually over three minutes. It's kind of forgettable, but who knows? This might actually become a hit.

Follow You is back, which I'm definitely happy about. While I still wouldn't call it Imagine Dragons' best song, it's definitely growing on me and it deserves to be here. I hope it can debut soon.

Mimi Webb scores her first song on Hits 1 this week, with her song that's been rocketing in streaming, Good Without. I think Mikey Piff mentioned that it was a TikTok song? I don't really care, because this song's great. Mimi Webb sounds really good and the production keeps the song super interesting. I mean, come on, people. This is how you do a slower song. The production has to grow and swell near the end. If that doesn't happen, your song is just boring. Mimi's vocal runs at the end are honestly just amazing too. I'd really love to see this become a hit, I love it.

You guys know Giveon from his extremely small part on the really bad new Justin Bieber song, Peaches? No? Yeah, I don't blame you. Anyways, this is his second song on Hits 1, I guess. It's called Heartbreak Anniversary and it would probably be fine if it wasn't for his voice. I don't really know what's up with it, but it almost sounds like it was pitched down, but in a natural way, like that's maybe actually his real voice? I don't know, but I don't like it and I can't focus on any other part of the song, but I guess it's fine?

After Hits 1 toyed around with bringing one of Olivia Rodrigo's songs from the show she was on, All I Want, for, like, two months, Hits 1 had their minds made up for them, as she released her second single, deja vu on April Fool's Day. I think the thing that's really special about Olivia Rodrigo is that she can find these really specific situations and somehow make them relatable? She's a fantastic songwriter and that goes without saying. But, honestly, I'm not so sure I'm feeling this one. The chorus is just kind of weird and I don't like the electric guitar that comes in occasionally. Maybe this will grow on me, I'm not sure. I honestly don't really know how I feel about this song, but I do know that it's definitely not as good as drivers license is, at least in my opinion.

Taylor Swift released Fearless (Taylor's Version) yesterday, so today we get a more radio-friendly song "From The Vault", replacing You All Over Me. This new (or... old, but unreleased?) song is called Mr. Perfectly Fine and apparently it's about Joe Jonas, but I don't really care. This is quite a good song. It's pretty upbeat, which is good and I think the chorus is decent and the production compliments it. I think the one problem that I have with this is that it feels a little country, which makes sense, as she was a country artist when she wrote this back in 2008, but I just don't really like country music. That key change is good though. I'd be alright if this became a hit.

Best Debut: Good Without - Mimi Webb

Hit-Bound Ranking

0 - Crap:

#15: The Business - Tiësto

1 - Bad:

#14: Obsessed - Addison Rae

2 - Mediocre:

#13: Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon

#12: Fly Away - Tones And I

#11: deja vu - Olivia Rodrigo

#10: Met Him Last Night - Demi Lovato/Ariana Grande

3 - Decent:

#9: Track Star - Mooski

#8: Goosebumps (Remix) - Travis Scott/HVME

4 - Good:

#7: Sucks Being Sober - Annika Wells

#6: Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

#5: Sacrifice - Bebe Rexha

5 - Great:

#4: Good Without - Mimi Webb

#3: Up - Cardi B

#2: CHICKEN TENDIES - Clinton Kane

#1: Follow You - Imagine Dragons

Overall Score: 47/75 = 63%

You Said "Remember That Blurb?"

We lost four pretty old songs this week, Monsters, Levitating, my ex's best friend and Put Your Records On. The first three songs are all great, but they were getting old, so I'm not too sad to see them go. As for Put Your Records On, I'm not sure why it became such a big hit and it never deserved to be here.

Of course we're adding more Hit-Bound dropouts to our already enormous list. slower, You All Over Me and Dancing With The Devil all join the ranks. I don't mind that slower's gone, because it was extremely forgettable. You All Over Me wasn't great and I'd take Mr. Perfectly Fine over it any day. As for Dancing With The Devil, I'm not entirely convinced that it's gone and I hope that it comes back.

It's weird that Beautiful Mistakes has dropped for the past couple of weeks, especially considering that it's actually becoming a decently-sized hit.

Our current One to Watch, The Eulogy of You and Me actually made a jump to the top 20 this week. This could probably stick around for a bit after not being the One to Watch anymore, which I'd definitely be fine with.

I'm glad that What You Know Bout Love is still here, although I'm a little surprised that Hits 1 hasn't gotten rid of it yet. I would appreciate if it jumped into the top 15 though, if it wants to stick around.

We're Good had a big drop this week, which is surprising, but I'm not necessarily disappointed?

you broke me first can probably go now. It's starting to get pretty old and it's definitely faded on me.

Somehow, Till Forever Falls Apart is up at #7. I mean, seriously? I don't mind the song and I'd say that it's Ashe's best so far, but it still makes no sense.

forget me too is at #6, which I'm also surprised about, but I'm definitely happy that it's that high.

Overdrive is in the top 5, which I'm really happy about, because it's really grown on me and I actually kind of love it now. I'd love to see this hit #1 in the coming weeks.

A song that I wouldn't love to see hit #1 though, is Therefore I Am which has now re-tied its #3 peak. It'd be greatly appreciated if this would leave soon and not go any higher.

Treat People With Kindness is #2 and I bet you it hits #1 next week, even if it's only for a couple of weeks. I mean, I can't possibly see it lasting longer there than Golden.

How Hits 1 Songs Are Doing on the Hot 100

#1: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

#2: Peaches - Justin Bieber/Daniel Caesar/Giveon

#3: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic

#4: Up - Cardi B

#5: drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo

#6: Save Your Tears - The Weeknd

#7: Levitating - Dua Lipa/DaBaby

#8: Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

#9: Mood - 24kGoldn/iann dior

#10: What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke

#12: Astronaut In The Ocean - Masked Wolf

#14: 34+35 - Ariana Grande

#15: Go Crazy - Chris Brown/Young Thug

#17: Best Friend - Saweetie/Doja Cat

#18: Calling My Phone - Lil Tjay/6LACK

#19: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish

#21: you broke me first - Tate McRae

#25: positions - Ariana Grande

#28: Heartbreak Anniversary - Giveon

#29: my ex's best friend - Machine Gun Kelly/blackbear

#30: Dynamite - BTS

#31: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI

#33: Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5/Megan Thee Stallion

#36: Anyone - Justin Bieber

#40: Good Days - SZA

#43: Put Your Records On - Ritt Momney

#47: Track Star - Mooski

#48: We're Good - Dua Lipa

#50: Heat Waves - Glass Animals

#51: You All Over Me (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift/Maren Morris

#56: Goosebumps (Remix) - Travis Scott/HVME

#57: My Head & My Heart - Ava Max

#59: willow - Taylor Swift

#80: Monsters - All Time Low/Demi Lovato/blackbear

#81: Body - Megan Thee Stallion

#86: The Business - Tiësto

Top 10 on the Hunger Games Countdown

#10: We're Good - Dua Lipa

#9: Bummerland - AJR
#8: Treat People With Kindness - Harry Styles

#7: Bad Girl - Daya

#6: Lifestyle - Jason Derulo/Adam Levine

#5: Sacrifice - Bebe Rexha

#4: Oh My God - Alec Benjamin

#3: Once In A Lifetime - All Time Low

#2: Talk About Love - Zara Larsson/Young Thug

#1: Momma Always Told Me - Mike Posner/Stanaj/Yung Bae

Top 10 If the Countdown Made Sense

#10: We're Good - Dua Lipa

#9: My Head & My Heart - Ava Max

#8: Leave The Door Open - Silk Sonic

#7: Anyone - Justin Bieber

#6: WITHOUT YOU - The Kid LAROI

#5: What You Know Bout Love - Pop Smoke

#4: Save Your Tears - The Weeknd

#3: you broke me first - Tate McRae

#2: drivers license - Olivia Rodrigo

#1: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish

Kwaheri, everybody! See you all in the next one.