Breaking up is hard to do, and sometimes even harder to explain. The lead Rostam Batmanglij-produced single from Clairo’s album Immunity, achingly explores the kind of insignificant, unspoken things that accumulate and coalesce into the moment when a loved one walks out the door with those bags. Low-key, touching and heart-felt, the song elevated the 21-year-old from You Tube phenomenon to bona fide pop star.
Memorable lyric: “Can you see me? I’m waiting for the right time / I can’t read you, but if you want, the pleasure’s all mine.”
3. Lil Nas X feat Billy Ray Cyrus, Old Town Road (Remix)
Love it, hate it, or even love to hate it, you can’t deny the song’s domination in 2019. We all know the story: A $30 YouTube beat, a Nine Inch Nails sample, a viral moment on TikTok that turned into a controversy about whether or not the song could be classified as country music, and the genius move of adding Billy Ray Cyrus to the remix. It should never have worked, but it did.
Memorable lyric: “Ridin’ on a horse, ha/ You can whip your Porsche/ I been in the valley/ You ain’t been up off that porch, now.”
2. Lizzo, Juice