Channing Freeman’s 2021
Good music, bad year |
| 100 |  | Be'lakor
Coherence
This should be #59 but it bugged out
As the man came ever nearer
Both entangled, one aware
He mouthed a warning none could hear
And sank into the silt |
| 99 |  | Thrice
Horizons/East
Is there a you without me
The me with star swept eyes?
Alive with fresh becomings
New grass beneath black skies |
| 98 |  | Eidola
The Architect
Do you ever think about all the things you could become? |
| 97 |  | Yola
Stand For Myself
We aren’t the rich ones
Some of us will barely get by
They buy diamond studded shoes with our taxes
Anything to keep us divided |
| 96 |  | Origami Angel
Gami Gang
Take me back to watching Pokémon with you
Your house at three in the morning
Maybe I’ll stay over for a couple days
We’ll be so caught in the moment |
| 95 |  | Arlo Parks
Collapsed in Sunbeams
You’re not alone like you think you are |
| 94 |  | Conway the Machine
La Maquina
Got all this ice on my chest to go with my cold heart |
| 93 |  | Leprous
Aphelion
Help me face this nothingness |
| 92 |  | Ophidian I
Desolate
The collision approaching
This rain reduces the damned to plain saints |
| 91 |  | Hayley Williams
FLOWERS for VASES / descansos
We could look out together on those hills forever |
| 90 |  | Grima
Rotten Garden
[…] |
| 89 |  | Sincere Engineer
Bless My Psyche
Ripped all the pictures off the wall
I’m lying lifeless inside a dim lit hall |
| 88 |  | Harakiri for the Sky
Maere
Take me far beyond the stars
Where my heart was always longing |
| 87 |  | I Feel Fine
The Cold in Every Shelter
Follow the rain to the reservoir
Just let it all out |
| 86 |  | The Raging Nathans
Waste My Heart
I don’t want to waste my heart
On something I can’t change |
| 85 |  | Silent Planet
Iridescent
Borrowed light, a parasite
I fed on the dusk and hid myself from the night
And we don’t speak, we barely hear
I watched you watch me disappear |
| 84 |  | Nas
King's Disease II
Talk about back in the days
This isn’t back in the days
They want me back in my ways
Chipped tooth and the fade |
| 83 |  | Lord Huron
Long Lost
Leave me where the moonbeams
Carve through the leaves like blades
Lay me in the tall-grown grass in a shallow grave
Let it have me |
| 82 |  | Gravesend
Methods Of Human Disposal
Disgusting relentless pit of filth
Sewage infested wasteland |
| 81 |  | Viagra Boys
Welfare Jazz
We’re gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won’t be nothin but big old hearts
Dancin in our eyes |
| 80 |  | Fortress (USA-CA2)
Waiting for the Night
I can see the world within my mind
I can see the future when I close my eyes |
| 79 |  | Brutalligators
This house is too big, this house is too small
Catch you looking back at me
I wasn’t meant to find you |
| 78 |  | The Antlers
Green to Gold
My overgrown comfort zone
My narrow mind is mine alone |
| 77 |  | Mare Cognitum
Solar Paroxysm
We’ll pay with the ashes of our humanity
And cease to walk upon this earth
And the earth will forget our name |
| 76 |  | BRUIT
The Machine Is Burning...
The industry tends to call environmentalists radical. The reality is that 95% of the standing native forest in the United States had been cut down. It’s not radical to try and save the last 5%, what’s radical is logging 95%. |
| 75 |  | Telethon
Swim Out Past The Breakers
All well aware of the effort it takes
To correct a rash decision
To correct a really bad mistake |
| 74 |  | Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
The Marfa Tapes
If you’re such a poet, write an epitaph
You and I both know you ain’t coming back |
| 73 |  | Wheel (DE)
Preserved in Time
“And where is the angel
The Lord now should send
To save me from darkness and pain without end?” |
| 72 |  | Valerie June
The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers
Bright and early morning
And a new day has come |
| 71 |  | Wild Pink
A Billion Little Lights
I was told life’s a raindrop
Sliding down a windshield |
| 70 |  | The Dirty Nil
Fuck Art
I suppose you’re gonna put that on the next record
You little pissant |
| 69 |  | Panopticon
...And Again into the Light
Some sort of symbol of hope -
You have to find it in there |
| 68 |  | Carcass
Torn Arteries
The serpent thrives
From the maternity ward
To the cold morgue |
| 67 |  | Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Carnage
This song is like a rain cloud
That keeps circling overhead
Here it comes around again |
| 66 |  | Bridge Burner
Disempath
Even in the golden hours
The voices never still
Every breath a transgression
Every second a weakening of the will |
| 65 |  | Laura Stevenson
Laura Stevenson
And oh the water’s heading into me
I’ve left out a lot of things
Hung like trophies stolen in defeat
I watch you wait for me |
| 64 |  | Slowthai
TYRON
What’s health without poorly?
What’s wealth without the poor? |
| 63 |  | Erra
Erra
Black moon rising
Glimpse of madness
Blossom black rose
Withered, abandoned |
| 62 |  | Gojira
Fortitude
Now that you dove down
Found the bottom begging for air
How sad, how long it takes us to rise and fight |
| 61 |  | Bleachers
Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
Still my mother crying out -
“How dare you want more?” |
| 60 |  | Steve Earle
J.T.
Lord I’m goin’ uptown
To the Harlem River to drown
Dirty water gonna cover me over
And I’m not gonna make a sound |
| 59 |  | Foxing
Draw Down the Moon
I thought I couldn’t move my feet
But I’m running with you now
We’re a stampede |
| 58 |  | The Hold Steady
Open Door Policy
And this year we were standing
Looking out off the veranda
You said, “Yeah I guess it’s pretty
But I’m a shell of what I once was” |
| 57 |  | Lucy Dacus
Home Video
I imagine my thumbs on the irises
Pressing in until they burst |
| 56 |  | Ancient Mastery
Chapter One: Across The Mountains Of ...
Who knows the future? Who knows fate?
I take my chances to pass the gate |
| 55 |  | Eric Church
Heart & Soul
Come on, I want to pound the dash
Stomp the gas, drive too fast
Rock me hard, stop my heart
And blow the speakers right out of this car |
| 54 |  | Fruit Bats
The Pet Parade
We’ve been lately feeling like the people
We didn’t know we were allowed to be |
| 53 |  | Archspire
Bleed the Future
DRONE CORPSE AVIATOR |
| 52 |  | Lucero
When You Found Me
I weigh my deeds on my father’s scales
And I balance them with coffin nails |
| 51 |  | Anika Pyle
Wild River
I wanted to be a wild river
But I’m still a country creek |
| 50 |  | Maxo Kream
Weight Of The World
I could lead you to water but can’t pedal your canoe
Reminisce about money, doing stupid shit we used to do |
| 49 |  | The Mountain Goats
Dark In Here
Mark my time on the wall
Answer the call
And listen to the slow parts |
| 48 |  | Rise Against
Nowhere Generation
But the finish line kept moving
And the promises wore thin
And the smoke on the horizon
Was the burning promised land |
| 47 |  | Violet Cold
Empire of Love
[…] |
| 46 |  | Morgan Wade
Reckless
You told me I should be more free
Is that how you tried to control me? |
| 45 |  | Stars Hollow
I Want To Live My Life
I’ll be the glow you need
I’ll hang by the moon
Shining borrowed light on you |
| 44 |  | Cynic
Ascension Codes
I am the veins of a human hand |
| 43 |  | Zao
The Crimson Corridor
When sorrow’s seed awakes in me
It takes dominion inside my head
A numb abyss of helplessness
Authors the visions it embeds |
| 42 |  | Katy Kirby
Cool Dry Place
And with all my extra rods and cones I see
That the rhythm’s more important than the melody |
| 41 |  | Free Throw
Piecing It Together
I’m just the voice without a sound
When home’s the place that brings you down |
| 40 |  | AFI
Bodies
You ask the moon and stars
Because there’s no one else |
| 39 |  | Endling
The Heavy Frigate
It’s always more of the same |
| 38 |  | Manchester Orchestra
The Million Masks of God
Afterlife?
Some wasted light |
| 37 |  | Devil Sold His Soul
Loss
The sadness always comes in waves
I’ll learn to live with this someday |
| 36 |  | Khemmis
Deceiver
I can’t just cast aside
The burden in my heart
With no relief in sight
I’m being torn apart |
| 35 |  | Dan Campbell
Other People’s Lives
You told me not to get old
Watching your light go out slow
With a lump in my throat |
| 34 |  | Brockhampton
Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine
The light is worth the wait |
| 33 |  | Mastodon
Hushed and Grim
Say when
And I’ll come running back |
| 32 |  | Brandi Carlile
In These Silent Days
And I’ll always feel a little left behind
But that lying wind that calls your name
Will leave you flowing blind |
| 31 |  | Tigers Jaw
I Won't Care How You Remember Me
An eclipse only shines from a distance
You can’t make sense of a world you’re not in
If you wanted to ask for forgiveness
Then commit and say it, and say it |
| 30 |  | Tyler, the Creator
Call Me If You Get Lost
Took that Grammy home, couldn’t lose again
The suit was so sharp that it could get Medusa coochie trimmed |
| 29 |  | Cannibal Corpse
Violence Unimagined
The madman is silent
While pushing the blades |
| 28 |  | CHVRCHES
Screen Violence
In the final cut, in the final scene
There’s a final girl
And you know that she should be screaming |
| 27 |  | Between the Buried and Me
Colors II
The horizon has just met the sun
The days and nights have folded into one |
| 26 |  | Olivia Rodrigo
SOUR
Address the letters
To the holes in my butterfly wings
Nothing’s forever
Nothing is as good as it seems |
| 25 |  | Sarah Neufeld
Detritus
[…] |
| 24 |  | Emily Scott Robinson
American Siren
I lit a match and held it to my yearning
And found out I was a house already burning |
| 23 |  | Angels and Airwaves
Lifeforms
You’re in a war, but the end is in sight now
The enemy is unguarded
So let the motherfucker know his time’s run out |
| 22 |  | Margo Cilker
Pohorylle
That river, in the winter,
It could fuck me up |
| 21 |  | Aesop Rock x Blockhead
Garbology
Often, the body spits the spirit out and carries on |
| 20 |  | Portrayal of Guilt
We Are Always Alone
I begin to feel the earth collapse
What comes next feels aimless
Everything turns white
We are always alone |
| 19 |  | Black Country, New Road
For the first time
You’ve got great hips
I’ve been shaking ever since |
| 18 |  | Trivium
In the Court of the Dragon
The stars have died
And the heavens go up in flames |
| 17 |  | Dvne
Etemen Ænka
I am nameless yet others name me |
| 16 |  | Tribulation
Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
The bones interred beneath the barrow pray Elysium awaits
And the names go on |
| 15 |  | Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee
Oh the day is long, untangling |
| 14 |  | Kali Masi
Laughs
You told me once you knew me
Now I’m begging you to do it |
| 13 |  | Godspeed You! Black Emperor
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!
You ready for what’s coming? |
| 12 |  | Adjy
The Idyll Opus (I-VI)
I’ve never felt this small yet this important |
| 11 |  | Blindfolded and Led to the Woods
Nightmare Withdrawals
And at that moment of your absolute realization
You will try to speak
I will wash your mouth out with rope |
| 10 |  | Coevality
Multiple Personalities
[…] |
| 9 |  | Converge
Bloodmoon: I
Between you and me
Shines a light of disbelief |
| 8 |  | Lingua Ignota
SINNER GET READY
Life is a song
And the fires of hell burn long and dull
Life is a song
And the raging fires of hell burn long |
| 7 |  | The World Is a Beautiful Place...
Illusory Walls
The world is a beautiful place
But we have to make it that way |
| 6 |  | The Killers
Pressure Machine
The first crop of hay is up
School let out and the sun beats down
Smoke billows from a Sunday train
That cries away from a quiet town |
| 5 |  | James McMurtry
The Horses and the Hounds
Leave the rocks in the road
Stay away from the river, Virginia |
| 4 |  | Trophy Scars
Astral Pariah
I’m the pandemic, baby
I will do what devils do |
| 3 |  | The Felice Brothers
From Dreams to Dust
My Honda Fit’s got mice in it
The biggest investment of my life
Is infested with mice |
| 2 |  | Spiritbox
Eternal Blue
And what’s left of me - a cavity
At least this space is mine
It’s where you left me to die
I wish my blood would slow down |
| 1 |  | Every Time I Die
Radical
In the long dark night of eternal life, shine on
You’ve always been a light |
|
