The Top 45 Singles Of 2013

2013's best song about nuns' headgear. [SUBS PLEASE CHECK]

The surprise winner of 2013's Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize, 'The Mother We Share' is one of various great singles released this year by Chvrches.

As we've already discussed this would have been better if the sense of momentum and 'narrative' had been stronger but this is still a triumph.

This should have been a Top 3 single.

Too magical, in some ways, to ever have been a hit single, 'Marabou' sounds like the soundtrack to every holiday romance you've ever had or heard about. It's the work of Private's Thomas Troelsen, hence general amazingness.

In a just world this would have been Number One for around eight months. As it is, this Music To Panic To classic is still one of 2013's most demented high points.

The other day we saw someone on Twitter wondering if Christmas songs should be allowed on end of year lists. And to that person, we say: well yes actually they should.

There's something immensely sat­is­fy­ing about the way Lady Gaga says "plause" in this admirably unre­lat­able pop behemoth. (Also: crowd noise.) (Also also: HEAD ON SWAN.)

The Katy Perry album could have done with one or two (but no more than two) songs like this. We thought it might have been a sort of satire to start with but it turned out not to be which is a shame but what can you do?

We don't think this came out as an audio file (??) but you can buy it as a video (????) so it therefore qualifies for the list. To be fair, the video is one of the year's best.

This should probably be a bit higher in the list but we've already coded the numbers for the ones above it and we're not going back and doing it all again, this list business is enough of a nightmare as it is. It will just have to stay at 11.

A 1D emoballad that manages to be pensive without veering into the realms of complete dogshit while also not actually being a ballad at all.