The One-Hit-Wonders of My Spotify Likes
When one song hits but the rest do not
Poor unfortunate souls. Where are your parents? And why are you the lonely golden child of their entire discography?
Since I live on Spotify, a lot of the spare time I would normally spend mindlessly scrolling through [insert social media app] is now used up by going down music rabbit holes in search of my new favorite artist or song. This listening party for one almost exclusively takes place between the hours of 11pm to 1:30am. And things get a little wild!
A technique I use to jump into those rabbit holes of wonderful music is to start by choosing one song whose artist I haven’t heard much else from, and tapping through their other albums.
And while this has worked in the past, seamlessly guiding me to a new favorite artist or band, sometimes I can come up short. Then I am left with the single song that began my failed journey — another one-hit-wonder in my playlist; at once a disappointment and a miracle.
The private one-hit-wonder
One-hit-wonders, as they are understood in pop culture, are songs that at one point have a tight grip on the collective, staying at the top of the charts and the general public’s playlists for consecutive weeks. The artist (or rather, their label) responsible for that hit suddenly becomes a star, and everyone starts to anticipate their next big song. But we wait and we wait and…it never comes. They either disappear off the face of the earth or worse, they release an absolute flop! and all they’ve left behind is a single song that punctuated a moment in time.
That’s the legacy of the one-hit-wonder: to be remembered and forgotten, forever.
On a personal level, the one-hit-wonders in the Liked Songs of my Spotify leave me with the same feeling of “There could’ve been so much more here.” I have a few songs that are just amazing, I love them, adore them — I want more of that feeling, right? I venture into the discography of the artist who is responsible for said song hoping to find one or two more gems to add to my collection.
But I come up short. I go through a cycle of *play for 30 seconds, skip, play for 30 seconds, skip* for an entire album or EP. I return with nothing but the lone track that started it all. It’s now destined to be the only song of its artist’s that I like — a one-of-kind one-hit-wonder among others in my Liked Songs.
In my mind, I’m running an orphanage over on Spotify, and all my little sonic orphans’ only purpose is to make Mama dance like this is some kind of sad fairytale. Maybe if your parents made better music you wouldn’t be in this situation — replay! Again, again!
Meet my one-hit-wonders
I’ve successfully discovered quite a few artists and bands off of a single song before, it’s not impossible. That’s why I love going on the hunt for more music after falling in love with that lucky stand-out track.
For instance, after hearing “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike in a video on Brockhampton’s YouTube channel, I dove into his Don’t Forget About Me, Demos EP, added two more songs to my collection, and followed him, excited for the day he’d release new music.
I discovered one of my new favorite bands, Inhaler, off a single song, too. It came in the form of a YouTube recommendation (a nostalgic way of finding new songs and artists). Their single “Cheer Up Baby” was an exciting introduction, and their previous singles (and later, a debut album in the summer of 2021) did not disappoint.
I like to have this experience of discovery as much as possible, for the sheer rush of dopamine it provides. However, this didn’t happen with the following songs — they are left to carry the weight of their respective discographies, which failed to impress me, the world’s most notorious music critic:
- “Sleep Till They Die” by La Luz
- “Bodybag” by chloe moriondo
- “Chucky Cheese” by MadeinTYO
- “Rise” by Lido
- “Sugar Cake” by CoCo (ft. Microdot)
- “Clear Bones” by Jean Dawson
- “Not a Number” by Mirei
- “Dad’s Van” by Lila Drew
- “VIBE” by 1TEAM
- “Summer Never Dies” by The Foxies
There are more, of course, but I have 1,000+ songs in my Liked Songs and even more across all my different playlists, so I’m gonna stop here.
And hey, this is no shade to the artists at all, I like their songs for a reason — it’s just that I didn’t find any other song of theirs that really clicked. That could change in the future as they create more music! It’s just a matter of fate and divine timing and all of that.
No song left behind
I love all of my little one-hit-wonders for what they each bring to the table. Sometimes one song is perfect for this specific playlist and not another, but that’s okay because that’s exactly where it belongs and nowhere else! And there’s something special about having all kinds of artists represented in your collection of favorite tunes, even if it’s just with a single song. It still did its job, didn’t it? Made you dance, made you sing, made you create an imaginary scenario in your head as you looked out the window of some form of public transportation like an A24 movie character — anyway!
What are some of your own one-hit-wonders? Feed me music recommendations, please!
