Bob Boilen's Top 40 Songs Of 2016

I could call this list "The Songs I Love To Drive Around With." More often than not, these 2016 songs set you up for a brilliant climax, often an unforgettable chorus. And I found a wide variety of artists that made songs with that memorable character, artists ranging from barely 20 years old to a reflective 82, from Niger to Nashville, from British hip-hop to yearning falsetto. I'd be thrilled to turn on a radio and hear this broad world of sound represent the Top 40.

Bob Boilen's Top 40 Songs Of 2016

• The 1975, "I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it"
• Aurora, "Conqueror"
• Jaye Bartell, "Tuesdays"
• Big Thief, "Masterpiece"
• Bombino, "Timtar (Memories)"
• Bon Iver, "22 (OVER S∞∞N)"
• David Bowie, "Blackstar"
• Charles Bradley, "Changes"
• Car Seat Headrest, "The Ballad of the Costa Concordia"
• Leonard Cohen, "You want it darker"
• Lucy Dacus, "I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore"
• Fantastic Negrito, "In the Pines"
• Free Cake For Every Creature, "First Summer in a City"
• Angelica Garcia, "Orange Flower"
• Margaret Glaspy, "You and I"
• Heron Oblivion, "Beneath Fields"
• Iggy Pop, "Gardenia"
• Japanese Breakfast, "In Heaven"
• King Creosote, "You Just Want"
• Cate Le Bon, "What's Not Mine"
• Let's Eat Grandma, "Rapunzel"
• Mitski, "Your Best American Girl"
• Kevin Morby, "Singing Saw"
• Mothers, "Too Small For Eyes"
• Agnes Obel, "Stretch Your Eyes"
• Conor Oberst, "Tachycardia"
• Frank Ocean, "Be Yourself"
• Angel Olsen, "Never Be Mine"
• Parquet Courts, "Dust"
• Radiohead, "Burn The Witch"
• River Whyless, "Baby Brother"
• L.A. Salami, "The City Nowadays"
• Sturgill Simpson, "Welcome To Earth (Pollywog)"
• Adam Torres, "Juniper Arms"
• Adia Victoria, "And Then You Die"
• Weaves, "Tick"
• Weyes Blood, "Used To Be"
• John Paul White, "Black Leaf"
• Wilco, "Normal American Kids"
• The Wild Reeds, "Everything Looks Better (In Hindsight)"

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.