If you’ve read this column for more than a year you don’t need a recap, but in 2018 I completed a quest to list my top five (or so) songs for every year from 1967 to the present. After that, my column kept going in a less coherent way, but then at the end of 2019, 2020 and 2021, “the present” moved up a year. So I added additional columns to the end of the project.

Now, 2022 is over, too! The rules are the same as they’ve always been: It’s based on the year the album comes out rather than the single (so no Metallica until next year), only one song per artist per year (so 1986 wasn’t just my favorite five songs from Master of Puppets), and the order is chronological based on release date rather than my preference (because ranking is hard).

I kept a running list of songs that struck my fancy! Look at me, doing planning and stuff. So without further adieu, the five objective, inarguable best songs of 2022 are…

Ghost — “Call Me Little Sunshine”

I famously love Ghost so this was kind of a given. I didn’t like Impera as much as Prequelle or Meliora, but that’s like ranking your favorite kinds of chocolate—you’re not turning any of them down if offered them to you.

The surprising thing to me is that I didn’t really dig this song when I first heard it in January, but over the course of the year it’s really grown on me. Ghost shifts subgenres within hard rock and metal with each album, so it’s possible I just hadn’t acclimated to Papa Emeritus IV’s sound. Whatever the explanation, obviously I love it now because it’s on the list.

I never should have doubted you, Ghost.

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Nova Twins — “Cleopatra”

The Nova Twins got on my radar because two of my favorite musicians, Tom Morello and Lizzo (more on her soon), are very vocal fans and advocates. There’s not a ton of similarities between Lizzo and Morello, so if they were both into it, I had to give it a shot.

Oh my God, they’re right.

The genre-defying London duo is incredible. Nova Twins call their music “urban punk,” which is fair, but the undercurrent of bass-driven hard rock really sets them apart. They do their thing, they’re great at it and I’m glad two musical icons were kind enough to point me in their direction.

Lizzo — “About Damn Time”

Of course Lizzo had one of the best songs of the year. She’s the 21st century’s answer to both Aretha and Tina Turner; I realize what high praise that is and I mean it.

If I had to pick a flaw in Lizzo—which I don’t but I’m doing it anyway to make a point—it’s that her headline set at 2021’s Halloween edition of Outside Lands was so impossibly great that it makes her recorded music slightly worse by comparison. I’m listening to “About Damn Time” as I write this and, yes, my head is bobbing along to it, but I also kinda wish I was listening to her sing it live. She has such incredible charisma and command of a crowd that it makes it even better.

Lizzo, if you’re in the area, please drop by my place to sing me a few songs. Listening on Tidal just isn’t the same.

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Broken Peach — “Don’t You Want Me”

My original intent was to make this song from my Halloween column one of my honorable mentions. Yes, it’s great and I love it, but I try to avoid covers in my best-of lists, and themed or seasonably specific songs never really age as well.

I pulled up the YouTube link for my list and I listened to it since it was there. Then I played another song on my list, then listened to “Don’t You Want Me” again. Then played it again. And… I think that’s a sign it’s one of my five favorites and I should stop denying it.

It’s just so good, you guys. And really, other than the costumes, it’s not that Halloween-specific. Though even if it was, I wouldn’t care.

Sophie Lloyd — “Do Or Die”

Listen to that guitar and tell me that’s not one of the best things you heard this year. Just try it. I dare you.

The Honorable Mentions include (spoiler alert) Lzzy Hale and Kirk Hammett, and after listening to them all several times to pick my favorites, I still came back to Lloyd every time. She just shreds so hard. It’s like a refined version of ’80s hair metal without losing the raw joy of ’80s hair metal and I didn’t think that was even possible.

Speaking of the ’80s, former reality show guy Nathan James absolutely understood the assignment for this song, because his vocals are absolutely perfect for the rest of the aesthetic. He may not have won that second reality show he was on so he could [checks notes] play the role of Jesus? Really? Anyway; he may not have won that but he 100-percent wins this.

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Honorable Mentions:

Bloodywood — “Dana Dan”
Halestorm — “The Steeple”
Kirk Hammett — “High Plains Drifter”
Rina Sawayama — “This Hell”
Rihanna — “Lift Me Up”

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis and tweet column ideas to him at Twitter.com/BayAreaData.