10 Best Songs of the Last 10 Years

The last decade has been an excellent one for music fans in every genre, with the release of countless phenomenal albums and hit singles by both new artists and ones who have been making music for a long time. There have been so many excellent songs released this past decade, but the very best are notable for their unique sound, well-written lyrics, and beautiful vocals.

There are 10 songs in particular that really stand out as the best ones to be released between the years of 2016 and 2026. From gut-wrenching ballads that will have you sobbing, to fast-paced songs that will make you want to get up and dance, these songs all stand out amongst the rest. These are the 10 best songs of the last decade, ranked.

10

“Don’t Start Now” (2019)

Dua Lipa

In her 2021 GRAMMYS acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album for her 2020 album, Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa spoke about intentionally centering happiness in the album. Future Nostalgia‘s lead single, “Don’t Start Now,” perfectly exemplifies this. The upbeat nu-disco breakup song describes bouncing back from heartbreak with a new attitude, acknowledging the past pain but ready to move forward and come out of it stronger.

“Don’t Start Now” is the sort of song that you just can’t help but get up and dance to, with its excellent beat and empowering lyrics. Lipa has had a number of wonderful hit songs this past decade. That said, “Don’t Start Now” really stands out with its reflective and playful lyrics, excellent production, and amazing utilization of her powerful vocals – especially in that final chorus after the bridge.

9

“All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” (2021)

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift‘s “All Too Well” was first released as one of the songs on her fourth album, Red, in 2012. When Swift re-recorded the album and released Red (Taylor’s Version) in 2021, she added nine tracks “from the vault,” including the long-anticipated 10-minute version of All Too Well. Nearly twice the length of the original version, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” somehow improves on the already-breathtaking ballad with the addition of new verses that deepen the meaning of the song.

“All Too Well” was always a devastating song about heartbreak and the struggle to let go, but “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” is downright haunting. The song describes additional and very specific memories that the narrator had with her love, as well as the ways that she had to compromise pieces of herself to hold onto this love. “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” describes both losing a great love, and the desperation of needing confirmation that this meant even a fraction as much to the other person as it did to her. The whole song is stunning, but there is something so agonizingly beautiful about that final verse, where Swift asks, “And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue? Just between us, did the love affair maim you, too?”

8

“DtMF” (2025)

Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny is a true standout amongst the last decade of musicians, and his Grammy-Award-winning 2025 album, DeBÍ TiRAR Más FOToS (which translates to “I Should Have Taken More Photos”) is especially extraordinary. The album’s titular song and fourth single, “DtMF,” hits on its core themes of love, loss, and the gentrification of Puerto Rico in a poignant way, and it just has a really excellent beat. “DtMF” combines the Afro-Puerto Rican music style plena with thoughtful and sweetly sad lyrics for a truly memorable song.

In “DtMF,” Bad Bunny reflects on the loss of a past love, expressing regrets about the additional memories that he could have had with loved ones. He describes struggling to enjoy the present while wishing for more time with a past love, to say everything that was left unsaid and take more pictures. He also talks about moving on and experiencing life with his loved ones while still wishing his past love could be there, simultaneously appreciating special present-day moments while mourning ones that can never be recreated.

7

“Vodka Cranberry” (2025)

Conan Gray

Nobody writes about heartache and longing quite like Conan Cray does, as proven once again by his 2025 album, Wishbone. The album’s lead single, “Vodka Cranberry,” is one of the most raw and gut-wrenching breakup songs of the last decade. “Vodka Cranberry” tells the story of a lovesick narrator realizing that his love is no longer requited, and trying to bring himself to cut off the relationship rather than stay with someone who can no longer return that love.

“Vodka Cranberry” is the sort of song that knocks the wind out of you. It has beautiful and deeply personal lyrics, such as, “Yeah, I notice everything you do since the time we took a break; everybody knows you don’t love me the same.” Gray’s vocals on this song, too, are particularly impressive – most notably that stunning high note at the end of the bridge that smoothly transitions into a goosebumps-inducing key change for the final chorus.

6

“Not Like Us” (2024)

Kendrick Lamar

This past decade saw the release of three studio albums and a number of excellent singles by Kendrick Lamar. A particular standout is Lamar’s 2024 diss track, “Not Like Us,” which he released as part of an ongoing feud with Drake. This feud inspired multiple brilliantly-written and scathing songs from Lamar, including “Euphoria” and “Meet the Grahams,” but “Not Like Us” is the best and most iconic song to come out of this feud.

“Not Like Us” is an absolutely ruthless and deeply specific diss track that does not hold back at all, using unbelievably clever wordplay and a phenomenal beat to call Drake out with an extensive list of grievances and misdeeds. Unsurprisingly, the song blew up when it was released, and it is considered to be the track that won the battle for Lamar. It also went on to win five Grammy Awards the following year.

5

“The Cure” (2026)

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo has had some of the biggest songs of the past decade, with hits like “Driver’s License,” Good 4 U,” and “Vampire.” Her 2026 album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, is the perfect addition to her existing discography, with insightful love songs and gutting heartbreak songs. The album’s second single, “The Cure,” is a notable standout from the last decade, both for its sound and its lyrics. With “The Cure,” Rodrigo acknowledges the notion that young people, particularly young women, have always been told: that a happily ever after lies in finding romantic love with the right person. Here, Rodrigo questions, what happens if you’re happily in love, but you’re still not happy?

“The Cure” is a deeply introspective and vulnerable song that describes being in love and wanting to enjoy that feeling, but having to deal with this positive thing being drowned out by mental health struggles and personal insecurities. The entire song is absolutely devastating, as the narrator admits over and over to both herself and her love that the relationship is just not enough to save her. It all builds up to one of the most breathtaking bridges of this last decade, which layers multiple harmonies of Rodrigo repeatedly singing, “I’m unraveled,” before moving into an absolutely gutting lamentation: “Why can’t you come stitch me up? Why can’t it ever be enough?”

4

“Good Luck, Babe!” (2024)

Chappell Roan

Following the release of her debut album, The Ride and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in 2023, Chappell Roan released “Good Luck, Babe!” as a single the following year. The song quickly exploded in popularity, and it’s easy to see why. With devastating lyrics about compulsory heterosexuality set to a wildly catchy synth-pop beat, “Good Luck, Babe!” is one of the most unique and captivating songs of the last decade.

In the song, Roan describes falling in love with a woman who feels the same way, but who is still trying to convince herself that she is straight. Throughout the song, the narrator reflects on her own pain and what she wants out of a relationship, while simultaneously warning the subject of the song that she will regret this one day. The entire song is electric from start to finish, but especially notable are the gut-punch of a bridge, and the haunting last lyric from the chorus, “You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.”

3

“Blinding Lights” (2019)

The Weeknd

The Weeknd has some of the biggest hits of this past decade, including “Starboy” and “Save Your Tears,” but his 2019 single, “Blinding Lights,” is especially fantastic. The synth-pop song has a great beat and a fast pace that makes it impossible not to get up to sing and dance along to, but even more impressive is how the upbeat sound disguises quietly sad and pensive lyrics. The Weeknd has perfected the art of weaving devastating lyrics into catchy dance songs, and this is especially evident in “Blinding Lights.”

In a 2020 interview with Esquire, The Weeknd said that “Blinding Lights” is about an overpowering loneliness and desperation to see someone, that leads the narrator to take a risky late-night drive. There is an air of longing and heartache that lingers over “Blinding Lights” that pairs perfectly with its strong beat and excellent production. If listeners pay close attention, they’re rewarded with beautifully gutting lyrics, like, “I’m just walking by to let you know, I could never say it on the phone, will never let you go this time.”

2

“Formation” (2016)

Beyoncé

If you look back on the past several decades, Beyoncé is responsible for some of the most incredible songs of each, and 2016–2026 is no exception. “Formation” was released as a single ahead of Beyoncé’s iconic 2016 album, “Lemonade,” and it is no doubt one of the very best songs from this decade. Combining the music styles of trap and bounce with clever and powerful lyrics, “Formation” is Beyoncé’s celebration of her heritage and her identity as a Black woman.

Following its release, “Formation” won a number of awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Music Video the following year. Beyoncé’s 2016 Super Bowl performance of “Formation” is one of the most breathtaking and defining live performances of this past decade. At this point, now a decade after its release, “Formation” already has an impressive legacy. It is also truly just a stunningly well-made and well-written song, with lyrics that urge those hearing it to listen closely, all up until its perfect and cheeky final line: “Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.”

1

“Black Swan” (2020)

BTS

What happens to a musician when they lose their passion for the thing they love the most? Who do they become, when music can no longer make them feel what it used to? “Black Swan,” the first single from BTS‘ (first, ahead of BE) 2020 album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” tackles this question head-on. The song is a deeply personal confession of this fear, both responding to and building off of the iconic quote by choreographer Martha Graham (which is quoted at the start of the official “Black Swan” art film): “A dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.” “Black Swan” is an achingly intimate and confessional song with gut-wrenchingly honest lyrics that almost feel like we the listeners shouldn’t be allowed to hear.

Sonically, “Black Swan” is absolutely beautiful. It has excellent production, breathtaking vocals from Jin, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, and captivating rap verses from RM, Suga, and J-Hope, all set to a powerful beat with stunning instrumentals. What really makes “Black Swan” so outstanding, though, is how painfully raw it both sounds and feels. The entirety of “Black Swan” reveals BTS’ fear of losing their passion for music, with stunning lyrics that describe that feeling as one of drowning and ending up on the ocean floor, and it never undercuts its meaning by trying to provide a solution beyond simply continuing to have hope in the face of this very real possibility. “Black Swan” is unrelenting in its depiction of this terrifying fear and the unbelievable pain that accompanies it, leaving listeners with a mix of both hope and unease in the wake of this confession when the song concludes. It’s an impressive and awe-inspiring feat that’s by no means easy to pull off, and it’s the final element that cements “Black Swan” as an absolute masterpiece.

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