Music. It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions. It is the universal language that speaks to the soul. It forms the soundtrack of our lives.
It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library, featuring he songs I have listened to the most since 2007. It is time to do so again, seeing which older songs still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray. So, without further ado, here are my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2025.
Today, we continue with our in-depth look into each song in the top ten. Two songs have tied for the eighth most listened to song in my library, with 144 plays since my stats began in late 2007. Both have ties to the baseball team on the south side of Chicago and the various playlists I have made for them over the years.
#8: Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
iTunes stats: 144 plays, most recently on 8/27/2024
Previous ranking: #8
Originally released in October of 1981 as the second single off the band’s Escape album, the song peaked at #9 on the Hot 100 and quickly became one of the band’s signature hits. The song got a second life in the 2000s, starting locally after it became the rallying cry for the 2005 White Sox when A.J. Pierzynski and teammates heard it being sung in a bar in Baltimore. Steve Perry, who was the band’s lead singer when the song was recorded, was on the field following Game 4 celebrating with the team and sang the song at the rally back in Chicago two days later. It finally dropped off my White Sox victory playlist starting with the 2015 season.
In 2007, it appeared in the final episode of The Sopranos, which led to a surge in digital downloads of the song. In 2012, it became the best-selling digital track from the 20th century, and it surpassed 7,000,000 downloads by 2017. In 2021, the song inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
#8: Icona Pop – I Love It (Feat. Charli XCX)
iTunes stats: 144 plays, most recently on 9/28/2024
Previous ranking: #14
Featuring vocals from British singer Charli XCX, the song by the Swedish synth-pop duo became their first US hit, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 following an appearance of the HBO show Girls. The song was written by Charli XCX after the group’s producer sent her two of the duo’s beats, but she knew she couldn’t release it on her own due to the difference in sound.
Over the last decade, the song has been played often at the former Guaranteed Rate Field both to pump up the crowd and for between inning highlight packages. It’s inclusion on recent entries of my White Sox victory playlist has led to its rising total.
NBA legend Jerry West, who passed away earlier this week at age 86, objected to his portrayal in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, saying it was “cruel” and “deliberately false.” Which is totally how the Jerry West played by Jason Clarke in the show would have reacted.