- I recently saw the movie Song Sung Blue, and it was a potent reminder of the power of music. Music makes us feel larger than life, it makes us feel like anything is possible, it heightens emotion and helps us to get through even the darkest of times. In 2025, we needed music to be a cry of rebellion. We needed music to be a call to action. We needed music to feel like hope yet remained even in this darkest timeline.
It's why, as I thought about my favorite songs of the year, I ultimately gave the top spot to a band that has been leading that charge. Dropkick Murphys have long been one of my favorites, but in the Trump era they've talked the talk and walked the walk - giving us songs and albums that felt urgent, timely, and sorely needed.
I was lucky enough this year to see the great John Fogerty live in concert for the first time ever, at the Hollywood Bowl. Decades ago, Fogerty and Credence Clearwater Revival used music to talk about the changing times, and to protest the bad moon rising, the trouble that was on the way. In his 80's, Fogerty was still absolutely fantastic - sporting his trademark bandana and blue jeans, he sang iconic song after iconic song. And you couldn't help but notice that so many of his Vietnam-era protest songs resonated more today - sadly, I suppose - than they have in many a decade.
I got another dose of still-vital classic rock when I saw Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening at the Greek theater. I'd recently watched the new Led Zeppelin documentary, and was eager to get the Led out in whatever way was possible in 2025. Seeing the son of the band's legendary drummer (not to mention *his* son, whose band was the opening act) was a pretty good way to honor the Zeppelin legacy. While not quite the same as seeing the original band, this was a fun show that gave us a mix of iconic rock songs and some deeper cuts.
I had another really fun experience at the Hollywood Bowl, seeing the "I Want My 80's" concert. I love me some vintage 80's music, so this was a real treat. The headliner here was Rick Springfield - who, at age 75, was somehow still in great shape such that women were screaming when he took his shirt off (life goals for my 70's, I guess?). But Springfield legit rocked, and I came away from the show with a newfound appreciation for his surprisingly deep catalog of 80's rock bangers (my new favorite: "Human Touch" - it rules). That said, I was also really excited to see Wang Chung. They've been having a bit of a moment of late, with their classic "Dance Hall Days" being featured in a number of recent movies, and their "To Live and Die in LA" song also serving as the theme to John Mulaney's Netflix talk show. Wang Chung seriously rocked live, and I got sort of emotional for "Dance Hall Days" ...
... Because to bring this post back full circle, the song was used in one of my favorite movie scenes of the year, in the film The Life of Chuck. In the scene, a young Chuck spends time with his grandmother after the death of his parents. She's in the kitchen, cooking, as "Dance Hall Days" kicks up. Nick Offerman's narration states: "She liked rock n' roll, while she was cooking. Music Chuck would have thought much too young for her. But which she clearly enjoyed." Young Chuck looks at his grandma. She smiles back, as she taps the counter with her ladle, to the beat. She looks at him and says "C'mon little brother, let's dance." And they do. And from that moment on, a love for music and dance awakened in Chuck. It made me think of my own seemingly forever-young grandmother. It made me think of my own love of music. It made me think of how music keeps us young, smiling, and alive.
2025 was a really tough year in a lot of ways. It was a struggle. But music made it easier. Music made me feel like I could fight back. Music made me feel like I - and all of us - still had a fighting chance.
So here are some of the songs that spoke to me, that moved me, that energized me - in the year that was.
- As I said above, Dropkick Murphys have become more than just a kickass punk rock band in recent years - they've become a voice of the revolution. And their recent 2025 album encapsulated that. It's filled with songs that urged us to fight. That proverbially spit in the face of Trump and MAGA and anyone who would follow them. Songs that lament the fate of the working man, that look back nostalgically on simpler times, that mix rage and sadness and emotion into a maelstrom of punk rock anthems that make you want to pump your fist and fight the good fight. "Who'll Stand With Us?" is the protest song we needed in 2025 - an anthemic rager that doesn't quit. "Bury the Bones" is another standout track, a scornful eulogy for would-be oppressors. And "Chesterfields and Aftershave" is the best song about grandfathers ever - a nostalgic ballad about the good ol' days and the people we miss from them. It's songs like these that make the Murphy's 2025 album "For The People" my pick for Album of the Year.
- I was a bit mixed overall on The Darkness' latest 2025 album, but the standout song for me was, easily, "Walking Through Fire" - a hard-driving rocker that is the band at their best. This was a big anthem for me in 2025, a motivational song that could be cranked up to 11 during those times when you need a musical pick-me-up.
- I've not necessarily been a mega-fan of Florence + The Machine, but I've long had a healthy appreciation for the band's dark, haunting melodies and gothic-tinged tunes. But wow, when I first heard "Everybody Scream," I really sat up and took notice. This song got under my skin and really stuck with me. It's a dark, moody, and mystical song that gets my imagination running. So good.
7.) Ghost - "Satanized"
- Ghost is now a rock band whose new music I consistently look forward to. They have a uniquely epic, theatrical sound - and their songs tell stories like few other bands can. "Satanized" is their latest goth-metal epic - a maximalist power ballad that soars, that tantalizes, and that just plain rocks really hard.
- Alice Cooper is one of my all-time favorites, and I buy every new album of his sight unseen. And so, I was intrigued to listen to Cooper's 2025 album that saw him reunite with his original Alice Cooper Band lineup. The resulting album did indeed have a different, more old-school feel versus other recent Cooper output. And to be honest, not all of it worked for me. But! I did love, in particular, this song - "Blood on the Sun." It's a hard-driving rock ballad with great lyrics and a sense of real epicness. A standout track that makes me, as always, incredibly thankful that Cooper is still around doing his thing.
10.) Twenty One Pilots - "City Walls"
- In re-watching the music video for "City Walls" on YouTube, I was reminded from reading the comments (I know, I know ...) that Twenty One Pilots have an insanely dedicated fandom who closely track an incredibly complex lore that is associated with the band and their songs. So, yeah - I am nowhere near that level of fandom, but I have been a big Pilots fan since their original album. And that made me particularly excited for "City Walls," which feels like a return to the original, electric combination of rock, rap, and techno that made me love this band from the get-go.
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