This was originally a script for a YouTube video which I didn’t have time to complete however I have adapted it for reading.

Hey guys I’m Sam Mills and firstly, Happy New Year’s Eve! Today we’re going to cap off the year with the best hit songs of 2014 so that tomorrow we can start afresh and hope for a better year in music.

If only the year was as upbeat as the end-of-year mashup by DJ Earworm. 2014 was a dour year for pop music and it continues the trend that began at the start of 2013.

There is now only one superstar in music and that is Taylor Swift. Artists such as Maroon 5 or Jason Derulo or Pharrell are a step behind while the Iggy Azalea’s and Ariana Grande’s of this world have not proven that they can be a star yet with only one album to their name.

And god forbid if Iggy becomes big.

I’m hopeful that 2015 will be an improvement with many more established artists set to release albums however we all need to be prepared if that turns to shit too and just accept that music as we knew it is dead.

Anyway lets move on, the rules for qualification are the same as the rules expressed in my previous two videos.

Obviously the difference here is that the songs must have charted on the Billboard 100 or reached the Top 15 on the Australian or UK charts.

It also doesn’t matter if they weren’t released in 2014 if the song reached a peak on the charts this year.

Also this is your chance to get stuck into me for my music preferences. I’m opening myself up here to be attacked so make sure you take advantage of it.

Let’s get stuck into it! We’re counting down the Top 15 Best Hit songs of 2014.

Number 15 – Time of our Lives

Are we back in 2011? This is great. Wait, did I just call Pitbull great?

Neyo and Pitbull team up for the first time since Give Me Everything to give us this upbeat tune which unfortunately only came to the fore during the last month of 2014 and sadly dropped off the Billboard 100 after only one week but is now back on it!

Pitbull cops a lot of flack for perhaps recycling lines and hiring people to be in his songs but at least the majority are enjoyable and catchy.

Over the last year I’ve certainly mellowed on Pitbull and as the range of music becomes ever smaller I find myself even liking him.

This song is what 2015 should sound like for pop music full stop. Enough of the boring, monotonous shit and more of this. Thanks Pitbull.

Number 14 – Work

I’m mixed in my feelings for Iggy Azalea. On one hand she is a try-hard rapper who is really, really bad but on the other hand she’s an Australian trying to make it overseas.

I hated Fancy and pretty much every other song she featured in this year barring Work, which was actually enjoyable.

The instrumental makes the song but Iggy isn’t at her usual levels of bad as she recounts her journey from a little town in Australia to Miami.

Perhaps it’s the fact that I got my first part-time job this year that built a soft-spot for this song.

Number 13 – Happy

Without a doubt this is the most memorable song of 2014 and would top the list if I was doing that countdown again this year, but I’m not.

But to be fair, this song made its largest impact on me late in 2013.

Happy is probably the most overplayed song of all time and it was number 1 on Billboard for an incredible amount of time, thus the value of the song has decreased in my eyes.

However you can’t be happy when this comes on and it certainly puts all of Pharrell’s other songs to shame, as repetitive as it may be.

I believe 13 is a fair spot for this song. Pharrell should be happy.

Number 12 – 3005

Donald Glover (aka that guy from Community or Childish Gambino)’s song 3005 grew on me. I wasn’t a big fan when it was released, then I was really big on it but then everybody started to jump on the bandwagon and so now it falls in my ranking.

That probably has something to do with the 12 year olds who are now proclaiming Gambino as the best rapper in the world and the song is the ‘best eva’.

Undeniably however it has great lyrics and a great beat, providing a fantastic atmosphere whenever it is listed to.

It reached number 64 on Billboard and now the pressure is on for Glover to take another hit mainstream.

Number 11 – The Days

Avicii has done it again. How can you possibly hate this? Plus it has Robbie Williams on it. ROBBIE FUCKING WILLIAMS.

Plus I’m not a big EDM man but when the beat drops and the electrical music shit happens the chills start.

I find it really hard to analyse such songs as previously mentioned but this is just a really catchy tune that is built for radio airplay.

If you think Avicii is going away, think again. He’s releasing an album next year and I bet it will be good. I hope it will be good.

Number 10 – Rude

Rude was a late bloomer in the rest of the world bar Australia. This song was smashing the airways in this country a year ago and yet North America only really took note in June.

Look I’m not going to beat around the bush, this song is just shit, mainly due to the abhorrent lyrics and terrible music video. If I was the father there is no way in hell I’d let that bloke marry my daughter either.

But it’s catchy as hell and the fact that they’re Canadian singing a reggae song is way too funny to ignore.

I’m quickly losing credibility here but it would be rude not to include it on this list. Let’s just say this was a little less shitter than most songs to hit Billboard this year.

Number 9 – Superheroes

The Script are a default band. They play the songs that you’d expect to already be there in iTunes when you’re setting up a new computer.

But I’ll tell you what, if this song came pre-installed I’d be so happy as it truly is one of the songs of the year.

Of course, there is no doubt that this song is their 2012 hit Hall of Fame minus Will.i.am with different lyrics but that doesn’t take away much from this song.

In the depressing world that we live in these days it is songs such as Superheroes that genuinely give people hope.

This is montage music, this is the sound of people uniting to overcome evil forces and given the year that we’ve had in Australia, I’d like to think this song helped people get through tough times.

Number 8 – Thinking Out Loud

I must admit when Ed Sheeran’s new album came out I could not stand it. Sing was being played from pillar to post and I simply found it irritatingly arrogant and it didn’t seem to fit into the mould of Ed Sheeran I had created in my mind.

His third single Thinking Out Loud, which was released when he was here in Australia for the Grand Final, fits the mould perfectly.

Of course little Ed rose to fame back in 2011 because of A-Team and I certainly think his slower songs come more naturally to him. He appears more comfortable with this style.

Sheeran’s voice is obviously his biggest asset and he takes full advantage of it here. This is simply a beautiful song and easily the best on the album and possibly his best song yet.

Number 7 – Chandelier

Even though I struggle to understand 95% of the lyrics in this song, I still find it enjoyable.

Since 2010 Sia has “risen” from Triple J favourite to a more 101.9 the Fox girl and while she said herself she dislikes it, her music certainly hasn’t been affected.

This is a damn good pop song and I’m so damn proud that an Australian wrote and performed it. Sia originally planned to give it to Rihanna or the sexist pig who throws away her talent with dumb songs Beyonce, but she knew she would do it better.

Billboard themselves ranked this as the best, as in most critically acclaimed, song of the year while Rolling Stone had it 15^th, but they also had Drunk in Love at number 1 so I don’t really respect their opinion.

Number 6

Welcome back FOB.

A mate and I first listened to this song in maths class and we were both appalled at how Fall Out Boy had fallen by the wayside in terms of quality in their last few releases.

But you need to factor in the quality of the opposition, and the fact that FOB are now a pop band and if anyone disputes that then you really don’t know what you are talking about.

Sure, this is no Sugar we’re going down or Grand Theft Autumn but if you accept those two things, this is a damn good song.

And if you don’t like change just watch the music video. Fall Out Boy are still fucking pretentious.

January 2015 will see the release of their next album and I for one am looking forward to it. Hopefully it is decent and can climb up the charts to relevance.

Number 5 – Rather Be

What is a clean bandit?

Almost 11 months on and I still have no clue as to what these people are or what they do. And who is Jess Glynne, is she a member, I see she has done another song with them which has been successful, should they combine?

Rather Be itself is such a cringey song, with its stupid synth beat and bloody violin but I can’t help but like it, plus I love the Ed Kavalee cameo.

I’m pretty confident when I say that Clean Bandit will be a flash in the pan, aka one hit wonder.

However, keep an eye on the actual vocalist Jess Glynne, she’s gonna be big soon. I also said that about Sam Smith two years ago so I have form.

It says a lot about the quality of music this year that this song reached number 10 on Billboard. The thought in previous years that an Indie sounding song like this would get there would have sent many into a coma.

But it’s the best we got so let’s just enjoy Clean Bandit for their 15 minutes of fame.

Number 4 – Uptown Funk

I have never loved Bruno Mars so much. I’m definitely not getting caught up in the hype.

The pretentiousness and self-indulgence in this song is at such a high level that you simply can’t help but love it.

Bruno has form with the retro sounding songs being successful. In my opinion, 2013 release Treasure is the best song he has produced while police-inspired Locked Out of Heaven was also brilliant.

However, this song isn’t actually Bruno’s.

It is Mark Ronson’s, an English artist who hasn’t been heard of much since 2010 when he produced one of the best albums of the decade.

His next album is due for release in 2015 and if it is half as good as this single then we’re in for a treat.

Number 3 – I Got U

This is fun per songified!

Duke Dumont are in a similar boat to Clean Bandit in my eyes. They’re both English and I don’t know who they are. I also don’t know how to analyse this song.

I Got U didn’t actually chart on Billboard however it went to number 1 in the UK and I’m bloody glad it did because it is one decent tune.

This song has no meaning, it hasn’t got a message and contains little more than 20 words through its entirety, however it’s one of those tunes you just sit around chilling to.

This song is summer inside winter and the music video is a great representation of it, even if some think it is racist due to the copious amount of white women.

Number 2 – i

I’m not the biggest R&B fan going around but this self-empowering song is brilliant.

Kendrick Lamar is at it again and in 2014 he released I, a great tune with a message that loving yourself is important and that suicide should never be an option.

It managed to reach 39 on Billboard but what I’m disappointed about is the lack of airplay that it received here in Australia; I didn’t hear it once.

This is so much more preferable to the shit that Lil Wayne, Drake and all those other ‘rappers’ provide. Yes guys, we understand your life is great you have money and bitches but we think you are downright tools.

Kendrick is a young man with a brain inside of that skull and is one of the best lyricists in the business.

Before we get to number 1, I’d like to honourably mention these 9 songs: Boom Clap by Charli XCX, Robin Schulz’ remix of Waves by Mr Probz, Ariana Grande’s Love Me Harder, A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay, Budapest by George Ezra, Heroes by Alesso and Tove Lo, Taylor Swift’s Blank Space that she’s going to write your name in, Milky Chance’s Stolen Dance and Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson.

Number 1 – Am I Wrong

The choice for number 1 this year was quite easy. This song achieved both critical and commercial success, it was an unofficial anthem of the biggest sporting event in the world in Brazil this year and it was the highest charting song on Billboard by a Norwegian group since a-ha and Take on Me in 1985.

Am I Wrong was released over a year and a half ago by Nico & Vinz when their band’s name was Envy.

The African inspired song’s message is loud and clear. It’s about individualism, about following your heart and doing what you really want to do. You should not feel the pressure to conform.

The music video is great story, although the drooling idiots who comment on it on YouTube ruin it. Some fucking idiot said it was racist against ‘non-black people’ quote unquote.

A couple of Norwegians singing an Afrobeat song is the best 2014 has to offer in terms of popular success.

And you know what? I’m not even mad.

That’s it for the best songs of 2014, my music of the year series and indeed me for 2014.

I’d like to thank everyone for their support throughout the year and I’ll promise I’ll be bigger and better in 2015, a year that promises so much.

Thanks for joining me and remember I’d like to hear your opinions in the comment section below or you can use the hashtag #SMBest2014.

I’m Sam Mills, Am I Wrong in the best songs of 2014? That didn’t really work…