2015: The Singles
May 2026
INTRO
2015 was the 1st full year that streaming was included in the singles chart – which had a real impact on the chart even before we consider issue such streaming preferences, how access to streaming affects the way we to music and experience it, and the change in the production of music as attempts at manipulating algorithms were made to get a record’s streaming number up. The immediate and significant impact was because streaming reflects how we listen to music in a way we could not easily assess beforehand. Sales alone tell us nothing about listening. A person could buy a record and listening to it thousands of times......... or never. The sale holds both of those options in equal value. Streaming data plugs that gap in the information. Of course, people spend lots of time listening to classics, right? This had an immediate impact too, but it would become far more significant as the years progressed (which we have already seen because we are working backwards, here). As I write this, I am simultaneously working on a post about the 1st quarter of 2026. So far in that year, very few tracks at the top end of the chart are actually from 2026. Many are from 2025, and many are from before even them, including a number of ‘classic’ tracks.
The brilliant “Uptown Funk” from 2014 was the biggest single of 2015. Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” was the most successful one actually released in 2015. Adele’s “25” (2015) was the most successful album. Important, I think, to note that we are past the ten-year barrier. Everything mentioned in these posts is now at least 10 years old.
DIDNT LIKE
Well here’s an interesting one. Its not that I don’t like it. Its fine. I did know it at the time because I was still following Paul McCartney. The thing that still confuses me to this day is...... I do not understand the presence of Paul McCartney here. Not because ‘he’s old and they’re’ young or anything. But because..... well.... he doesn’t do anything that even a beginner musician couldn’t do. He doesnt BE Paul Mccartney...... in fact, far from it. He doesn’t contribute any singing. He doesn’t contribute any bass (because there is none). No drums (there aren’t any) – and plays a very basic light dampened ‘chug chug’ on the guitar that even I could handle. He has co-songwriter and co-production credits. There’s a few random moments where there appears ti be a half-silly vocal (not McCartney’s) in the background that sounds McCartney-esque. Possible McCartney influence seeping through. That’s about it. I’ve even tried to look up the story behind it and there’s very little insightful information out there. I just don’t get it.
TOP TEN CONTENDERS
Wiz Khalifa & Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Justin Bieber “Sorry”
Maroon 5 “Sugar”
Jess Glynn “Hold My Hand”
Jason Derulo “Want To Want Me”
Avicci “The Nights”
Megan Trainor “Lips Are Moving”
Naughty Boy, Beyoncé, & Arrow Benjamin “Runnin’”
Rachel Platten “Fight Song”
Just a comment on this one. I have a kind of strange ‘Inception’-type nostalgia with this that I’m experiencing with a number of tracks in this project. I’m not massive fan of the track, I think the lyric is a bit cliché. I don’t really have any connection, emotional or otherwise, with the track. I just remember hearing it a lot at the time, and since. That memory so probably technically IS defined as nostalgia but I’d say a pretty flimsy nostalgia. BUT! Its further mixed with a feeling of regret: wishing I had kept up enjoying up-to-date pop music and realising I missed all those years. Its a sort of nostalgia for a memory I don’t have.
TOP 3:
3. Sam Smith “Writing’s On The Wall”
A James Bond Theme (“Spectre” (2015)). And not a bad one with its classic orchestral
arrangement reminiscent of the 1960s Thunderball style, featuring piano, high strings, and Smith’s signature falsetto vocals. It breaks from a traditional Bond sound, sounding more vulnerable. I haven’t seen the film, but I am led to believe this is a side of Bond’s character that was explored in the film. Standing alone, it’s a solid song.
2. The Weeknd “I Can’t Feel My Face”
An upbeat-sounding track that uses a cheerful, Michael Jackson-esque, funk-pop sound. I really like the sentiment of the line ‘I can’t feel my face when I’m with you’ although its clearly using a fairly dark, drug referencing metaphor for some reason. And then the line ‘I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb’ ......... whow! Anyone one who has read my analytics for a while will know my favourite thing is ‘dark stuff’ amd my second favourite thing is ‘dark stuff dressed up a light and fluffy’.
1. Dua Lipa “Be The One”
For anyone in the know, there may be a little confusion. That’s because although this was a hit in 2017, it was actually released in 2015...... so Lipa probably has streaming to thank for her entire success, I imagine. It was her breakthrough hit about seeking romantic salvation, possibly following a breakup – which sounds sloppy and sad, but the tone is actually confident, upbeat and positive. I guess that’s the first thing that makes the track unique; its not your typical breakup song – its an non-breakup song. I’m 99% sure Dua Lipa herself has interpreted the lyric and a message of ‘fighting hard for what you believe in’. That feels quiet poetic, as this was her first big hit and she also talks of working hard from a very young age on her singing career – so this track must feel like an analogy of that.
This is my favourite Lipa track! It blends basic synth-pop with, what I believe they call ‘tropical R&B pop’ – which is a laid-back, often atmospheric, Afro-beats/dancehall rhythms/calypso rhythms etc. There are 2 chords; a basic F-major followed by a more exotic E-flat-major-sevenths. Major-7th chords are my absolute favourite, which partly explains my attraction to the track. Now – I’m about to go off on one of my theoretic rants......... the action it would require my hands to play these 2 chords. The F chord is a basic triad position, then my fingers have to spread out from where they were in order to sound the E-flat-major-7th chord. This action repeated over and over reminds me of a heart beating. For me, the pulsating keyboard figure that acts as a riff also reflects this with the 2 notes at the bottom of each phrase sounding twice. But this has a double meaning in my head. The double statement of the bottom notes acts as a kind ‘stutter’. There is a continual stutter in the vocal line and lyrics at the start of each line in the verses – ‘I see the moon, see the moon, see the moon’ ‘I’m not a fool, not a fool, not a fool’ etc. Its like the singer struggles to get past certain parts of their thoughts ‘when you’re gone, when you’re gone, when you’re gone’ before they move on and the melodic line descend with a sense of relief.
There are other points of interest about the keyboard figure I mentioned and the harmonic makeup of the track. The whole track is a continuing repetition of 2 chords that, in their core form, are F-major & E-flat-major. The keyboard figure over the F chord sounds the notes V & I (at the top of the scale) which both belong to the F-major triad. Note III, the most important at determining major vs minor harmony, is omitted, leaving a sense of harmonic ambiguity (although we cam hear the major chord clearly in the backdrop). Then, over the E-flat-major chord, the 2 notes of the keyboard figure are III, which leaves no ambiguity – this is a major chord, and VII which adds a richness to the chord - making it a major-7th chord. This is particularly interesting to the ear because the keyboard figure could have easily just moved down a tone and stated notes V & I of E-flat major. This would be a sequence – a technique commonly deployed in pop music. So, the variation is simple but much less predictable and catches the ears attention. Emphasises the richness of that chord.
To summarise the point I’m making, all of which can be heard in just the 1st 4 bars: The stuttering in mentioned always occurs over the F-major chord, the more basic of the chords, which has an ‘empty feeling because of the lack of note III of the triad in the keyboard figure......... before getting past the stutter and relaxing with a melodic descent into the more complex but rich E-flat-major-7th chord. For many people, love is complicated but rich. And there you go.
I have laboured over just one musical point of many I would have to make about this track. But, I kind of think I’ve made my point well enough. Its a superb track!
But we also know I have developed bias here. Haha.
I really love the revised opening to the track that Lupa has been doing in recent live performances. This can be heard here.
and also at the gig I saw her at (2.30 onwards)
And......... I guess that now we are at the start of Dua Lipa's fame, and have discussed my top Lipa track.............. we have concluded my Dua Lipa story. Its been an unexpected journey.
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