222/InterscopeWhat do Maroon 5, Ariana Grande, Post Malone, and Lady Gaga have in common with “Baby Shark?” They’re all included on the New York Times‘ list of “The 25 Songs that Matter Right Now.”
The publication has chosen 25 songs that span musical genres, but which all reflect “where music is going.” The Times notes that the common factor is, “a very earnest, very serious desire to find the right reaction to a world that feels tense and high-stakes.”
The Times says all the songs have, “an ambient conviction that music should be looking for ways to cope, ways to protect ourselves, moments of escape, hard reckonings with our collective responsibilities, ideas for how to make the world feel less brutal.”
The songs that made the list include Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” Post Malone’s “Sunflower,” Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode,” Mariah Carey‘s “A No No,” Beyonce and JAY-Z’s “Apes**t”, “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD, “Slow Burn” by Grammy Album of the Year-winner Kacey Musgraves and, yes, “Baby Shark.”
An unexpected inclusion is “Why Did You Do That” from the soundtrack of A Star Is Born, the vapid pop song that Ally performs on Saturday Night Live, infuriating Jackson due to its lack of authenticity.
Another unexpected entry on the list is Bruce Springsteen‘s live acoustic version of “Born in the U.S.A.,” from his Springsteen on Broadway show.
Why are all these songs included? Well, the Times has written lengthy essays explaining each one, but here are some of the publication’s one-sentence summaries:
“thank u, next”: The ambiguous kiss-off.
“Girls Like You” (video): The pop star cedes the stage.
“Sunflower”: Post Malone, Spider-Man and the unexpected powers of adolescent awkwardness.
“Born in the U.S.A.”: How aging — and the age — can change a song’s meaning.
“A No No”: The new R&B litmus test requires artists to be accessible, enigmatic and maybe a little bit flawed. ‘Sanging’ is optional.
“Why Did You Do That”: The real star of A Star Is Born is a song that few can agree on. Is it any good? Yes. Yes it is.
“Lucid Dreams“: The same affected adolescent pain, updated for modern times.
“Baby Shark“: The origins and meaning of a meaningless viral hit.
“Apes**t”: Beyoncé And JAY-Z know whose work has long been left out of the canon, and they won’t let it happen to theirs.
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