My Top 20 Songs of 2021

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Yes, you’ll notice I’m sticking to 20 songs this year. If I keep up with the pattern of listing the same songs as the number of years into this millennium, I’ll end up sharing 60 songs in 2060 and I want to limit this list to songs (or books…stay tuned next week!) I actually like! So from here on out, it’s going to be a top 20 list every year. 😊

With that said, here are my 20 most-listened-to songs of 2021:

20. Elevation Worship: “RATTLE! (Live).” Since when has impossible ever stopped God? As the song declares from Ezekiel 37:4: “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!”

19. Red Rocks Worship: “Breakthrough.” How many years has this one been on my list now? Too many to remember. But a few!

18. CAIN: “Revival.” I still need a revival. We still need a revival. This world still needs a revival. And revival is here, but I want more.

17. UPPERROOM: “Rest On Us (Live).” This song was played a lot in our school worship sets, and I really like it. “Fire and wind, come and do it again!”

16. Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music: “Wait On You (feat. Dante Bowe).” I’ve really been liking all these songs lately with the theme of the goodness of God. It’s always a helpful reminder for me, both on the good days and the not-so-good days. I’ve tasted his goodness before and I’ll taste it again, but in the meantime, he renews my strength as I wait on him.

15. CeCe Winans: “Believe For It (Live).” There’s a definite theme of faith in most of my favorite songs each year. What can I say? I need to hear this message on a regular basis. I’m thankful for powerful songs like this one.

14. CAIN: “Rise Up (Lazarus).” Another repeat favorite from last year. I might be CAIN’s biggest fan. 😊

13. Jon Reddick: “God, Turn It Around.” An alternate version of my number one song this year (Jon Reddick sings in both versions). I really, really love this song. I’ve heard a third version on K-LOVE recently, too!

12. Anne Wilson: “My Jesus.” “He makes a way where there is no way!” I turned up the volume every time this one came on the radio this year. What a powerful song, inspired by a difficult testimony that God is now using to encourage the faith of others.

11. CAIN: “I’m So Blessed.” I liked this song immediately when it came out, but it’s even more special to me now, because one of the last phrases my grandma repeated before she went to be with Jesus was “I’m so blessed.” Now I think of her every time I hear this song. ❤️

10. CAIN: “People Need People.” I’ve gone through many seasons of feeling like I need people but don’t have them or can’t find them. Sometimes this song reminds me that my people are coming. Other times, it reminds me of the people God has already brought into my life and fills me with gratitude.

9. Maverick City Music: “You Keep On Getting Better.” I play this song whether I’m feeling it or absolutely not feeling it. No matter what it looks like, God is good and he’s working everything for good. I will sing of his goodness no matter if I see it or not, because he has always been and always will be faithful!

8. Red Rocks Worship: “More.” Although this one is a few years old, I had never heard it before this year, and I love it.

7. Lindy Cofer & Circuit Rider Music: “Take Courage (Live).” I first heard this song in a school session earlier this year, and I couldn’t get the phrase “Simple obedience changes history” out of my head. I loved it so much I wrote a blog post on it!

6. Bethel Music & Cory Asbury: “Homecoming.” You knew there had to be a Bethel one on here! Well, there didn’t have to be, but I like Bethel’s music as much as I like its teaching, so here it is. 😊 This album was announced as I was sitting with my grandma during her last few days on earth, and it released a few days after her homecoming to heaven, so it’s extra special to me. ❤️ Another “now” song – no, another “now” album. Bethel Music never fails to understand and sing about the exact seasons we are in as a corporate body.

5. Red Rocks Worship: “Echo Holy (Live from Littleton).” I got to see Red Rocks Worship in person this summer, and they were as anointed in person as they are in the recording studio. So many of their songs were on repeat in my earbuds this year.

4. CAIN: “Yes He Can.” I know, I know. So much CAIN! I can’t be the only one who loves them or this song, because it was on the radio all year long! A repeat from 2020, and for good reason. My faith never tires of hearing this message.

3. CAIN: “Come Forth.” I love this band, I listened to their album Rise Up more than any other in 2021, and I’m currently binging on their Christmas album. This is a prophetic song for me.

2. Church of the City: “Joy Comes In the Morning.” Another favorite from Church of the City that I like to declare over my life whether I’m having a joyful day or not. Plus, the words are straight out of Scripture!

1. Church of the City: “God Turn It Around (feat. Jon Reddick).” This song actually gets first place for both 2021 and 2020, because I discovered it at the end of December last year – after I’d already posted my top 20 list – and I loved it so much, it climbed to the top of my most-played list even in that short time frame. I have listened to this song just about every day since then. It is my prayer, my declaration, and my hope anthem. Everything about this is a now song.

“Faith” is definitely the predominant theme in my 2021 songs, especially considering that every single one of them is a faith-based song! May they boost your faith as much as they’ve boosted mine these past 12 months.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

My favorite songs from previous years:
My Top 20 Songs of 2020
My Top 19 Songs of 2019
My Top 18 Songs of 2018

After a break next week for Turkey Day, I’ll be back the last week of November with my favorite books from 2021! After that, this exhausted student is taking a much-needed break for the month of December to focus on school and recharge.

See you in two weeks!