NPR Music critics reflect on the lyrics that captured the year's mood, sparked emotions and stayed with them long after the music stopped. Lyrics of a song can reach us in ways that no other speech ...

Alex Warren’s chart-topping ballad “Ordinary” is this summer’s most popular song by the numbers, but critics and music fans have lamented that this summer seemed to have few breakout hits as the ...

Back in July, Luminate, which provides chart data for Billboard, shared the most-streamed songs of the year so far. In the top ten, only three songs were actually released in 2025, while the rest of ...

What is 2025’s Song of the Summer? As Labor Day looms, we still don’t have an answer—but there’s a solid pool of candidates. But what makes up a Song of the Summer? We’ve boiled it down to five ...

One of the biggest things that music can provide people is comfort. Turn on a favorite song and it’s a few minutes where you can escape to a place that you already know you love and that makes you ...

Notice anything unusual about this year’s top hits? Yes, more than half of them are from last year. What’s going on? Sure, factors like release schedules, timing (a song that was already charting in ...

From tear-jerkers to mic-drops, NPR's music critics share the 2025 lyrics that made them laugh, cry and hit replay. Right about now, music critics are sharing their favorite albums of the year or ...