Ahh, music. We rely on it to get us through the good times and the bad. We cruise, windows down, to the hottest tunes and spend rainy days in bed listening to that one super depressing Adele song. In all seriousness, music is a constant in an ever-changing world. Albums may come and go, but music will always be helping people come together. Isn’t it funny how fads change year from year? Just like you have progressed from an awkward middle schooler to a slightly less awkward high schooler, music has evolved too. To memorialize the hits of our high school career, we turned to Billboard Magazine. They have compiled the best selling songs from each year. Here’s a look at some ‘hot’ tunes from the last four years:

2011

-Rolling in the Deep- Adele
-Party Rock Anthem-LMFAO
-Firework- Katy Perry
-E.T.- Katy Perry
feat Kanye West
-Give Me Everything- Pitbull
feat Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer

This was it — the year we finally shed the awkward 2000’s music scene. The songs you once jammed to at Bar and Bat Mitzvahs finally left the airwaves. No more Soulja Boy. No more horribly autotuned T-Pain creations. What a glorious year for our ears. Still, listeners thrived to mainstream artists. Nicki Minaj was laying down tracks and rocking her iconic pink wig. Heck, even One Direction dropped their first single, What Makes you Beautiful. In the Hip-Hop world, Childish Gambino released Camp and Mac Miller gave us Blue Slide Park. Power duo Kanye West and Jay Z released Watch the Throne. Rockers were awfully busy in the studio as well. We heard Mylo Xyloto from Coldplay and new music from Arcade Fire. The Kooks gave us Junk of the Heart and Bon Iver also gave us a beautifully calming album. Still, the hallmark of the charts was Adele. She gave us the tearjerkers Someone Like You and Set Fire to the Rain. -blows nose into tissue-

2012

-Somebody That I Used To Know- Gotye
-Call Me Maybe- Carly Rae Jepsen
-We Are Young- fun. feat Janelle Monae
-Payphone- Maroon 5 feat Wiz Khalifa
-Lights- Ellie Goulding

Picture this: January 2012 — Katy Perry is topping the charts with The One That Got Away and you are still wiping away the tears from Adele’s 21. Has music gotten sadder lately? We’re still years away from Pharrell’s Happy and things are looking rather bleak. Taylor Swift quickly threw fuel on that fire by releasing her break-up-repercussion ridden Red. Lana Del Rey made us question our existence in her soulful Born To Die. Mumford and Sons gave us Babel, Frank Ocean released Channel Orange and we heard 2 Chainz say “two chaaaainnzzzz” for the first time. Justin Bieber elicited a couple different types of tears: from his youth fanbase who were “OMG in love with him” and from the rest of us who cried because he was still famous.

2013

-Thrift Shop- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Wanz
-Blurred Lines- Robin Thicke feat T.I. and Pharrell
-Radioactive- Imagine Dragons
-Harlem Shake- Baauer
-Can’t Hold Us- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Ray Dalton

2013, otherwise known as the year of Beyonce. All hail “Queen B.” Even if you weren’t Flawless or Drunk in Love this year, this was good music for you to listen to. JT’s 20/20 Experience sold 986,000 copies in its first week and Kanye West dropped Yeezus. So many people to worship this year, right? For those who miss the 90’s, Backstreet Boys were busy in the studio. Katy Perry channeled our inner tiger with Roar. Eminem taught us how to be friends with The Monster. Do you have eclectic taste? Local Natives released Hummingbird. The Strokes gave us Comedown Machine, and Arctic Monkeys dropped AM. My Chemical Romance recorded their last studio album and Bon Jovi returned to the studio for a new album. Phoenix and Vampire Weekend spiced up April with new album releases. We all finished the year Counting Stars with OneRepublic, and by the looks of the charts, there were lots of them this year.

2014-2015

-Happy- Pharrell Williams
-Dark Horse- Katy Perry feat Juicy J
-All Of Me- John Legend
-Fancy- Iggy Azalea feat Charli XCX
-Counting Stars- OneRepublic
-Uptown Funk- Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars
-Love Me Like You Do- Ellie Goulding
-Take Me To Church- Hozier
-FourFive Seconds- Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney

This was the year we had to keep reminding ourselves what year it was. Daft Punk convinced us the future was here in their metal robot suits. Taylor Swift told us repeatedly that it was 1989. A remastered Michael Jackson track further verified this. By the time 5 Seconds of Summer released their hit single, I thought I really had Amnesia. I quickly grabbed my mom’s old Sony Walkman and enjoyed new releases from Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX and Sam Smith. Foster The People’s Supermodel and Young The Giant’s Mind Over Matter struck a cord while J.Coles’ Forest Hills Drive was definitely jammable. What’s music without a little nostalgia? That’s precisely why Paul McCartney joined Rihanna and Kanye in the studio for FourFiveSeconds. How about Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars who kept the 80’s alive with Uptown Funk? Still, nothing reminded me of the present more than the Chainsmoker’s #SELFIE. Sign of the times, I guess.