One of the best things about the music setup I have, with my iPod, the Tivo/AudioFaucet/Airport Express and my JBL On Stage is that iTunes automatically tracks all of the songs I listen to for playcount stats. Of course, it only counts it as “played” if I listen to it all the way through, but analyzing the data can still yield some meaningful information on my listening habits.
I’ve listed my top played tracks from 2005 below. The track I listened to the most this year, “The Boxer” by Carbon Leaf, had 64 recorded plays, but the most listened to track in my library of all time remains “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service at 104 plays.
At the end of last year, I had 7861 total plays across 2084 unique tracks out of a total of 6505 tracks. This year that number rose to 17996 total plays across 4703 unique tracks out of a total of 10322 tracks. (With the addition of Podcast support in iTunes, I probably should add that I have 838 podcast tracks in my library, responsible for 186 total plays)
Compare it to my list Songs of 2004 from last year.
| Title | Artist |
|---|---|
| The Boxer | Carbon Leaf |
| Paloma | Carbon Leaf |
| Meg Ryan (Every Valentines) | Self |
| Life Less Ordinary | Carbon Leaf |
| 5ves | Heiruspecs |
| Could Well Be In | The Streets |
| Mary Mac | Carbon Leaf |
| Title and Registration | Death Cab for Cutie |
| Happy Holidays (Beef Wellington Remix) | Bing Crosby |
| Orange Sky | Alexi Murdoch |
| Popular Mechanics For Lovers | Beulah |
| Such Great Heights | The Postal Service |
| New Slang | The Shins |
| What About Everything? | Carbon Leaf |
| Amsterdam | Guster |
| Let Your Troubles Roll By | Carbon Leaf |
| One Prairie Outpost | Carbon Leaf |
| Mad World (Theme to Donnie Darko) | Gary Jules |
| I Close My Eyes | Shivaree |
| Deck the Halls | The Roches |
| Baby It’s Cold Outside | Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan |
| Blossom (Got to Get It Out) | Komeda |
| Hallelujah | Jeff Buckley |
| “Been Missing Work Lately?” | Office Space Sounds |
| When You Dream | Barenaked Ladies |
| Lebanese Blonde | Thievery Corporation |
| Urban Gentleman | The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group |
| Sassy Britches | Self |
| You’re the Only One | Maria Mena |
| Good Day | Luce |
| Gary | MC Lars |
| Mr. Brightside | The Killers |
| Amber | 311 |
| Chemistry | Semisonic |
| This Love | Maroon 5 |
| Against All Odds | The Postal Service |
| Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues | Eels |
| Good Things | The BoDeans |
| Fett’s Vette | MC Chris |
| Homemade Bombs In The Afternoon | A.C. Newman |
| Viz | Le Tigre |
| Portions for Foxes | Rilo Kiley |
| Changeless | Carbon Leaf |
| My Humps | Black Eyed Peas |
| Freshmen | Verve Pipe |
| Kate | Ben Folds Five |
| While The Gangsters Sleep | Self |
| Suzy Snowflake | Soul Coughing |
| Happy Boy | The Beat Farmers |
| Galvanize | The Chemical Brothers |
| In Spite of Ourselves | John Prine & Iris DeMent |
| The Household Song | Chicks on Speed & The NoHeads |
| The Reason | Hoobastank |
| This Is My Song! | Carbon Leaf |
| The Geeks Get the Girls (Album Version) | American Hi-Fi |
| Light & Day/Reach for the Sun | The Polyphonic Spree |
| Short Skirt/Long Jacket | Cake |
| See A Little Light | Bob Mould |
| Soul Meets Body | Death Cab For Cutie |
| San Franciscan Nights | Eric Burdon & The Animals |
| Trying To Find A Balance | Atmosphere |
| Somebody Told Me | The Killers |
| Hey Ya! | OutKast |
| Diane | Guster |
| Where Do They Make Balloons? | They Might Be Giants |
| Maybe Katie | Barenaked Ladies |
| Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World | Israel Kamakawiwo’ole |
Both Atmosphere and Guster have whole albums underrepresented on this list. Atmosphere’s “Seven’s Travels” should be included on this list in its entirity, along with Guster’s “Keep It Together”. Both albums were on heavy rotation on my iPod, but because I would often listen to them as albums, the playcounts weren’t concentrated enough to make each album’s tracks appear on the list.
