You can’t weigh all songs evenly. And honestly, when not in a vacuum, it is impossible to weigh one song even against itself. You know that warm bath of nostalgia you seep into when you are unexpectedly greeted by a jam from your adolescence? That is you romanticizing the era from which that song came—a natural longing for an overall time that isn’t the present. For example: the first time I heard Blink 182’s “Damnit” was shortly after obliterating my genitals trying to boardslide my skateboard down a railing at the local First Union bank. (I remember this vividly). But when I hear it now, close to 20 years later, I don’t wince in pain. Rather, I reminisce about middle school in general; about biking to Wawa after pick-up basketball, or front flips off of my pool diving board; about being a dozen years away from burying myself alive in student loan debt.

That’s the point of songs. And with more and more cohesive, conceptual albums coming out, it’s getting harder to single out standalone works as individual triumphs. Even after doing so, one person’s “best song” is more often than not another person’s “meh song,” and can perhaps be another person’s “worst song,” depending on his or her experiences. I mean, a song I heard only yesterday that made me feel invincible while walking down the street could absolutely wreck me an hour from now if something were to alter my life in that span. Point is, you get something different out of each listen of every song you’ll ever hear.

So now here, on this final Wednesday of 2014, are The Infuerno’s top 50 songs of the past year. These are the songs that I hope to associate with 2014, years and decades down the road, for better or for worse.

Have a safe celebration of all that we’ve seen, listened to, and accomplished over the past 365 days. Here’s to 365 more.

50. Baths – “Orator”

49. Diarrhea Planet – “Heat Wave”

48. Wiz Khalifa – “Raw”

47. YOB – “In Our Blood”

46. RATKING – “Snow Beach”

45. Mac Miller – “New Faces v2 (feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Da$h)”

44. Behemoth – “Messe Noire”

43. The Contortionist – “Language I: Intuition”

42. Flying Lotus – “Dead Man’s Tetris (feat. Captain Murphy & Snoop Dogg)”

41. Animals As Leaders – “Physical Education”

40. Hail Mary Mallon – “Used Cars”

39. Boris – “Heavy Rain”

38. Sweet Valley – “So Serene”

37. Shabazz Palaces – “…down 155th in the MCM Snorkel”

36. Tombs – “Spiral”

35. Nux Vomica – “Reeling”

34. FKA twigs – “Pendulum”

33. Yautja – “Faith Resigned”

32. Shabazz Palaces – “Forerunner Foray”

31. Inventions – “Entity”

30. Indian – “The Impetus Bleeds”

29. Girl Talk & Freeway – “Tolerated”

28. Caribou – “Dive”

27. RATKING – “*”

26. Dust Moth – “Months”

25. Future Islands – “Seasons (Waiting On You)”

24. Lord Mantis – “Three Crosses”

23. Com Truise – “Wave 1”

22. Mastodon – “High Road”

21. Manchester Orchestra – “See It Again”

20. Sun Kil Moon – “Carissa”

19. Swans – “Oxygen”

18. Cakes da Killa – “Truth Tella”

17. Panda Bear – “Mr Noah”

16. Pallbearer – “Vanished”

15. Vince Staples – “Hands Up”

14. Against Me! – “Two Coffins”

13. Cult Leader – “Driftwood”

12. Forest of Tygers – “As Flakes of Ash”

11. A$AP Ferg – “Fergsomnia”

10. Future Islands – “Back in the Tall Grass”

9. TV on the Radio – “Winter”

8. FKA twigs – “Closer”

7. Death Grips – “Billy Not Really”

6. Destrage – “- (Obedience)”

5. Tune-Yards – “Water Fountain”

4. Caribou – “Silver”

3. Perfume Genius – “Queen”

2. Run The Jewels – “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry”

1. Thou – “At the Foot of Mt. Driskill”