I turn 50 this year, a milestone that is neither particularly unusual nor particularly difficult to reach. Nevertheless, custom seems to dictate that I mark such an event in some way. So I rolled out of bed one morning, recalled the Magnetic Fields’ 50 Song Memoir from last year, and decided if Stephin Merritt is allowed the indulgence of writing a song for every year of his life, I could at least get away with making a playlist of songs from every year of mine.

Somewhat uncharacteristically for me, I tried not to overthink my selections: I simply went through my iTunes library “Perfect Songs” list year by year, grabbing songs more or less by gut instinct. My one constraint was to allow only one song per artist, but I resisted the temptation to use that as an excuse for second-guessing earlier choices. A few years didn’t have any 5-star rated songs, and that did require a bit of extra deliberation. I also had to make a couple adjustments when I discovered that songs I’d chosen had been filed under the wrong year, but for the most part, I was able to stay true those initial gut reactions. Here's the full list:

• 1968: The Rolling Stones, Sympathy For the Devil (Beggars Banquet)
• 1969: Fairport Convention, Matty Groves (Liege and Lief)
• 1970: James Brown, Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine [single], collected on Star Time)
• 1971: Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Pieces Of a Man) — 4-star song
• 1972: Al Green, Let's Stay Together (Let's Stay Together)
• 1973: Bruce Springsteen, Wild Billy's Circus Story (The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle)
• 1974: Big Star, September Gurls (Radio City)
• 1975: Bob Dylan & The Band, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (The Basement Tapes)
• 1976: Michael Hurley/The Unholy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones, Jacknife/The Red Newt (Have Moicy!)
• 1977: Parliament, Flash Light (Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome)
• 1978: X-Ray Spex, Genetic Engineering (Germfree Adolescents)
• 1979: The Clash, Rudie Can't Fail (London Calling)
• 1980: The Feelies, The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness (Crazy Rhythms)
• 1981: Soft Cell, Tainted Love (Tainted Love [7"] collected on The Very Best of Soft Cell) — 4-star song
• 1982: Minutemen, If Reagan Played Disco (Bean Spill [7"], collected on Post-Mersh, Vol. 3)
• 1983: U2, Two Hearts Beat As One (War)
• 1984: Big Black, Racer-X (Racer-X [EP])
• 1985: Tom Waits, Jockey Full of Bourbon (Rain Dogs)
• 1986: The Costello Show, American Without Tears (King Of America)
• 1987: Sonic Youth, Schizophrenia (Sister)
• 1988: Scrawl, Green Beer (He's Drunk)
• 1989: De La Soul, The Magic Number (3 Feet High and Rising)
• 1990: Deee-lite, Groove Is In the Heart (World Clique)
• 1991: Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nevermind)
• 1992: Bettie Serveert, Tom Boy (Palomine)
• 1993: Liz Phair, Fuck and Run (Exile In Guyville)
• 1994: Five Eight, Weirdo (Weirdo)
• 1995: Old 97's, Victoria (Wreck Your Life)
• 1996: Imperial Teen, Butch (Seasick)
• 1997: Aviso, Babyfat (Aviso)
• 1998: Watershed, Superstressed (Star Vehicle) — 4-star song
• 1999: Le Tigre, Deceptacon (Le Tigre)
• 2000: PJ Harvey, This Is Love (Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea)
• 2001: The Moldy Peaches, Steak For Chicken (The Moldy Peaches)
• 2002: Mekons, Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem (OOOH!)
• 2003: The Wrens, This Boy Is Exhausted (The Meadowlands)
• 2004: The Mountain Goats, Linda Blair Was Born Innocent (We Shall All Be Healed)
• 2005: Gogol Bordello, Think Locally Fuck Globally (Gypsy Punks (Underground World Strike))
• 2006: The Thermals, Power Doesn't Run On Nothing (The Body, the Blood, the Machine)
• 2007: The New Pornographers, All the Old Showstoppers (Challengers)
• 2008: Frightened Rabbit, Head Rolls Off (The Midnight Organ Fight)
• 2009: Wussy, Happiness Bleeds (Wussy)
• 2010: Titus Andronicus, Richard II or Extraordinary Popular Dimensions and the Madness of Crowds (Responsible Hate Anthem) (The Monitor)
• 2011: Swearin’, Kenosha (What a Dump [EP])
• 2012: Hop Along, Tibetan Pop Stars (Get Disowned)
• 2013: The Uncluded, Teleprompters (Hokey Fright)
• 2014: Parquet Courts (as “Parkay Quarts”), Pretty Machines (Content Nausea)
• 2015: Sleater-Kinney, Bury Our Friends (No Cities to Love)
• 2016: The Goon Sax, Telephone (Up to Anything) — 4-star song
• 2017: Thurst, Distance (Cut to the Chafe) — 4-star song
• 2018 (one to grow on): Screaming Females, Shake It Off (The A.V. Club Sessions [single])

The reasons behind the specific choices are varied and idiosyncratic. They aren’t necessarily the “best” songs of their respective years, nor even of their respective artists, but it’s safe to say that I’ve obsessed over all of them at one point in my life or another. In many cases, a song is indelibly tied to a particular time in my life, but a fair number (especially in the first third of the list) are anachronisms I only discovered years, even decades, after they were released. Some of the choices may have been skewed by the “vinyl limbo” effect (there are a number of albums—particularly from the 70s and 80s—that I dearly love but which aren’t in my iTunes library because I own them on vinyl and won’t let myself re-purchase them on CD or digitally). In short, there is a story behind every one of these songs. Perhaps I will get around to telling those stories one of these days.