Our No. 1 songs: 2019

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Songs Considered – "Our No. 1 Songs: 2019" (Nov 24, 2025)

Overview

In this reflective episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered, host Robin Hilton and guest Stephen Thompson revisit their favorite songs from 2019 as part of the show’s ongoing retrospective covering the past 25 years. The discussion focuses on the tracks that stood out personally and culturally, from massive pop breakthroughs to intimate indie gems, alongside a few surprising deep cuts. Throughout the conversation, Robin and Stephen celebrate the diversity and significance of 2019’s music, touching on memorable production, evocative storytelling, and the ever-evolving landscape of popular and alternative sounds.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Unstoppable Rise of Billie Eilish

Featured Song: "bury a friend" – Billie Eilish

• [01:18] Robin Hilton: Recalls premiering the track when it released and highlights its immediate impact and unique soundscape.

  "I actually played this on All Songs Considered when it came out, so I should have thought of this, but 'bury a friend' is the song from Billie Eilish. When we all fall asleep where do we go?"

• [01:31] Stephen Thompson: Emphasizes the production genius of Finneas, Billie’s brother, and celebrates his Grammy win as Producer of the Year for this album.

  "Phineas produced 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go' by Billie Eilish and won. And when he won, it was like, of course he won... for the one album that he produced."

• [02:33] Robin Hilton:

  "It is immaculately produced. Yeah. I remember being so struck by the whole world of sound and just the clarity in the mix and just how perfectly placed everything was."

• [03:04] Stephen Thompson: Notes the album’s unique ability to be both a massive pop phenomenon and a “headphone record.”

  "It's not necessarily often that a gigantic pop juggernaut record is also a Headphone record."

---

Indie Delicacy: Tiny Ruins

Featured Song: "School of Design" – Tiny Ruins

• [04:25] Robin Hilton: Presents this atmospheric and transportive track, underlining its understated beauty.

  "The song is School of Design by a band called Tiny Ruins... This one is from... Olympic Girls, and it was on my top 10 list of that year, but just so beautiful, so transporting. Love the imagery."

• [05:10] Stephen Thompson:

  "They have a song called 'Me at the Museum, You in the Winter Gardens.' That is one of my favorite songs of the decade."

• [05:25] Robin Hilton: Praises the band's ability to evoke place and emotion.

  "They're transporting... they really put you in a very specific place and time."

---

Country Craft: Ashley McBryde

Featured Song: "One Night Standards" – Ashley McBryde

• [09:32] Robin Hilton: Correctly identifies artist before recalling the track name.

• [10:25] Stephen Thompson:

  "My partner had a great line. She first heard this song where she's like, like a thousand professional songwriters in Nashville heard this song and simultaneously slapped their foreheads so angry that they hadn't thought of that play on words."

• Praises the songwriting:

  "But like every line of this record is so smartly crafted. To me, this should have been the biggest country hit of the 21st century. It is a perfect three minute country song."

---

Expansive Singer-Songwriting

• Wise Blood – "Andromeda" [11:18]:

  • Robin Hilton notes, "Andromeda by Wise Blood came out that year," highlighting the song's cosmic, dreamy qualities.

• Sharon Van Etten – "Remind Me Tomorrow" [12:24]:

  • Referenced as a standout album; they discuss Sharon's emotional range.

• Lana Del Rey – "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have" [12:41]:

  • Robin:

    "An epic album from her. Absolutely epic, sprawling, ambitious, really big swing, I think showcasing her range and kind of the direction that she was headed in..."

---

Indie, Emo, and the Undercurrents

• Microwave – "Leather Daddy" [14:23]:

  • Robin mentions it as a song that defined the year for him, even if less well-known.

• Big Thief – "Not" [14:42]:

  • Stephen:

    "It closed with like a 3 minute guitar solo that everyone on the music team was obsessed with."

---

Country Supergroups and Community

The Highwomen – "Crowded Table" [15:41]

• Stephen Thompson:

  "With supergroups you get all these... stars together and they kind of... They're not necessarily bringing their A material... And yet this was all A material."

• Robin Hilton calls it a standout:

  "That's their only album so far, self titled. And I think the song that maybe stands out the most, at least for me, is 'Crowded Table.'"

---

Blockbuster Pop Clarity

Ariana Grande – "thank u, next" [17:03]

• Stephen Thompson:

  "Her best song in my opinion."

---

Reflections on the Passage of Time

[18:04] Robin Hilton:

"I have to say this was only six years ago and everything that you're bringing up just feels like a century ago to me. I don't know what happened these last few years."

[18:15] Stephen Thompson:

"Yeah, exactly. 2019, just on a steady upward climb that would continue unabated. Don't show me it's like you're watching the stock ticker, it's like, I don't know, September 1928's looking pretty good."

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Billie Eilish’s Breakout:

  "Of course he won producer of the year for the one album that he produced." – Stephen Thompson [01:31]

• On musical escapism:

  "I could just. I could live in that void." – Stephen Thompson (on Tiny Ruins) [05:54]

• On hit songwriting in Nashville:

  "Like a thousand professional songwriters in Nashville heard this song and simultaneously slapped their foreheads so angry that they hadn't thought of that play on words." – Stephen Thompson (about Ashley McBryde's "One Night Standards") [10:25]

• On 2019 feeling oddly distant:

  "I have to say this was only six years ago and everything that you're bringing up just feels like a century ago to me." – Robin Hilton [18:04]

---

Selected Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:27: Episode introduction and Robin sets up 2019 retrospectives
• 01:18: Discussion of Billie Eilish's "bury a friend" and album significance
• 04:25: Introduction and analysis of Tiny Ruins, "School of Design"
• 09:32: Ashley McBryde's "One Night Standards" as a perfect country track
• 12:24: Sharon Van Etten and Lana Del Rey reminisces
• 14:42: Recognition of Big Thief and their artistic leveling-up with "Not"
• 15:41: Highwomen’s supergroup success and "Crowded Table"
• 17:03: Ariana Grande "thank u, next" gets named as a 2019 anthem
• 18:04: Reflections on how quickly the music landscape (and the world) has shifted since 2019

---

Conclusion

This episode of All Songs Considered beautifully blends nostalgia and critical insight, celebrating the breadth of 2019’s musical output. Through personal anecdotes and sharp cultural observations, Robin Hilton and Stephen Thompson make the past come alive, while also mourning how swiftly time — and music itself — moves forward.

Transcript

[Stephen Thompson]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Rosetta Stone, an expert in language learning for 30 years. Right now, NPR listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership to 25 different languages for 50% off. Learn more at rosettastone.com NPR A quick note before the show. This episode contains explicit language.

[Robin Hilton]

Stephen Thompson, as I live and breathe.

[Stephen Thompson]

Hello, Robin.

[Producer or Announcer]

Welcome.

[Robin Hilton]

It's All Songs Considered. I'm Robin Hilton. This is our ongoing weekly look back at the past 25 years of the show, remembering number one songs from a different year each week. We're up to 2019, and I don't know when I went through all of my picks for 2019. Not a ton of really big, obvious stuff that I think everyone will immediately think of, but I don't know, what do you got?

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, yeah, 2019 was the year of this.

[Guest or Contributor]

Billy.

[Producer or Announcer]

Huh?

[Robin Hilton]

That name sounded familiar.

[Guest or Contributor]

What do you want from me? Why don't you run for me? What are you wondering? Why do you know? Why aren't you scared of me? Why do you care for me? When we all fall asleep where do we go?

[Robin Hilton]

I actually played this on All Songs Considered when it came out, so I should have thought of this, but Bury a Friend is the song from Billie Eilish. When we all fall asleep where do we go?

[Producer or Announcer]

Yeah.

[Robin Hilton]

This album felt like it came out.

[Guest or Contributor]

Of nowhere to me.

[Stephen Thompson]

I mean, my favorite little data point about this record. A time the Grammys got something right. Yes. So in the 2020 Grammys, the category of Producer of the Year, the nominees were Jack Antonoff, Dan Auerbach, John Hill, Phineas and Ricky Reed. And you would look at, like, Jack Antonoff's credits and it would be like, I don't even. I'm gonna be wrong because I'm pulling this out of thin air. But let's say it's 15 albums. You know, Jack Antonoff, first of all, works with everybody and is an enormously decorated and successful producer. But he would go through and be like, Dan Auerbach. Here's the nine albums he produced. Ricky Reed, he produced, you know, all the following. Phineas produced When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go by Billie Eilish and won. And when he won, it was like, of course he won. Of course he won Best Producer. Of course he won producer of the year for the one album that he produced. Now he's gone on to produce tons and tons of stuff. And Billie Eilish has gone on to be.

[Robin Hilton]

I hear she's pretty big. She's pretty big.

[Stephen Thompson]

She's won two Oscars in the Aftermath of this record. But this album is so good.

[Robin Hilton]

It is immaculately produced. Yeah. I remember being so struck by the whole world of sound and just the clarity in the mix and just how perfectly placed everything was. And, yeah, it struck a chord with me. And I think a lot of people that felt very right for the times, you know, there was this thread of unevenness.

[Stephen Thompson]

Unsettled. Yeah. This unsettled quality. But also, it's not necessarily often that a gigantic pop juggernaut record is also a Headphone record.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah. Well, I have something that could not be more different than that, and I just don't think you stand a chance to get it.

[Stephen Thompson]

But.

[Robin Hilton]

But. But maybe you will.

[Stephen Thompson]

Oh, this sounds familiar.

[Guest or Contributor]

I found a school of design Twas in a wealthy town A river ran by it was empty Holidays, who knows? But I went in I was killing time. Moving through the halls There was fresh paint wet on the walls Everything was white and all the cloaks were.

[Robin Hilton]

I'm gonna bail you out. The song is School of Design by a band called Tiny Ruins. Oh, do you remember Tiny Ruins?

[Guest or Contributor]

And I was struck by a feeling it's hard to describe the urge to burst through the ceiling stuns Raised glass to the sky. To the sky.

[Stephen Thompson]

They have a song called Me at the Museum. You in the Winter Gardens. That is one of my favorite songs of the decade. That decade.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

And honestly, that song is so perfect that I don't usually listen to their other songs.

[Robin Hilton]

Well, I think both songs do well. What I think this one is, which is their. They really put you in a very specific place and time. They're transporting. This is a band. They're from New Zealand. They actually just had an album out a couple years ago called Ceremony. The album this one is from is called Olympic Girls, and it was on my top 10 list of that year, but just so beautiful, so transporting. Love the imagery.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. I could just. I could live in that void yeah.

[Guest or Contributor]

Turning pages frail with dust I couldn't help but smile at the ideal shape and make up for things written like words divine and I was struck by a feeling it's hard to describe the urge to pass through the ceiling stones Raised glass to the sky Raised glass.

[Robin Hilton]

To the sky okay, we need to take a quick break here, but we'll talk about some of the other songs we loved from 2019 right after this.

[Producer or Announcer]

This message comes from Charles Schwab. When it comes to managing your wealth, Schwab gives you more choices like full service, wealth management, and advice when you need it. You can also invest on your own and trade on thinkorswim. Visit schwab.com to learn more. This message comes from the Council for Interior Design Qualification. Interior designer and CIDQ President Siyavash Madani discusses why certified professionals know that good design is more than just how something looks.

[Stephen Thompson]

Being NCIDQ certified means you've qualified to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public in the spaces that you design. Good design is never just about aesthetics. It's about intention, safety and impact. So an NCIDQ certified interior designer must complete a minimum of six years of specialized education and work experience and pass the three part NCIDQ exam. All three exams emphasize and focus on health, safety and welfare of the occupants. Being NCIDQ certified means that you've proven your knowledge and skills through rigorous exams and are recognized as a qualified interior design professional.

[Producer or Announcer]

Learn [e-mail] NPR this message comes from the Council for Interior Design Qualification. Interior designer and CIDQ President Sivash Madani describes his fundamentals of interior design.

[Stephen Thompson]

I think interior design is about responsibility. It's not just the way a space looks or the way a space photographs. To me, better design means functional, safe, accessible and inclusive design.

[Producer or Announcer]

Learn [e-mail] NPR this message comes from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The soundtrack of nature undisturbed, help protect it for future generations. [e-mail] songs and your gift will be matched five times.

[Robin Hilton]

All right, Stephen, Billie Eilish was your number one pick for 2019, but what else takes you back to that year?

[Stephen Thompson]

I know we usually just kind of do one each. You've earned it. Go ahead. Thanks, buddy. There are so many to choose from, but God, this is a perfect country song.

[Guest or Contributor]

I ain't gonna stay for the weekend I ain't gonna jump off the deep end.

[Robin Hilton]

Is this Ashley McBride?

[Stephen Thompson]

Sure is.

[Robin Hilton]

I can't get the song, though.

[Producer or Announcer]

Or you will.

[Guest or Contributor]

You don't wanna hear about my last breakup I don't wanna worry about space you take up I don't even care if you're here when I wake up it's just a room king you ain't.

[Stephen Thompson]

Got.

[Guest or Contributor]

Can'T you just use me like I'm using you? How it goes is bar closes there's no king bed covered in roses Just a room without a view.

[Robin Hilton]

One Night Standards.

[Stephen Thompson]

One Night Standards. My partner had a great line. She first heard this song where she's like. Like a thousand professional songwriters in Nashville heard this song and simultaneously slapped their foreheads so angry that they hadn't thought of that Play on words.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah. Oh, it's perfect.

[Stephen Thompson]

But like every line of this record is so smartly crafted. To me, this should have been the biggest country hit of the 21st century. It is a perfect three minute country song.

[Guest or Contributor]

How it goes is Bar closes, There's no king bed covered in roses Just a room without a view.

[Robin Hilton]

I was thinking of also. Andromeda by Wise Blood came out that year.

[Guest or Contributor]

Drama does a big wide open galaxy? Nothing in it for me? Set my heart that's lazy? Running for my own life? Now I'm really turning some time? Looking up to the sky? For something I may never find? If you think you can save me? I dare you to try.

[Robin Hilton]

I'm just pulling from my top 10 list that I made in 2019. Like Sharon Van Etten. Oh sure, her album Remind Me Tomorrow came out. We've already talked about her and played some of her stuff in this series. Lana Del Rey. Lana Del Rey had the song with. It's a long title, but hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have.

[Guest or Contributor]

I was reading slim errands and I got to thinking that I thought maybe I'd get less stressed if I was tested less. Like all of these debutantes smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels and white yachts. But I'm not, baby, I'm not.

[Stephen Thompson]

No.

[Guest or Contributor]

I'm not that I'm not. I've been tearing around in my fucking account 24 7. Sylvia plating in blood on my walls? Cause the ink in my pen don't work in my notepad? Don't ask if I'm happy, you know that I'm not. But at best I can say.

[Robin Hilton]

This is from the album Norman. I'll say Effing Norman. Effing Rockwell, which you mentioned. Jack Antonoff at the top of the show. He produced this one. But an epic album from her. Absolutely epic, sprawling, ambitious, really big swing, I think showcasing her range and kind of the direction that she was headed in and that there was a lot more going on in her music than I think some people gave her credit for. There was a song again, I don't know. Know a lot of people are gonna know some of these. But there's a song called Leather Daddy by the band Microwave that takes me back to 2019.

[Stephen Thompson]

We're mention microwave, but not Lizzo.

[Robin Hilton]

Lizzo. Lizzo was a big one. I don't know why. I guess a lot of the stuff that I listened to back then had a much smaller, more intimate sound. The song Mercury by Ada Lee. Yeah. I don't know. I think School of Design by Tiny Ruins is a very good example of.

[Stephen Thompson]

What was going on, of what was speaking to you. But it was also a year that Big Thief kind of leveled up. They had a song called Not.

[Guest or Contributor]

It's not the energy reeling nor the lines in your face Nor the clouds on the ceiling Nor the clouds in space. It's not the phone on the table Nor the bed in the earth Nor the bed in the staple. Know your staple words with.

[Stephen Thompson]

It closed with like a 3 minute guitar solo that everyone on the music team was obsessed with. My favorite. We haven't even gotten to my favorite album of 2019, High Women. This country supergroup of like Maren Morris and Amanda Shires and Brandi Carlisle, you know, Natalie Hemby, like, please make another highway record.

[Robin Hilton]

Yeah. That's their only album so far, self titled. And I think the song that maybe stands out the most, at least for me, is Crowded Table.

[Guest or Contributor]

You can hold my hand when you need to let go. I can be a mountain when you're feeling valley low. I can be a street light Showing you the way home. You can hold my hand when you need to let go. I want a house with a crowded table and a place by the fire over everyone Let us take on the world while we are and able and great is.

[Stephen Thompson]

That is a gorgeous collection of songs. Usually often with supergroups you get all these. All these, you know, writers and stars together and they kind of. They're not necessarily bringing their A material because they want their A material for themselves. And yet this was all a material.

[Robin Hilton]

What else?

[Stephen Thompson]

Thank u Next by Ariana Grande. Her best song in my opinion.

[Guest or Contributor]

Thought I'd end up with shine but it wasn't a match Wrote some songs about Ricky Now I listen and laugh Even almost got married and forbid I'm so thankful Wish I could say thank you to Malcolm Cause he was an angel One taught me love One taught me patience and one taught me pain Now I'm so amazing to have loved another loss that's not what what I see look what I got look what you taught me that I say thank you. Next. Next. Thank you.

[Producer or Announcer]

Next.

[Guest or Contributor]

Next. Thank you.

[Producer or Announcer]

Next.

[Guest or Contributor]

I'm so grateful for my. Thank you. Next. Next. Thank you.

[Producer or Announcer]

Next.

[Guest or Contributor]

Next.

[Producer or Announcer]

Thank you.

[Robin Hilton]

I have to say this was only six years ago and everything that you're bringing up just feels like a century ago to me. I don't know what happened these last few years.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah, exactly. 2019, just on a steady upward climb that would continue unabated. Don't show me it's like you're watching the stock ticker, it's like, I don't know, September 1928's looking pretty good.

[Robin Hilton]

But we'll go out on this. And until next time, thanks, Stephen.

[Stephen Thompson]

Thank you, Robin.

[Robin Hilton]

And for NPR Music, I'm Robin Hilton. It's All Songs Considered.

[Producer or Announcer]

Support for NPR and the following message come from HomeServe. It never happens at a good time. The pipe bursts at midnight. The heater quits on the coldest night. Good thing. HomeServe's hotline is available 24, 7 call to schedule a repair and a local pro will be on their way. Trusted by millions. For plans starting at $4.99 a month, go to homeserve.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between $4.99 to $11.99 a month. Your first year terms apply. Uncovered repairs.

[Stephen Thompson]

This message is sponsored by dsw, the birthplace of the humble brag, full of all kinds of shoes that get you at prices that get your budget. And when there are never ending options for every style, mood, occasion and budget, there is unlimited freedom to play. And that's something to brag about. So go ahead, stock up on fresh sneakers from your favorite brands or try those boots you always secretly knew you could pull off. Find the shoes that get you at prices that get your budget. Dsw let them surprise you.

[Producer or Announcer]

Support for NPR and the following message come from HomeServe. It never happens at a good time. The pipe bursts at midnight. The heater quits on the coldest night. Good thing. HomeServe's hotline is available 24, 7 call to schedule a repair and a local pro will be on their way. Trusted by millions. For plans starting at $4.99 a month, go to homeserve.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between $4.99 to $11.99 a month. Your first year terms apply on covered repairs.