Hello...it me.

         Okay, so I've never done this before as the idea to absolutely torture myself never occurred to me, but the day I decided to reread The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is the same day that this idea came to me. The only thing I can gather from this knowledge is that I must have been in a very self-destructive mood that day.

         Anyway, tonight at work after a nice writing session for Elf Bites, I decided to pick out ten of my favorite artists/bands/groups (I have way more than ten so it's likely something like this will happen again) and figure out what my top five favorite songs of theirs are. And let me tell you: it was no easy task. After thirty minutes of being stumped with One Direction I finally had to go through each of their albums, pick out my favorites, and then narrow it down even further from there. (This is actually what I ended up doing with most of these, RIP my free time.)

         So I hope you enjoy this and I hope it's at least entertaining to watch me justify why certain songs weren't chosen, and rest assured, I still feel bad about the songs that didn't make the top five's. Like, I feel like I've personally offended them. It's not a nice feeling. For example, "What a Feeling" – I'm sorry, my guy. You're a close number six.

         Let's get on with it, then.

ONE DIRECTION

5. "Something Great" from Midnight Memories

4. "They Don't Know About Us" from Take Me Home

3. "Home" from Perfect – EP

2. "Walking in the Wind" from Made In The A.M.

1. "Fool's Gold" from Four

                  No, I did not set out to choose songs from completely different albums. You'll see later that sometimes my favorites are almost all on one album. However, in this case, I had such a hard time and it just so happened that I adore a little bit of everything they've done. "Fool's Gold" has been my number one since its release, but the others definitely jump around a little. This is what they are currently, though. Honorable Mentions: "What a Feeling," "C'mon, C'mon," "Another World," "Stole My Heart," "Wolves."

TAYLOR SWIFT

5. "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" from Taylor Swift

4. "Christmases When You Were Mine" from The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection – EP

3. "Out of the Woods" from 1989

2. "Long Live" from Speak Now

1. "All Too Well" from Red

                  While "All Too Well" and "Long Live" have been my top two favorites for a while, the other three are completely new from the last time I've given this list a thought (no clue when that was). And maybe it's just because of the holiday season that "Christmases When You Were Mine" made the cut, but I adore that song so much, and the other two have always been favorites from their respective albums. My T-Swizzle inclinations change with the seasons, I guess. Honorable Mentions: "Holy Ground," "State of Grace," "Invisible," "SuperStar," "Hey Stephen."

PANIC! AT THE DISCO

5. "Memories" from Vices & Virtues

4. "When the Day Met the Night" from Pretty. Odd.

3. "Emperor's New Clothes" from Death of a Bachelor

2. "Collar Full" from Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die

1. "LA Devotee" from Death of a Bachelor

                  This one was so hard. Panic! has too many solid tracks to choose only five, I swear. I almost didn't include them simply because I couldn't choose. But alas, here we are. "Collar Full" was my number one for a very long time, but I just can't get over "LA Devotee." The brassy violin parts during the chorus are incredible enough alone that even without the lyrics I might still have chosen it (that's a lie; generally my favorite part of any Panic! song is the lyrics). Honorable Mentions: "The Calendar," "Nicotine," "Girls/Girls/Boys," "Golden Days," This Is Gospel."

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

5. "Cemetery Drive" from Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

4. "Cancer" from The Black Parade

3. "Kill All Your Friends" from The Black Parade B-Sides

2. "Disenchanted" from The Black Parade

1. "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a F**king Death Wish" from Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

                  My number one here has been my number one ever since I can remember. My Chemical Romance is possibly the dearest band/artist on this list to me; our love affair has been going on for at least seven years, though it's probably longer than that. "Cemetery Drive" is the only one that surprises me on this list, as it's never been in my top five before. Honorable Mentions: "The Ghost of You," "Thank You For Your Venom," "Famous Last Words," "Fake Your Death," "Bulletproof Heart."

ALL TIME LOW

5. "Just the Way I'm Not" from Dirty Work

4. "Backseat Serenade" from Don't Panic

3. "Don't You Go" from Future Hearts

2. "Sick Little Games" from Nothing Personal

1. "Somewhere in Neverland (Acoustic)" from Don't Panic: It's Longer Now!

                  This was...so hard. All Time Low, first of all, has way more albums than I remember them having. It threw me off when I went to figure this list out – I didn't think I'd have so many options. and Nothing Personal is my favorite album, but also I love so many songs from the other albums that surprisingly only one NP song made the cut? I'm surprised by this list honestly. Not so much by "Somewhere in Neverland," though. That track is gold. Honorable Mentions: "If These Sheets Were States," "Bad Enough For You," "Time Bomb," "Break Your Little Heart," "Lost in Stereo."

SHANIA TWAIN

5. "Any Man of Mine" from The Woman In Me

4. "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" from Beginnings

3. "From This Moment On" from Come On Over

2. "You're Still the One" from Come On Over

1. "Nah" from Up!

                  We're just covering all the genres here, hope you don't mind. I lied when I said MCR was my oldest love affair. Shania Twain was my first concert, my first idol, and my first album (Up!). Ever since I can remember "Nah" has been my number one, and I knew that both "You're Still the One" and "From This Moment On" would make this list. They're classics and rightly so. As for number four, even some avid Shania fans haven't heard her early work, before she was country. This is my favorite from that album. Honorable Mentions: "Up," "No One Needs to Know," "When," "You Win My Love," "If You Want to Touch Her, Ask!"

HAMILTON CAST

5. "One Last Time" from Disc 2

4. "Non-Stop" from Disc 1

3. "Farmer Refuted" from Disc 1

2. "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" from Disc 1

1. "It's Quiet Uptown" from Disc 2

                  So like, I know that the Hamilton cast isn't a band, but they're a group? And all artists in their own rights. So here they are, because I figured if Panic! at the Disco has enough material for me to sift through, than the Hamilton soundtrack does as well (considering both discs contain more tracks than Panic's three most recent albums combined). It was next to impossible deciding which songs wouldn't make this list, but I knew that "It's Quiet Uptown" would be number one. "Farmer Refuted" is one of my favorite additions, though, because I feel like nobody really cares about this song and it's somehow one of the best? I love singing it. Honorable Mentions: "Satisfied," "The Room Where It Happens," "Cabinet Battle #2," "My Shot," "Guns and Ships."

LITTLE MIX

5. "Towers" from Salute

4. "Power" from Glory Days

3. "Love Me Like You" from Get Weird!

2. "Nothing Else Matters" from Glory Days

1. "Secret Love Song, pt. II" from Get Weird!

                  I know, you're probably wondering how two Glory Days tracks managed to make this list already, but look, I listen to Little Mix super often because it's always fun to try and hit their ridiculous high notes. And I just feel in my soul that these two tracks belong on this list. "Love Me Like You," though, is definitely one of my favorites to sing – my roommate and I do a mean duet. Honorable Mentions: "FU," "Grown," "The End," "Love Me Or Leave Me," "Move."

TWENTY ONE PILOTS

5. "Stressed Out" from Blurryface

4. "Screen" from Vessel

3. "Migraine" from Vessel

2. "Lovely" from Vessel

1. "Holding On To You" from Vessel

                  Here is an example of a band who managed to have almost every one of my favorites on one album. I'm sorry, but I just can't help it. Vessel is such a solid album. I don't skip a single track, and I never get sick of it. "Stressed Out" honestly surprises me most because it's possibly the most overplayed of their singles, and at one point in time I literally hated it? But that was also before I liked Twenty One Pilots, and I've since given it room to spread its wings. Now it just...gets me. Honorable Mentions: "Ride," "Trees," "Car Radio," "The Judge," "Tear In My Heart."

GLEE

5. "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty"

4. "Any Way You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'"

3. "Can't Fight This Feeling"

2. "Jessie's Girl"

1. "Valerie"

                  Like I said, covering everything here. Did you expect to see Glee covers? Although I haven't watched the last season of the show, I have to admit that I was absolute Glee trash a couple years ago. I wept when Cory Monteith died, have endless compilation albums that I burned for myself full of Glee covers, and still to this day cannot get over Lea Michele's voice. I know a lot of people didn't like the show or didn't like the covers, but I was not one of those people. Honorable Mentions: "How to Be a Heartbreaker," "Singing In the Rain/Umbrella," "Total Eclipse of the Heart," "No Surrender," "Don't Stop Believing."

         And there you have it. I feel like I've just gone through a painful journey, but it is thankfully peaceful on the other side. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and let me know what your top five favorites are for either any of these artists or your own faves!

         See you all soon with an Elf Bites update. x