If I Was the Only One Who Voted for the Grammys
“I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit.”
I’m just gonna say this right at the top: I have no idea if this is a good idea. In the past, I’ve written many pieces about what the awards season would look like if I was the only one who voted for the Oscars and the Emmys. However, I do feel like I trust my taste in television and movies. I’m not sure I’m as discerning when it comes to music. I mean, I like what I like and I’ll never apologize for it. But I always tend to go for pop music and it usually takes me a while to come around to the biggest stars of today and the deepest cuts of quality that never get airplay. After all, I’m still doing my best to get caught up with music history (I’m well-versed on The Beatles and The Beach Boys, for example, but still scratching the surface of The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac), so it can be tough to fully embrace new music in the same way that I do new movies and new television shows. I’m just not an expert!
So maybe this isn’t the best idea, but I’m gonna try it. After all, I frequently disagree with the Grammys (not as much this year) and I thought this could be a good spot to celebrate more music than just my favorite albums of each year. I carefully selected the categories to be representative of my own lens of new music, so if anything seems questionable, just know that my taste is, too. I pretty much like everything I hear except trap, heavy metal, and broad country. And I love Jason Mraz. That’s just the way of things.
So whether it’s a one-off remains to be seen. I felt like I had to do a “Dave’s Grammys” kind of thing for 2020 in music (the calendar I use will be January to December 2020, as opposed to the weird Grammys schedule of, like, August 29, 2019 to July 21, 2020 or whatever it is, which leaves out Harry Styles, but he’ll be back) because who knows when I’ll have a chance to give trophies/nominations to Taylor Swift, Jason Mraz, Bruce Springsteen, Phoebe Bridgers, Paul McCartney, and so many more again? What if Folklore just remains my favorite album forever and I never honored it with a fake award? (God forbid.) What if TS does her re-records for the next two years? What if Mraz retires to farm avocados? What if a legend passes away? This was the time to do it, even if it’s a one-off.
I do adore music and I fear going deaf more than I fear going blind, so I don’t come at this from a perspective of being a normie or anything. I’m just hardly reflective of anything except music populism. Anyway, that’s enough qualifiers. Katie Nolan is teaching me to chill out about that sort of stuff. The last thing I’m going to mention is the difference between Record of the Year and Song of the Year. I still don’t fully understand the difference between them, but for Saoirse Ronan Deserves an Oscar purposes, Record of the Year will honor the song with the best music/orchestration and Song of the Year will honor the song with the best overall songwriting. Make sense? No? Same here.
Album of the Year
Evermore
Folklore
Letter to You
Look for the Good
Manic
Punisher
Like the other award pieces, I’m doing the biggest award first because everyone already knows my favorite albums of 2020! I’m also choosing six albums here because it felt right. Obviously, Taylor Swift was going to dominate this category. 2020 belonged to her. Anyway, the winner was always clear. Folklore might be my favorite album ever made, so it’s definitely winning the 2020 award. I wish I could hear it for the first time again. Please bring me zero monkey paws.
Soundtrack of the Year
Dash & Lily
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special
One Night in Miami
Soul
I may never stop talking about Eurovision. I mean, it was my main focus at this year’s Oscars and was one of my favorite movies of 2020. It’s now been out for eleven months and here I am, still raving about it. It easily has the best soundtrack of 2020 and there wasn’t really a close second. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always cherish a Christmas soundtrack and two Kemp Powers-helmed films had some quality tracks throughout, instrumental or otherwise. But Eurovision’s music was impeccable. Silly, but sweet and never mocking, but genuinely great to listen to. Justice for “Husavik” forever!
Music Video of the Year
“Cardigan” by Taylor Swift
“Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers
“The Man” by Taylor Swift
“Savior Complex” by Phoebe Bridgers
“Willow” by Taylor Swift
“Cardigan” and “Willow” were of a piece with one another. “Kyoto” was gleefully anachronistic. “The Man” helped ensure Lover representation in this piece. But Phoebe Bridgers’ “Savior Complex” told a heart-wrenching story (peace to dogs only) with Normal People’s Paul Mescal starring and Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge directing. Basically all of these people are cooler than I will ever be and I hope we’ll get lucky enough in the future to have another category comprised solely of Bridgers and Swift. How charming!
The Paul McCartney Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music
There were a lot of legendary musicians who put out new albums in 2020 that could have easily jockeyed for this inaugural award. The aforementioned Bruce Springsteen, of course, who nearly convinced everyone he’d be retiring. Huey Lewis’ musical prowess is beginning to fade, but it’s not within his control. Fiona Apple maintained everything everyone has always expected of her. Even James Taylor had a mini-resurgence in the early days of 2020. But clearly, Paul McCartney should receive the first recognition. He’s one of my favorite musicians to ever live (my brain tells me to be a George Harrison guy for Beatles music, but my heart tells me Paul) and he returned to the McCartney album title conventions for a new record that harkens back to his days of Beatles and Wings. “The Kiss of Venus” is a special track, for example. Seventy-eight years old and still got it. Let’s appreciate Paul while we can.
Best New Artist
Phoebe Bridgers
Doja Cat
Janet Devlin
Karol G
Dua Lipa
This category is another one that is pretty ill-defined by the Grammys. What truly constitutes a “new” artist? They almost always get it wrong. I am more than happy to continue that pattern because all of the above artists released music before 2020. I just hadn’t heard of them on the first day of the calendar year. So they’re new to me! And while they’re all operating in pretty disparate genres, this is another one with a runaway winner. Phoebe Bridgers has become one of my favorite artists — full stop. New or not, Bridgers is easily in my top twenty-five after hearing Punisher only. That’s no easy feat! But she left me hyped for whatever she does next and while I’ll continue to Czech out the other four, only Bridgers has left me with minimal patience.
Producer of the Year
Jack Antonoff
Fiona Apple
Tony Berg
Aaron Dessner
John Legend
Jack Antonoff, should this tradition continue, will probably have a spot in this category for a long time to come. That is why want to celebrate Aaron Dessner specifically. Antonoff was responsible for so many of my favorite songs in 2020, but it really is Dessner who defined this year in music and in Taylor Swift. This was his first year collaborating with Swift (Antonoff’s been working with her since 1989 in 2014) and from the first notes of “The 1,” it was clear that Swift and Swifties would never be the same. His influence on Folklore helped propel it to eternal status for me and he also helped bring some of his own collaborators. Justin Vernon stopped by on both Folklore and Evermore, while The National came by for “Coney Island” on the latter. On Evermore, I should add, he produced the vast majority of the songs, compared to just a couple entries from Antonoff. I am not opposed to him starting a band with Taylor and Jack.
Group of the Year
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Grouplove
Jonas Brothers
The Killers
Run the Jewels
This is the one category that could definitely be a little too Kids’ Choice Awardsy. After all, the Jonas Brothers are a band and they could very easily just slot in here every year whether or not they released new music. I am trying to stick to that parameter, though, and technically they did release “X” with Karol G! Leave me alone! It counts! Regardless, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band dominated 2020 from the perspective of bands. In addition to Letter to You, they also led a documentary of the same name that paid beautiful homage to both the creative process of making music and the band members who have departed them over the years. Sing forever, E Streeters!
Artist of the Year
Phoebe Bridgers
Halsey
Jason Mraz
Bruce Springsteen
Taylor Swift
Let’s not get fancy here. Yes, I love Jason Mraz and he’s my favorite artist. Yes, Halsey made the leap in 2020. Yes, we’ve seen what Bridgers and Bruce have already won. But 2020 belonged to Taylor Swift in every conceivable way, beyond simply the “Artist of the Year.” She’s, at this point, the Artist of the Decade! The Century! Ever! Suck it, Mozart! Seriously, though, it would’ve been enough to win this award with only Folklore. But then she went and dropped Evermore, which is one of the most gorgeous works she’s ever come up with. And she did it in months! The woman does not stop. Good on her. She deserves this at a minimum. I really can’t heap much more praise on her.
Record of the Year
“August” by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff
“Coney Island” by Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and The National
“Double Trouble” by Will Ferrell, Molly Sanden, Arnthor Birgisson, and Rami Yacoub
“Exile” by Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner, and Bon Iver
“I Love Yous” by Hailee Steinfeld and David Stewart
“Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers, Tony Berg, and Ethan Gruska
“Look for the Good” by Jason Mraz and Michael Goldwasser
“‘Tis the Damn Season” by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner
“X” by Jonas Brothers, Karol G, and Shellback
“You Should Be Sad” by Halsey and Greg Kurstin
But I’m going to! Spoiler alert: Taylor is winning all the big categories here. I’ve never seen a year in music quite like the one she had. Only Taylor could spin the loss of Loverfest into something that wasn’t just palatable; it was profound. She couldn’t tour so she instead released some of the best music anyone has ever released. This is not hyperbolic. Seriously, “‘Tis the Damn Season” is so fucking good. I love all the songs here, but the orchestration behind “‘Tis the Damn Season”? Whew. Dessner is not exaggerating when he says he thinks it’s the best track he ever played. And I’m not exaggerating when I say Taylor somehow brought it to life, even when Dessner thought it was destined to solely be instrumental. Instead, she wove an intricate tale set in a previously-established fictional world of musical characters that grappled with heartbreak, growing apart, home, family, the holidays, and reconnecting. It’s a soaring track that I can’t wait to hear again come November 1.
Song of the Year
“August” by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff
“Betty” by Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn
“Cardigan” by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner
“Husavik (My Hometown)” by Molly Sanden, Will Ferrell, Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Göransson, and Savan Kotecha
“I’ll See You in My Dreams” by Bruce Springsteen
“Ivy” by Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner
“Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers, Morgan Nagler, and Marshall Vore
“Seven” by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner
“‘Tis the Damn Season” by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner
“You Should Be Sad” by Halsey, Ashley Frangipane, and Greg Kurstin
Yup. It had to be. “August” is so clearly the song of the year. However, there is a pulsating, undeniable part of me that believes “August” is the greatest song ever written. I sincerely believe this. Set in the same world/school/hometown as the aforementioned “‘Tis the Damn Season” (as well as “Dorothea,” “Cardigan,” and “Betty”), “August” tells the story of James cheating on Betty with an unnamed woman from the perspective of that woman. There is the syncopated element that calls back to “Getaway Car,” but there is also the synchronized timing with “Betty” and “Cardigan” to engage in parallel storytelling. Beyond that, there are stunning musical crescendos that are evocative, nostalgic, and soaring, even if we, as listeners, are not sure about what the exact feeling Taylor elucidates is. Not to mention, “August” contains a lilting, rhythmic, wavey chorus with delightful TS wordplay. And it also has the lyrics, “Back when we were still changing for the better / Wanting was enough / For me, it was enough / To live for the hope of it all / Cancel plans just in case you’d call / And say, “Meet me behind the mall” / So much for summer love and saying “us” / ’Cause you weren’t mine to lose.” Goosebumps just typing all that. “August” forever.
And those are the categories! A bit short, I admit. But I just don’t have a wide enough scope to get into categories like “Best Latin Pop Performance” and “Best Christian/Gospel Side B” or whatever. I think these get at what I loved about music in 2020 pretty soundly, though. Taylor Swift’s record (see below) will probably never broken because how could anyone ever release two pantheon albums in the same year again? But that’s the glory of music. Someone — anyone — just might.
Most Individual Nominations
Taylor Swift (16)
Aaron Dessner (8)
Phoebe Bridgers (7)
Jack Antonoff, Halsey, Bruce Springsteen (4)
Will Ferrell, Jason Mraz (3)
Tony Berg, Karol G, Jonas Brothers, Greg Kurstin, Molly Sanden (2)
Most Album Nominations
Folklore (8)
Evermore (6)
Punisher (5)
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Manic (3)
Letter to You, Look for the Good (2)
Most Individual Wins
Taylor Swift (4)
Phoebe Bridgers, Aaron Dessner (2)
Jack Antonoff, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Will Ferrell, Paul McCartney (1)
Most Album Wins
Folklore (2)
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Evermore (1)
