Closing out the latest installment of ‘What the Kids are Listening To,’ we find Taylor Swift at #10 with ‘Cruel Summer,’ the hit that just keeps on hitting. This marks 46 weeks on the Hot 100 for the song that first appeared on 2019’s Lover before getting a single release a few years later.
We are just a week away from the release of Swift’s next album, The Tortured Poets Department, and I expect she’ll have quite a few new songs on this chart (as in a whole album’s worth) shortly thereafter.
At #11 is a great example of TikTok working its magic.
Actor/musician Joe Keery (whom you might know as Steve Harrington on Stranger Things, or more recently Jon Hamm’s son on Fargo) has released songs for several years now both with a band called Post Animal and as a solo artist under the moniker Djo.
Djo released eight singles between 2019 and 2022 without coming close to the charts. Then, earlier this year, TikTokkers came across the song ‘End of Beginning’ from his 2022 album Decide and used it to soundtrack video clips about feeling nostalgic for their hometowns.
That prompted Keery to release the song as a single, and lo and behold, he has a hit on his hands. It might seem weird to describe a successful actor as an underdog, but it’s nice to see him get some recognition for an effort that clearly means a lot to him.
Just one more tear to cry, one teardrop from my eye
You better save it for
The middle of the night when things aren’t black and white
Enter, Troubadour
“Remember twenty-four?”
[Chorus]
And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it
Another version of me, I was in it
I wave goodbye to the end of beginning
[Verse 2]
This song has started now, and you’re just finding out
Now isn’t that a laugh?
A major sacrifice, but clueless at the time
Enter, Caroline
“Just trust me, you’ll be fine”
[Chorus]
And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it
Another version of me, I was in it
I wave goodbye to the end of beginning
(Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
[Bridge]
You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man
You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man
You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man
You take the man out of the—
[Chorus]
And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it
Another version of me, I was in it
Oh, I wave goodbye to the end of beginning
(Goodbye, goodbye)
Meet Me In Montauk 
Oh, the powerful random magic of TikTok!