11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 2 | Playlist 🎧

11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 2 features Biz Markie, Cyndi Lauper, Louis Tomlinson, Teyana Taylor & Weyes Blood.

Let’s JUST get right to it (again), folks! The keyword on this musical compendium is J-U-S-T (again)!  That’s right, every song title must feature the word just.  Simple and totally uncomplicated, right?  That’s honestly all that 🎧 11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 2 is about. This second volume follows up 🎧 11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 1, published in August 2022. Even with two volumes under our belt, there are more just songs where that came from, so, volume 3 is in the realm of possibility!

🎧 11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 2 features music courtesy of 🎙 Biz Markie, 🎙 Cyndi Lauper, 🎙 Louis Tomlinson, 🎙 Teyana Taylor, and 🎙 Weyes Blood among others. This JUST list encompasses alternative, pop, rock, R&B, and rap.  There’s a little bit of everything! So, without further ado, let’s dive right into these totally JUST songs, shall we?

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1. Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”

💿 She’s So Unusual • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 1983

Did you know that 🎵 “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”? That’s what 🎙 Cyndi Lauper informed us on her 1983, iconic hit. “I come home in the morning light / My mother says, ‘When you gonna live your life right’,” Lauper sings in the first verse, adding, “Oh, momma dear, we’re not the fortunate ones / And girls, they wanna have fun.” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” has earned definitive status from Lauper, however, some folks forget or are totally unaware it’s a cover.  Yes, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was written and originally recorded by 🎼 ✍ Robert Hazard in 1979, four years before the Lauper rendition arrived! Of course, Lauper earned every ounce of success with the iconic 80s record, which peaked at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1984.

The song is utterly exuberant from the jump.  The production is bright and ear-catching. Lauper’s vocals are commanding, expressive, and chocked full of personality.  As the title of the song suggests, Lauper is enjoying her life, living it up, carefree.  “Some boys take a beautiful girl / And hide her from the rest of the world,” Lauper sings in the third verse, continuing, “I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.” Woo! Of course, she best sums up the sentiments in the chorus:

“That’s all they really want

Some fun

When the working day is done

Oh, girls, they wanna have fun

Oh, girls, they wanna have fun.”

Appears in 🔻:

• Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 90 (2022)

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2. Weyes Blood, “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”

💿 And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow • 🏷 Sub Pop • 🗓 2022

“Oh, it’s not just me, it’s not just me / It’s not just me, it’s everybody.” 🎙 Natalie Mering, best known as singer/songwriter 🎙 Weyes Blood returned in 2022 with her fifth LP, 💿 And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow. The epic, six-minute-plus single, 🎵 “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” leads the charge.  Written by Mering, she produces the record alongside 🎛 Ben Babbitt and 🎛 Jonathan Rado.

“It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” commences beautifully and enigmatically. It opens with a crescendo of lush strings, prefacing a groove and warm piano chords.  Weyes Blood then enters, singing radiantly and expressively. Throughout the course of the record, she never over-sings, maintaining poise while bringing just the right oomph.  The songwriting, alongside the refined music backdrop, is the biggest selling point.  Mering sings her relatable, poetic, thoughtful lyrics with incredible authenticity.  “Sitting at this party / Wondering if anyone knows me / Really sees who I am,” she sings at the beginning of the first verse, continuing, “Oh, it’s been so long since I felt really known.” Woo – those words hit hard.  Similarly, lines like, “Living in the wake of overwhelming changes / We’ve all become strangers” (verse two) and “Yes, we all bleed the same way” pack a sizable, ultra-relatable punch. The six-minute-long record thrives thanks to expressive vocal performance, elite songwriting, and excellent production work.

Appears in 🔻:

• Everybody: 5ive Songs No. 54 (2022)

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3. John Mayer, “I Guess I Just Feel Like”

💿 Sob Rock • 🏷 Columbia • 🗓 2021

🎙 John Mayer is honest and transparent on 🎵 “I Guess I Just Feel Like”.   Like much of his 2021 album, 💿 Sob Rock, I love how clean, uncluttered, and crisp the sound is.  This is a relatively simple, yet beautifully penned and performed record, period. Mayer uses space, poise, and simplicity to his advantage.  It’s chill and laid-back yet also energetic. Literally, it doesn’t seem like Mayer broke a sweat while recording his vocals.

Maybe, just maybe, Mayer perspired a bit with the bluesy guitar solo he serves up, but even it never grows too raucous.  The production is perfectly suited for Mayer, with its consistent driving rhythm, as well as a sense of lushness for most of the record.  Lyrically, it’s framed around the titular line and specifically, how Mayer feels.  Ultimately, “I Guess I Just Feel Like” ranks among the best of Sob Rock.

Appears in 🔻:

• You’re Gonna Love These 15 LIKE Songs
• 13 Feeling Songs That Make U Feel Some Type of Way

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 4. Teyana Taylor, “Just Different”

💿 VII • 🏷 Getting Out Our Dreams, Inc. / Def Jam • 📅 2014

“Handed you my heart, somewhere in the dark / In the drop / Missed a couple parts, then it stopped / But the beat changed…” Ooh-wee! One of the very best moments from 💿 VII, the 2014 debut album by R&B singer and actress, 🎙 Teyana Taylor, is 🎵 “Just Different”. “Just Different” shines for many, many reasons.  First and foremost, Taylor serves up radiant, sultry vocals.  Her tone is magnificent, easily drawing the listener in – she’s almost hypnotic, to be honest.  Furthermore, lush, minor-key production, courtesy of 🎛 Best Kept Secret, makes the ears perk up.  The backdrop is both classic and modern sounding – a great balance for an R&B joint. 

According to the beautiful and talented Taylor, “I tried to explain, but words are just words, no difference.” Hmm, very, very interesting. She goes on to sing, “Still, love in my heart, it’s not the same, it’s just different.” So, what’s the context? Matters of the heart ladies and gents, in all its glory and hellishness.  “And you break my heart / You got it to start / No surprise, do it every time,” she sings in the second verse, adding, “Then you got for a joy ride on your side / Actin’ like I’m not lovin’ every drop / Then we fall, pull over the car / Goin’ wild, freeway / If they see me…” Wow… I’ll leave it at that…

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5. Biz Markie, “Just a Friend”

💿 Biz’s Baddest Beats: The Best of Biz Markie • 🏷 Cold Chillin’ • 📅 1994

“You, you got what I need / But you say he’s just a friend / And you say he’s just a friend, oh baby.” Ah, those beloved lines hail from 🎵 “Just a Friend”, the hit from DJ, rapper, and beatboxer, 🎙 Biz Markie. The top-10 hit appeared on his 1989 album, 💿 The Biz Never Sleep. “Just a Friend” samples two, 1960s songs: 🎵 “You Got What I Need” by 🎙 Freddie Scott and 🎵 “Get Out of My Life, Woman” by 🎙 Lee Dorsey.  Markie, the Clown Prince of Hip-Hop, sadly, passed away in July 2021 at the age of 57.  Despite dying relatively young, he left one hit – and one hit only – that we’ll never forget.

The most memorable part of “Just a Friend” is the chorus.  Of course, the chorus lifts heavily off the Freddie Scott record which arrived more than two decades earlier.  That said, we all know Scott was a more skilled vocalist than Biz Markie.  Apparently, Biz wasn’t supposed to sing the chorus but because no one showed up to record it, he recorded it himself.  It’s easily the most beloved part of the song.  Of course, the verses are colorful too as Biz imparts the tale of trying to ‘get busy’ with a groupie who claims she doesn’t have a boyfriend – he’s “just a friend.” By the third verse, however, Biz discovers the truth:

“A fella tongue-kissin’ my girl in her mouth

I was so in shock, my heart went down south

So please, listen to the message that I send

Don’t ever talk to a girl who says she just has a friend…”

#CLASSIC!

 

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6. GAYLE, “ur just horny”

💿 a study of the human experience volume one (EP) • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2022

“I sent you straight to hell / Show you new sides to yourself / Took scissors to your chastity belt / Then you fucked me over.” Wow – now that’s a lot, 🎙 GAYLE! It’s clear that cutting edge and unapologetic is the modus operandi when it comes to the pop star.  On 🎵 “ur just horny” (💿 a study of the human experience volume one (EP)) she’s angry that this guy only wants her for her body.  Clearly, she wants more.

In the chorus, she asserts:

“You don’t wanna be friends, you’re just horny

And fucked up at 2 a.m. in the mornin’

Say you’ve changed and you mean it

Say everything’s different, but I think I’d rather sleep in

You don’t wanna be friends, you’re just horny.”

The chorus essentially tells you what you need to know about this song.  This guy, formerly her friend, just wanted to have sex with her. GAYLE sings well, bringing beloved teenage angst and attitude.

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7. Perfume Genius, “Just a Touch”

💿 Set My Heart on Fire Immediately • 🏷 Matador • 📅 2020

“Touch me deep / Before you leave / Every move in time /… Take my song in hiding / Hum the melody.” Throughout 💿 Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, the fifth studio album by 🎙 Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas), Hadreas shows a high level of musicianship, easily yielding one of the truly elite albums of 2020. On 🎵 “Just a Touch,” the ninth track, the tempo is slow, but there’s a clear rhythmic identity and more importantly, glorious singing and storytelling.

Mike Hadreas told The New Yorker that on “Just a Touch,” he “imagined a wartime story, the idea of giving this song for someone who was going away, and that they could sing a melody to remember.  A lot of queer relationships were like that – they had to exist in secret, they had to be brief, frantic, passionate explosions, and then afterward you would only have a memory to sustain it.” #Nailed It. With that background, it makes “Just a Touch” that much more meaningful. Also, worth mentioning, Hadreas mentioned “humming” on the opener, “Whole Life,” and how his own had transformed into “whistling.”

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8. Snoh Aalegra, “Just Like That”

💿 Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies • 🏷 Artium Recordings / Roc Nation • 📅 2021 

“From the moment that I met you, I just knew that you were something special.” Oh, the feels, the feels, the feels! The song at hand, 🎵 “Just Like That,” is a highlight from 💿 Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies. Temporary Highs is the 2021, 🏆 Grammy-nominated album by 🎙 Snoh Aalegra (Shahrzad Fooladi). Fooladi, a Swedish-born and bred Iranian singer/songwriter, sings classily about the ecstasy of love.

“Just like that / Need a love like that / Take me just like that / ‘Cause I like that.” Ooh-la-la! Snoh Aalegra is backed by lush production courtesy of  🎛 Christian Rich.  Over the backdrop, she glides making the listeners experience and relate to the feels she’s experiencing.’’

“Go deeper, do what I say so (Yeah)

Say my name, say it like you know it

Take my breath from me when you go

‘Cause I like that.”

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9. Louis Tomlinson, “Just Like You”

🎵 “Just Like You” • 🏷 78 PRODUCTIONS LIMITED / Sony • 📅 2017

There’s plenty to heart about 🎵 “Just Like You”, the second career solo single by 🎙 Louis Tomlinson.   First and foremost is the voice, which is light, incredibly high, and also, highly appealing. The ease with which he sings on “Just Like You” is one of his strengths. The production is relatively light as well, suiting the timbre and texture of Tomlinson’s instrument.

What also bodes well in Tomlinson’s favor? The chorus, which is chief among the selling points:

“I’m just like you

Even though my problems look nothing like you do

Yeah, I get sad too

And when I’m down I need somebody to talk to

Yeah, I feel the same as you do

Same stress, same shit to go through

I’m just like you

If you only knew.”

“Just Like You” isn’t a perfect ‘just record.’ There are a few rubs. All told, however, “Just Like You” is a nice moment for Tomlinson, plus, he’s “just like you!”

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 10. Father John Misty, “Just Dumb Enough to Try”

💿 God’s Favorite Customer • 🏷 Sub Pop • 📅 2018

Heavy piano chords at the onset serve as the backdrop for 🎙 Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) on stunning ballad 🎵 “Just Dumb Enough to Try” from 💿 God’s Favorite Customer (2018). Tillman delivers beautiful, nuanced vocals, firmly in command as always. After a short span as a piano ballad (verse one), drums and rhythmic guitar join the piano (verse two). In the first verse, Tillman sings about being aloof regarding love.  In the second, he sings about his ability to write a song and compel his audience, but he knows very little about ‘her.’ On the third and final verse, he ‘knows women,’ but sort of suggests he’s ‘easy’ and simple.

The chorus, which first follows the second verse, is the centerpiece.

“Oh, but I’m just dumb enough to try

To keep you in my life

For a little while longer

And I’m insane enough to think

I’m gonna get out with my skin

And start my life again.”

“Just Dumb Enough to Try” is another triumph for Tillman, though it doesn’t eclipse one-two punch of the opening duo.

Appears in 🔻:

• 11 Dumb, Ignorant, or Stupid Songs

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11. Mary J. Blige, “Just Fine”

💿 Growing Pains • 🏷 Geffen • 📅 2007 

“Let it go / Can’t let this thing called love get away from you / Feel free right now, go do what you wanna do / Can’t let nobody take it away, from you, from me, from we.” Woo! For 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B superstar 🎙 Mary J. Blige, it’s all positive vibes on 🎧 11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 2! 🎵 “Just Fine,” one of the best songs from her 2007 album, 💿 Growing Pains.  What better way to conclude  “Just Fine” impacted the pop charts, peaking at no. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 22 weeks on the tally.

Matching the positive vibes of the record itself is bright, feel-good production courtesy of 🎛 Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and 🎛 Jazze Pha.  It gives Blige the perfect fuel for the fire.  Of course, Mary is automatic when it comes to vocals.  It’s awesome hearing her happy, eschewing the drama and heartache, and embracing living her best life.  The chorus is the centerpiece, in all its glory:

“So, I like what I see when I’m looking at me

When I’m walking past the mirror (Mirror)

Don’t stress through the night, at a time in my life

Ain’t worried about if you feel it (Feel it)

Got my head on straight, I got my vibe right

I ain’t gonna let you kill it

You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just…

Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooh…”

What more is there to say? “Just Fine” is self-explanatory – no further explanation necessary!

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11 Incredible JUST Songs, Vol. 2 [📷: Artium Recordings, Atlantic, Brent Faulkner, Cold Chillin’, Columbia, Def Jam, Geffen, Getting Out Our Dreams, Inc., Matador, The Musical Hype, Roc Nation, Sony Music Entertainment, Sub Pop]

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