Here are the Top 30 tracks! Read all about them and check out awesome stats, lyrics, album and song cover art below¹

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Jump to … 30 – 21 // 20-11 // 10-1

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See the whole Top 30 in full

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30) Maybe

“Maybe”, an album track from 2019’s You, is a love song written to someone with whom James Arthur hopes and fears that despite all odds, he might spend the rest of his life together. Delivered in James Arthur’s usual raw emotion and vulnerability, this is a great song!

29) Comeback Kid

“Comeback Kid”, on 2024’s number 1 album Bitter Sweet Love has featured on that set list of James Arthur’s current sellout world tour. James himself became known by the media as the comeback kid, but for him this song is a love song, “giving the credit to that other person and saying that, if anyone should take credit for the fact that I managed to bounce back, it’s you. And that just felt like a very lovely and sincere thing to say.”

28) Lasting Lover (with Sigala)

A dance pop collaboration with Sigala, “Lasting Lover” hit the top 20 in the UK in 2020. A great hook with James Arthur’s usual impassioned lyrics. His acoustic version of this song is pretty special too!

27) Rewrite the Stars (with Anne-Marie)

This duet with Anne-Marie of the Greatest Showman song was released in 2018 as part of the Greatest Showman: ReImagined album. It won James Arthur universal acclaim, and is one of his most popular streamed songs, although it ranks relatively low among his fans.

26) Safe Inside

“Safe inside”, the second single to be released from Back from the Edge, reaching 31 in 2017, was his fifth top 40 single. “Safe Inside” was written for his sister, for whom he had become a father figure. “It got me thinking what it must be like to be a parent and see someone you gave birth to grow up and leave the nest and stuff like that. I guess I just wanted to tap into that. Those feelings. Those emotions. That’s basically the essence of the song.”

25) Back from the Edge

“Back from the Edge”, the title track that opens James Arthur’s second album released in 2016, is a song of defiance that “just lets people know where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing and ultimately I’m back and I’m better than ever and I think its the perfect way to open the album.”

24) A Year Ago

“A Year Ago” was the first single released from Bitter Sweet Love in 2023, and gave fans a sign that having experimented with his sound on It’ll All Make Sense In The End, he was back to his raw authentic best. It must have worked as no fewer than 10 tracks from this album have made it onto this Top 30 list. As he told Apple Music, “I really felt this one deep down. There’s nothing more heart-wrenching than that feeling of ‘I thought you couldn’t love anybody more than me, and here I am having to look at you moving on! I’m singing about some really authentic stuff that l’d actually felt before.”

23) Sermon

Another track from 2016’s Back From The Edge, “Sermon” is a collaboration with featuring British rapper Shotty Horroh. It is a bold declaration from James Arthur – it outlines who he is and where he is going – and he is not going to apologise for this. Another song that featured on the Bitter Sweet Love World Tour where he encouraged fans to join in and he showed off his own rapping skills.

22) Ruthless

“Ruthless” is one of the rockier tracks from 2024’s Bitter Sweet Love, all about the experience of being ghosted. Here James Arthur plays “the character of a guy who’s disgruntled and bitter about what’s happened to him.” Clearly this is another track that resonates with James Arthur’s fans as it’s 22 in our top song countdown.

21) Last of the Whiskey

“Last of the Whiskey”, from It’ll All Make Sense In The End is almost wistful in its mood as James Arthur reminisces about the last wild night with someone.

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20) Is it Alright?

“Is It Alright?” Is a beautiful ballad from Bitter Sweet Love with James Arthur’s vocals at their vulnerable best. As he says, “It’s about meeting up with someone who maybe you haven’t seen for a while and you know it’s over, but you want to pretend that it’s not for one night.”

19) Falling Like the Stars

“Falling like the Stars” was the third single released from You. It is a love song, pure and simple, expressing perhaps rare contentment and the wonder of a love that might last forever. On the UK leg of the Bitter Sweet Love world tour James Arthur performed this with Dean Lewis, his Australian support act.

18) Emily

“Emily” was the fourth single released from It’ll Make Sense in the End. It’s a song written to his future daughter (James Arthur has since become a dad to a girl named Emily) , where James expresses his longing to be a good dad but his anxiety when his daughter found out about some of the things he got up to in his past. At its heart is a message of hope as he realises that becoming a dad has made him “a better person than I’ll ever be” as he has someone else to live for.

17) New Generation

“New Generation” appears on 2024’s Bitter Sweet Love and also as part of the encore of James Arthur’s current world tour. It stands out from the other songs on the album as it is politicial in theme and rocky in its sound. James lets loose, expressing his anger at the way there is so much division in the world. He calls for a new generation to rise up to undo the mess that this world finds itself in. Clearly, as it’s in our top 20 James is not alone!

16) Car’s Outside

“Car’s Outside” is a soaring ballad from 2019 album You. In the song James Arthur is always leaving home, with taxi cabs waiting to take him away (The Addison Lee of the chorus refers to a black taxi firm), but this time he is determined not to leave unless his love leaves with him. Fans really connect with the song and it was a hit on his recent world tour.

15) Blindside

“Blindside” was the second single released from Bitter Sweet Love and featured as the second song on his Bitter Sweet Love world tour. It’s got a rocky, Springsteen vibe. Here James Arthur “unpacks some past trauma. It’s about falling in love at the wrong time.”

14) Just Us

“Just Us” from Bitter Sweet Love is another song inspired by being a dad, and the change of perspective that parenthood has brought. “Having a child really changed my perspective on life. I never really had an anchor, and having [my daughter] was inspiring. It made me think about how really none of the things I’ve been doing up until this point matter.”

13) A Thousand Years

“A Thousand Years” an acoustic cover of the Christina Perri hit is a perfect song for James Arthur to showcase his vocals. He put out the recording on Valentines Day 2023, and fans loved it so much it was released as a digital download a month later. It’s a staple of his live shows and audiences love to join in with him belting out this song.

12) Certain Things

“Certain Things”, a collaboration with Chasing Grace is from his eponymous debut album. A chilled out love song, perfect for those long summer evenings. In the recent tour James sang this as part of a medley with Safe Inside, Quite Miss Home, and Emily.

11) Naked

“Naked” was the lead single from James Arthur’s third album, You, released in November 2017 and hit the top 20 of the singles chart. A ballad, that is just as popular with fans as when it was first released. A staple of his live shows, this was a great hit with fans on the Bitter Sweet Love World Tour.

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10) Say You Won’t Let Go

“Say you won’t let go” was the lead single from Back from the Edge, written originally as a love song because James Arthur’s record label felt there weren’t enough love songs on the album. James Arthur told lyrics site Genius, “The inspiration was to look at someone’s life and the path through it with a partner. Some of it is personal and some of it is inspired by people around me as well as imagining what life is like in other people’s relationships.” Little did he know how big it would become – it was a massive hit all over the world – including number 1 in the UK (and 19 on the year end chart for 2016) and 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (8 on 2017 year end chart). It was number 23 on the UK decade chart 2010-2019 and sold 3 million copies in the UK and 11 million copies in the US. When it passed the 1 million mark in January 2017 James Arthur became the first X factor winner to sell over 1 million copies of 2 songs in their homeland. At the time of writing it is 16 on Spotify’s list of most streamed songs of all-time, having passed the 1 billion stream mark in January 2019 and 2 billion stre. Perhaps the only surprise is that it isn’t higher on our fan poll list!

9) Empty Space

“Empty space” This song is for anyone who has ever deeply loved and lost someone dear to them, and is then faced with the struggle of trying to fill that void. It is about coming to terms with the fact that only that special person can truly fill the empty space.”²

8) Free Falling

James Arthur has a gift for singing about heartache – his rawness and vulnerability as well as his power is what makes him such a compelling singer-songwriter. “Free falling” is the perfect example of this. James Arthur says of this song, “I imagined this story of a guy who is watching the world go by and is very jealous of people’s happiness. He wants validation. That fed a lot into my story, where I feel like I’m on the outside looking in and I’m not being recognised.” Well, with songs like this, surely James will get the recognition he deserves.

7) Bitter Sweet Love

“Bitter Sweet Love” is the title track and opener for 2024’s chart topping album. It’s gutsy and punchy and serves as a statement of intent, that James Arthur is back and as good as ever. Of this song, James Arthur says, “It was clear that I wanted to talk about love and heartbreak. Of course, if it’s really love, it ain’t going to be plain sailing. I thought it was a cute thing to do to ask if we just have that sweet love all the time.” It was the perfect track to begin his live tour, the pyrotechnics on display matching the power of the song. Fans love it and it sits comfortably in our top 10.

6) Can I be him?

Can I be him, the third single from “Back from the Edge” is all about unrequited love, written at a time when James Arthur knew he wasn’t ready to receive love or be in a relationship, but saw a girl he liked and wondered – could he be the one for her after all? Live, this song is extraordinary – a highlight of his live shows.

5) Impossible

Although the 29 other tracks on this list show he is so much more, “Impossible” is possibly the song that James Arthur will always be known for. Originally recorded in 2010 by Shontelle it was chosen as the X Factor winner’s single for 2012. Upon release it sold over 490,000 copies in its first week, going straight to number 1 and finishing number 5 in the year-end charts for 2012 Having sold over 2 million copies, it’s now the biggest-selling X Factor winner’s single. The track showcases James Arthur’s guts and passion and its appeal ensures – it is still a staple of his live show, closing out his main set of his Bitter Sweet Love world tour.

4) Quite Miss Home

Released in October 2019, “Quite Miss Home” was released as the seventh and final single from James Arthur’s third album, You. In the song, he is looking back on his memories of a life with a family member or former lover with whom he is parted, expressing how much he misses the small and even mundane parts of their life together . Its emotional depth clearly has struck a chord with fans who voted it their 4th favourite song.

3) From the Jump

James Arthur describes “From the Jump” as one of his favourite songs from Bitter Sweet Love – it has a country vibe and he imagined it as being one that people might walk down the aisle to. Indeed, during his recent tour through the UK couples proposed to each other on stage while he was performing it. A recent release of a duet version with Kelly Clarkson seems set to give this song, already a fan favourite, greater prominence.

2) Recovery

“Recovery” from his debut album is on a similar vein, about his battle against addiction – he is focusing on the fight ahead of him, refusing to give up. It’s a message of hope for anyone who is fighting their own personal battles.

1) Train Wreck

A song of passion and urgency, “Train Wreck” was written and sung from the very depths of James Arthur’s soul. Released on Back from the Edge, it wasn’t until an acoustic performance went viral on TikTok that “Train Wreck” made its impact on the charts – and deservedly so. If you want to capture what James Arthur is about in one song, it would be this one – full of pure emotion and raw honesty, of darkness but also hope. James Arthur himself said, “Train wreck means a lot to me … I was in the worst place I’ve ever been in my personal life and my career. I was writing music about redemption, I was trying to pull myself out of a dark place and get back to where I wanted to be. It felt like my dreams were over. The song is for anyone who has felt that way, who’s ever felt like they’ve lost sight of their dreams or they’ve lost someone or something and not to give up hope. There’s always a thread of hope. I hope that’s felt in the song and the lyric and ultimately that’s what it’s all about.” James Arthur’s fans have taken this song to their heart above all, many speaking about how it helped them deal with very dark times. A deserved number one song!

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What do you think of the list? Where has your favourite song ranked! Comment, like, share and spread the (Bitter Sweet) Love!

1. Quotes from James Arthur taken from Apple Music (tracks from It’ll All Make Sense in the End and Bitter Sweet Love) and Genius Lyrics. Lyrics taken from Genius Lyrics. Album and single image art and other information obtained from James Arthur Wiki. Streaming statistics taken from kworb and correct at time of publishing. ↩︎
2. Lukarcanin, Emina (2 November, 2018). “James Arthur Debuts Video For Nostalgic Single ‘Empty Space’: Watch”. Billboard. ↩︎