A Definitive Ranking of the Top Unreleased Avicii Songs

On April 20th, 2020, Tim Bergling, better known by his stage name Avicii, passed away at the age of just 28 years old. Perhaps the greatest DJ of all time, Avicii changed the face of music as we know it. Not only did he revolutionalize the EDM genre, but he became one of the first DJs to really crossover with pop. Nowadays, we see a lot of EDM-infused pop music, and it’s because of him. 

Best known for his singles “Levels” and “Wake Me Up,” at the time of his tragic passing, Avicii had an enormous catalog of unreleased music to go along with all of his incredible released songs. Here, I’ll be ranking my top five. I think most of us need a distraction from what’s going on in the world right now, so throw these on and dance some stress away! 

*Disclaimer: The included videos are ones that I’ve found to be as close to the real version he played live as possible if it isn’t exact. You can search other videos of it, but I promise you I have done my best to find the best quality versions of these songs as possible.

5: Stay With You (ft. Mike Posner)

Fifth on my list is one of two collaborations Avicii did with singer-songwriter Mike Posner, “Stay With You”. This song, which is about a man who’s looked all over for the perfect girl and is convinced it’s the one he’s with, has an infectious beat like so many other Avicii songs. It’s impossible to listen to it and not want to dance. It’s truly unfortunate that this song didn’t get released, and that Posner and Avicii didn’t get time to make many more together. If this one is any indication, they would’ve been amazing.

4: We Burn (Faster Than Light) (ft. Sandro Cavazza)

Next up on the list, we have “We Burn (Faster Than Light)” (“We Burn” for short), which is featuring frequent collaborator Sandro Cavazza. The pair were also most notably behind the huge hit “Without You. “ But, “We Burn” should not be slept on. Had it gotten released, it’s entirely possible it would’ve gotten as big. These two just couldn’t make a bad song. Every single one they did was amazing, and most of them turned into hits. “We Burn” contains a classic Avicii build before the beat drop, and is about a recent breakup. It’s one of his most well known unreleased songs, and for good reason, as it’s incredible!

3: Our Love (ft. Sandro Cavazza)

Third up on my list, I have “Our Love,” which, like “We Burn,” features Sandro Cavazza. It’s yet another example of how the two just couldn’t make a bad song. I consider this and “I’ll Be Gone” tied for second, but I ultimately decided to place this one third because “I’ll Be Gone” is more unique. This is not to say that “Our Love” is just like any other song though. It’s just more like a classic Avicii song, which is certainly not a bad thing. Like “We Burn,” it contains a classic Avicii build and drop. But, unlike it, it’s about how the speaker would do anything because of the love they have for their significant other. “Our Love” is another one of Avicii’s best known unreleased songs, and I can clearly see why, as it’s one of my personal favorites as well.

2: I’ll Be Gone (ft. Jocke Berg)

Tied for second with “Our Love” is “I’ll Be Gone,” which features Jocke Berg. As I said above, the reason why I chose to put “I’ll Be Gone” just slightly ahead of “Our Love” is because it’s a bit more unique. For those of you who’ve heard Avicii’s album True: Avicii by Avicii, this song is going to sound very similar. It uses much of the version of “Liar Liar” on that album. So, calling it unique may seem a bit weird. But, by unique, I just mean it’s stylistically different than most of his others. Unlike many of Avicii’s song, “I’ll Be Gone” only contains one major beat drop at the end. In most of the others, there’s one after each chorus. 

As for what the song’s about, that’s tough to say for sure. The lyrics are sad, as it surrounds a man leaving a lot behind to go chase something else, and it certainly sounds like there’s at least some regret. The part that’s hard to decipher is whether he’s talking about a relationship, or if this is yet another example of Tim telling us through his music that he wasn’t happy. Personally, I hope for the former, and I lean a little more towards saying it’s about. But, the lyrics really do pack that extra punch given how he passed. But anyway, it’s one of my personal favorite unreleased tracks, and it’s certainly worth listening to!

1: Lied to Me (ft. Mike Posner)

Finally, my favorite unreleased Avicii track is “Lied to Me,” featuring Mike Posner. This song, which is about a relationship that ended because the speaker’s significant other told the truth about something horrible they did, is absolutely amazing. It’s applicable to so many situations, which makes the lyrics resonate strongly with most listeners. Singing along to it is a great way to get some anger out about any sort of relationship that ended poorly, and unfortunately, I think most people have had at least one of those.

Stylistically, it’s very different from most Avicii songs, as there is no real beat drop. The beat just kicks in at each chorus. I honestly can’t point to what in particular about the song makes me love it so much, it’s just an amazing song all around. It was really hard to pick a favorite, but I feel good about my choice here, and I strongly suggest giving it a listen.

There Is Just A Very Small Sample of Avicii’s Unreleased Music

While these are probably my five favorite unreleased Avicii songs, there are so many others that could’ve made this list. Just to name a few of the top of my head, there’s “Unbreakable,” “Wasted,” “Lord,” “The Other Side,” and “How Many Lovers.” There are countless other unreleased songs floating around out there too that are amazing and well worth the listen. So, I highly recommend spending some time and searching for more of his songs. If you’re a fan of his, you won’t regret it. But, if I had to choose my top five, I’d go with the five I wrote about above. It’s an utter shame that they, among so many others, never got to see the light of day officially. But, I guess at least we have the YouTube clips of them. Which unreleased tracks are your favorite? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below!

-Lydia Murray (@lydia_murray12)

Featured image courtesy of Aftonbladet/Zuma Press via wsj.com.