Breakfast at Tiffany's
1995
Todd Pipes drew the lyric from Roman Holiday, swapped in a different Hepburn title, and Britain sent it to number one.
★ 1.4
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
The Reason
2004
Estrin mailed Robb an instrumental demo; the lyrics came from scraps in a journal, the strings from Capitol.
★ 1.7
Someday
1999
Sugar Ray's drummer co-wrote it about touring temptation and a faithful girlfriend; the album title joked about vanishing fame.
★ 1.7
Wherever You Will Go
2001
Kamin wrote it after a funeral, imagining the widower left behind; it then held Adult Top 40 for twenty-three weeks.
★ 2.0
Absolutely (Story of a Girl)
2000
Long Island power pop, written overnight for the girlfriend Hampson later married, cut in Atlanta with Nick DiDia.
★ 2.3
Hemorrhage (In My Hands)
2000
Twelve weeks at number one on Alternative Airplay, with Brett Scallions selling every syllable of Carl Bell's chorus.
★ 2.4
Outside
2001
Lewis finished the words onstage in Biloxi with Fred Durst singing along, and that live take became the hit.
★ 2.4
Blurry
2001
Alone in a Hollywood hotel room missing his son, Scantlin turned the ache into ten weeks atop Mainstream Rock.
★ 2.5
Accidentally in LoveCounting Crows
Accidentally in Love
2004
Duritz dislikes writing to order, then handed Shrek 2 an Oscar-nominated rush of helpless, hurtling infatuation.
★ 2.6
You and Me
2005
Cut at John Alagia's home studio in Maryland, it topped Adult Pop Songs for nine weeks and became a wedding standard.
★ 2.7
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
1993
Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads produced it, and Roberts sang three verses about strange childhoods in a startling baritone.
★ 2.7
Everything You Want
1999
Scannell wrote it about a friendship he wanted to be more, and it became Billboard's most-played single of 2000.
★ 2.7
All for You
1997
Cut at Ardent Studios in Memphis, re-recorded in 1997 for the band's second album, and a number eleven hit.
★ 2.9
December
1995
Roland wrote it about a souring relationship with the band's first manager, then rode nine weeks atop rock radio.
★ 2.9
Beverly Hills
2005 · From Make Believe
Rick Rubin produced it, the video was shot at the Playboy Mansion, and Cuomo swears the longing was sincere.
★ 3.0
Out of My HeadFastball
Out of My Head
1998
Scalzo sang lead from behind the bass, Hammond organ carrying it, and Machine Gun Kelly later borrowed the chorus.
★ 3.0
Counting Blue Cars
1995
Richards wrote it after a talk with his ten-year-old neighbor, and calling God "her" brought death threats.
★ 3.0
How You Remind Me
2001
Forty-five minutes to an hour, by Kroeger's account, then more US radio plays than any song of the decade.
★ 3.0
You Are a Tourist
2011 · From Codes and Keys
Death Cab's first number one on alternative radio, and its video was performed live in one unbroken take.
★ 3.0
Two Princes
1991
A video at Bethesda Fountain, a six-dollar hat, and a hook that pushed the album past five times platinum.
★ 3.0
The Ghost Inside
2010
Mercer sang falsetto for the first time here at Burton's urging; Christina Hendricks plays the android in the video.
★ 3.1
Barely Breathing
1996
Fifty-five weeks on the Hot 100 without ever passing number sixteen, and Sheik got a Grammy nomination out of it.
★ 3.2
You and I
2009 · From Wilco (The Album)
Tweedy and Feist trading a chorus about two people trying to hold it together, Wilco's first album duet.
★ 3.2
Pardon Me
2000
Scott Litt produced it at NRG, and Boyd wrote the lyric amid two deaths and a collapsing relationship.
★ 3.2
It's Been Awhile
2001
Written in 1996 for an acoustic side project and shelved, it returned to spend twenty weeks atop Mainstream Rock.
★ 3.3
Hanging by a MomentLifehouse
Hanging by a Moment
2001
Wade wrote it in about five minutes, and it never hit number one yet finished 2001 as America's biggest single.
★ 3.3
21 Guns
2009 · From 21st Century Breakdown
A chorus close enough to All the Young Dudes that Bowie got a writing credit, and Butch Vig produced.
★ 3.3
All I Want
1991
Credited to all four members, it climbed to fifteen; Phillips says it is about how quickly epiphanies vanish.
★ 3.4
Bent
2000
Codependency as a love song, Serletic producing, and the only Matchbox Twenty record to reach number one.
★ 3.5
Popular
1995
Ric Ocasek produced it, and the spoken verses lift straight from Gloria Winters' 1964 teenage charm and popularity guide.
★ 3.5
Walk on the Ocean
1991
Phillips wrote it after a trip to Orcas Island, keeping the placeholder lyrics because nothing he tried afterward worked better.
★ 3.6
Shiny Happy PeopleR.E.M.
Shiny Happy People
1991 · From Out of Time
Kate Pierson's guest vocal, Mark Bingham's waltzing strings, and R.E.M.'s only top ten hit in both Britain and America.
★ 3.6
Landed
2005
Folds went back to a trio for Songs for Silverman, and made its lead single a phone call home.
★ 3.7
Shiver
2000 · From Parachutes
Martin called it a blatant Jeff Buckley attempt, cut at Rockfield with Ken Nelson, and the chorus soars anyway.
★ 3.7
Take a Picture
1999
Patrick's blackouts and a father's disappointment sit behind it, six minutes of guitar haze on Title of Record.
★ 3.7
Loud Pipes
2006
Stroud's guitar over Mast's programming, not a word sung, and a gold single that landed in MLB 07: The Show.
★ 3.7
Dare You to Move
2004
A song Foreman wrote to talk himself into moving, cut twice, the 2003 version the band's biggest hit.
★ 3.8
The World I Know
1995
Two hours walking New York on a day off, and Roland returned with four weeks atop album rock.
★ 3.9
Right Here, Right NowJesus Jones
Right Here, Right Now
1990
Romania in February 1990, weeks of upheaval still fresh, and Edwards came home to write pop's happiest history lesson.
★ 3.9
Daysleeper
1998
Stipe found the word on a New York apartment door and gave the night shift its lullaby, post-Berry R.E.M.
★ 4.0