In the City
2013
Recorded at Brooklyn's Rumpus Room with Nick Stumpf producing, and Julia Stiles stars in the video.
★ 0.9
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.
Thank God It's Christmas
1984
May and Taylor wrote it, Mercury sang it, and Queen waited until 2019 to give it a video.
★ 1.0
Bad Day
2005
Powter sketched it on the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver; American Idol adopted it and Billboard called it 2006's biggest.
★ 1.2
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
Higher
1999
Stapp built it from a recurring dream he learned to control, and it sat atop Mainstream Rock for seventeen weeks.
★ 1.4
Shake It
2008
Trace Cyrus, Billy Ray's adopted son, and Mason Musso built a synth hook that went double platinum.
★ 1.5
Wonderful Christmastime
1979
Recorded alone in Sussex in the summer of 1979, every instrument McCartney's own, and a UK number six by January.
★ 1.6
All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You
1990
Mutt Lange's hitchhiker story gave Heart a number two the Wilsons openly disliked; Ann called its message hideous.
★ 1.6
Only God Knows Why
1999
The first ballad Kid Rock ever cut, its opening lines written, by his account, in a jail cell.
★ 1.6
A Bad Dream
2007
Rice-Oxley built it from Yeats's poem about an Irish airman, a pilot too high up to hear the guns below.
★ 1.7
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
Forever (Kiss)
1990 · From Hot in the Shade
Paul Stanley and Michael Bolton co-wrote the ballad that returned Kiss to the Top 40 after eleven years away.
★ 1.8
Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)
1986
A shuffle borrowed from Tears for Fears, cut on day one, with Bryan Adams singing near the end.
★ 1.8
I Want to Come Over
1995
Padgham and Etheridge co-produced it, and Gwyneth Paltrow starred in the video shot at an old Los Angeles hotel.
★ 2.0
Cherry Pie
1989
A pizza box in a Florida Hard Rock Cafe holds the lyric Lane dashed off at the label's insistence.
★ 2.0
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
St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)
1985
Foster showed Parr a news clip about Rick Hansen's wheelchair world tour, and the pair wrote it that Friday afternoon.
★ 2.2
Falling
2002
Twenty years old when Sha Sha arrived, Kweller later played this one through a nosebleed at Austin City Limits.
★ 2.2
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
Free Fallin' (John Mayer)
2008
Two days was all Petty and Lynne needed; Mayer's acoustic version, taped at the Nokia Theatre, became a single itself.
★ 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
Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?Bryan Adams
Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?
1995
Paco de Lucía's flamenco guitar runs through it, cut for Don Juan DeMarco, and it held number one five weeks.
★ 2.5
Blurry
2001
Alone in a Hollywood hotel room missing his son, Scantlin turned the ache into ten weeks atop Mainstream Rock.
★ 2.5
To Be With YouMr. Big
To Be With You
1991
Gilbert traded shred for acoustic guitar behind Martin's teenage lyric, and hand claps carried it to number one.
★ 2.5
When I'm Gone
2002
Brad Arnold and the band shot the video aboard the USS George Washington, then held Mainstream Rock seventeen weeks.
★ 2.6
Smooth Criminal (Alien Ant Farm)
2001
Funk metal aimed at a Bad-era Jackson hit; he vetted the video himself and asked for scenes reshot.
★ 2.6
Unwell
2003
Rob Thomas called it a song for people who feel alone; eighteen weeks at Adult Top 40 number one.
★ 2.6
Rock Me Amadeus
1985
Falco rapped Mozart's debts over a Bolland and Bolland production, and gave the Hot 100 its only German-language number one.
★ 2.6
Too Close
2011
Diplo and Switch wrapped a breakup song in dubstep, and a Microsoft browser ad made it a worldwide hit.
★ 2.6
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
Time (Hootie & the Blowfish)Hootie & the Blowfish
Time (Hootie & the Blowfish)
1994
Sonefeld's idea, written by committee on acoustic guitars, and Rucker addressing time itself like it owed him something.
★ 2.7
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
Stuck with You
1986
Three weeks at number one, a Bahamas video, and Hayes and Lewis making long-term commitment sound like a holiday.
★ 2.7
Over My Head (Cable Car)
2005
A fight with his brother Caleb, a Denver station spinning the demo, and Slade's chorus everywhere by 2006.
★ 2.7
Caught Up In You
1981
Jim Peterik of Survivor co-wrote it with Barnes and Carlisi, and it gave the band their first top ten.
★ 2.8
Burning Heart
1985
Stallone commissioned it for Rocky IV, and Peterik and Sullivan answered with East-versus-West dread over a marching riff.
★ 2.8
Amsterdam (Peter, Bjorn and John)
2006
Track four on Writer's Block, self-produced by the trio, and its plainest study of being left behind.
★ 2.8
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
The Living Years
1988
Rutherford and B.A. Robertson had both just lost their fathers; Carrack, who lost his young, sang it.
★ 2.9
Here Without You
2003
Rick Parashar cut it across three studios, and Arnold's ballad about missing someone became an unofficial anthem in Iraq.
★ 2.9
Again
2000
Kravitz wrote, arranged and produced it alone, cut it from an album, then won a third straight Grammy.
★ 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
All You Wanted
2002
A debut-album cut that Branch wrote alone, produced by John Shanks, and her first trip into the top ten.
★ 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
Tubthumping
1997
An anarchist collective from Leeds, a sample from Brassed Off, and a chorus about ordinary people refusing to stay down.
★ 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
Picture
Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow
2002
Crow's label blocked the radio rights, so Allison Moorer re-cut the female vocal; it still became Kid Rock's biggest hit.
★ 3.0
Kyrie
1985
Page and George wrote the music touring with Adam Ant; John Lang set a Greek prayer on top.
★ 3.0
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us NowStarship
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
1987
Diane Warren's first number one, written with Albert Hammond for Mannequin and sung like the odds were nothing.
★ 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
All Kinds of TimeFountains of Wayne
All Kinds of Time
2003
James Iha guests on guitar, and the lyric hangs on a quarterback in the pocket as noise falls away.
★ 3.1
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
Lake Michigan
2007
Roger Moutenot produced the album, Zach Rogue wrote every word, and a Zune advert gave this one legs.
★ 3.1
Angel of the Morning
1981
Chip Taylor wrote it after hearing Ruby Tuesday, Connie Francis passed on it, and Newton reached number four.
★ 3.1
Every Morning
1998
Drummer Stan Frazier sang the hook on his way out of the studio, and the chorus borrows Malo's Suavecito.
★ 3.1
Black Velvet
1989
Ward got the idea riding a bus of Elvis fans to the tenth Graceland vigil, and Myles won a Grammy.
★ 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
Hungry Eyes
1987
Previte and DeNicola wrote it in 1984; Carmen cut it in an Ohio studio and Dirty Dancing did the rest.
★ 3.2
Line of Fire
2013
González singing about taking responsibility over Winterkorn's organ, the track AMC used to send Breaking Bad off.
★ 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
Holding On For Life
2013
Mercer tried a falsetto in the booth, doubled the take, and Broken Bells arrived sounding like the Bee Gees.
★ 3.2
The Heat Is OnGlenn Frey
The Heat Is On
1984
David Woodford's sax on the record, a different player miming in the video, and Frey's biggest solo hit.
★ 3.3
One Of Us
1995
Bazilian wrote it in one night to impress the woman he later married; Osborne's vocal earned three Grammy nominations.
★ 3.3
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
If You're Gone
2000
Thomas wrote it after meeting his future wife, then it spent thirteen weeks atop the Adult Top 40.
★ 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
You Keep Me Hangin' On (Kim Wilde)
1987
Wilde rebuilt the Holland-Dozier-Holland original as hi-NRG and became the second act to take it to number one.
★ 3.4
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
What About Love
1985
Recorded first by the band Toronto in 1982 and shelved, it became Heart's first Capitol single, with Grace Slick harmonizing.
★ 3.5