The Reason
2004
Estrin mailed Robb an instrumental demo; the lyrics came from scraps in a journal, the strings from Capitol.
★ 1.7
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.
Crazy (K-Ci & JoJo)
2001
Vocoder all over an R&B ballad in 2001, years before the effect took over pop radio; the Haileys wrote it.
★ 1.8
Do You Remember
1990
A slow burn, Hugh Padgham at the desk, Stephen Bishop harmonising behind, and Collins's fourteenth and final American top ten.
★ 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
Whatcha Say
2009
J.R. Rotem looped Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek under a debut single, and Derulo had a number one within months.
★ 2.7
Let Her Go
2012
Rosenberg cut it in a Sydney studio with Australian session players, and a Dutch fan's email set it loose.
★ 2.8
The Living Years
1988
Rutherford and B.A. Robertson had both just lost their fathers; Carrack, who lost his young, sang it.
★ 2.9
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
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
What Hurts the Most
2006
Mark Wills cut it first in 2003; Dann Huff's production turned Steele and Robson's ballad into a country number one.
★ 3.1
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
You Always Hurt the One You Love
1944
Doris Fisher's music, Allan Roberts's lyric, four voices in close harmony, and a B-side, "Till Then," that charted too.
★ 3.4
Shape of My Heart
2000
Max Martin and Rami built it with Lisa Miskovsky, and the video sat atop TRL for sixty-five days.
★ 3.5
I Still Believe in You
1992
Gill and John Barlow Jarvis turned an apology for neglect into a ballad, and Gill's first country number one.
★ 3.5
I Wish it Would Rain Down
1990
Clapton plays the lead over Padgham's production, the closest Collins had then come to writing a blues song.
★ 3.5
Something Happened on the Way to Heaven
1990
Phenix Horns brass over Nathan East's bass, on a song Collins first wrote for The War of the Roses.
★ 3.6
Baby Come Back
1977
Beckett and Crowley wrote it after two bandmates' breakups, and Lambert and Potter's production held number one for three weeks.
★ 3.6
Up Against the Wall
2006
Seven minutes long, never a single, self-produced by the trio, and the longest slow burn on Writer's Block.
★ 3.7
Some of These Days
1911
Tucker's maid pressed Shelton Brooks's song on her in 1910, and it stayed her signature for the rest of her career.
★ 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