Roam
1989
A rare B-52's lyric from an outsider, Robert Waldrop, and Pierson and Wilson make wanderlust sound weightless.
★ 4.8
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.
Different DrumThe Stone Poneys
Different Drum
1967
Strings, harpsichord, a second take cut live, and Ronstadt the only Stone Poney anywhere on the record.
★ 5.7
It's Your ThingThe Isley Brothers
It's Your Thing
1969
Sixteen-year-old Ernie Isley's bass on his first session, cut for the brothers' own T-Neck label, funk built on a shrug.
★ 6.2
Free Man in Paris
1974 · From Court and Spark
Mitchell wrote it for David Geffen after a Paris trip, then set his escape to Jose Feliciano's guitar.
★ 6.5
Help Me
1974 · From Court and Spark
Her only American top ten hit, cut with Tom Scott's L.A. Express as she swung folk toward jazz.
★ 6.6
Amarillo By Morning
1983
Stafford's idea, Fraser's overnight lyric, and a fiddle arrangement that rodeo crowds took for their own.
★ 6.8
ThinkAretha Franklin
Think
1968 · From Aretha Now
Co-written with Ted White, out weeks after King's assassination, and a bridge that turns on one word, freedom.
★ 7.1
RoadrunnerThe Modern Lovers
Roadrunner
1976
Richman borrowed two chords from Sister Ray and turned Route 128 after midnight into the happiest song about driving.
★ 7.1
Band on the RunPaul McCartney
Band on the Run
1973
Wings lost two members on the eve of Lagos, so McCartney played the drums and built a three-part escape.
★ 7.2
One Nation Under a Groove
1978 · From One Nation Under a Groove
Clinton, Shider and Junie Morrison cut it at United Sound; six weeks at R&B number one, 1978's longest run.
★ 7.4
Freedom! '90
1990
Michael refused to appear, so Fincher had five supermodels lip-sync while his Faith leather jacket burned onscreen.
★ 7.4
Born to Be Wild
1968
Mars Bonfire's used Ford Falcon inspired it, Steppenwolf sped it up, and Easy Rider made it biker culture's signature.
★ 7.5
Me and Bobby McGee
1971 · From Pearl
Joplin taped the vocal days before her death; Kristofferson did not hear it until the day after.
★ 7.6
Free Bird
1973 · From Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
Collins's chords sat unused for two years until Van Zant found the melody; the long outro was his onstage rest.
★ 7.7
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
1983
Robert Hazard wrote it in 1979 from a man's point of view, and Lauper flipped it into female solidarity.
★ 7.7
Feeling Good
1965 · From I Put a Spell on You
Written for a Newley and Bricusse musical, it opens with nothing but her voice before Hal Mooney's horns land.
★ 7.7
Rollin' Stone
1950 · From The Anthology: 1947-1972
One man, one electric guitar, no band; the Chess single that later named a magazine and a British group.
★ 7.8
The Thrill Is Gone
1969 · From Completely Well
Bert de Coteaux's twelve-piece string section, overdubbed a week later, carried King's minor-key blues onto pop radio.
★ 7.8
Highway to Hell
1979 · From Highway to Hell
Mutt Lange took over production, the band cut it in London in 1979, and America finally caught on.
★ 8.0
Redemption SongBob Marley and the Wailers
Redemption Song
1980 · From Uprising
A single voice and acoustic guitar close Uprising, with a line lifted from Marcus Garvey and Marley already ill.
★ 8.5