Father ChristmasThe Kinks
Father Christmas
1977
Ray Davies cut it at Konk in 1977, a department store Santa mugged by kids who want jobs, not toys.
★ 4.2
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.
Oh! Sweet NothingThe Velvet Underground
Oh! Sweet Nothing
1970 · From Loaded
Reed's parade of characters with nothing to their names, sung by Doug Yule over seven closing minutes of Loaded.
★ 4.6
Fantastic VoyageCoolio
Fantastic Voyage
1994
Bryan Dobbs looped Lakeside's 1980 hit, and Coolio rode it to number three dreaming of somewhere trouble-free.
★ 4.7
Maria Maria
1999 · From Supernatural
Wyclef built it on a Headhunters drum break, Santana's guitar answering the Product G&B, ten weeks at number one.
★ 4.8
What It's LikeEverlast
What It's Like
1998
Everlast left House of Pain, picked up an acoustic guitar, and topped both rock charts with three street portraits.
★ 4.9
Everything's Gonna Be AlrightNaughty by Nature
Everything's Gonna Be Alright
1991
Treach turned a fatherless East Orange childhood into verse, with Marley's chorus supplying the only comfort on offer.
★ 5.3
Money Honey
1953
Jesse Stone's song, cut once McPhatter rebuilt the group from scratch, topped the R&B chart for eleven weeks.
★ 5.8
Fly Like an Eagle (Steve Miller Band)
1976
Miller ran a Stratocaster through an Echoplex for that staggered triplet echo, and the synthesizer drifts like weather.
★ 5.9
Down on the Corner
1969 · From Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits
Washboard, kazoo and a gut bass in the lyrics, Fogerty's imaginary jug band playing for nickels.
★ 6.0
1st of Tha Month
1995
DJ U-Neek's beat, Cleveland voices harmonizing at double speed, and welfare day reimagined as a neighborhood holiday.
★ 6.0
Hate It Or Love It
2005
Cool and Dre's Trammps flip earned two Grammy nominations and stalled at two, blocked by 50 Cent's own 'Candy Shop'.
★ 6.2
The Way It Is
1986
Hornsby wrote the words first in a Van Nuys garage; that piano figure later became the spine of Tupac's Changes.
★ 6.2
Get By
2003
Kanye West built the beat from Nina Simone's "Sinnerman", and Kweli turned survival into his commercial breakthrough.
★ 6.2
Welcome to Jamrock
2005
An Ini Kamoze sample under it, Stephen Marley at the desk, and verses answering the postcard version of Jamaica.
★ 6.5
Changes (2Pac)
1998
Recorded in 1992, shelved, then remixed after his death over Bruce Hornsby's piano; a posthumous Grammy nomination followed.
★ 7.1
Hard Knock LifeJay-Z
Hard Knock Life
1998 · From Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life
The 45 King looped an Annie showtune, and Jay-Z cleared it with a letter he admitted was a lie.
★ 7.2
Ghost Town
1981
Cut in Leamington Spa on eight tracks, the flute squeezed onto full brass, number one while Britain burned.
★ 7.3
Keep Ya Head Up
1993
A Zapp groove under the Five Stairsteps hook, dedicated to Latasha Harlins, and rap's warmest tribute to Black women.
★ 7.4
Money Trees
2012 · From good kid, m.A.A.d city
DJ Dahi slowed Beach House's guitar intro and ran it backwards, and Jay Rock's verse steals the whole record.
★ 7.6
Minnie the Moocher
1931
Calloway forgot the words on a Cotton Club broadcast, by his account, and the hi-de-ho call and response was born.
★ 7.6