Will You Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles)
1960
King wrote the melody and the string arrangement, and a girl group topped the Hot 100 for the first time.
★ 8.0
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.
Do I Wanna Know?
2013 · From AM
A stomping riff, a desert studio in Joshua Tree, and the band's first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
★ 7.5
Both Sides Now
1968 · From Clouds
Mitchell was reading Henderson the Rain King on a plane, looked out at the clouds, and started writing immediately.
★ 7.5
Man on the Moon
1992
Berry's chords, Buck's arrangement, and lyrics Stipe wrote at the last minute about Andy Kaufman, Elvis impression included.
★ 7.3
You Got Me
The Roots and Erykah Badu
1999 · From Things Fall Apart
Jill Scott's hook, re-sung by Badu at the label's request, and Questlove driving the outro into drum and bass.
★ 7.1
Should I Stay or Should I Go
1982 · From Combat Rock
Spanish backing vocals translated by the tape operator's mother over the phone, and a jeans advert made it number one.
★ 7.0
How Deep Is Your Love
1977 · From Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
Seventeen weeks in the American top ten, and a ballad Stigwood refused to let them hand to Yvonne Elliman.
★ 6.9
Love Lockdown
2008 · From 808s & Heartbreak
Taiko drums against an 808 heartbeat, Auto-Tune everywhere, and a version West scrapped and recut after the fan backlash.
★ 6.7
Carry On Wayward Son
1976
Kerry Livgren's last-minute addition to Leftoverture opens a cappella, then hands Kansas their first top forty hit.
★ 6.7
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
2004 · From American Idiot
Armstrong wrote the lyrics alone in an East Village apartment, and that loneliness won Record of the Year.
★ 6.6
Show Me Love
1992
One Korg M1 preset, stripped to vocal and kick, and Beyonce was still borrowing that organ in 2022.
★ 6.4
I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better
1965 · From Mr. Tambourine Man
A few minutes' work by Clark about a girlfriend from the Ciro's residency, and a refrain hinging on "probably".
★ 6.3
Two Weeks (Grizzly Bears)
2009
Chris Bear started the piano line on a Cape Cod weekend; Victoria Legrand's stacked harmonies make the rest glow.
★ 6.3
I'm a BelieverThe Monkees
I'm a Believer
1966
Seven weeks at number one for Neil Diamond's song, with Diamond himself on acoustic guitar behind Dolenz's lead.
★ 6.2
How Will I Know
1985 · From Whitney Houston
A demo Janet Jackson's camp turned down, which Houston rode to number one over her cousin Dionne Warwick.
★ 6.2
Young and Beautiful
2013
Six-times platinum for a soundtrack ballad: Rick Nowels producing, Craig Armstrong's strings, Del Rey singing Daisy Buchanan's doubt.
★ 6.0
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Carole King)Carole King
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Carole King)
1971 · From Tapestry
A decade after the Shirelles made it the first girl-group number one, King slowed it down with Taylor and Mitchell.
★ 5.9
Hannah Hunt
2013 · From Modern Vampires of the City
Koenig named it for a Columbia classmate from his Buddhism class, and the final minute cracks wide open.
★ 5.8
Ocean Breathes Salty
2004
Recorded at Sweet Tea in Oxford, Mississippi, and it turns a hard look at mortality into something close to serene.
★ 5.6
Can You Stand the Rain
1988
Jam and Lewis wrote and produced it for Johnny Gill's first New Edition album, and it topped the R&B chart.
★ 5.5