Since U Been Gone
2004
Pink passed on it and Duff couldn't hit the notes, so Clarkson asked for heavier guitars and won a Grammy.
★ 7.5
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.
Buddy Holly
1994 · From Weezer (The Blue Album)
Cuomo thought it too cheesy to release; Ocasek insisted, then Spike Jonze spliced the band into Happy Days footage.
★ 7.2
Say It Ain't So
1994 · From Weezer (The Blue Album)
Cuomo's working title was "The Classic Rock Song"; Ocasek produced, and the clean offbeat chords carry a family's addiction.
★ 7.0
There She GoesThe La's
There She Goes
1990
Bob Andrews cut it in 1988 to no interest; Lillywhite's remix made it Britpop's founding jangle.
★ 6.8
I Can't Explain
1964
Straightforward Kink copying, by Townshend's own admission, with the Ivy League on harmonies and Shel Talmy at the desk.
★ 6.6
SurrenderCheap Trick
Surrender
1978
Two deliberate key changes raise the temperature under a teenager discovering his parents are cooler than he is.
★ 6.6
Teenage Dream
2010
Bonnie McKee rewrote it repeatedly until Benny Blanco suggested studying a Teenagers single, and one word cracked the chorus open.
★ 6.3
Jessie's Girl
1981
A Pasadena stained-glass class, a friend's girlfriend, and Neil Giraldo's guitar turning ordinary envy into a number one.
★ 6.2
The Middle
2001
Capitol dropped the band, Trombino produced on credit, and the drum pattern came straight off Tom Petty's You Wreck Me.
★ 6.2
Island in the Sun
2001 · From Weezer (The Green Album)
Not planned for the Green Album until Ocasek fought for it, then Spike Jonze filmed the band among wild animals.
★ 6.1
The Kids Are Alright
1966 · From My Generation
Recorded at IBC in October 1965, it stalled at 41 in Britain, then became the mod movement's calling card.
★ 6.1
Undone (The Sweater Song)
1994 · From Weezer (The Blue Album)
Ocasek produced it, Cuomo aimed for the Velvet Underground, and the party-chatter intro made a sad song sound hilarious.
★ 6.1
Semi-Charmed Life
1997
An answer song to "Walk on the Wild Side," mistaken for a summer hit; its real subject is addiction.
★ 6.0
You Get What You Give
1998
Alexander buried a celebrity taunt in the last verse to prove the press would ignore the politics; it worked.
★ 6.0
Teenage Dirtbag
2000
Number one in Australia, number two in Britain, built from Brown's memory of Long Island parents fearing metal records.
★ 5.5
What I Like About You
1979
Jimmy Marinos sang it from behind the drum kit; the single stalled at 49 and never went away.
★ 5.5
Stacy's Mom
2003
Schlesinger owned up to this one, chasing the Cars; Ocasek assumed the intro was sampled from Just What I Needed.
★ 5.1
California
2002
Jason Schwartzman still drummed for the band when they cut it; The O.C. later made it a UK top ten.
★ 5.0
Working for the Weekend
1981
Dean found an empty beach midweek and wondered where everyone was; Reno turned waiting for the weekend into working.
★ 4.9
Love Song
2007
Epic wanted a radio-friendly love song; Bareilles wrote a refusal instead, and that piano riff climbed to number four.
★ 4.4
867 5309 Jenny
1981
Alex Call says there was no Jenny, just a backyard afternoon, four chords and seven digits America dialed for decades.
★ 4.3
Roar
2013
Perry left therapy sick of staying quiet, and Bonnie McKee turned that into pop's loudest dust-yourself-off chorus.
★ 4.3
Some Nights
2012
Ruess wanted a hip hop producer and Paul Simon's harmonies; the sleeper took seven months to reach number three.
★ 4.3
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
Tubthumping
1997
An anarchist collective from Leeds, a sample from Brassed Off, and a chorus about ordinary people refusing to stay down.
★ 3.0
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
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
Falling
2002
Twenty years old when Sha Sha arrived, Kweller later played this one through a nosebleed at Austin City Limits.
★ 2.2