A Day in the Life
1967 · From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Two unfinished songs bolted together, an orchestra climbing to nothing, and the last piano chord in pop.
★ 9.9
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.
Strawberry Fields Forever
1966 · From Magical Mystery Tour
Two takes in different keys and tempos spliced into one, a Mellotron haze over Lennon's Liverpool childhood.
★ 9.7
All Along the Watchtower
1968
Hendrix took Dylan's parable and lit it, and Dylan has played it Hendrix's way ever since.
★ 9.2
Purple Haze
1967
The intro is a tritone, medieval music's forbidden interval, and Roger Mayer's new Octavia pedal makes the solo scream.
★ 8.9
Paint It, BlackThe Rolling Stones
Paint It, Black
1966 · From Aftermath
Jones's sitar made it the first number one to feature the instrument, and Decca added the comma by mistake.
★ 8.2
Light My FireThe Doors
Light My Fire
1967 · From The Doors
Krieger wrote most of it, Manzarek built a Bach-shaped organ intro, and Morrison sang the banned lyric on Sullivan anyway.
★ 8.1
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)Jimi Hendrix
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
1968
Cut May 3, 1968 with an ABC film crew rolling, and it became Hendrix's only British number one, posthumously.
★ 7.8
A Whiter Shade of Pale
1967
Fisher's Hammond nods at Bach for a bar before veering off, and Reid took the title from a party remark.
★ 7.7
I Am The Walrus
1967 · From Magical Mystery Tour
Lennon stitched three unfinished songs together, then let a live BBC King Lear broadcast wander into the mix.
★ 7.7
Eight Miles High
1966 · From Fifth Dimension
Columbia rejected the RCA session on a technicality, so McGuinn recut his Coltrane-inspired twelve-string and radio banned it anyway.
★ 7.6
Piece of My Heart
1968 · From Cheap Thrills
Erma Franklin had it first in 1967, then Joplin tore the same Ragovoy and Berns song wide open.
★ 7.6
White Rabbit
1967 · From Surrealistic Pillow
Slick borrowed the one long crescendo from Bolero and Lewis Carroll's cast, then rode both to number eight.
★ 7.6
Sunshine of Your LoveCream
Sunshine of Your Love
1967 · From Disraeli Gears
Bruce came home from a Hendrix show carrying the riff, and Baker answered it by drumming on one and three.
★ 7.6
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
The EndThe Doors
The End
1967 · From The Doors
Krieger's raga-style tuning, Morrison at his most unnerving, and nearly twelve minutes Coppola later gave to Apocalypse Now.
★ 7.4
(Don't Fear) the Reaper
1976
An irregular heartbeat diagnosis sent Dharma writing about mortality and lasting love, and the cowbell did the rest.
★ 7.3
Time of the Season
1968 · From Odessey and Oracle
Argent and Blunstone rowed over the vocal at Abbey Road, and the band had broken up before America noticed.
★ 7.3
White RoomCream
White Room
1968 · From Wheels of Fire
A 5/4 intro that worried the label, Pappalardi's violas, Baker's timpani, and Clapton's wah-wah doing the talking.
★ 7.0
Foxey Lady
1967
One note shaken into a wide vibrato, then feedback, then the sharp-ninth chord that carries his name.
★ 6.9
I Can See for MilesThe Who
I Can See for Miles
1967 · From The Who Sell Out
Townshend called it his ace in the hole and never forgave Britain for stopping it at number ten.
★ 6.6