Blitzkrieg Bop
1976 · From Ramones
Tommy wanted a Bay City Rollers chant; the album around it cost $6,400 and took seven days.
★ 8.7
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.
God Save the QueenThe Sex Pistols
God Save the Queen
1977 · From Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Written as "No Future," banned by the BBC, and stuck at number two amid loud suspicion of chart rigging.
★ 8.3
Anarchy in the UK
1976 · From Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Lydon picked anarchist because it rhymed with antichrist; EMI dropped the band six weeks later and punk was loose.
★ 8.2
Fairytale of New York
1987
Two years in the making, with MacColl finally singing the woman's part, and it still stalled at number two.
★ 7.7
Basket Case
1994 · From Dookie
Armstrong rewrote it around his undiagnosed panic attacks, cut it at Fantasy Studios, and sold punk to the suburbs.
★ 7.7
Lust for Life
1977
Bowie found the beat in an Armed Forces Network call sign; Hunt Sales hammered it out in Berlin.
★ 7.7
I Wanna Be Sedated
1978 · From Road to Ruin
Joey wrote it stranded in a shut-down London at Christmas, and Johnny's solo is one note, repeated.
★ 7.6
Rock the Casbah
1982 · From Combat Rock
Topper Headon cut the drums, piano and bass himself, and Strummer finished the lyrics in the studio bathroom.
★ 7.4
White Man in Hammersmith Palais
1978
Strummer expected roots rebellion at an all-night Palais reggae bill, got showbiz, and slipped reggae bass into punk.
★ 7.2
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
White Riot
1977 · From The Clash
Strummer and Simonon were in the 1976 Notting Hill Carnival riot; the single ran under two minutes and reached thirty-eight.
★ 6.9
Pretty Vacant
1977 · From Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Matlock's riff, lifted off ABBA's "SOS", and the sound of a generation deciding not to care.
★ 6.7
When I Come Around
1994 · From Dookie
Four palm-muted chords, Dirnt's bass doing the melodic work, and a lyric Armstrong wrote after fighting with Adrienne.
★ 6.6
One Way or AnotherBlondie
One Way or Another
1979
Harry turned a 1973 stalker into a chase song, and Nigel Harrison's riff supplies the relentless forward motion.
★ 6.5
Dammit (Growing Up)
1997
Hoppus turned bumping into an ex into four chords, a Trombino production, and pop punk's great shrug at adulthood.
★ 6.5
Just a Girl
1995
A late drive home from Tony Kanal's house, a father's lecture, and Stefani's first song without brother Eric.
★ 6.4
All The Small Things
1999
Palm-muted C major at 150 beats a minute, Roger Manning's synth on top, and a boy-band parody video.
★ 6.4
Blank GenerationRichard Hell and the Voidoids
Blank Generation
1977
A rewrite of a 1959 novelty called "The Beat Generation", with Quine and Julian's guitars turning parody into manifesto.
★ 6.4
What's My Age Again?
1999
Hoppus was twenty-six and picked twenty-three purely for the rhyme; MCA made them drop the title "Peter Pan Complex".
★ 6.4
Complete Control
1977
Lee Perry produced it after CBS released a single without the band's consent; Topper Headon's first Clash session.
★ 6.4
Radio RadioElvis Costello
Radio Radio
1978 · From This Year's Model
Booked after the Sex Pistols' visas fell through, Costello halted his SNL performance mid-song to play this unreleased attack instead.
★ 6.3
Sheena is a Punk RockerThe Ramones
Sheena is a Punk Rocker
1977 · From Rocket to Russia
Joey Ramone spliced a jungle-comics heroine with punk's primal charge, and Britain sent it to number twenty-two.
★ 6.3
Holidays in the Sun
1977 · From Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Marching boots open the record, and a collapsed Jersey holiday sent the band to Berlin for their subject.
★ 5.8
Welcome to ParadiseGreen Day
Welcome to Paradise
1994 · From Dookie
Armstrong wrote it about squatting in a West Oakland warehouse, and the Dookie re-recording is the one everyone knows.
★ 5.7
Brain Stew / Jaded
1995 · From Insomniac
A slow descending riff, Armstrong's insomnia, and a segue into Jaded that welded the two songs together permanently.
★ 5.7
First Date
2001
DeLonge wrote it after the band's manager complained the album had no feel-good song; a SeaWorld date supplied the rest.
★ 5.3
Feeling This
2003
Hoppus and DeLonge wrote in separate rooms, choruses and verses, and Barker's beat locked them together in a day.
★ 5.0
Holiday (Green Day)
2005 · From American Idiot
Armstrong spent two months doubting the lyrics until Cavallo pushed him; it went to number one on modern rock radio.
★ 4.9
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