Good Vibrations
1966 · From Smiley Smile
Brian Wilson's pocket symphony, months and a fortune spent chasing one shimmering theremin line into the sunlight.
★ 9.8
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.
I Want to Hold Your Hand
1963 · From Meet the Beatles!
Handclaps, that leaping chord under "I can't hide," and five weeks later America belonged to them.
★ 9.6
I Feel LoveDonna Summer
I Feel Love
1977
Moroder's pulsing synth track, Summer floating above it, and the record Eno reportedly called the sound of the future.
★ 9.3
Crazy in Love
2003
Rich Harrison looped a Chi-Lites horn fanfare; Jay-Z turned up at three in the morning and improvised his verse.
★ 8.8
Bad Romance
2009
Written on a tour bus in Norway and premiered at Alexander McQueen's last show, all nonsense syllables and appetite.
★ 8.7
Ring of Fire
1963 · From Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
Anita Carter cut it first, her sister June wrote it with Merle Kilgore, and Cash added the mariachi trumpets.
★ 8.6
Like a Prayer
1989 · From Like a Prayer
Patrick Leonard co-wrote it, Prince played the intro guitar, and Pepsi pulled its five million dollar ad but paid anyway.
★ 8.5
Let's Get It On
1973 · From Let's Get It On
Ed Townsend conceived it as a spiritual; Gaye kept the backing track, rewrote the lyric, and Billboard number one followed.
★ 8.4
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
1979 · From Off the Wall
Jackson wrote it himself and steered the session; a whisper, a water-bottle rattle, then Louis Johnson's bass takes over.
★ 8.3
Oh, Pretty Woman
1964
Claudette said she was going out, Dees answered that a pretty woman never needs money, and the riff followed.
★ 8.2
Hallelujah
1994 · From Grace
Buckley learned it from John Cale's version and cut over twenty takes at Bearsville; the edit sounds like one breath.
★ 8.2
Toxic
2003
Minogue passed on it; Bloodshy and Avant hung a Bollywood string sample over surf guitar for Spears's only Grammy.
★ 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
With or Without YouU2
With or Without You
1987 · From The Joshua Tree
The Edge was sent a prototype Infinite Guitar by Michael Brook, and U2 had their first American number one.
★ 8.0
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
1983
Recorded on a secondhand eight-track in a Chalk Farm attic, and an American number one by September.
★ 7.9
No Diggity
1996
Teddy Riley sang lead because none of his group liked it, then it ended Macarena's fourteen weeks on top.
★ 7.8
This Charming Man
1983
Marr stacked roughly fifteen guitar tracks and dropped a knife on the strings; Morrissey lifted a line from Sleuth.
★ 7.8
Sexual Healing
1982 · From Midnight Love
Gaye programmed the TR-808 himself in a Belgian studio, and it finally won him the first Grammys of his career.
★ 7.8
In the Midnight Hour
1965
Jerry Wexler danced the Jerk across the Stax floor until the band pushed the backbeat onto beat two.
★ 7.8
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
1957
One microphone, Roland Janes muted behind the boogie piano, and a July 1957 television debut that turned it national.
★ 7.7
Gasolina
2004
A dembow riddim from Luny Tunes, an uncredited hook from Glory, and a place in the National Recording Registry.
★ 7.7
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
Like a Virgin
1984 · From Like a Virgin
A Steinberg and Kelly demo Rodgers disliked at first, six weeks at number one, and a seventeen-foot wedding cake.
★ 7.7
Twist and Shout
1964 · From Please Please Me
Last song of a twelve-hour day, Lennon's throat gone, one usable take, and the Beatles' only million-selling cover.
★ 7.7
Let's Dance
1983 · From Let's Dance
Nile Rodgers on rhythm guitar, an unknown Stevie Ray Vaughan on lead, and Bowie's biggest-selling single by a distance.
★ 7.7
Stronger
2007 · From Graduation
West cleared the Daft Punk sample through their manager, had Timbaland reprogram the kick drums, and hit number one.
★ 7.7
What's Love Got To Do With It
1984 · From Private Dancer
Cliff Richard turned it down, Bucks Fizz shelved it, and Turner at forty-four took it to number one.
★ 7.7
Rock With You
1979 · From Off the Wall
Rod Temperton offered it to Karen Carpenter first; Quincy Jones and Jackson took it to number one.
★ 7.6
La Di Da DiSlick Rick
La Di Da Di
1985
Two voices and no instruments at all: Doug E. Fresh's beatbox under Slick Rick's storytelling, sampled ever since.
★ 7.6
Big Poppa
1994 · From Ready to Die
Chucky Thompson built it on the Isley Brothers' Between the Sheets, and Biggie made charm sound entirely effortless.
★ 7.6
Glory Box
1995 · From Dummy
Barrow looped Isaac Hayes' Ike's Rap II, Utley added the guitar, and Gibbons sings it like a demand.
★ 7.6
Son of a Preacher Man
1968 · From Dusty in Memphis
Written with Aretha in mind, handed to Springfield by Jerry Wexler; Memphis cut the track, New York got her vocal.
★ 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
Get Lucky
2013 · From Random Access Memories
Rodgers' guitar, Pharrell's vocal, Nathan East on bass, and disco walked back onto the radio wearing robot helmets.
★ 7.6
Poker Face
2008
RedOne produced it at Record Plant, Gaga's mum-mum-mum-mah hook nodding to Boney M, and 2009's best-selling single worldwide.
★ 7.5
I Love Rock 'N Roll
1982
The Runaways passed, so Jett recorded it twice herself; the second version spent seven weeks at number one.
★ 7.5
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
Wild Thing (The Troggs)
1966
Ten minutes at the end of somebody else's session, and an ocarina solo standing in for a hand whistle.
★ 7.5
Can't Get You Out of My HeadKylie Minogue
Can't Get You Out of My Head
2001
Dennis and Davis wrote it in three and a half hours, and Minogue committed after twenty seconds of the demo.
★ 7.5
Bizarre Love Triangle
1985
It missed the UK top forty, all Fairlight sequencing except Hook's bass, and now every indie disco needs it.
★ 7.5
Take Me Out
2004 · From Franz Ferdinand
Two songs welded together, the tempo dropping a minute in, and a sniper film lending Kapranos his double-edged title.
★ 7.5
California GirlsThe Beach Boys
California Girls
1965 · From Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Forty-four takes for the backing track, Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye on it, and an intro built like a fanfare.
★ 7.4
FaithGeorge Michael
Faith
1987
A church organ quoting Wham!'s Freedom, then Hugh Burns's Bo Diddley rhythm, and four weeks at number one.
★ 7.4
Into the Groove
1985
Written for another singer, rebuilt with Stephen Bray for a Desperately Seeking Susan dance scene, then buried on a B-side.
★ 7.4
All Day and All of the NightThe Kinks
All Day and All of the Night
1964
Ray Davies's publisher wanted to sue the Doors over the riff; Davies declined, and the snarl outlived the argument.
★ 7.4
Are You That Somebody?
1998
Timbaland built the beat around a baby coo lifted from a sixties sound-effects record, and Aaliyah glides over it.
★ 7.3
Got My Mojo Working
1957 · From The Anthology: 1947-1972
Waters heard Ann Cole sing it on tour, cut a single that flopped, then made it his signature at Newport.
★ 7.3
Heat Wave
1963
Holland-Dozier-Holland over a gospel backbeat, Mike Terry's baritone sax break, and Reeves hollering the Vandellas to a Grammy nomination.
★ 7.3
Bonita Applebum
1990 · From People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Q-Tip read Miles Davis on space, then rapped conversationally over a Rotary Connection loop and made desire sound utterly relaxed.
★ 7.3
Only Shallow
1992 · From Loveless
Four snare hits, then two amps facing each other with tremolos fighting, sampled and reversed into shoegaze's founding roar.
★ 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
Ignition (Remix)R. Kelly
Ignition (Remix)
2003
A remix that swallowed its own original: number two in America five weeks, four at Britain's top.
★ 7.3
Drunk in Love
2013
Detail's beat was called "Drunk" before Beyoncé heard it; she and Jay-Z freestyled their verses in Manhattan.
★ 7.2
Electric Relaxation
1994 · From Midnight Marauders
Q-Tip built the beat in his grandmother's basement from a Ronnie Foster loop, and Phife traded lines with him.
★ 7.2
Spoonful
1960 · From Howlin' Wolf
A Willie Dixon lyric about craving, drawn loosely from a 1929 Charley Patton side, and Wolf looming over one chord.
★ 7.2
Hot Stuff
1979
Moroder's four-on-the-floor, Jeff Baxter's rock guitar solo bolted on, and the first female rock vocal Grammy.
★ 7.2
Style
2015 · From 1989
Ali Payami and guitarist Niklas Ljungfelt built the track; Swift turned an on-off romance into a fashion metaphor.
★ 7.1
MoondanceVan Morrison
Moondance
1970 · From Moondance
A melody Morrison worked out on soprano sax first, then Jack Schroer's alto solo swinging over Jef Labes' piano.
★ 7.1
Because the Night
1978 · From Easter
Springsteen abandoned the demo, Iovine passed Smith the cassette, and she wrote the verses waiting on a phone call.
★ 7.0
Push It
1987
A B-side until a San Francisco DJ's remix reached radio, and a first rap Grammy nomination they boycotted.
★ 7.0
The Way You Move
2003 · From Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
Eight weeks stuck at number two behind Hey Ya!, then Big Boi's live Atlanta horns finally took the top.
★ 7.0
Wicked Games
2012
Doc McKinney and Illangelo built the guitar figure and the fog; Tesfaye gave away House of Balloons for free.
★ 7.0
Boom Boom
1962
A bartender's scolding at Detroit's Apex Bar became the hook, and Motown's future Funk Brothers played the session.
★ 7.0
Please Please MeThe Beatles
Please Please Me
1963 · From Please Please Me
Eighteen takes in one November session, a Lennon ballad sped up, and Martin calling their first number one.
★ 7.0
Call Me
1980
Moroder cut the backing track in Los Angeles, Harry wrote the words in hours, and it ruled 1980.
★ 6.9
Foxey Lady
1967
One note shaken into a wide vibrato, then feedback, then the sharp-ninth chord that carries his name.
★ 6.9
Brown Sugar
1995 · From Brown Sugar
Every instrument on it is D'Angelo's, cut at Battery Studios, and the groove barely bothers to move.
★ 6.8
Blister in the Sun
1983
Busking outside a Milwaukee theatre got them discovered by the Pretenders, and Gano's riff has been filling dancefloors ever since.
★ 6.8
Venus in Furs
1967 · From The Velvet Underground & Nico
Cale's viola drone, Reed's ostrich guitar, Tucker's tambourine: one of three songs the band recut in Hollywood.
★ 6.8
Need You Tonight
1987
A cassette demo made while a taxi idled outside, finished in Hong Kong, and INXS's only American number one.
★ 6.8
Under the Boardwalk
1964
Rudy Lewis died the night before the session; Johnny Moore took the lead, and the güiro shrugs it all off.
★ 6.8
Cecilia
1970
Friends banged on a piano bench at a party; Simon and Halee looped the thumping into a rhythm track.
★ 6.7
That Lady
1973
Recorded at the Record Plant in LA, with Ernie Isley's Hendrix-drenched guitar rebuilding a song the brothers cut in 1964.
★ 6.7
Pony Blues
1929
H.C. Speir set up the June 1929 session, and Patton's first Paramount release still sounds like the Delta's starting point.
★ 6.7
Between the Sheets
1983
Chris Jasper's keyboards and drum machine, Ronald Isley at his silkiest, and the loop under "Big Poppa".
★ 6.6
Electric Feel
2008 · From Oracular Spectacular
A 6/4 groove where pop usually sits in 4/4, and Fridmann's production turns silvery synths into a slow strut.
★ 6.6
Just Can't Get Enough
1981 · From Speak & Spell
Daniel Miller sequenced it on a Roland MC-4, Vince Clarke's last single for the band and still a terrace chant.
★ 6.6
Heartbeats (The Knife)
2002
Pitchfork's fifteenth-best song of the 2000s, the Dreijer siblings' synth pulse, later stripped to one acoustic guitar by Jose Gonzalez.
★ 6.6
Hot in Herre
2002
The Neptunes flipped Chuck Brown's "Bustin' Loose," and Nelly rode it to number one and the first male solo rap Grammy.
★ 6.6
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
1980 · From Greatest Hits
Ten minutes after a Munich bath, a borrowed Fender not the Red Special, and Queen's first American number one.
★ 6.5
The Way You Make Me Feel
1987 · From Bad
Cut at Westlake with Quincy Jones, a shuffle Jackson wrote himself, and Bad's third straight Hot 100 number one.
★ 6.5
Gimme Some Lovin'
1966
Half an hour in a Marquee rehearsal room, by Muff Winwood's account, and Steve's placeholder yell became the title.
★ 6.5
Come On Eileen
1982
Fiddle, banjo and a tempo shifting gears, then one week at number one between Billie Jean and Beat It.
★ 6.5
Use Me
1972
Ray Jackson's clavinet vamp and James Gadson's drums; it stopped at number two, blocked by Michael Jackson's "Ben".
★ 6.5
Two Weeks (FKA Twigs)
2014
Emile Haynie and Arca build a slow cathedral of bass, and Twigs sings desire in a whisper.
★ 6.5
You Make My Dreams Come True
1981
A rare Yamaha CP-30 supplies the riff, and Oates traced the song to Delta blues jammed against Texas swing.
★ 6.5
Pour Some Sugar On Me
1987
Written last, on a tea break, from a riff Elliott had been jamming; it later pushed Hysteria to number one.
★ 6.4
Brick House
1977
Drummer Walter Orange stepped out front, LaPread's bass line did the rest, and funk got a permanent floor-filler.
★ 6.4
Don't Stop the Music
2007
StarGate looped Michael Jackson's chant from Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', and Rihanna took it to number one in ten countries.
★ 6.4
The JokerSteve Miller Band
The Joker
1973
A lyric lifted from "Lovey Dovey", a misheard doo-wop coinage, and a Levi's ad that made it Britain's number one.
★ 6.3
Get Ready
1966
Smokey's song, Kendricks singing lead, number one R&B but only twenty-nine pop, which handed the group to Whitfield.
★ 6.3
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
Addicted to Love
1986
Chaka Khan's label blocked her from the duet, so Palmer sang it alone over Tony Thompson's drum intro.
★ 6.3
Hips Don't Lie
Shakira and Wyclef Jean
2006
Jean and Duplessis rebuilt his 'Dance Like This' around Jerry Rivera's salsa trumpet line; number one in eighteen countries.
★ 6.2
Mysterious Ways
1991 · From Achtung Baby
Grown from a Dublin jam called Sick Puppy, and Edge's Korg funk-wah setting turned Clayton's bassline into U2's funkiest record.
★ 6.2
Cruisin'
1979
Tarplin handed over the guitar melody, and Robinson spent years finding words sensual enough to deserve it.
★ 6.2