Fortunate Son
1969 · From Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits
Twenty minutes of writing, and Fogerty had the sound of every draft board sending someone else's son.
★ 8.6
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.
Sweet Home Alabama
1974 · From Second Helping
An answer record to Neil Young's "Southern Man," riding Ed King's riff and a name-check for the Muscle Shoals Swampers.
★ 7.8
Free Bird
1973 · From Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
Collins's chords sat unused for two years until Van Zant found the melody; the long outro was his onstage rest.
★ 7.7
Mind Playing Tricks On Me
1991
An Isaac Hayes loop from Tough Guys, three verses by Scarface, and a rap record about fear rather than swagger.
★ 7.7
International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)
2006 · From Underground Kingz
A Willie Hutch loop left alone at the top, and Andre 3000's verse reportedly returned with the drums stripped off.
★ 7.6
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
1969 · From The Band
Eight months on one lyric, Helm doing the library research, and a drummer from Arkansas singing the defeat.
★ 7.6
Back That Azz UpJuvenile
Back That Azz Up
1999
Mannie Fresh's violin line over a bounce beat, Lil Wayne's chant at the close, and New Orleans bounce gone national.
★ 7.3
Whipping PostThe Allman Brothers Band
Whipping Post
1969 · From The Allman Brothers Band
An ironing board cover, charcoal from spent matches, and Berry Oakley's bass counting the intro in eleven menacing beats.
★ 7.2
Mary Jane's Last Dance
1993 · From Greatest Hits
Originally called Indiana Girl, until Petty decided he couldn't sing that line; Stan Lynch's last sessions with the Heartbreakers.
★ 6.7
ATLiens
1996 · From ATLiens
OutKast were booed at the 1995 Source Awards and answered with a title splicing Atlanta and aliens over echo-heavy dub.
★ 6.6
Simple Man
1973 · From Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
Van Zant and Rossington wrote it in an hour, putting his grandmother's and Rossington's mother's advice into song.
★ 6.5
Ramblin' ManThe Allman Brothers Band
Ramblin' Man
1973 · From Brothers and Sisters
Betts wrote and sang it, borrowing Hank Williams' title; Oakley's bass line was among his last recordings.
★ 6.3
Get Low
2003
Crunk's breakthrough, produced entirely by Lil Jon, stalled at number two and drove the album past two million copies.
★ 6.3
JessicaThe Allman Brothers Band
Jessica
1973 · From Brothers and Sisters
A Django Reinhardt tribute written to be playable with two fingers, named for the infant daughter bouncing to it.
★ 6.3
One Day
1996 · From Ridin' Dirty
Pimp C built it on an Isley Brothers loop, Ronnie Spencer sings the hook, and Texas rap found its elegy.
★ 5.9
Hustlin'
2006
Produced by the Runners in 2005, it drew bids from Bad Boy and Murder Inc. before Def Jam won.
★ 5.8
6 Foot 7 Foot
2010 · From Tha Carter IV
Bangladesh built the beat around Harry Belafonte's Day-O, and Wayne released it six weeks after leaving jail.
★ 5.7
Hold On (Alabama Shakes)
2012
Four Alabama day-jobbers paid for their own sessions at a Nashville home studio, and Rolling Stone named it 2012's best.
★ 5.7
Tuesday's GoneLynyrd Skynyrd
Tuesday's Gone
1973 · From Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
A Mellotron faking the strings, producer Al Kooper credited as Roosevelt Gook, and Van Zant's rambling farewell.
★ 5.4
Ridin'
2006
3.2 million ringtones sold, a Grammy won, and Play-N-Skillz's beat under a hook about racial profiling.
★ 5.3
Blue Sky
1972 · From Eat a Peach
Duane heard Betts's song, told him to sing it himself, and traded solos on one of his last sessions.
★ 5.3
Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta
1992
Drums lifted from a 1973 Ripple record, a closing verse in a president's voice, and Office Space did the rest.
★ 5.3
Rollout (My Business)
2001
Timbaland built the beat at Manhattan Center Studios, and Ludacris turned deflecting nosy questions into pure comic swagger.
★ 5.2
Move BitchLudacris
Move Bitch
2001
Mystikal barks the guest verse, Ludacris takes his first top ten, and 2003 antiwar marchers rewrote the chorus.
★ 5.2
Get Back
2005
Cartoon-sized arms in a men's room, courtesy of Spike Jonze, and Tom Cruise dancing to it in Tropic Thunder.
★ 4.4
Low
2007
DJ Montay's beat, T-Pain on the hook, and the first song to sell four million digital copies in America.
★ 4.3
Area CodesLudacris
Area Codes
2001
Jazze Pha's beat, Nate Dogg on the hook, and a Rush Hour 2 single that maps boasting by telephone prefix.
★ 4.2
Live Your Life
2008
Eighty to number one in a single week, on a hook lifted from the Moldovan pop song behind Numa Numa.
★ 4.0
All for You
1997
Cut at Ardent Studios in Memphis, re-recorded in 1997 for the band's second album, and a number eleven hit.
★ 2.9
Caught Up In You
1981
Jim Peterik of Survivor co-wrote it with Barnes and Carlisi, and it gave the band their first top ten.
★ 2.8
Walk It Out
2006
Atlanta radio had it in March 2006; by September the country did, and Outkast joined the remix.
★ 2.7
Right Thurr
2003
Trak Starz built the beat, Ludacris and Chaka Zulu signed him, and the Walnut Park kid stalled at number two.
★ 2.1
Snap Yo Fingers
2006
Finger snaps where the snare should be, E-40 riding shotgun, and Lil Jon proving crunk could whisper.
★ 2.1
Only God Knows Why
1999
The first ballad Kid Rock ever cut, its opening lines written, by his account, in a jail cell.
★ 1.6
A Bay Bay
2007
A Shreveport club chant for DJ Hollywood Bay Bay, which Phunk Dawg's beat carried all the way to number seven.
★ 1.0