A Change is Gonna ComeSam Cooke
A Change is Gonna Come
1964 · From Portrait of a Legend
Cooke wrote it after a motel turned him away, and sang it like a hymn he already knew by heart.
★ 9.7
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.
Here Comes the Sun
1969 · From Abbey Road
Harrison wrote it in Clapton's garden while skipping a business meeting, and it sounds exactly like that relief.
★ 9.6
Let it Be
1970 · From Let It Be
McCartney dreamed of his mother Mary telling him it would be all right; Harrison cut two different solos.
★ 8.9
Thunder Road
1975 · From Born to Run
Bittan's piano, a harmonica, and a screen door slamming; Springsteen lifted the title from a Robert Mitchum film poster.
★ 8.3
People Get ReadyThe Impressions
People Get Ready
1965
Mayfield turned the gospel train of the spirituals into a civil rights hymn, and King used it to steady marchers.
★ 8.0
What a Wonderful WorldLouis Armstrong
What a Wonderful World
1967 · From What a Wonderful World
Armstrong took union scale so the orchestra could collect overtime; ABC's president hated it and buried the record.
★ 7.8
Live Forever
1994 · From Definitely Maybe
Gallagher wrote it in 1991, before Oasis had a record deal, pitching plain optimism against everything grunge was selling.
★ 7.7
I'll Take You ThereThe Staple Singers
I'll Take You There
1972
Al Bell lifted the bassline from a Jamaican instrumental, and Mavis Staples turned Muscle Shoals into a pulpit.
★ 7.5
Three Little BirdsBob Marley and the Wailers
Three Little Birds
1977 · From Exodus
Reportedly inspired by canaries at his Hope Road windowsill, cut in London, and the gentlest reassurance in reggae.
★ 7.4
Clint Eastwood
2001
Albarn built it on a melodica and an Omnichord's first preset; Del cut his verses in half an hour.
★ 7.4
Don't Stop Believin'
1981
Cain lifted the title from his father's advice, and the chorus stays hidden until the last fifty seconds.
★ 7.3
Float On
2004
Brock wrote it in the final days of tracking, fed up with darkness, and built indie rock's warmest chorus.
★ 7.3
Dream On
1973 · From Aerosmith
Tyler had the tune on his family's New Hampshire lodge piano years before Aerosmith; a reissue reached number six.
★ 7.2
Move On Up
1970 · From Curtis
Master Henry Gibson's congas drive it, the horns arrive like good news, and Britain sent it top twelve.
★ 7.2
Livin' on a Prayer
1986 · From Slippery When Wet
The band laughed at Sambora's talk box until it opened the record. The last chorus climbs a minor third.
★ 7.1
Don't Dream It's Over
1986
Froom's Hammond solo does the heavy lifting, and Finn wrote the rest as an exhortation to himself.
★ 7.0
Everyday
1957
A celesta played by the producer's wife, Jerry Allison slapping his knees for drums, and two minutes of pure lift.
★ 6.9
Beautiful Day
2000 · From All That You Can't Leave Behind
Eno programmed the drum machine, Lanois played the Telecaster, and the Edge won the argument for his old delay-drenched sound.
★ 6.9
New Year's Day
1983 · From War
A bass line Clayton stumbled on while decoding Visage's Fade to Grey, then Bono aimed the words at Poland's Solidarity.
★ 6.8
Shining Star (Earth, Wind and Fire)
1975
A night walk at Caribou Ranch gave White the title, and the band their only Hot 100 number one.
★ 6.8
One Fine Day
1962
Goffin and King built it for Little Eva; the Chiffons got the track, King's piano intro intact.
★ 6.5
Ooh Child
1970
Stan Vincent's song sat on a B-side until it broke out in Philadelphia and Detroit and climbed to number eight.
★ 6.1
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
This Will Be Our Year
1968 · From Odessey and Oracle
Take four, June 1967 at EMI, with a trumpet added later onto the mono mix and nowhere else.
★ 6.0
Red Eyes
2014 · From Lost in the Dream
Granduciel spent two years second-guessing these sessions, and the song still turns on one yelp before the chorus.
★ 5.8
We've Only Just Begun
1970 · From Close to You
Richard Carpenter recognized Paul Williams singing a bank commercial and asked whether a whole song existed underneath.
★ 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
Come Sail Away
1977
A piano ballad at first, then a synthesizer break, then guitars, angels and a starship headed skyward.
★ 5.5
Learnin' to Fly
1991 · From Into the Great Wide Open
Four chords, F, C, A minor, G, looping unchanged while Petty and Jeff Lynne make uplift sound effortless.
★ 5.5
Not Afraid
2010 · From Recovery
Boi-1da's beat, Resto's keyboards, and Eminem setting the Slim Shady mask aside; it debuted at number one.
★ 5.3
Crystal Blue Persuasion
1969
James took the title from Revelation's New Jerusalem and floated it over organ, acoustic guitar and overdubbed bongos.
★ 5.3
I Believe I Can FlyR. Kelly
I Believe I Can Fly
1996
Written for Space Jam, Paul Riser's strings taped in Detroit, the Luv Club Choir massed behind the vocal.
★ 5.1
Long December
1996
Duritz wrote it before dawn while a friend lay in hospital, and the band cut it almost entirely live.
★ 4.9
The Cave
2009
Written at a soundcheck in an Edinburgh pub, open-D guitar and banjo climbing into a stomp that drew four Grammy nominations.
★ 4.9
Unwritten
2004
Cut in Venice Beach with Danielle Brisebois, then adopted by The Hills and every graduation slideshow since.
★ 4.8
One Headlight
1997
Jakob Dylan wrote it at a Los Angeles kitchen table, then watched it top all three Billboard rock airplay charts.
★ 4.8
Alive and Kicking
1985 · From Once Upon a Time
Robin Clark, credited as additional lead singer, answers Kerr line for line while Iovine pushes everything skyward.
★ 4.7
I Hope You Dance
2000
Sanders and Sillers wrote it in 1999; five weeks at country number one, and every graduation since has borrowed it.
★ 4.6
Hero
1993
Written for Gloria Estefan until Mottola heard the demo; Carey thought it schmaltzy and took it to number one.
★ 4.5