I Heard it Through the Grapevine
1968 · From In the Groove
Motown shelved Gaye's version for over a year; it came out sounding like paranoia set to a Funk Brothers groove.
★ 9.3
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.
JoleneDolly Parton
Jolene
1973 · From Jolene
Dolly pleading with her rival rather than fighting her, written the same day as "I Will Always Love You."
★ 9.3
Maybellene
1955 · From Chuck Berry Is on Top
Ida Red, a 1938 Bob Wills fiddle tune, turned into a car chase, with Johnnie Johnson's piano running underneath.
★ 8.4
Suspicious MindsElvis Presley
Suspicious Minds
1969
Mark James flopped with it first, in the same Memphis studio; Moman then handed Presley his last American number one.
★ 8.2
Every Breath You Take
1983 · From Synchronicity
Sting woke at Fleming's Goldeneye with the melody; Summers cut that arpeggio in one take and made surveillance sound tender.
★ 8.2
Say My Name
1999
Rodney Jerkins chopped the beat into stop-start halves, and a phone call full of suspicion became two Grammys.
★ 7.7
Stop! In the Name of Love
1965
By Dozier's account the title came from a motel argument; Paul Williams supplied the hand at a rehearsal.
★ 7.6
Roxanne
1978 · From Outlandos d'Amour
Copeland turned Sting's bossa nova into a tango, and the piano clang at the top was an accident they kept.
★ 7.6
Mr. Brightside
2004 · From Hot Fuss
Flowers wrote it after a bad night at a Vegas bar; Britain has kept it charting past 500 weeks.
★ 7.6
St. Louis BluesBessie Smith
St. Louis Blues
1925 · From The Complete Recordings
Armstrong's cornet answering every line Smith sings, with only a wheezing harmonium underneath, cut in New York in 1925.
★ 7.5
You Oughta Know
1995
Flea on bass and Dave Navarro on guitar, recorded in Glen Ballard's home studio, behind the nineties' fiercest kiss-off.
★ 7.4
Hey Joe
1966
Hendrix took Tim Rose's slow arrangement off a jukebox, Chandler hired the Breakaways, and Britain answered at number six.
★ 7.4
I Put a Spell on You
1956
Intended as a blues ballad until the producer brought wine; Hawkins said he never remembered recording it.
★ 7.3
Down By The RiverNeil Young
Down By The River
1969 · From Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Young wrote it in bed with a 103-degree fever, and Crazy Horse stretched it to nine ragged minutes.
★ 7.2
Sweet Emotion
1975 · From Toys in the Attic
Three sounds in that intro: Hamilton's bass riff, Perry's talk box, a bass marimba. Aerosmith's first Top 40 single.
★ 7.1
You Got Me
The Roots and Erykah Badu
1999 · From Things Fall Apart
Jill Scott's hook, re-sung by Badu at the label's request, and Questlove driving the outro into drum and bass.
★ 7.1
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
Watching the Detectives
1977 · From My Aim is True
Costello wrote it after a night with the first Clash album; Nieve's piano stalks it like Bernard Herrmann.
★ 6.6
BernadetteThe Four Tops
Bernadette
1967
Dozier had three Bernadettes in mind, and Levi Stubbs shouts the name at the false ending like a man drowning.
★ 6.4
Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)Jay-Z
Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)
2001 · From The Blueprint
A Bobby Bland soul record from 1974, rebuilt by Kanye West, and Jay-Z sounding untouchable and unloved at the top.
★ 6.3
Jessie's Girl
1981
A Pasadena stained-glass class, a friend's girlfriend, and Neil Giraldo's guitar turning ordinary envy into a number one.
★ 6.2
The Kids Are Alright
1966 · From My Generation
Recorded at IBC in October 1965, it stalled at 41 in Britain, then became the mod movement's calling card.
★ 6.1
The Boy Is MineBrandy
The Boy Is Mine
1998
Brandy got the idea from a Jerry Springer love triangle, and Darkchild's clipped beat held number one thirteen weeks.
★ 6.0
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
1978
Graham Maby's bass carries the whole thing, a 1978 flop until reissue, and Jackson insisted it was a funny song.
★ 5.8
It's Not UnusualTom Jones
It's Not Unusual
1965
Written for Sandie Shaw, who heard Jones's demo and told them to give him the record instead.
★ 5.8
Santeria
1996 · From Sublime
Built on a bassline lifted from a Robbin' the Hood dub, and issued months after Nowell's death.
★ 5.6
Teardrops On My Guitar
2007 · From Taylor Swift
Nathan Chapman's production stays hushed while Swift and Liz Rose leave the real classmate's name, Drew, in the lyric.
★ 5.1
Honey Don'tCarl Perkins
Honey Don't
1956
Flipside of Blue Suede Shoes, cut at Sun with both Perkins brothers, and later Ringo's turn on Beatles for Sale.
★ 4.7
Lately (Jodeci)
1993
Twenty-four hours to learn a Stevie Wonder ballad for MTV Unplugged, and K-Ci and JoJo owned it.
★ 3.6
Paper Doll
1944
Cut in under fifteen minutes as a B-side in 1942, it sat at number one for twelve weeks.
★ 3.4
Jealous
2014
Jonas cut it while training for the series Kingdom, chasing what he called a Lionel Richie vibe.
★ 3.0
Some Guys Have All the Luck
1985 · From Camouflage
Jeff Fortgang wrote it fresh out of Yale; the Persuaders cut it first, and Stewart took it to number ten.
★ 2.6
