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
Be My Baby
1963 · From Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica
Hal Blaine's four-beat drum intro is the most imitated in pop, and Ronnie Spector owns everything after it.
★ 9.3
I Got You (I Feel Good)
1965 · From I Got You (I Feel Good)
Brown recycled a flop he'd cut on Yvonne Fair, added Maceo Parker's alto, and landed his highest-charting single.
★ 8.8
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles)
1960
King wrote the melody and the string arrangement, and a girl group topped the Hot 100 for the first time.
★ 8.0
At Last
1960 · From At Last!
Riley Hampton's strings behind a 1941 film tune James took over, and the Library of Congress preserved it.
★ 7.8
Your SongElton John
Your Song
1970 · From Elton John
Taupin scribbled the lyric over breakfast at a kitchen table, and Buckmaster's strings turned it into John's first Top 10.
★ 7.8
La Vie en Rose (Edith Piaf)Edith Piaf
La Vie en Rose (Edith Piaf)
1947
Piaf's own lyric, dismissed by her collaborators as foolishness, then a million American sales and a French national possession.
★ 7.8
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
Can't Help Falling in LoveElvis Presley
Can't Help Falling in Love
1961 · From Blue Hawaii
A 1784 French melody rewritten for Blue Hawaii, and the song Presley chose to close his shows for a decade.
★ 7.7
Take On Me
1985
Two releases flopped before the third one broke, Furuholmen's Juno-60 riff intact and a video rotoscoped over sixteen weeks.
★ 7.5
Vision of Love
1990
Written with Ben Margulies in a studio behind his father's cabinet factory, and the whistle-register note that reset pop singing.
★ 7.3
All Shook Up
1957
A shaken Pepsi bottle gave Blackwell the title, and Presley's version held number one for two solid months.
★ 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
We Found Love
2011
Calvin Harris wrote and produced it alone, and Rihanna rode ten weeks at number one, 2011's longest run.
★ 7.2
Ain't NobodyChaka Khan
Ain't Nobody
1983
Wolinski's synth loop, his threat to hand the song to Quincy Jones instead, and Khan sailing clean over it.
★ 6.8
Uptight (Everything's Alright)
1965 · From Up-Tight
Wonder was fifteen, his voice breaking, and Gordy feared he was finished; Sylvia Moy fed him lyrics line by line.
★ 6.8
Such Great Heights (The Postal Service)
2003
Tamborello sent instrumental DATs to Gibbard, who added vocals and shipped them back; his first happy love song.
★ 6.7
Help Me
1974 · From Court and Spark
Her only American top ten hit, cut with Tom Scott's L.A. Express as she swung folk toward jazz.
★ 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
Is This Love (Bob Marley)Bob Marley and the Wailers
Is This Love (Bob Marley)
1978 · From Kaya
Kaya's warmest track went top ten in Britain, and its London video gave a young Naomi Campbell her debut.
★ 6.4
Strangers in the NightFrank Sinatra
Strangers in the Night
1966 · From Strangers in the Night
Bert Kaempfert's film melody, an Ernie Freeman arrangement, Sinatra's first number one in eleven years, and he reportedly hated it.
★ 6.3
You Make Me Feel So Young
1956 · From Songs for Swingin' Lovers
A 1946 film tune reborn in Riddle's arrangement on the album that topped Britain's first LP chart, Sinatra audibly beaming.
★ 6.3
I'm a BelieverThe Monkees
I'm a Believer
1966
Seven weeks at number one for Neil Diamond's song, with Diamond himself on acoustic guitar behind Dolenz's lead.
★ 6.2
This Magic Moment
1960
Pomus and Shuman wrote it, Leiber and Stoller wrapped it in strings, and Ben E. King made a kiss enormous.
★ 6.1
(I've Had) The Time Of My Life
1987
Medley said no repeatedly until Warnes signed on, and the two finished the vocal in about an hour.
★ 6.1
Bound 2
2013 · From Yeezus
A Ponderosa Twins Plus One loop, Charlie Wilson singing the bridge, and Yeezus ending on chipmunk soul.
★ 6.1
Northern Sky
1970 · From Bryter Layter
Boyd handed Cale the demo and he improvised celeste, piano and organ around Drake's most openly loving song.
★ 5.9
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Carole King)Carole King
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Carole King)
1971 · From Tapestry
A decade after the Shirelles made it the first girl-group number one, King slowed it down with Taylor and Mitchell.
★ 5.9
Could it Be I'm Falling in Love
1972
Thom Bell's arrangement at Sigma Sound, MFSB behind him, and Bobby Smith singing soft where anyone else would push.
★ 5.7
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
The Longest Time
1984 · From An Innocent Man
Every voice on the record is Joel's, stacked over Doug Stegmeyer's bass; doo-wop rebuilt by one man.
★ 5.6
Sea of Love (Phil Phillips)
1959
A Lake Charles bellhop wrote it for a woman, and Khoury's tiny label carried the swooning triplets to number two.
★ 5.6
Head Over Feet
1995
Harmonica played by Morissette herself, Ballard's warm production, and a rare Jagged Little Pill song that is simply grateful.
★ 5.5
Such Great Heights (Iron & Wine)Iron & Wine
Such Great Heights (Iron & Wine)
2004
Beam slowed Gibbard's synth-pop into hushed acoustic guitar for a Sub Pop B-side, then Garden State put it everywhere.
★ 5.5
Can You Feel the Love Tonight
1994 · From The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Written as a comedy number for a meerkat and a warthog until John objected, and it took the Oscar.
★ 5.4
Kiss On My List
1981
Written with Janna Allen and kept as the demo take; by Hall's account Van Halen borrowed its synth for "Jump".
★ 5.4
Peaceful Easy Feeling
1972 · From Eagles
Tempchin wrote it on a poster back while sleeping on a club floor; Leadon's B-bender guitar does the rest.
★ 5.4
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