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
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.
Over the Rainbow
1939
MGM cut it from the film twice until Arthur Freed threatened to quit; Garland was sixteen.
★ 9.0
Crazy (Patsy Cline)Patsy Cline
Crazy (Patsy Cline)
1962 · From Patsy Cline Showcase
Willie Nelson wrote it; Cline, back after a car wreck bruised her ribs, nailed the vocal in one take.
★ 8.8
You've Lost That Lovin' FeelinThe Righteous Brothers
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin
1964
Spector printed 3:05 on the label of a 3:45 record, and it became the century's most-played song on American radio.
★ 8.8
Smoke Stack Lightning
1956 · From Moanin' in the Moonlight
One chord, no changes, Sumlin's guitar circling, and Wolf's howl answering the trains whose sparks named the song.
★ 8.5
Where the Streets Have No Name
1987 · From The Joshua Tree
Eno reckoned half the album's sessions went into it and nearly wiped the tape; the Edge's delay does the rest.
★ 8.4
There is a Light that Never Goes OutThe Smiths
There is a Light that Never Goes Out
1986 · From The Queen is Dead
Marr faked the strings on an Emulator, credited them to the Hated Salford Ensemble, and Britain waited six years.
★ 8.3
Stardust (1927)
1927
Carmichael whistled the tune to his band at Gennett and cut it fast; Parish added the lyric two years later.
★ 8.3
Don't Be Cruel
1956
Blackwell gave Presley half the writing credit; the Jordanaires hum behind a vocal so relaxed it barely seems to try.
★ 8.2
Georgia on My Mind
1960 · From The Genius Hits the Road
Hoagy Carmichael's 1930 tune, remade as Charles's first Billboard number one and adopted as Georgia's state song in 1979.
★ 8.2
Wouldn't It Be NiceThe Beach Boys
Wouldn't It Be Nice
1966 · From Pet Sounds
Two accordions, a key change eight beats in, and 21 takes at Gold Star before Wilson sang about growing up.
★ 8.2
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
1975 · From Wish You Were Here
Gilmour's twelve-string comes through a recorded car radio, and Grappelli's violin sits buried near the very end.
★ 8.0
Wichita Lineman
1968
Webb sent it over unfinished, one verse short, and Campbell cut the loneliest three minutes in country music.
★ 7.9
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
The Girl From IpanemaAstrud Gilberto
The Girl From Ipanema
1964
Never a professional singer, Gilberto sang at the 1963 session because she spoke English; Record of the Year followed.
★ 7.8
Louie Louie
1963
Ely shouted on tiptoe at a mic hung overhead, and the FBI spent thirty-one months failing to decode him.
★ 7.8
Ain't No SunshineBill Withers
Ain't No Sunshine
1971
Withers was building airplane toilets when he cut this, and he left the unfinished bridge as twenty-six repeats.
★ 7.8
California Dreamin'
1965 · From If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
The Phillipses wrote it homesick in a New York winter, and Doherty sang over Barry McGuire's existing backing track.
★ 7.8
Wild HorsesThe Rolling Stones
Wild Horses
1971 · From Sticky Fingers
Cut at Muscle Shoals in December 1969, with Jim Dickinson on tack piano after Ian Stewart refused the minor chords.
★ 7.7
Heart of Gold
1972 · From Harvest
A back injury kept Young seated with an acoustic guitar; Taylor and Ronstadt were in Nashville and sang behind him.
★ 7.7