Stand By Me
1960
That four-note bassline, a gospel hymn turned into a promise, and one of the warmest vocals ever recorded.
★ 9.4
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.
Thriller
1982 · From Thriller
Vincent Price cackling over a disco-funk groove, and a fourteen-minute video that turned pop into event television.
★ 9.2
Cross Road Blues
1936 · From King of the Delta Blues Singers
Two takes in a San Antonio hotel room, Johnson's slide answering his own voice; the devil came later.
★ 7.9
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)Fleetwood Mac
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
1975 · From Fleetwood Mac
Aspen in 1974, Nicks weighing whether to quit music, and Buckingham Travis-picking a Martin D-18 underneath.
★ 7.8
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
Drive (Incubus)
2000
Boyd called it a song about fear, and Scott Litt's production pulls the band down to acoustic guitar.
★ 5.0
Lights
2011
Goulding wrote it about a childhood fear of the dark, and the Hot 100 kept it fifty-two weeks.
★ 4.7
The Rose
1980
A song its writer said had no bridge and no hook, written in 45 minutes and sung to number three.
★ 4.3
Heart Attack
2013
Nikki Williams co-wrote it for herself and lost it; Pia Toscano's backing vocals still sit under Lovato's.
★ 3.7