Beat It
1982 · From Thriller
Van Halen dropped in, played the solo for free, and Jackson made rock and pop the same building.
★ 9.2
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.
Mannish BoyMuddy Waters
Mannish Boy
1955 · From The Anthology: 1947-1972
Waters answered Bo Diddley's answer to his own song in 1955, holding one chord and a stop-time riff throughout.
★ 8.1
Theme from ShaftIsaac Hayes
Theme from Shaft
1971
Skip Pitts on wah-wah, Willie Hall riding sixteenths on hi-hat, and the first Academy Award won by a Black composer.
★ 7.8
It's a Man's Man's Man's World
1966 · From It's a Man's Man's Man's World
Betty Jean Newsome shares the credit and later claimed all of it; Sammy Lowe's strings carry Brown's most exposed vocal.
★ 7.7
Hoochie Coochie Man
1954 · From The Anthology: 1947-1972
Dixon wrote it, Little Walter blew the harmonica, and that stop-time riff spread through blues and rock alike.
★ 7.7
I'm a ManBo Diddley
I'm a Man
1955 · From Bo Diddley
One chord cut at Chess in March 1955, and Muddy Waters answered it with Mannish Boy by May.
★ 7.3
The WandererDion
The Wanderer
1961
Ernie Maresca offered it to Nino and the Ebb Tides first; buried as a B-side, it went to number two.
★ 6.7
Whatta ManSalt-N-Pepa
Whatta Man
Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue
1993
Linda Lyndell's 1968 Volt single became the hook, with En Vogue singing it and Salt-n-Pepa praising a good man.
★ 5.3
She's a LadyTom Jones
She's a Lady
1971
Paul Anka's song, Gordon Mills's production, and a swagger Jones rides all the way to number two.
★ 3.9
Soldier
Destiny's Child and T.I.
2004
Sean Garrett wrote the hook in a taxi, and T.I. and Lil Wayne are the album's only guest verses.
★ 3.7