ParanoidBlack Sabbath
Paranoid
1970 · From Paranoid
Iommi's riff arrived as three-minute filler for the album, Butler wrote the words fast, and Sabbath had their biggest UK hit.
★ 8.5
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.
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
2005
Cee-Lo cut the vocal in one take over a 1968 spaghetti western sample. Nine weeks at UK number one.
★ 7.6
Shine on You Crazy DiamondPink Floyd
Shine on You Crazy Diamond
1975 · From Wish You Were Here
Four notes known as Syd's theme, and Barrett himself turning up at Abbey Road mid-session, unrecognized by the band.
★ 7.6
Psycho Killer
1977 · From Talking Heads: 77
A ballad first, written at art school, until Weymouth's French bridge and bassline turned it feral.
★ 7.6
Lithium
1991 · From Nevermind
The only Nevermind track cut to a click track, and Grohl's metronome only makes the quiet-loud lurch hit harder.
★ 7.4
i
2014 · From To Pimp a Butterfly
Rahki built it on the Isley Brothers' That Lady, and Lamar turned self-love into two Grammys.
★ 6.4
Pumped Up Kicks
2011
Five hours in a Los Angeles jingle studio, the demo kept as the master, its subject hidden in plain sight.
★ 5.8
Madman Across the Water
1971 · From Madman Across the Water
Buckmaster spilled ink across his orchestral score and rewrote all of it in a day; Spedding's electric guitar prowls underneath.
★ 4.8
Runaway Train
1993
Pirner wrote it during a breakdown, and Tony Kaye's video named missing children, region by region, until some came home.
★ 4.5
Unwell
2003
Rob Thomas called it a song for people who feel alone; eighteen weeks at Adult Top 40 number one.
★ 2.6