Respect
1967 · From I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You
Aretha takes Otis Redding's song away from him for good, spells out the demand, and never gives it back.
★ 9.9
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.
Suspicious MindsElvis Presley
Suspicious Minds
1969
Mark James flopped with it first, in the same Memphis studio; Moman then handed Presley his last American number one.
★ 8.2
Doo-wop (That Thing)
1998 · From The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Hill wrote and produced it herself, aimed one verse at women and one at men, and debuted at number one.
★ 7.8
Style
2015 · From 1989
Ali Payami and guitarist Niklas Ljungfelt built the track; Swift turned an on-off romance into a fashion metaphor.
★ 7.1
Fallin'
2001
Two chords, one piano, and Keys writing and producing her own debut single straight to Song of the Year.
★ 7.0
Shake, Rattle & Roll
1954
Jesse Stone wrote it under a pen name, Atlantic cut it in February 1954, and Turner topped the R&B chart.
★ 6.9
Reptilia
2004 · From Room on Fire
Nigel Godrich's sessions got scrapped, Gordon Raphael came back, and the descending twin-guitar riff turned everything into a sprint.
★ 6.8
About a Girl
1994 · From Bleach
Cobain wrote it in 1988, reportedly after playing Meet the Beatles all day; the Unplugged take topped Modern Rock.
★ 6.7
I Can't Go For That
1981
Hall started with a Roland preset and a Korg bass line, the one Jackson borrowed for Billie Jean.
★ 6.7
When I Come Around
1994 · From Dookie
Four palm-muted chords, Dirnt's bass doing the melodic work, and a lyric Armstrong wrote after fighting with Adrienne.
★ 6.6
Beast of Burden
1978 · From Some Girls
A thank-you note to Jagger for shouldering the band, by Richards' account, with Wood taking the solo.
★ 6.5
What's My Age Again?
1999
Hoppus was twenty-six and picked twenty-three purely for the rhyme; MCA made them drop the title "Peter Pan Complex".
★ 6.4
If You Want Me to Stay
1973 · From Fresh
Number twelve on the Hot 100, the band's last pop top twenty, and a bass line hip hop still raids.
★ 6.3
It's My Life (Talk Talk)
1984
A Tim Pope video with no lip-syncing, BBC wildlife footage, and Talk Talk's only American top forty.
★ 6.3
Two Weeks (Grizzly Bears)
2009
Chris Bear started the piano line on a Cape Cod weekend; Victoria Legrand's stacked harmonies make the rest glow.
★ 6.3
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
1980
Schwartz took the title from a pillow-punching therapy session, and Benatar made it her first American top ten.
★ 6.2
Tell It Like It Is
1966
Neville was working the New Orleans docks when he cut this for Par-Lo, a label built to release it.
★ 6.0
Love is a Battlefield
1983
Holly Knight and Mike Chapman wrote it as a ballad; Neil Giraldo's drum machines turned it into dance-rock.
★ 5.7
Hold the Line
1978
Paich's pounding piano intro, Porcaro's triplet hi-hat, and Lukather's solo, all on a debut single that hit number five.
★ 5.2
Say You'll Be There
1996
Judd Lander, the harmonica player from Karma Chameleon, gives the record its Stevie Wonder swing over Absolute's production.
★ 5.1