Layla
1971 · From Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Clapton wanted his friend's wife; Duane Allman's slide answers every line, then Jim Gordon's piano coda changes everything.
★ 8.7
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.
Losing My ReligionR.E.M.
Losing My Religion
1991 · From Out of Time
Buck wrote the riff while teaching himself mandolin in front of the television, and R.E.M. got their biggest American hit.
★ 8.2
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
Creep (Radiohead)
1992 · From Pablo Honey
Greenwood meant those three dead notes before the chorus to wreck the song, and they are what makes it work.
★ 7.7
All I Have to Do Is Dream
1958
Two live takes in Nashville, Chet Atkins on guitar, and a harmony that topped three Billboard charts at once.
★ 7.7
Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)Fleetwood Mac
Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)
1975 · From Fleetwood Mac
A novel called Triad set Nicks going; years later she learned she had described a Welsh goddess exactly.
★ 7.6
Do I Wanna Know?
2013 · From AM
A stomping riff, a desert studio in Joshua Tree, and the band's first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
★ 7.5
Just My Imagination
1971
By Otis Williams's account Kendricks stayed for hours of takes; his final Temptations single spent two weeks at number one.
★ 7.4
Fade Into You
1994
Roback's guitar and Sandoval's half-whisper, the band's only Hot 100 entry, and television's favorite shortcut to longing.
★ 7.0
Passin' Me By
1993 · From Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
J-Swift looped Quincy Jones and Weather Report while four Pharcyde MCs traded verses about being turned down.
★ 7.0
You Belong With Me
2009 · From Fearless
Banjo, fiddle and mandolin under a scene Swift wrote after overhearing a touring musician's phone call with his girlfriend.
★ 6.8
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
1981 · From Ghost in the Machine
Four years in Sting's drawer before The Police cut it, and Jean Roussel's piano overdubs are why it soars.
★ 6.8
Walk Away Renee
1966
Sixteen-year-old Michael Brown's hands shook when Renee walked into the control room, so he cut the harpsichord part later, alone.
★ 6.8
I Can't Make You Love Me
1991
Bruce Hornsby's piano behind a vocal Raitt cut in one take, then refused to try again.
★ 6.7
Just a Friend
1989
Freddie Scott's "(You) Got What I Need" rebuilt on piano, with Markie singing the hook himself, flat and irresistible.
★ 6.6
One Fine Day
1962
Goffin and King built it for Little Eva; the Chiffons got the track, King's piano intro intact.
★ 6.5
I Want You to Want Me
1977
Nielsen's studio take on In Color went nowhere; the live Japanese version, crowd and all, hit number seven.
★ 6.4
Take a Chance on Me
1978 · From Gold: Greatest Hits
Ulvaeus chanted "tck-a-ch" to pace his jogging; it became the a cappella hook on ABBA's seventh UK number one.
★ 6.2
Jessie's Girl
1981
A Pasadena stained-glass class, a friend's girlfriend, and Neil Giraldo's guitar turning ordinary envy into a number one.
★ 6.2