I came upon this list while lost in the depths of Wikipedia; it’s an entry for “Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” a list that has been revised several times. And of course I had to read the article (which gives only the top ten assessed at various times) and comment.
Here’s how it was made:
“The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine Rolling Stone. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in a special issue of the magazine, issue number 963, a year after the magazine published its list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time“. In 2010, Rolling Stone published a revised edition, drawing on the original and a later survey of songs released up until the early 2000s.[2]
Another updated edition of the list was published in 2021, with more than half the entries not having appeared on either of the two previous editions; it was based on a new survey and did not factor in the surveys conducted for the previous lists. The 2021 list was based on a poll of more than 250 artists, musicians, producers, critics, journalists, and industry figures. They each sent in a ranked list of their top 50 songs, and Rolling Stone tabulated the results.[3] In 2024, a revised version of the list was published, with the addition of songs from the 2020s.
For some reason they’ve combined the 2004 with the 2010 revision, and also the 2021 and 2024 revisions. Here are the top ten songs from the two lists:
Well of course I have my opinion, which is subjective, but I’ll give it anyway.
On the first list, if you’re going to mention a Dylan song as #1, “Like a Rolling Stone” is a good choice. However, in my view the best rock song in history was “Layla”, minus the slow piano part. Right behind it is the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.” Neither of these songs are on either list. I’m not a big Rolling Stones fan, but many are, so I won’t comment on “Satisfaction”. “Imagine” is a very good song, but there are many Beatles songs I like better. I’ve mentioned one but there’s “Yesterday,” “Blackbird,” the medley on the second side of “Abbey Road,” and so on. Of all of Marvin Gaye’s songs, I’d put “What’s Going On” on the list, as it is, but if you’re talking about soul songs, there are many better, especially “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, which I see as the greatest soul song of all time. But if you aren’t wedded to political songs, I think “Ooo Baby Baby” is better than “What’s Going On,” though it’s simpler. And then you get into the great soul songs like “Try a Little Tenderness” (which I prefer over “Dock of the Bay”), “Ask the Lonely”, “I Was Made to Love Her” (or, in the Wonder genre, “Isn’t She Lovely”), “Since I Lost My Baby,” and so on.
Aretha’s “Respect” is a great song, but is it the fifth best (popular) song ever recorded? You tell me. In fact, I prefer her version of the Carole King song “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” (mind you, I haven’t looked at the rest of the list; I’m judging only the top ten).
The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” is an excellent song, but the placement here is a clunker: clearly their best song is “God Only Knows”, and its omission is a scandal. It’s their best song and clearly better than “Good Vibrations.” Paul McCartney judged “God Only Knows” as one of the best songs of all time, and he didn’t mention “Good Vibrations”. Chuck Berry was a real innovator, and belongs on the list, but I like “Maybelline” better than “Johnny B. Good”. Again, remember that this is a matter of taste.
As for the Beatles, yes, “Hey Jude” is a great song, but I can think of many Beatles songs that should rank higher, and have named three above. Let me add “In My Life” to make it an even four.
I have listened to Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” many times, trying to find out what so many people see in it. I see little of value, but many people like Nirvana’s style. At any rate, my list would not include that song at all. And for crying out loud, how could they pass up Ray Charles’s “Georgia On My Mind,” a sad and heartbreaking ballad, in favor of “What’d I Say”? Oy gewalt!
I have little to say about the second list save the necessary inclusion of “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke (listen to it here.) I see it as not only the best soul song, but the best civil rights song with the possible exception of “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Public Enemy’s song, along with those of Outkast and Missy Elliott, are not worthy of mention in the top 200, much less the top ten. And I’d replace the Fleetwood Mac song with “Rhiannon” or (my favorite) “Landslide”. All in all, both lists seem to me deficient, though they have flashes of good taste.
A few more things from the article:
- The Beatles are the most represented musical act, with 23 songs on the list. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison are also represented as solo artists. Lennon is the only artist to appear twice in the top 10, as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist. The Beatles are followed by the Rolling Stones (14); Bob Dylan (13);[7] Elvis Presley (11); U2 (8); the Beach Boys and Jimi Hendrix (7); Led Zeppelin, Prince, Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, and Chuck Berry (6); Elton John, Ray Charles, the Clash, the Drifters, Buddy Holly, and the Who (5).
- The album with the most entries on the list (excluding compilation albums) is Are You Experienced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience with four songs on the list: “Purple Haze” (number 17), “Foxy Lady” (number 152), “Hey Joe” (number 198) and “The Wind Cries Mary” (number 37
It is, as Karen Blixen might have said “fit and decorous” that the Beatles have nearly twice as many songs as any other group or artist. And although “Are You Experienced” is a world-class album, the Beatles’ “Revolver” (to my mind their best album, has at least five songs that should be on the list. To each their own.
Finally, here are the songs on the 2004 list given by decade, proving that my teenage and college years encompassed the best rock and pop music (the numbers vary by list, but on all the lists the Sixties and Seventies lead the pack for having the best songs. I conclude that, yes, my adolescence and young manhood happened to occur when the best music was being made, so it’s not just that we all think the best music is the music made during our youth.
Well, I’m sure everyone will come to a universal consensus on this. s/a
Best of lists are what journalists do when they’ve run out of actually relevant topics.
It is fun to debate, even if you think that “best of lists” are useless and irrelevant. And it also helps us recall great songs that we’ve forgotten.
Your last sentence is the best reason for discussing these lists, and it’s not something that we all think about.
As far as the list itself goes,, if I were to pick a Stones song, it would not be Satisfaction. Maybe because it is one of the most overplayed songs ever—but there are still so many other great Stones songs that (like the Beatles) it would be tough for me to decide. I guess I’d suggest Gimme Shelter.
And not a single Dead, Band, or Airplane song? Just adding my kvetching to everyone else’s.
Anyway, your comment about the music of our youth is one my wife would agree with. She laughs at me because I don’t know/can’t stand 99.5% of the songs of the 80s or later.
What happened to music by The Band?
I’m sure that it’s on the big list; remember that there are 490 songs not listed.
Well, Are you Experienced might be listed as the album with the most great songs on it but, unfortunately, 3 of those 4 great songs weren’t on the original as released in the UK. The US release was done after Monterey Pop and the US record company decided, after that sensational performance, that they would put his hit singles on Are you experienced. In fact, only Foxy Lady was originally on it
At this late date, after decades of listening to the songs from this album, my favorite song from it is the title track.
I like Red House personally. I hope Americans got to hear it on another release.
I think it’s more interesting and useful when they rank all of a particular band’s songs. It’s still subjective, but it’s somewhat more interesting, and there’s less comparing apples and PCs (ha ha). I recall when RS did their special issue ranking the Beatles’ 100 best songs (A Day in the Life was ranked number 1), and I thought it was pretty good.
I have liked their lists of top albums, though it’s remarkable how variable the rankings are, and there seems to tend to be a skew toward more recent albums A BIT. I also liked their ranks of best singers/voices or best guitarists somewhat, but again, it varies so much from list to list that it feels very unruly and there’s clearly no clear set of criteria used.
Many aspects of this list seem out of place to me, including the tendency to favor songs from recent decades while songs from the ’40s and earlier are scarcely mentioned. Does Sinatra make any of these lists? And there should be many more from before we were born. True, the style of the old songs do not get traction any more, but why should that make them less great?
Summer Wind by Sinatra is a goddamn popular music masterpiece. I will never tire of it.
“I think it’s more interesting and useful when they rank all of a particular band’s songs”
That’s why I pay $10/month for the youtube music streaming service. They have everything (seriously, they have everything) and all the artists have a “top songs” list- along with all their albums, live shows, related projects, etc. But the top songs list is just an algorighm that places songs in order of their playback popularity. So every band has a rank based on users’ requests, and that makes it more objective by greatly expanding the sample size. Or something like that. 🙂
Nice!
Both sales and racial politics are fairly obvious major factors on this list. I feel that “Hey Jude” is the best-ever rock song (and yes, “Layla”–also with a long outro–is way up there). “Another Girl, Another Planet” by The Only Ones is a serious contender as well IMVHO, but Rolling Stone is an exceptionally mainstream/populist outlet, and I suspect its under their radar.
The Mercy Seat, from 1988, by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is my favorite rock song of all time– with the emphasis on the words “my favorite,” and no use of the word “greatest.” By definition, if someone else’s favorite is different than mine, they aren’t wrong.
On the other hand, I take any “Greatest” lists with a grain of salt the size of Lake Mendota (A lake in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin). Pick 10 different people, and you will likely get 10 different definitions of “greatest.” That the Rolling Stone’s list of greatest songs and albums, and the British Film Institute’s list of greatest movies, change list to list, speaks volumes.
When Ian Dury wrote his hit song “Reasons to be cheerful, Part 3” he didn’t say anything about Parts 1 or 2. Given how subjective musical taste is, I think he was very wise.
For any song that someone places in the top ten I could name 12 that (in my entirely subjective and personal opinion) are better. So, in the same way that Ian Dury didn’t attempt Parts 1 or 2, no-one should attempt a Top 100. Instead we should have debates about what is number 101, 102 et cetera. That’s a way more defendable claim. 🙂
One has to have been a teenager when it arrived to properly appreciate it. 🙂
I never understood the appeal of Nirvana. Some hailed them as “punk’ (which is anachronistic), but they just sound like pre-punk 70s hard rock throwbacks to me. Ian Dury? Now you’re talking! I got to see him live in ’84.
I think this is a fair point, the point being that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” resonated most with a specific time and age group. Although vastly different musically, I think of it as a more recent “My Generation” by The Who. And rock and roll is nothing if not angsty and rebellious.
Ian Dury’s lyrics are excellent..For example: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmopROxBnBU
“I have listened to Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” many times, trying to find out what so many people see in it…”
It isn’t even their best song (“You Know You’re Right” is my fav), but if you don’t like grunge then none of their music will be appealing.
I think it helps to be 15-22 years old to appreciate Nirvana. I was fortunate enough to be a teenager during the grunge era, and my god it was great to have that music wash away all of that hair metal from the late 80s. Nirvana and similar bands really captured that teen-aged angst.
My daughter and her friends have recently discovered Nirvana, which tells me it has cross-generational appeal and was not just an early 90s fad. I don’t quite like it now as much as I did then, but I can still appreciate what they were trying to do. The songs will endure, although they never quite reached the level of the late 60s/early 70s classic rock era.
One more thing…how is “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by CSN not on this list!? That song has everything…a catchy tune, excellent musicianship, supernatural vocals and harmonizing, and great lyrics.
I would like to sit next to a “music journalist” who penned this list and have them listen to Judy Blue Eyes, followed by the noise produced by the likes of Flava Flav and Missy Elliott, and watch them say “Nope, that first song is worse than those next two!” with a straight face.
+1
Ditto for my personal 50 or 100 favorites.
This is so difficult because it is so dependent upon where you were in life when you heard the song.
Here are some favorites on my list:
Father and Son: Cat Stevens
Landslide: Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac
Tangled Up in Blue: Bob Dylan
Teach Your Children: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Diamonds and Rust: Joan Baez
The Weight: The Band
Friend of the Devil: The Grateful Dead
A Whiter Shade of Pale: Procol Harum
I think you and I should host a house party, Norman. Our taste is almost identical!
🙂
D.A.
NYC
A house party would be fun!
Such lists are meaningless as music is in the ear of the beholder- look at the recent discussion about the omission of Billy Joel from a list of best songwriters. I would have 100 songs ahead of all of these (one of which would certainly be Layla). If you carried out this survey in the UK, you would almost certainly get the following in the top 10, or even top 5:
Whiter Shade of Pale
Bohemian Rhapsody
Stairway to Heaven
Hotel California
Hotel California is widely panned for reasons that mystify me. It is very atypical of The Eagles, but it’s my favorite song of theirs.
I’ve never understood that either. Great song.
Rolling Stone has a longstanding bias against Prog Rock so I don’t relate to their lists at all, being a Prog fan. But at least they’ve finally gotten over their previous bias against Led Zeppelin, who they routinely panned in the 70s but whose reputation has now become too big to ignore. Even in a remote part of Indonesia I found Zep fans!
Lists like these show just how narrow the musical tastes of their compilers are. If you listen to a wide range of African American music—rock, jazz, blues, soul—as well as world music from, say, Brazil or Cuba, it seems absurd to see “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at the top of the list. Or for heaven’s sake: where are geniuses like Cole Porter or George Gershwin?
While I like most of the songs on both of these top 10 out of 500 lists, some very much, I don’t know that I would rank any of them in my top 10 best rock songs of all time. I am not a musician, or any kind of musical expert, merely an avid listener, so all I have to go by is if it sounds good to me.
For example, sorry but Dylan songs sound awful. The lyrics may be great, but not when sung by him. All my favorite Dylan songs are covers by others. For example, Maggie’s Farm covered by Rage Against The Machine.
I would have expected the most requested song on FM radio to appear in the top ten—Stairway to Heaven.
These lists are always so hard to determine. What do people even mean by “best”, anyway? Most enjoyable to listen to in my opinion? Most influential? Most popular? I mean, Sugar, Sugar was the most popular song of 1969, but it’s hardly making top 10 lists these days.
I suppose I’m as much a product of my time as anyone else, so out of the songs on those lists, Nirvana and Outkast would be my picks. But if I was making the list on my own with my own favorites, it would definitely include some Sonic Youth and Daft Punk. Both bands were influential in their respective genres, but not exactly hugely popular in the mainstream, so what does that make them?
Maybe throw in some Lou Reed and Iggy Pop for “older” stuff, and Robert Johnson for someone truly influential. (Checking the full list, Robert Johnson did sneak in at 481. I guess that’s something, though I would have put him at least in the top 25.)
I agree that “best” lacks any sort of objective definition. As a result, my first thought was that we should define “best” to mean the most popular. Sadly, Wikipedia shows the following songs as the ones that spent the most weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart:
80 weeks – Teddy Swims – “Lose Control”
66 weeks – Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
57 weeks – The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
54 weeks – Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
51 weeks – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die with a Smile”
44 weeks – The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – “Stay”
43 weeks – Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
42 weeks – Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things”
41 weeks – Dua Lipa – “Levitating”
41 weeks – Morgan Wallen -“Last Night”
You gotta be kidding me! Not a single song before 2017??? There’s gotta be some sort of glitch that explains this abomination!
The only thing I can think of is that in the Great Days of Music, there were so many good songs that no single song could hold the top positions forever.
Since you and I are pretty close to the same age, I like your explanation!