List of songs considered the best

While there is no general agreement upon the greatest song, many publications and organizations have tried to determine the songs considered the best. The songs mentioned in this article have all been mentioned in a notable survey, an poll or a critics' list.

General lists and polls

Several attempts have been made to identify the best songs across many genres and time periods.

Rolling Stone magazine

"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The song list was chosen based on votes by 172 musicians, critics, and music-industry figures.

VH1

In 2003 VH1 compiled a list of the "100 greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years." The following comprise the top ten:

1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
2. "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
3. "Sweet Child o' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
4. "Lose Yourself" - Eminem
5. "One" - U2
6. "Walk This Way" - Run–D.M.C.
7. "When Doves Cry" - Prince
8. "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
9. "Every Breath You Take" - The Police
10. "Like a Virgin" - Madonna

International polls

A global 2005 poll conducted in 66 different countries and translated into 20 languages came up with the following results:

1. "We Are the Champions" – Queen
2. "Toxic" – Britney Spears
3. "Billie Jean" – Michael Jackson
4. "Hotel California" – Eagles
5. "La Tortura" – Shakira
6. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
7. "Yesterday" – The Beatles
8. "One" – U2
9. "Imagine" – John Lennon
10. "Sultans of Swing" – Dire Straits

A radio station in Britain conducted a poll to identify British armed forces' favourite song. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" came in first.

Radio airtime

Five songs have received more than 7 million plays over the radio. The information was compiled by Broadcast Music Incorporated, which has collected data for artist royalty payment purposes since 1939.

The following five songs have received more than 7 million individual plays, with one of them more than 8 million:

Over 8 million plays

• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - The Righteous Brothers

Over 7 million plays

• "Never My Love" - The Association
• "Yesterday (song)" - The Beatles
• "Stand By Me" - Ben E. King
• "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" - Otis Redding

By genre

Country

Country Music Television composed a list of their 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music. Here is the top of the list:

1. "Stand by Your Man" - Tammy Wynette
2. "He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones
3. "Crazy" - Patsy Cline
4. "Ring of Fire" - Johnny Cash
5. "Your Cheatin' Heart" - Hank Williams
6. "Friends in Low Places" - Garth Brooks
7. "I Fall to Pieces" - Patsy Cline
8. "Galveston" - Glen Campbell
9. "Behind Closed Doors" - Charlie Rich
10. "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" - Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson

Folk

Folk Alley, an influential radio broadcast and website operated by WKSU-FM at Kent State University, conducted an audience poll that drew from their more than 100,000 listeners in order to create their list of the The 100 Most Essential Folk Songs. The following top out the list:

1. "This Land Is Your Land" - Woody Guthrie
2. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Bob Dylan
3. "City of New Orleans" - Steve Goodman
4. "If I Had a Hammer" - Pete Seeger
5. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" - The Kingston Trio
6. "Early Morning Rain" - Gordon Lightfoot
7. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
8. "We Shall Overcome" - Pete Seeger
9. "Four Strong Winds" - Ian & Sylvia
10. "Last Thing on My Mind" - Tom Paxton

Hard rock

VH1 compiled a list of the greatest hard rock songs, with the following topping the list:

1. “Welcome to the Jungle” - Guns N’ Roses
2. “Back in Black” - AC/DC
3. “Whole Lotta Love” - Led Zeppelin
4. “Paranoid” - Black Sabbath
5. “Enter Sandman” - Metallica
6. “Won't Get Fooled Again” - The Who
7. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” - Nirvana
8. “Walk This Way” - Aerosmith
9. “Runnin' with the Devil” - Van Halen
10. “Ace of Spades” - Motörhead

Heavy metal

In May 2011, Gibson.com released their list of the top 50 metal songs of all time. The top ten are:

1. “Master of Puppets” Metallica
2. “Ace of Spades” - Motörhead
3. “Crazy Train” - Ozzy Osbourne
4. “Iron Man” - Black Sabbath
5. “The Number of the Beast” - Iron Maiden
6. “War Pigs” - Black Sabbath
7. “Paranoid” - Black Sabbath
8. “One” - Metallica
9. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” - Iron Maiden
10. “Breaking the Law” - Judas Priest

Hip hop

VH1 compiled a list of the greatest hip hop songs, with the following making the top ten:

1. "Fight the Power" - Public Enemy
2. "Rapper’s Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang
3. "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" - Dr. Dre
4. "Walk This Way" - Run–D.M.C. ft. Aerosmith
5. "The Message" - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
6. "Straight Outta Compton" - N.W.A
7. "Juicy" - The Notorious B.I.G.
8. "Gin and Juice" - Snoop Doggy Dogg
9. "Push It" - Salt-n-Pepa
10. "The Breaks" - Kurtis Blow

R&B/Soul

Below are the top ten songs from DigitalDreamDoor's 100 Greatest "Classic" R&B/Soul Songs:

1. "Respect" - Aretha Franklin
2. "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye
3. "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" - Otis Redding
4. "What'd I Say" - Ray Charles
5. "Maybellene" - Chuck Berry
6. "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" - James Brown
7. "Money Honey" - Clyde McPhatter with The Drifters
8. "Shake, Rattle and Roll" - Big Joe Turner
9. "My Girl" - The Temptations
10. "Long Tall Sally" - Little Richard

Rock

The music ranking and list site DigitalDreamDoor has the following songs at the top of their greatest rock songs list:

1. "Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
2. "Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry
3. "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
4. "Respect" - Aretha Franklin
5. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - Rolling Stones
6. "Jailhouse Rock" - Elvis Presley
7. "A Day In The Life" - Beatles
8. "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
9. "Good Vibrations" - Beach Boys
10. "What'd I Say" - Ray Charles

By decade

1980s

The following songs made the top of VH1's "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's":

1. "Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi
2. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Def Leppard
3. "Hungry Like the Wolf" - Duran Duran
4. "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
5. "When Doves Cry" - Prince
6. "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" - Hall & Oates
7. "Sweet Child o' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
8. "Like a Virgin" - Madonna
9. "Walk This Way" - Run-D.M.C.
10. "You Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC

1990s

The following songs made the top of VH1's "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's":

1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
2. "One" - U2
3. "I Want It That Way" - Backstreet Boys
4. "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
5. "Vogue" - Madonna
6. "Baby Got Back" - Sir Mix-A-Lot
7. "...Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears
8. "Waterfalls" - TLC
9. "Losing My Religion" - R.E.M.
10. "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinéad O'Connor

2000s

The following are the top ten from Rolling Stone magazine's top songs from the 2000s:

1. “Crazy” - Gnarls Barkley
2. “99 Problems” - Jay-Z
3. “Crazy In Love” - Beyoncé
4. “Hey Ya!” - OutKast
5. “Paper Planes” - M.I.A.
6. “Seven Nation Army” - The White Stripes
7. “Maps” - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
8. “Rehab” - Amy Winehouse
9. “Beautiful Day” - U2
10. “Stan” - Eminem

Topical lists

American culture and heritage

The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools. Hundreds of voters, which includes elected officials, people from the music industry and the media, teachers, and students, were asked in 2001 to choose the top 365 songs, by Americans, of the 20th century with historical significance in mind. The voters were selected by RIAA, although only about 15% (200) of the 1,300 selected voters responded. The highest songs on the list are:

American cinema

Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs is a list of the top 100 songs in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute June 22, 2004 in a CBS special hosted by John Travolta, who appeared in two films honored by the list, Saturday Night Fever and Grease. The top ten songs from the list are: