The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time

[swerb]

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs

1. Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan

2. Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones

3. Imagine, John Lennon

4. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye

5. Respect, Aretha Franklin

6. Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys

7. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry

8. Hey Jude, The Beatles

9. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana

10. What'd I Say, Ray Charles

11. My Generation, The Who

12. A Change Is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke

13. Yesterday, The Beatles

14. Blowin' in the Wind, Bob Dylan

15. London Calling, The Clash

16. I Want to Hold Your Hand, The Beatles

17. Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix

18. Maybellene, Chuck Berry

19. Hound Dog, Elvis Presley

20. Let It Be, The Beatles

21. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen

22. Be My Baby, The Ronettes

23. In My Life, The Beatles

24. People Get Ready, The Impressions

25. God Only Knows, The Beach Boys

26. A Day in the Life, The Beatles

27. Layla, Derek and the Dominos

28. (Sittin on) the Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding

29. Help!, The Beatles

30. I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash

31. Stairway To Heaven, Led Zeppelin

32. Sympathy for the Devil, The Rolling Stones

33. River Deep - Mountain High, Ike and Tina Turner

34. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', The Righteous Brothers

35. Light My Fire, The Doors

36. One, U2

37. No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley and the Wailers

38. Gimme Shelter, The Rolling Stones

39. That'll Be the Day, Buddy Holly and the Crickets

40. Dancing in the Street, Martha and the Vandellas

41. The Weight, The Band

42. Waterloo Sunset, The Kinks

43. Tutti-Frutti, Little Richard

44. Georgia on My Mind, Ray Charles

45. Heartbreak Hotel, Elvis Presley

46. Heroes, David Bowie

47. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel

48. All Along the Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix

49. Hotel California, The Eagles

50. The Tracks of My Tears, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

[pup]

Really? Rolling Stone picked "Like a Rollling Stone" as the greatest song ever? What is next? ESPN winning an ESPY for greatest sports programming?

[yogi]

quick notes:

No Roy Orbison? No Pretty Woman?

"She Loves You" should rank over "I Want to Hold Your Hand" if you're trying to capture Beatlemania. It was She Loves You that launched it in England and Europe. I Want To Hold Your Hand launched Beatlemania here.

"Staiway to Heaven" at #31? Geez, I remember the rock stations here used to count down the greatest Rock Songs of all time, and every year "Stairway" was Numero Uno.

Maybe there's difference in ranking rock songs than this list. I'm not sure how you rank "greatest song" and what style music are you ranking?

Seems like there's R&B and rock and pop.

Heck the songs listed are all good and fine but they tend to be popular tunes, not necessarily the best.

[British_Pharaoh]

6 isnt even the best beach boys teack

and i'll never agree with a top 50 that doesnt have any lionel Richie or Dont dream its over by crowded house

[jfiling]

Geeze, what a strange top 50. Only one song by The Who, and it's not "Who Are You". And Queen only has about 5 contenders for the top 50, but none of them were worthy (I'll have to look at the whole list to see what their highest ranked song was.

Edit: "Bohemian Rhapsody" (163) and "We Will Rock You" (330), but no "Fat Bottomed Girls" or "Another One Bites the Dust". "Who Are You" didn't even make the list. I guess my tastes suck.

[FUDU]

"Staiway to Heaven" at #31? Geez, I remember the rock stations here used to count down the greatest Rock Songs of all time, and every year "Stairway" was Numero Uno.

The reason for that, believe it or not, was b/c they actually went by the vote of their listeners.

So when a classic rock station, like WNCX, does their top 500, and Stairway to Heaven ends up at number one there is some legitimacy to it.