The 100 greatest song of all Time

[Stinky The Clown]

Time magazine compiled the following list of their idea of the top 100 songs from the life of the magazine.

http://entertainment.time.com/2011/10/24/the-all-time-100-songs/#tightrope-janelle-monae-featuring-big-boi

2010s

Janelle Monae: Tightrope

2000s

Missy Elliott: Get Ur Freak On
Outkast: Hey Ya!
Jay-Z: 99 Problems
Arcade Fire: Wake Up
Kanye West: Gold Digger
Lil Wayne: Georgia...Bush
LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends
Beyonce: Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
Lady Gaga: Bad Romance

1990s

Sinead O'Connor: Nothing Compares 2 U
Pet Shop Boys: Being Boring
Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Richard Thompson: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Wu-Tang Clan: C.R.E.A.M.
A Tribe Called Quest: Scenario
The Notorious B.I.G.: Juicy
2Pac: California Love
Pulp: Common People
Radiohead: Paranoid Android
Lucinda Williams: Pineola

1980s

Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart
George Jones: He Stopped Loving Her Today
Michael Jackson: Billie Jean
New Order: Blue Monday
Prince: Kiss
Metallica: Master of Puppets
R.E.M.: It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Public Enemy: Fight the Power
Madonna: Borderline

1970s

The Melodians: Rivers of Babylon
James Brown: Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine
Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song
Black Sabbath: Iron Man
Joni Mitchell: A Case of You
The Who: Baba O'Riley
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
Dolly Parton: Jolene
Big Star: September Gurls
Bonnie Raitt: Angel from Montgomery
Fela Kuti: Zombie
Bruce Springsteen: Thunder Road
Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody
Donna Summer: I Feel Love
The Bee Gees: Stayin' Alive
David Bowie: Heroes
The Ramones: I Wanna Be Sedated
Fleetwood Mac: Dreams
Peter Tosh: Equal Rights
Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove
The Velvet Underground: Rock & Roll
Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner's Daughter

1960s

Bob Dylan: Subterranean Homesick Blues
Patsy Cline: Crazy
Roy Orbison: Crying
The Ronettes: Be My Baby
The Beatles: I Want to Hold Your Hand
Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto: The Girl from Ipanema
The Supremes: Where Did Our Love Go?
The Beach Boys: God Only Knows
Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)
Marvin Gaye: I Heard It Through the Grapevine
The Band: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Big Mama Thornton: Ball N' Chain
The Jackson Five: I Want You Back
The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter
Crosby, Stills and Nash: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Otis Redding: I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)

1950s

Johnny Cash: Folsom Prison Blues
Les Paul: How High the Moon
Kitty Wells: It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Elvis Presley: Jailhouse Rock
Odetta Holmes: Take This Hammer
Little Richard: Tutti Frutti
Frank Sinatra: I've Got You Under My Skin
Buddy Holly: That'll Be the Day
Chuck Berry: Johnny B. Goode
Ray Charles: What'd I Say

1940s

Woody Guthrie: This Land Is Your Land
Lena Horne: Stormy Weather
The Andrews Sisters: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Spike Jones: Der Fuehrer's Face
Bing Crosby: White Christmas
Betty Hutton: It Had to Be You
Mahalia Jackson: Move On Up a Little Higher
Hank Williams: Cold, Cold Heart
Ella Fitzgerald: Baby It's Cold Outside
Doris Day: Sentimental Journey

1930s

Ethel Merman: I Got Rhythm
Cab Calloway: Minnie the Moocher
Duke Ellington: It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Louis Armstrong: Star Dust
Fred Astaire: Cheek to Cheek
Ray Heatherton: Where or When
Judy Garland: Over the Rainbow
Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit

1920s

Al Jolson: My Mammy
Bessie Smith: St. Louis Blues
Paul Robeson: Ol' Man River
The Carter Family: Wildwood Flower

[Motown_Johnny]

1. someone has poor taste in music

If you look at the songs they picked for artists/groups like David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin and Black Sabbath I think anyone would agree that each of those artists/groups have produced songs better than the one on this list.



The only song on the list I would not question is The Ramones: I Wanna Be Sedated. IMO every other song on that list could easily be replaced with another song from the same artist/group.

[EC]

7. You're right

The songs they picked for each artist is no where near their best.

[live love laugh]

10. I agree but Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody is the best of the best. nt

[Motown_Johnny]

21. I wouldn't argue with that

but my personal favorite is Dragon Attack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVUrg7Hzjo0&feature=related



of course all art is subjective so I don't expect many others would agree with me (I'm a sucker for a strong bass line).

[Enrique]

42. have you seen BoHeman Rhapsody?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeFH-QoAPCk

[Nye Bevan]

13. Yes, I never thought of "Borderline" as Madonna's best song

and where the heck is MC Hammer?

[dajoki]

56. The one I...

could agree with is Baba O'reilly.

[Motown_Johnny]

63. .

If they picked Baba O'reilly for The Who

and Bohemian Rhapsody for Queen

why not pick Stairway to Heaven for Led Zeppelin?



I don't understand their thinking.


I also think The Who's best stuff was done on Quadrophenia, but that is just my opinion.

[dajoki]

70. I ageee...

with you about Stairway to Heaven. I also love Quadrophenia, but Who's Next is my favorite.

[donco]

2. Damn…no Beetles, no Chuck Berry???

[Motown_Johnny]

3. Beatles are there, but the song is not even close to one of their best

Edit to add


So is Chuck, but I kinda agree with that choice. It was revolutionary.

[tridim]

6. No Hendrix either

:thumbsdown:

[Abin Sur]

37. Well, they can't get everything wrong

:thumbsup:

[fishwax]

16. agreed on the beatles pick -- perfectly uninspired choice n/t

[Abin Sur]

32. My favorite Beatles song is Eleanor Rigby. n/t

[fishwax]

35. good song :)

Certainly would have been a better pick than I Wanna Hold Your Hand. My favorite changes, but at the moment I'm partial Here Comes the Sun.

[Abin Sur]

36. If I were going to pick their best early song it would be "Help!"

[fishwax]

39. I like You've Got to Hide Your Love Away from the same time frame

I do like Help, too. Also Ticket to Ride.

I guess I understand viewing I Want to Hold Your Hand as a culturally significant song, what with the performance on the Ed Sullivan show and all, but if the subject is "greatest" songs I just don't think it's close.

[Abin Sur]

40. The problem with a list like this is it often confuses "historically significant" with "best".

[Art_from_Ark]

73. I Wanna Hold Your Hand was the Beatles' first American 45 release

Got the girls in a tizzy back in 1963-64. Stayed at #1 on the Billboard charts for 7 weeks. Opened the floodgates for the British Invasion. It was the Beatles' best-selling 45 single. They even recorded it in German

Ja du-u bist so schoen
Schoen wie ein Diamant
Ich will mit dir gehen
Komm, gib mir deine Hand

[Greybnk48]

50. Beatles and Chuck Berry are there.

Johnny B. Good.:hi:

[NCarolinawoman]

4. I disagree with a lot of these choices.

Over that time span, there are just too many good songs to choose from. It's also very subjective.

Comparing love ballads- to blues- to rock- to social protest, etc. is about impossible. Most of my favorites aren't even on that list.

[Peace Patriot]

5. You're asking for trouble posting a list like this--ain'tcha?

I thought it was a survey of pop song lovers but I see it's just Slime Magazine (corporate sludge mover), so I'm not so irritated at only ONE song by the Beatles on the 1960s list!

Surely the following should be on a "Greatest Pop Songs" list:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Hey Jude
Get Back
Here, There and Everywhere
Yesterday
A Hard Day's Night
Across the Universe
All You Need Is Love
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Can't Buy Me Love
Don't Let Me Down
Eleanor Rigby
Good Day Sunshine
Happiness is a Warm Gun
I Feel Fine
I Saw Her Standing There
Yellow Submarine
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Norwegian Wood
Penny Lane
Revolution
She Loves You (Yeah, yeah, yeah!)
The Long and Winding Road
The Word
When I'm Sixty-Four
With A Little Help From My Friends

And that's just off the top of my head--supplemented by glancing down a list of Beatles songs. They were the greatest and most prolific songwriters of all time! ONE song by the Beatles!

This Slimes list truly sucks!

[Peregrine]

8. Layla

and Stairway to Heaven. The ones that usually occupy the top 2 positions on lists.

[Jakes Progress]

14. A list without Layla is a fraud.

Meant to get responses from people like you and me, people who know something about music.

[Jakes Progress]

15. dupe

[ProfessorGAC]

61. Gotta Agree

Like others have said, their choice of Beatles was uninspired. There are 2 dozen better songs than the one they chose.

And the George Jones song in the 80's. Really? Really? I admit i'm not a fan of country, but that isn't his best work, and the 80's were loaded with groundbreaking material. Nothing by Talking Heads? Nothing? Come on?

Dumb list.

[TwilightGardener]

9. Well, from the 2000's, I am familiar with "Hey Ya". Must not have been a decade

for my musical tastes. Edit to add--they need to go by genre and then compile lists. I am not a hip-hop/pop autotune crap fan.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. I had to go to the '80s before I knew any, the 70s before I liked any and....

The 60s before I knew them all (and liked most).

I must be gettin old.

[TwilightGardener]

12. Yep--some in the 90's I knew, like Nirvana and Sinead O'Connor, but I recognized most

from the 80's-60's. I can't believe they think "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" is the best Beatles song--ridiculous. I know I'm getting to be an old out-of-touch grump, but I don't care.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

18. I probably know some to hear them ...

....I wasn't kept in a basement after all. But I don't know them by name.

[TwilightGardener]

20. Well, I'm 41, the 90's were still my heyday--how is it I don't know the "best" of that decade?

WTF is "Pulp"?

[Abin Sur]

33. While I do like some '80s songs, the vast majority of pop song that I like

are from the '30s to the '70s...and I'm not 50 yet.

I stick mostly to show tunes, anyway.

[Jakes Progress]

17. They got about 10 right.

That's a failing grade.

[TwilightGardener]

19. 70's--no Eagles? Can't have 70's without the Eagles, sorry. Also, where is James Taylor?

The 80's--have they not heard of some guys from Ireland named U2? Where are the Police? The more I look at the list, the more I realize how much good and ICONIC stuff they left out.

[Motown_Johnny]

27. Have you seen/heard the stuff with James Taylor and Carol King?

PBS did a special "Live At The Troubadour" where they performed together.


Phenomenal is the only word I can use to describe it, and even that falls short IMO.



Here is a little taste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FAtinNhEE&feature=related

[TwilightGardener]

28. That was nice, thanks--he still sounds great!

[workinclasszero]

22. No Jackie Wilson in the 60's = fail /nt

[demgrrrll]

23. I LOVE Janelle Monae. I wear old tuxedo shirts and cuff links so

I like her look too. I have watched her Grammy performance numerous times on Youtube. I think I will do that again right now. I think Brownstone was one of my favorite 90's groups.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

24. From "Strange Fruit" to "Get Ur Freak On"...what a world.

About 16 songs belong on that list, and I'm being generous.

[jtuck004]

25. Greatest seems to mean something different after 1960.

Guess I'm slow to the party. Again :)

[lumberjack_jeff]

26. No U2? No Pink Floyd? No Bob Marley? No Talking Heads? No Genesis? No Peter Gabriel?

Worst. List. Ever.

Who the heck are the Melodians?

[Warren DeMontague]

38. Someone wasn't paying a whole fucklot of attention in the 80s, I'd say.

Actually, with the exception of one R.E.M. song, it sounds like someone stopped listening to very much remotely interesting or off the beaten track some time late in the 70s. I'd second Peter Gabriel and (old) Genesis along with Talking Heads... also, ah.. how about Blondie? The Clash, maybe? :shrug:


AND IN ADDITION TO PINK FLOYD, HENDRIX, ETC.. WHERE THE HELL IS THE GRATEFUL MOTHERFUCKING DEAD?????

This is a music list for the "music people" equivalent of folks who think they are "car people" because they know where to put the gas in.

[jayfish]

59. Jeux Sans Frontieres?

Worst list I've ever read. I packed it in about half-way through the 90's. No ELO. No The Cars. No Rush. They can't even get a Pop list right.

[begin_within]

29. Yuck!

[MrSlayer]

30. These lists always suck.

And I never heard ANY of the songs from the 2000's. I'm happy about that.

[lpbk2713]

31. Sinatra could have been named in several decades

Apparentlly they only wanted to name an artist once.

[Motown_Johnny]

46. Apparently so, I guess the list is misnamed

Maybe they should have called it "100 Musical Groups or Artists that had at least one really good song each ".


Just not as catchy

[Motown_Johnny]

64. To late to edit my other response, so....

I occurred to me that a Sinatra fan might get a kick out of this, assuming you have not heard it lately.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff3wi_n0EVM&feature=related




As a Croce fan, this just makes me laugh.

[Abin Sur]

34. 1930s...where's "Sing Sing Sing" by Benny Goodman?

Granted, it's instrumental, but still...

[Chipper Chat]

53. Agreed . I t should be at the top. Very meaty and "long" song.

Also missing are "Stairway To Heaven" by Led Zeppelin and "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris.

[Abin Sur]

62. Um..."MacArthur Park"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_deemed_the_worst

"MacArthur Park", Richard Harris (1968)
Dubbed "the worst song in modern history" by Dave Barry after having received the most votes in Barry's "Bad Song Survey", this song also claims the #1 spot on popculturemadness.com's "List of the Worst Songs of All Time".

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!
Oh, no
No, no
Oh no!!

Well, to each their own...heck, I like novelty songs of the 20th Century. I get odd looks from passerbys when "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" or "Existential Blues" comes out of my car stereo.

[Chipper Chat]

72. THe lyrics were certainly the weak spot of the song.

I just remember what a departure it was from the trends of the day. A lot of stations wouldnt play the long version (which was the meat of the song) with its rhythm changes and wonderful chord progressions. And that makes me think of another overlooked song: Green-eyed Lady.

[Art_from_Ark]

74. MacArthur Park was a GREAT song

It sums up the '60s for me, especially the instrumental part. Dave Barry doesn't know shit about "bad songs" if he thinks it's worse than, say, any (c)rap song

[Codeine]

41. Christ. What an awful list. nt

[Enrique]

43. i agree with every single song on this list!

just kidding! :-)

[Evasporque]

44. Top Ten Best Selling Songs of all time...artist, song, year, millions sold..

Bing Crosby "White Christmas" 1942 50
Elton John "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" 1997 33
Bing Crosby "Silent Night" 1935 30
Bill Haley & His Comets "Rock Around the Clock" 1954 25
USA for Africa "We Are the World" 1985 20
Paul Anka "Diana" 1957 20
The Ink Spots "If I Didn't Care" 1939 19
Gene Autry "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1949 18
Baccara "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" 1977 18
Kenny Rogers "Lady" 1980 16
Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On" 1998 15
Scorpions "Wind of Change" 1991 14

[NoGOPZone]

45. Good Lord, and people criticize Rolling Stone's lists?

Although I will give Time credit for acknowledging Joy Division, Spike Jones and Odetta Holmes.

[Spider Jerusalem]

47. this list is a gigantical WTF.

The people who compiled it have shit taste in music. '80's: No Smiths, no Pixies, no Tom Waits. '90's: no Massive Attack? REALLY? And on and on. Their choices compared to what else was going on in the same decade are inexplicable, and their choices for certain artists who DO deserve inclusion are...questionable.

[Avalux]

48. Ugh. Who picked this stuff? n/t

[edhopper]

49. From this list

I infer that music has sucked for the last 20 years.

[Erose999]

51. Big Star! But no T-Rex. WTF.

[hifiguy]

52. One Beatles tune. One Presley tune.

Nuff said for this list's essential worthlessness. What sort of statistical anomaly allowed both a Joy Division and a New Order song on the list? Someone with real taste obviously snuck those in at the last moment.

[distantearlywarning]

54. This is a terrible list.

I haven't even heard of half of these and I was really into music during the 80s and 90s. Everything on a "greatest songs" list should be recognizable to pretty much anyone who follows pop culture at least a little bit.

[hughee99]

55. I stopped reading at Kanye West: Golddigger, which is where the list lost all

credibility for me.

[bvar22]

57. Oh, MAN! That list BOGUS.

They forgot
Love is Blue & I Can Sing a Rainbow by The Dells, 1968


:(

[Art_from_Ark]

75. I thought Love Is Blue was by Paul Mauriat?

At least, every time I heard it on the radio, that's who the DJ said was performing it.

:shrug:

[Warren DeMontague]

58. memo to self:

don't take musical advice from Time.

[ceile]

60. terrible list n/t

[-..__...]

65. They should have called that list....

100 Greatest Elevator Musak Songs

[AsahinaKimi]

66. Sorry but...

This list is why I no longer listen to western music. I really listen to Asian music now..love Jpop, Jrock, Visuel Kei, Kpop, Cpop and pop music from Thailand.

Its just how I am now.. I stopped listening in the 1990s.. and haven't looked back.

[immoderate]

67. Dave Brubeck: Take Five!

Of the ones I know, they mostly didn't pick the best songs. For the Beatles, they scraped the bottom. How about anything else? For Stones, Jumpin' Jack Flash Beach Boys, I would pick Darlin' but I expected Help Me Rhonda, or at least Little Deuce Coupe.

Where's the Lovin' Spoonful? Zombies? Youngbloods?

A really poor list.

--imm

[Iggo]

68. Good gawd, that's worse than Rolling Stone's list. (n/t)

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

69. Worst list ever

I've seen some pretty bad ones but this beats them all.

[n2doc]

71. Bunch of Press Darlings on that list, at least from the 70's on

And they can't even get the greatest songs from the artists they do list. And no Bacharach in the 60's?

[Art_from_Ark]

76. No Herb Alpert, either

No Kinks, either. Or Hollies. Or Herman's Hermits. Or Dave Clark Five. Or Monkees. Heck, even the Archies had songs that were better than some on that list :crazy:

[Art_from_Ark]

78. For that matter, no Jackie deShannon (Put a Little Love in Your Heart)

or Dion (Abraham, Martin and John)
or Fifth Dimension (Aquarius)
or Steppenwolf (Born to be Wild)
or Credance Clearwater (Proud Mary)
or Roger Miller (King of the Road)
or Dionne Warwick (Do You Know the Way to San Jose)
or Henry Mancini (Pink Panther Theme)
or Peter, Paul and Mary (If I Had a Hammer)

Heck, it's almost like the compilers of that list never experienced the best-ever decade for pop music :crazy:

[Zorra]

77. Eeeew. Compiled by a tone deaf moran with horrid taste in music.

That list is one of the many reasons I could never date a conservative.

[PCIntern]

79. Next up: Ten best paintings of all time

sheesh...

[sendero]

80. Pet Shop Boys?

LOLLOLOLOLLLOLOLOLOOLOLOLOL

What a joke.