25 Best Songs Ever!
Music is an integral part of any given society and today, we shall be looking at the 25 best songs ever/ top songs of all time.
How I Got To The 25 Best Songs Ever
I arrived at the 25 best songs ever list by gathering information from Rolling Stone (Rolling Stone is a US based magazine that mainly deals with music and is published on a bi-weekly basis).
As with any other form of media, several critics have come up in arms against some of Rolling Stone music information terming it as biased but given all the other media avenues, Rolling Stone offered the best info on the 25 best songs ever.
Things To Note Concerning The 25 Best Songs Ever
- I’m sorry to burst your bubble if you’re looking forward to seeing any modern song in the 25 best songs ever list. The 25 best songs ever list is mainly dominated by songs that range from the 1960’s- 1970’s.
- The 25 best songs ever list includes the artist, writer, the title of the song, the producer, date of release and the position as well as how long it stayed in the music charts.
- The best songs ever list is just an estimate, it doesn’t mean there aren’t others which possibly could even be better.
- Lastly, enjoy the read!
The 25 Best Songs Ever
| RANK | ARTIST | TITLE | WRITER | PRODUCER | RELEASED | CHARTS |
| 1 | Bob Dylan | ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ | Dylan | Tom Wilson | July ’65, Columbia | 12 weeks; No. 2 |
| 2 | The Rolling Stones | (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction | Andrew Loog Oldham | Mick Jagger, Keith Richards | May ’65, London | 14 weeks; No. 1 |
| 3 | John Lennon | Imagine | John Lennon | Lennon, Phil Spector, Yoko Ono | Oct. ’71, Apple | 9 weeks; No. 3 |
| 4 | Marvin Gaye | What’s Going On | Gaye, Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland | Gaye | Feb. ’71, Tamla | 13 weeks; No. 2 |
| 5 | Aretha Franklin | Respect | Otis Redding | Jerry Wexler | April ’67, Atlantic | 12 weeks; No. 1 |
| 6 | The Beach Boys | Good Vibrations’ | Brian Wilson, Mike Love | Wilson | Oct. ’66, Capitol | 14 weeks; No. 1 |
| 7 | Chuck Berry | Johnny B. Goode | Chuck Berry | Leonard and Phil Chess | April ’58, Chess | 15 weeks; No. 8 |
| 8 | The Beatles | Hey Jude | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | George Martin | Aug. ’68, Apple | 19 weeks; No. 1 |
| 9 | Nirvana | Smells Like Teen Spirit | Kurt Cobain | Butch Vig | Sept. ’91, DGC | 20 weeks; No. 6 |
| 10 | Ray Charles | What’d I Say | Charles | Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler | June ’59, Atlantic | 15 weeks; No. 6 |
| 11 | The Who | My Generation | Pete Townshend | Shel Talmy | Nov. ’65, Decca | 5 weeks; No. 74 |
| 12 | Sam Cooke | A Change Is Gonna Come | Cooke | Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore | Dec. ’64, RCA | 7 weeks; No. 31 |
| 13 | The Beatles | Yesterday | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | George Martin | Sept. ’65, Capitol | 11 weeks; No. 1 |
| 14 | Bob Dylan | ‘Blowin’ in the Wind | Dylan | John Hammond | May ’63, Columbia | Did not chart |
| 15 | The Clash | London Calling | Mick Jones, Joe Strummer | Guy Stevens | Jan. ’80, Epic | Did not chart |
| 16 | The Beatles | I Want to Hold Your Hand | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | George Martin | Dec. ’63, Capitol | 15 weeks; no. 1 |
| 17 | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | Purple Haze | Hendrix | Chas Chandler | March ’67, Reprise | 8 weeks; No. 65 |
| 18 | Chuck Berry | Maybellene | Berry | Leonard and Phil Chess | July ’55, Chess | 11 weeks; No. 5 |
| 19 | Elvis Presley | Hound Dog | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | Steve Sholes | July ’56, RCA | 28 weeks; No. 1 |
| 20 | The Beatles | Let It Be | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | George Martin | March ’70, Apple | 14 weeks; No. 1 |
| 21 | Bruce Springsteen | Born to Run | Springsteen | Springsteen, Mike Appel | Aug. ’75, Columbia | 11 weeks; No. 23 |
| 22 | The Ronettes | Be My Baby | Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector | Spector | Aug. ’63 | 13 weeks; No. 2 |
| 23 | The Beatles | In My Life | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | George Martin | Dec. ’65, Capitol | Non-single |
| 24 | The Impressions | People Get Ready | Curtis Mayfield | Johnny Pate | Jan. ’65, ABC-Paramount | 8 weeks; No. 14 |
| 25 | The Beach Boys | God Only Knows | Brian Wilson, Tony Asher | Wilson | May ’66, Capitol | 8 weeks; No. 39 |
(You can visit the Rolling Stone website to get access to the entire list of the 500 best songs ever/best song ever lyrics)
So there you have it, the 25 best songs ever/best music ever courtesy of Rolling Stone.
I hope you enjoyed reading through the 25 best songs ever and if you’ve got any comments, feel free to leave them below.