Music

This track appears third on U2’s 1991 album Achtung Baby, and it actually developed from their earlier single, Mysterious Ways. The Edge devised two different bridge sections, and Bono was so inspired by one of them that he crafted fresh lyrics around it. Despite its raw emotional power, One surprisingly became a go-to choice for wedding ceremonies. “People have told me they play it at their wedding,” The Edge once remarked. “And I think, ‘Have you listened to the lyrics? It’s not that kind of a song.’”

The most cherished version of No Woman, No Cry comes from the Live! recording on July 17, 1975, during Bob Marley’s Natty Dread Tour at the Lyceum Theatre. This performance marked a pivotal moment in Marley’s career, and he attributed the songwriting credit to his lifelong friend Vincent “Tata” Ford. Thanks to the song’s popularity, Ford’s Kingston soup kitchen could keep its doors open.

Originally recorded in 1964, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling soared to No. 1 in both the U.K. and the U.S., eventually ranking as America’s fifth best-selling single the following year. Over time, the song has been reimagined by performers like Hall & Oates and Dionne Warwick. And of course, no one can forget Tom Cruise famously belting it out in Top Gun—“You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips.”

The Rolling Stones unveiled Sympathy for the Devil in 1968 on their Beggars Banquet album, causing an uproar among religious groups who misunderstood it as promoting satanism. In 1995, Mick Jagger set the record straight, explaining that his inspiration came from French literature. “I just took a couple of lines and expanded on it,” he said. “I wrote it as sort of like a Bob Dylan song.”

Johnny Cash came up with this song while stationed with the Air Force in Germany, but he wouldn’t record it until years later, after discovering the original tape had been damaged. Rather than discard it, he embraced the unusual sound and even wrapped wax paper around his guitar strings to accentuate it. The result was Cash’s first chart-topping hit on Billboard. “It was different than anything else you had ever heard,” he remembered. “A voice from the middle of the Earth.”

Phil Spector believed Ike & Tina Turner’s 1966 album River Deep – Mountain High was the best project he ever produced. The title song eventually landed at No. 33 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. For Tina Turner, recording it was almost punishing. Spector demanded nothing less than perfection, making her sing over and over. “I must have sung that 500,000 times,” she told Rolling Stone. “I was drenched with sweat. I had to take my shirt off and stand there in my bra to sing.”

John Lennon later reflected on this track, saying, “Most people think it’s just a fast rock ’n’ roll song. Subconsciously, I was crying out for help. I didn’t realize it at the time; I just wrote the song because I was commissioned to write it for the movie.” Years afterward, he admitted to Rolling Stone that he was never quite happy with how it turned out: “We did it too fast, to try and be commercial.”

People Get Ready became The Impressions’ signature song, penned by Curtis Mayfield and climbing to No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart. It grew into an unofficial soundtrack for the Civil Rights Movement. Mojo Magazine even listed it among the ten best songs ever written. Remembering how it came about, Mayfield said, “That was taken from my church or the upbringing of messages from the church… I must have been in an intense mood of that type of religious inspiration when I wrote that song.”

John Lennon described this 1965 Rubber Soul single as perhaps his most meaningful song, calling it “my first real, major piece of work.” He confessed, “Up until then, it had all been glib and thrown away.” Lennon’s biographer and friend, Peter Shotton, shared that the lyric “Some [friends] are dead and some are living / In my life I’ve loved them all” was written partly in memory of Shotton and also Stuart Sutcliffe, the close friend he lost in 1962.

Eric Clapton found inspiration for Layla in The Story of Layla and Majnun, a 12th-century tale by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The song also drew from his own experiences, especially his consuming love for Pattie Boyd—who was married to his friend George Harrison at the time. Eventually, Clapton and Boyd did marry and remained together for nearly ten years. “It was the heaviest thing going on at the time,” Clapton recalled in a 1974 Rolling Stone interview. “That’s what I wanted to write about most of all.”

Otis Redding began writing [Sittin’ On] The Dock of the Bay while sitting on a pier in Sausalito, California, shortly after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The background recording even captured the authentic sound of waves lapping against the dock. He finished the song a few months later with guitarist Steve Cropper—just days before Redding tragically died in a plane crash. It became the first single ever to reach No. 1 in the U.S. after an artist’s death.

As The Beatles were approaching their breakup, Paul McCartney found solace in a dream where his late mother appeared to comfort him. That moment inspired the first lines of Let It Be: “When I find myself in times of trouble / Mother Mary comes to me.” The track became the namesake of the band’s final studio album. Released in March 1970, Let It Be would become their last single before they officially split up.

Pete Townshend of The Who found the inspiration for Baba O’Riley in the teachings of Indian spiritual figure Meher Baba and the minimalist compositions of Terry Riley. Blending these influences created the song’s distinct, hypnotic sound. Initially, it was written for Townshend’s Lifehouse project, but in 1971 it came out as a single following the success of Tommy. Decades later, in 2018, Roger Daltrey described it as a cautionary tale warning young people about spending too much time online.

Be My Baby has appeared on best-song lists from NME, Pitchfork, Time, and Rolling Stone. Phil Spector produced the recording, which featured a lush orchestral arrangement and even included Cher singing backup. “The things Phil was doing were crazy and exhausting,” engineer Larr Levine remembered. “But that’s not the sign of a nut. That’s genius.”

Born to Run stands as Bruce Springsteen’s most ambitious song and became the title track of his 1975 album. He told Rolling Stone he was determined “to make the greatest rock record I’d ever heard.” The song became Springsteen’s first single to find success overseas, breaking into the top 20 in the U.S. It quickly developed a passionate following, especially in Philadelphia, where a popular morning radio show played it repeatedly every day.

Released in 1971, Behind Blue Eyes by The Who is said to have been born from a moment of personal conflict. Pete Townshend later recounted that after a concert in 1970, he was tempted by a groupie but instead returned to his hotel room alone. There, he began writing a prayer that opened with the line, “When my fist clenches, crack it open,” capturing the tension between aggression and vulnerability that runs through the song.

In 1987, Los Lobos recorded a spirited version of La Bamba for the film about Ritchie Valens, starring Lou Diamond Phillips. Valens had first transformed the Mexican folk tune into a rock hit in 1958, and his recording remains the only non-English-language track to appear on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 list. Decades later, it continues to stand as a cultural milestone bridging Latin folk and American rock.

Elvis Presley’s rendition of Hound Dog became one of his defining hits, ultimately reaching No. 19 on Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest songs. Presley discovered the song after hearing Freddie Bell and the Bellboys perform it in Las Vegas and soon added it to his own setlist. In 1956, he famously (and regretfully) performed it to a basset hound wearing a top hat on The Steve Allen Show. Despite that awkward moment, Hound Dog went on to become his biggest-selling single and one of the best-selling records ever released.

Often credited as the spark that ignited rock ‘n’ roll’s mainstream explosion, Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets topped both the American and British charts after its 1954 release. Its popularity soared even further when it appeared in the opening credits of The Blackboard Jungle. Years later, The Guardian would describe it as “the world’s first rock anthem,” a title it still deserves.

When Break on Through (To the Other Side) first came out, it barely made an impression on the charts, stalling at No. 126 in the U.S. Yet over time, it became one of The Doors’ most enduring songs. Jim Morrison later explained that the lyrics took shape while he was walking alone over a bridge in the canals of Venice, California, thinking about a woman he knew. To avoid controversy, Elektra Records removed the word “high” from the original lyric “she gets high.” The edit remained on every reissue until the 1990s.

Here Comes the Sun emerged during a moment of respite for George Harrison. While many Beatles songs were written by the Lennon-McCartney partnership, this bright, hopeful track was his alone. Harrison had skipped a business meeting at Apple Corps and visited Eric Clapton, where he sat in the garden as the clouds parted after a long winter. The song, which appeared on 1969’s Abbey Road, has since become one of the band’s most beloved recordings.

Released in 1974, David Bowie’s Rebel Rebel captured the defiance of youth at the tail end of glam rock. The lyrics depict a teenager embracing makeup and gender-bending fashion in spite of parental disapproval. The song climbed to No. 5 in the U.K. and No. 16 in the U.S., quickly cementing its status as a glam anthem. Over the years, it has been covered by a wide range of artists, including the Smashing Pumpkins and Bryan Adams.

Written by Ray Davies, You Really Got Me was the Kinks’ breakthrough single and their first No. 1 hit in the U.K. Released in 1964, it reached No. 7 in the U.S. The song’s fierce, distorted guitar riff—achieved when Dave Davies sliced the speaker cone of his amp with a razor blade—would go on to inspire generations of hard rock and punk musicians. Reflecting on the track’s origins, Ray Davies said, “The song came out of a working-class environment. People fighting for something.”

Purple Haze was released in 1967 as the second single by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and quickly became one of Hendrix’s most defining works. With its swirling guitar tone and surreal lyrics, it captured the spirit of late-’60s psychedelia. The track topped Q magazine’s list of greatest guitar songs and was ranked No. 2 by Rolling Stone. In a 2013 poll of Rolling Stone readers, it was voted Hendrix’s fifth-best song.

Written in a period of uncertainty and anxiety, London Calling by The Clash was inspired by the band’s personal struggles and fear of political collapse. Joe Strummer described the feeling as “grasping with our fingernails” as everything seemed about to fall apart. Released as the only U.K. single from their landmark album, it climbed to No. 11 in 1980, the band’s biggest hit until Should I Stay or Should I Go topped the charts nearly a decade later.

What a Wonderful World, written by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, became Louis Armstrong’s signature recording and a timeless standard. Released in 1967, it reached No. 1 in the U.K. and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The song has been covered by countless artists, including Tony Bennett, Nick Cave, Joey Ramone, and Eva Cassidy.

Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come was released as the B-side to Shake, shortly after Cooke’s tragic death in December 1964. Over time, the song emerged as an anthem of the civil rights movement. In 2007, it was honored by the Library of Congress when it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its profound cultural and historical significance.

The Sound of Silence first appeared on Simon & Garfunkel’s 1964 debut, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., but it wasn’t until 1966 that the song became a hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and charting around the world. Paul Simon attributed the song’s success to “the simplicity of the melody and the words,” which captured a sense of youthful alienation.

Often regarded as one of Lennon and McCartney’s final true collaborations, A Day in the Life closes Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with a sweeping, experimental crescendo. Paul McCartney continues to perform the song in concert. Rolling Stone has called it the Beatles’ greatest song, and Acclaimed Music ranks it as the third most celebrated recording in history.

My Generation by The Who is widely considered one of the defining songs of the 1960s. Ranked No. 11 on Rolling Stone’s greatest songs list and No. 13 by VH1, it distilled a feeling of youthful restlessness and defiance into just over three minutes. NME praised it as “a timeless sense of youthful disaffection via a countercultural, Mod lens,” capturing the spirit of a generation.

Light My Fire, featured on The Doors’ 1967 debut album, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for three weeks. The band’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show became infamous after Jim Morrison ignored a request to change the lyric “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher.” The decision led to The Doors being banned from ever appearing on the program again.

What’d I Say began as an impromptu performance in 1958 when Ray Charles instructed his band and backup singers to simply follow his lead. The crowd loved it, and the song became Charles’ first Top 10 pop hit. It also became a staple of his live shows, always closing the set. In 2002, the recording was preserved by the National Recording Registry for its enduring cultural impact.

Released in 1966, Paint It Black topped both the U.S. and U.K. charts and became one of the Rolling Stones’ signature songs. Fans later ranked it as the band’s third-best single, behind Sympathy for the Devil and Gimme Shelter. Keith Richards credited Bill Wyman’s haunting organ part for transforming the track’s sound into something unique.

Respect was originally written and recorded by Otis Redding, but Aretha Franklin’s 1967 version transformed it into a powerful declaration of female empowerment. She added the famous “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” refrain and the “Sock it to me” chorus, making the song her own. Franklin earned two Grammys for the track, which was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Bob Dylan first recorded All Along the Watchtower for his 1967 album John Wesley Harding, but it was Jimi Hendrix’s explosive cover six months later that reached the Top 20 and became the definitive version. Rolling Stone ranks Hendrix’s rendition as the 47th greatest song ever recorded. The track has been covered by U2, Eddie Vedder, and Neil Young, among others.

Inspired by reports of police brutality in California in 1971, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On became one of Motown’s most powerful statements. The song climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a reputation as an “exquisite plea for peace on Earth.” Rolling Stone later ranked it the fourth greatest song of all time.

Stairway to Heaven was released by Led Zeppelin in 1971 and soon became the most requested song on American radio. Though it was never issued as a single in the U.K., it was voted the nation’s favorite rock anthem and named the greatest song ever by Planet Rock readers.

Topping Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest songs of all time, Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone was a six-minute epic that transformed pop music. Despite initial hesitation from radio stations, it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track has been covered by artists ranging from Green Day to the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In 2014, Dylan’s handwritten lyrics sold at auction for $2 million.

God Only Knows first appeared as the B-side to Wouldn’t It Be Nice, but it has since become one of The Beach Boys’ most enduring classics. The song is enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was ranked 25th on Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest songs ever. Paul McCartney has frequently cited it as his personal favorite song.