Top 200: Greatest Songs (of All-Time)

101. Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley)


“Suspicious Minds” was written by American songwriter Mark James, who also wrote “Always on My Mind”. But after flopping commercially, Elvis Presley picked “Suspicious Minds” up, turning it into a number one song in 1969 as well as one of his most career-defining hits. “Suspicious Minds” was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley’s career success, following ’68 Comeback Special. Elvis first performed the song live at the Las Vegas International Hotel (later rebranded Hilton) on July 31, 1969. It was his seventeenth and last number-one single in the United States.

Meaning of the Song: The song is about a mistrusting and dysfunctional relationship, and the need of the characters to overcome their issues in order to maintain it.

Accolades: Presley’s 17th and final No. 1 single.; RS/500, No. 91; peaked at No. 1 in the United States, remaining there for the week of November 1, 1969.

102. Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” is a 1970 creation of John Fogerty for the CCR album Pendulum. Billboard co-listed the B-side of the song as “Hey Tonight”.

Meaning of the Song: Some have speculated that the song’s lyrics are referencing the Vietnam War, with the “rain” being a metaphor for the sky raining bombs. According to Mark Deming of AllMusic, it promotes the theory that idealism of the 1960s faded after tragedies like the Altamont Free Concert and the Kent State shootings, and that, according to Fogerty, the same problems of the 1960s carried over to the 1970s, but by then, no one cared about fighting for them. In contrast, Fogerty himself has said in interviews and prior to concerts that the song is about rising tension within CCR and of Tom, his brother, leaving the band.

Accolades: No. 1 on the RPM 100 (Canada) national album chart; peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on the Cash Box pop chart; marked CCR’s eighth gold single.

103. Rock Around the Clock (Bill Haley)

“Rock Around the Clock” is a 12-bar-blues song that was penned by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter also known as “Jimmy De Knight”) in 1952. Although it was first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae and His Knights on March 20, 1954, Myers claimed that it was written specifically for Haley. Thus, Haley and His Comets recorded “Rock Around the Clock” on April 12, 1954–making it the most well-known and most successful version ever. Bill Haley is also known for his American chart successes with “Crazy Man, Crazy” (1953) and “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (1954). “Rock Around the Clock” is widely considered the one song (among a only a handful of others) that ushered in rock & roll into to the mainstream all around the world.

‘It’s very hard to tell what made me first decide to play the guitar. Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley came out when I was ten, and that probably had something to do with it.’ — David Gilmour, from Pink Floyd

Meaning of the Song: Not only is “Rock Around the Clock” widely regarded as the very first rock & roll song to garner widespread popularity, it has also been theorized that (while it’s a big stretch) it’s really about a 24-hour sex marathon, or 24 hours of sex-related activity.

Accolades: RS/500, No. 158; became the first rock and roll recording to hit the top of Billboard‘s Pop charts, stayed there for eight weeks; No.1 for seven weeks on the Cashbox pop singles chart (1955); No. 3 on the R&B charts; often cited as the biggest-selling vinyl rock and roll singa figure of at least 25 million; cited by the Guinness Book of World Records in the category “Phonograph records: Biggest Sellers” from the early 1970s until the 1990s.

104. Have I Told You Lately (Rod Stewart)

Composed by Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison for the 1989 album Avalon Sunset, “Have I Told You Lately” is a romantic ballad commonly heard at weddings. Built on the framework of “Someone Like You”, “Have I Told You Lately” came after the song, “I’d Love to Write Another Song,” which proclaimed “In poetry I’d carve it well, I’d even make it rhyme.” It later became popularized by the British singer-songwriter Rod Stewart. According to Brian Hinton (English poet and musicologist), the song is:

“…one of the finest love songs of the century, which I remember devastated me when I first heard it, as it seemed both something never quite said before, and yet a song I felt I had known forever. Earthly love transmutes into that for God, just like in Dante, “there’s a love that’s divine and it’s yours and it’s mine”. The morning sun has set by the end of the song, suggesting love shading into death, but subtly”

Meaning of the Song: Morrison never explicitly admitted that it was about God (as many believe), but he did once acknowledge that there was indeed an underlying spiritual meaning (2009 interview with Time magazine), saying “religion is a kind of word game. It’s whatever it means to those individuals who are following that belief system. If you say something has got spirit or “I feel the spirit,” to me, that would be more appropriate – spirit in the Aristotelian sense, that the mind and body and spirit are one thing. Which is different from religion.”

Accolades: Peaked at No. 5 on prominent charts in the US and UK;Van Morrison’s original recording was voted No. 6 on the “Top 10 First Dance Wedding Songs”, based on a poll of 1,300 UK DJs; Van Morrison received a Million-Air certificate for over four million air plays (Oct., 2007).

105. King of the Road (Roger Miller)

Miller’s fifth single (later from the album The Return of Roger Miller) for Smash Records, “King of the Road” tells about the “happy” hobo lifestyle in which hobos enjoy very few creature comforts, but have plenty of freedom. On Miller’s website, it Miller says that he wrote “King” over a six-week span while on a 1964 Midwest TV tour–that he wrote the opening upon seeing a “Trailers for Sale or Rent” roadside. Days later, Miller allegedly bought a toy figure of a hobo in an airport gift shop and stared at it until the song was finished.

Miller: “I was doing a show in a place you have probably never heard of called Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and I saw a statue of a hobo in a shop were I was staying. I purchased it and took it to my room and wrote the song.”

Meaning of the Song: The lyrics tell of a hobo who despite being poor (a “man of means by no means”) revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously as the “king of the road”. The title itself is an allusion to hobos and tramps–known as “knights of the road”–that Miller allegedly encountered in his travels.

Accolades: Peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 1 on both its Hot Country Singles and Easy Listening surveys; No. 1 in the UK and Norway.

106. It’s Your Love (Tim McGraw & Faith Hill)

“It’s Your Love” was recorded by husband and wife duo, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for the Tim McGraw album Everywhere. It’s music video counterpart, directed by Sherman Halsey, is significant to the song because it shows an obviously-pregnant Hill, who gave birth to hers and McGraw’s first child, Gracie. That music video also took the award for Video of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 1997.

Meaning of the Song: The meaning of “It’s Your Love” is pretty straightforward, in that it describes a couple’s endless love for one another.

Accolades: No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, where it remained for six weeks; became McGraw’s and Hill’s first top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100; won Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1997 Academy of Country Music Awards; nominated for two Grammys.

107. Lump (The Presidents of the United States of America)

“Lump” is a song by alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released in 1995 and featured on their self-titled debut album. Later in the same year, it debuted on the The song is a playable track on Rock Band 2, the Nintendo DS version of Band Hero and in the Wii video game Just Dance .”Lump” is punk in instrumental style, but it is as insanely catchy as bubblegum pop.

Meaning of the Song: This song follows the story of a girl named (or nicknamed) Lump. Her life seems to be a waste, and she comes off as someone who is easily taken advantage of.

Accolades: PUSA’s first hit song, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts; No. 7 on the Album Rock Tracks chart.

108. Rockstar (Nickelback)

“Rockstar” was the Canadian band Nickelback’s fifth U.S. single (although later re-released) for the 2005 album, All the Right Reasons. Initially only released in the U.S. and Canada, later globally, “Rockstar” featured Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top on spoken-word vocals between each verse are provided by. Because the song debuted so close to the band’s other 2005 hit,”Far Away”, it initially only performed modestly on the U.S./Canadian charts; but when it was re-recorded and re-shipped 2007 along with a music video counterpart, it hit all-time high peaks on several charts, notably the Hot 100 and Adult Top 40, and to-date is Nickelback’s best-selling U.S. digital single, raking in over 3 million downloads. On its second go-around, the song even bested “Far Away” on the Singles charts and concluded the band’s fifth Hot 100 Top Ten song overall.

Meaning of the Song: This song pokes fun at the stereotypical lifestyle of a famous musician, complete with references to extravagant homes, groupies, drugs and famous friends. Chad Kroeger: “It’s what you would also do if you won the lottery. I hope it comes across as us having a lot of fun and even to some degree, making fun of ourselves.”

Accolades: Peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100; marked Nickelback’s third Top Ten single from All the Right Reasons; was the fifth biggest selling single of 2008 in the U.K.; named No. 100 on Rolling Stone‘s 100 Best Songs of 2007 compilation.

109. Pumped Up Kicks (Foster The People)

A song and smash hit by indie pop band Foster the People, “Pumped Up Kicks” debuted as the group’s first single in 2010; the following year it was included on their EP Foster the People and their first album, Torches. The upbeat “Pumped Up Kicks” unexpectedly raced to the top of the charts after being released as a free download, would become one of 2011’s most popular songs altogether. “Pumped Up Kicks” was written and recorded by Foster the People’s vocalist Mark Foster.

Meaning of the Song: The lyrics to “Pumped Up Kicks”, although upbeat and ostensibly cheery, describe the murderous thoughts of a troubled boy–a boy who can’t run as quickly as the other kids in gym class. Fuming with jealousy, he brings a gun to school so that he can shoot the faster kids in the legs and finally beat them.

Accolades: Spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the first Billboard Alternative Songs No. 1 single to break into the the U.S. Top 5 since Kings of Leon’s 2009 “Use Somebody”; Grammy-nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

110. Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice)

From the 1989 debut album Hooked, “Ice Ice Baby” is an early-nineties hip hop song by rapper Robert “Vanilla Ice” Van Winkle and DJ Earthquake. Later released on the 1990 album To the Extreme, it’s one of Ice’s most famous (and only) hits. Since the early nineties, it’s appeared in remix form as Platinum Underground and Vanilla Ice Is Back!, with a live version appearing on the album Extremely Live. A rap rock version can be seen on the album Hard to Swallow under the title “Too Cold”. “Ice Ice Baby” was initially released as the B-side to Vanilla Ice’s cover of “Play That Funky Music”, but the single was not initially successful. When a disc jockey played “Ice Ice Baby” instead, it practically exploded. It’s also considered to have helped diversify the then-fledgling hip hop genre with a more mainstream flavor.

Meaning of the Song: Describing a shooting and Vanilla Ice’s rhyming skills, the chorus traces back to the national African American fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha‘s signature song. More recently, Van Winkle claimed that “If you released ‘Ice Ice Baby’ today, it would fit in today’s lyrical respect among….My lyrics aren’t, ‘Pump it up, go! Go!’ At least I am saying something.”

Accolades: No. 5 on Blender magazine’s “50 Worst Songs Ever” (We speculate that that could be considered an ‘accolade’ in the broadest sense of the word); ranked No. 29 on VH1‘s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90’s (2007); first hip hop single to ever top the Billboard charts in the U.S.