Top 200: Greatest Songs (of All-Time)

171. Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton)

“Tears in Heaven” is a 1992 hit song by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings for the soundtrack to the movie Rush. In addition to being one of Clapton’s most successful songs, it’s also his (and one of the most in music overall) saddest song ever recorded. In August of 1990, Clapton’s manager, fellow musician Stevie Ray Vaughan, and two other friends died in a helicopter accident. In 1993, Clapton’s son, Conor (4-years old) died after falling from the 53rd-floor window of an apartment in New York City. “Tears in Heaven” was nominated for nine Grammys the same year it debuted.

Meaning of the Song: The song was written about the pain and loss Clapton felt following the death of his four-year-old son Conor, on March 20, 1991 (as well as the death several friends in a helicopter accident). Conor fell from a window of the 53rd-floor New York apartment, landing on a four-story building.

Accolades: Reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; peaked at No. 1 on the American adult contemporary chart, remaining there for three weeks, in 1992; won three Grammys—Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Male Pop Vocal Performance; won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 1992; RS/500, No. 362.

172. Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses)

“Sweet Child O’Mine” is a 1988 ‘power ballad’ by hard rock band Guns N’ Roses and the third single from their debut 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction. Along with Axl’s vocals, its harmony is perfectly married with Steven’s drum part, Izzy’s chords, and Duff McKagan’s bass-line; additionally, bassist Duff McKagan once claimed that the thing about “Sweet Child o’ Mine” was that is was “one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, ‘What is this song? It’s gonna be nothing, it’ll be filler on the record.” (2002, Hit Parader magazine).

Meaning of the Song: Lead Singer Axl Rose has stated that “Sweet Child” was based on his then-girlfriend, Erin Everly.

Accolades: Topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Guns N’ Roses’ first and only No. 1 U.S. single; peaked at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart; made No. 37 on Guitar World‘s list of the “100 Greatest Guitar Solos.”; No. 3 on Blender‘s 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list; RS/500, No. 198; Q magazine made it No. 6 on its 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks list; one of Rolling Stone’s 40 Greatest Songs that Changed the World; No. 17 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s” chart; placed No. 210 on the RIAA Songs of the Century list; has sold over 2,609,000 digital copies in the US as of 2012.

173. Changes (David Bowie)

A 1971 song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single in January 1972. Despite missing the Top 40, “Changes” became one of Bowie’s best-known songs. Bowie had just started using a keyboard to write songs, which opened up new possibilities for him in terms of melody and structure. This fresh approach resulted in “Changes.”This single is cited as David Bowie’s official North American debut, despite the fact that the song “The Man Who Sold the World” was released in North America two years prior.This is the last song Bowie performed live on stage before his retirement from live performances at the end of 2006.

Meaning of the Song: A reflective song about defying one’s detractors and doing his or her own thing, “Changes” also hints at both Bowie’s affinity for artistic reinvention throughout the 1970s and his chameleonic personality, as well as the constant changing of the modern world.

Accolades: Reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for four weeks; topped the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts for 13 weeks; No. 4 on the UK Singles chart, and No. 1 in Ireland; ranked as the top single of 2002 by Billboard magazine; certified gold by the RIAA in 2005, for sales of over 500,000 copies; racked up four Billboard Awards and four Juno awards; was 2003 Grammy-nominated for Record of the Year; was the No. 1 song on the Billboard’s 2002 Year-End Hot 100 Singles Chart; No. 36 on Billboard’s All Time Top 100.

174. That’s All (Genesis)

“Genesis”, the second track (“Mama” being the first) from the 1983 album of the same name, was a group composition by Genesis and lead singer/drummer Phil Collins. With “Second Home by the Sea” on its flip-side, Genesis climbed to number six in early 1984, making it the group’s first U.S. top 10 hit. “Genesis” was an attempt at a simple pop song with a Beatles-esque melody as well as–according to Collins himself–an attempt at a Ringo Starr-ish drum part. Its music video companion portrays the band as homeless men staying warm over a fire while playing cards.

Meaning of the Song: The lyrics to “That’s All” describe a failing relationship, one where the narrator feels that regardless of how hard he tries, his relationship keeps returning to square one, hence “It’s always the same, it’s just a shame, and that’s all.”

Accolades: No. 6 in early 1984; its UK single (which featured “Taking It All Too Hard” on the flipside) peaked at No. 16; went to No. 6 on the Irish Singles chart.

175. Billionaire (Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars)

“Billionaire” is the debut single by Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis “Travie” McCoy, featuring guest vocals from Bruno Mars. It’s the lead single from McCoy’s debut studio album Lazarus and was produced by The Smeezingtons (itself consisting of Mars, Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine). Popularly known for the narrator’s wanting to be on the cover of Forbes magazine and “smiling next to Oprah and The Queen”, it was Bruno Mars that conceived “Billionaire” during a trip to London, where he was given £240 ($350) by his record label to spend for 11 days. Mars found that amount insufficient and stated “we were like, ‘Is this the biggest mistake we’ve ever made? We thought we were broke in California; what are we going to do here?’ So we’ve got no money, and I’m walking the streets and came up with, ‘I wanna be a billionaire, so freakin’ bad.'” “Billionaire” employs an almost exact copy of the music from “Santeria” by the band Sublime.

Meaning of the Song: McCoy told MTV News about the song’s meaning: “It’s me talking about what would happen if I would somehow manage to become a billionaire. What would I do with the money?” he explained. “Don’t get it wrong, I’m far from a billionaire. I think I just made it out the ‘thousandaire’ category. So it’s about what I would do with the money and, the same time, it opens up the question, if you were in a position to do something with a decent chunk of money, what would you do?”

Accolades: Has sold 3 million digital downloads as of July 2011, making it Mars’ third three-million seller; RIAA-certified 2x platinum; RIANZ (Recording Industry Association of New Zealand)-certified Platinum.

176. Louie Louie (The Kingsmen)

Perhaps one of the most controversial songs of the 1960s and even 1970s, and even the the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed but non-existent obscenity of the lyrics, an investigation that ended without prosecution–“Louie Louie” is an American rock ‘n’ roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955 and best known for the 1963 hit version by The Kingsmen. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists. The song was originally written and performed in the style of a Jamaican ballad. It is unknown exactly how many versions of “Louie Louie” have been recorded, but it is believed to be over 1,500 (according to LouieLouie.net) surpassing “Yesterday” by The Beatles as most recorded rock song ever.

Meaning of the Song: The original Jamaican ballad tells, in simple verse–chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lady love. Kingsmen verion, subject of a failed FBI investigation–the lines Chorus: “Louie, Louie, oh no. Me gotta go. Aye-yi-yi, I said. Louie Louie, oh baby. Me gotta go.” “Fine little girl waits for me. Catch a ship across the sea. Sail that ship about, all alone. Never know if I make it home.were the main lyrics thought to be obscene.

Accolades: RS/500, No. 54; entered the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for December 7, and peaked at number two the following week; it would remain in the top 10 through December and January the Kingsmen’s version spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100did reach number one on the Cashbox pop chart, as well as number one on the Cashbox R&B chart.

177. When a Man Loves a Woman (Percy Sledge)

“When a Man Loves a Woman” is an R & B/soul song that Percy Sledge recorded in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. The song is credited to Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, who played bass and keyboards with Sledge. However, the song was in fact written by Percy Sledge himself, but he gave it to Lewis and Wright. Before the recording session, the song had no title or lyrics. When it came time to record the vocals, Sledge improvised the lyrics with minimal pre-planning, using the melody as a guide for rhythm and phrasing. The performance was so convincing that others working on the session assumed Sledge had the lyrics written down.

“When a Man” was later covered by Michael Bolton in 1991, whose version also reached number one on the U.S. pop and adult contemporary singles charts (Bolton also received a Grammy Award for this song), as well as by Barbara Mandrell as a country song. It’s also been covered by greats such as Marvin Gaye, Jerry Butler, Art Garfunkel, Luba and Karen Dalton.

Meaning of the Song: A legendary and timeless love song and a huge hit, the story behind “When a Man”‘s original writing and recording remains a relative mystery.

Accolades: Was No. 54 on Billboard‘s 1992 Year-End chart (Michael Bolton version), as well as a No. 1 U.S. hit for Bolton in 1991; RS/500, No. 54; Sledge’s version was also a top ten hit in the UK, peaking at No. 4 initially and peaking at No. 2 after being featured in a 1987 Levi’s Jeans commercial.

178. Faith (George Michael)

“Faith” was a No. 1 single from 1987 that was written and performed by George Michael (previously of the band Wham!) for his first solo album, Faith; it was also Michael’s second single as a solo artist after “I Want Your Sex.” He’d previously had huge successes with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “I’m Your Man” while in the pop duo band known as Wham! However, in 1990, Michael debuted the song “Freedom ’90,” where he denounced the image—where he famously sported facial stubble, a biker jacket and torn Levi’s jeans—that he’d created in the music video for “Faith.” In “Freedom ’90,” he’s shown blowing up the jukebox and setting the black leather jacket from the “Faith” video and singing “When you shake your ass, they notice fast, and some mistakes were built to last.”

Meaning of the Song: “Faith” refers to a guy who’s looking for true love and wants to leave his current girlfriend, though she doesn’t want him to leave.

Accolades: Certified-gold in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands; No. 1 on Canada’s RPM Singles chart, No. 5 on the German equivalent; reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, remaining there for four consecutive weeks, and No. 2 on the UK Singles chart; its album won the Grammy for Album Of The Year.

179. Your Song (Elton John)

“Your Song” was written (in association with Bernie Taupin) and performed by Englishman Elton John in 1970 and was John’s first pop ballad hit. Released in the U.K. in 1970 for his self-titled second album, “Your Song” debuted in the U.S. the same year as the B-side to “Take Me to the Pilot”. Although both songs were given air time, disc jockeys overwhelmingly preferred “Your Song”, replacing “Take Me to the Pilot” as the A-side. A demo version was also included on John’s 1990 album, To Be Continued. John Mendelsohn (Rolling Stone) called the song a “pretty McCartney-esque ballad”, and in 2002 John re-recorded the song (which also charted in the U.K.) as a duet with opera singer Alessandro Safina at the Sport Relief charity telethon.

Meaning of the Song: Hinting at romantic thoughts of an innocent, Taupin kicks off with a straightforward love-song lyric: “It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside / I’m not one of those who can easily hide / I don’t have much money but boy if I did / I’d buy a big house where we both could live”, basically setting the tone for the length of the tune.

Accolades: Grammy Hall of Fame-induction (1998); RS/500, No. 136; certified gold and platinum in late 2012 by the RIAA; rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100; peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles chart.

180. Tiny Dancer (Elton John)

“Tiny Dancer” is a 1971 song by Elton John, with lyrics by his long-time songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin. The song appears on John’s fourth album, Madman Across the Water. “Tiny Dancer” as a single was initially a non-starter in the US and was never even released as a single in the UK. Eventually, though, it slowly became one of John’s most popular tunes even in the regions that initially failed to embrace it, and the full-length version is now a fixture on North American, UK and Australian adult contemporary and rock radio stations.

Meaning of the Song: “Tiny Dancer”, one of the most enduring products of Bernie Taupin, was inspired by the spirit of the early 1970s in California and the many beautiful ladies he encountered there. And although it’s commonly mistaken as being written for Maxine Feibelman (Taupin’s first wife), it was simply meant as a dedication to her on John’s Madman Across the Wateralbum.

Accolades: RS/500, No. 397; RIAA-certified gold in 2005 and platinum in 2011; reached No. 41 on the U.S. Billboard pop chart; fared better in Canada, peaking at No. 19; also climbed to No. 13 in Australia.