My Fav 1,000 Songs To Hear B-4 You Die: Top 1,000 Songs 101

This is a list of the what I consider to be the best songs ever created. That single handed change the shape of music for generations to come. In the next posts you will start to see what i consider the greatest songs ever wrote and recorded. These songs are in no particular order. These songs are from the turn of the 20th century until today. This will be in parts so look back often for future updates. This post is meant to stimulate and evoke comment. Maybe you will remember some of your favorite songs and listen to them again. Maybe you will see new songs that become your favorite new songs. However, I hope you enjoy this blog posting and thanks for looking. Long live music!

In no particular order. Each song is accompained by it's album cover or if no album is available single, sheet music or record label picture. Thanks and enjoy the posts. Feedback is welcomed. However, disagreements are allowed but please be nice and no foul or lewd language.

101. Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner

102. Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville

103. Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
Originally by The Beatles with a fast tempo. This slower version became this songs signature sound. Used as the opening and closing themes of the dramedy The Wonder Years.

104. John Cougar - Jack & Diane

105. Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart

106. Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days

107. Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.

108. Bette Midler - Do You Wanna Dance
Wikipedia:
Do You Wanna Dance? is a song written by Bobby Freeman (as "Do You Want to Dance?"), and recorded by him in 1958. In England and Europe the most famous version was recorded by Cliff Richard & The Shadows in the early 60`s. It is also popular in a version performed by the Beach Boys, which was released in 1965, and in a version recorded by Bette Midler in 1972. The Ramones also covered the song on Rocket to Russia and It's Alive.

109. Plastic Ono Band Feat. John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance (single only track)
Wikipedia:
Give Peace a Chance is a song written by John Lennon, originally under the moniker Lennon–McCartney, released as a single in 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apple 13 in the United Kingdom, Apple 1809 in the United States. It is the first solo single issued by Lennon, and became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s. It peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the British singles chart.

110. Johnny Mathis - Misty

111. Johnny Bristol - Hang On In There Baby

112. Johnny Cash - I Walk The Line

113. Muppets Feat. Kermit T. Frog (Voice Jim Henson) - Rainbow Connection

114. Joni James - Put On A Happy Face

115. Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven (MTV Unplugged)
Wikipedia:
Tears in Heaven is a ballad written by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings about the pain and loss Clapton felt following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor. Conor fell from a window of the 53rd-floor New York apartment of his mother's friend on March 20, 1991. Clapton, who arrived at the apartment shortly after the accident, was visibly distraught. This is one of Clapton's most successful songs, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S., featuring a classical guitar as the lead instrument. The song also stayed three weeks as #1 on the American adult contemporary chart in 1992. Will Jennings, who worked with Clapton on the song, was reluctant at first to help him write a personal song. The song was initially featured on the soundtrack to the film Rush, followed by Unplugged, and it won three Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards. It also won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 1992. The years following 1990 were extremely turbulent for Clapton. In August 1990 his manager and two of his roadies (along with fellow musician Stevie Ray Vaughan) were killed in a helicopter accident, and only seven months later came the death of his young son. On March 20, 1991, his son, Conor, fell 53 stories to his death. After isolating himself for a period of time Clapton began working again, writing music for a movie about drug addiction called Rush. Eric Clapton wrote the song “Tears in Heaven” for his son Conor which was released on the album Unplugged. Unplugged topped charts and was nominated for nine Grammy Awards the year it was released. Though his grief was intense, Clapton made multiple public service announcements to raise awareness for childproofing windows and staircases. In an interview with Daphne Barak, Clapton stated "I almost subconsciously used music for myself as a healing agent, and lo and behold, it worked . . . I have got a great deal of happiness and a great deal of healing from music".

116. Judy Collins - Send In The Clowns

117. Judy Collins - Amazing Grace

118. Ruth Etting - Get Happy
Wikipedia:
Get Happy is a song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics written by Ted Koehler. It was the first song they wrote together, and was introduced by Ruth Etting in The Nine-Fifteen Revue in 1930. Influenced by the Get Happy tradition, it is most associated with Judy Garland, who performed it in her last MGM film Summer Stock (1950).

119. Kansas - Dust In The Wind

120. Larry Norman - Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music
Considered one of the first songs in the genre of Contemporary Christian Music

121. Laurie London - He's Go The Whole World In His Hands
Wikipedia:
"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New,in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina. It was also recorded by other collectors, including Robert Sonkin of the Library of Congress, who recorded it in Gee's Bend, Alabama, in 1941. That version is still available at the Library's American Folklife Center.
Frank Warner performed the song during the 1940s and 50s, and introduced it to the American folk scene. Warner recorded it on the Elektra Album American Folk Songs and Ballads in 1952. It was quickly picked up by both American gospel singers and British skiffle and pop musicians.

The song made the popular song charts in a 1958 version by English singer Laurie London with the Geoff Love Orchestra, which went all the way to #1 of the Most Played by Jockeys song list in the USA and went to number three on the R&B charts. It was the most successful record by a British male in the 50's in the USA. The record reached #2 on Billboard's Best Sellers In Stores survey and #1 in Cashbox's Top 60.

122. Lee Greenwood - God Bless The USA

123. Nat King Cole - Unforgettable

124. Nat King Cole - For Sentimental Reasons

125. Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song

126. Metallica - One

127. Mike + The Mechanics - The Living Years

128. Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good

129. Boyce & Hart - Love Everyday

130. Monkees - Daydream Believer

131. Ben E. King - Stand By Me

132. Henry Gross - Shannon

133. Helen Reddy - You And Me Against the World

134. Jodeci - Lately (Uptown MTV Unplugged)
(Originally recorded by Stevie Wonder for the album Hotter Than July)
Wikipedia:
"Lately" was notably covered by R&B group Jodeci for the Uptown MTV Unplugged release in 1993. The group's version of the song was released as a promotional single, claiming the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts as the group's fourth R&B number one hit. It was also Jodeci's highest peaking pop hit, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

135. Jan Garber And His Orchestra - Baby Face
Wikipedia:
Baby Face is a popular song. The music was written by Harry Akst, the lyrics by Benny Davis. The song was published in 1926. That same year, Jan Garber had a number one hit with the song.

136. Simon and Garfunkel - Homeward Bound

137. Simon and Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson

138. Tom T. Hall - I Love...

139. O.C. Smith - Little Green Apples

140. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah

141. Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind

142. U2 - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Wikipedia:
Written about Martin Luther King, Jr., the song received mixed critical reviews at the time, but it was a major commercial success for the band and has since become one of the band's most popular songs. It was named the 378th greatest song by Rolling Stone on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The song had been intended to be about Ronald Reagan's pride in America's military power but after the lyricist Bono had been influenced by Stephen B. Oates's book Let The Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a biography of Malcolm X. these caused him to ponder the different sides of the civil rights campaigns, the violent and the non-violent. In subsequent years, Bono has expressed his dissatisfaction with the lyrics, which he describes, along with another Unforgettable Fire song "Bad", as being "left as simple sketches". He says he was swayed by The Edge and producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who played down the need to develop the lyrics as they thought their impressionistic nature would give added forcefulness to the song's feeling, particularly when heard by non-English speakers. The song contains the erroneous reference to King's shooting as "Early morning, April 4", when it was actually after 6 p.m. Bono acknowledges the error and in live performances he occasionally changes the lyric to "Early evening..." Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders sang backing vocals on the recording. She was

143. Three Dog Night - Black And White

144. Sly And The Family Stone - Everyday People

145. Stevie Wonder - Living For The City
Wikipedia:
The song begins with Wonder describing the life of a boy born in "hard time Mississippi". His family is poor, but his parents work hard and encourage him, in spite of the dreadful conditions they live in, which include lack of food and money, and racism. As the track progresses, the tension and anger build in Wonder's voice, matching the growing frustrations of the subjects in the song.
A spoken interlude midway through the song has the young boy, now a young man, arriving in New York City for a new beginning. He is tricked into transporting drugs, arrested and sentenced to 10 years in jail. The tension in Wonder's voice boils over at this point into an angry growl, but then subsides again as he ends the song on a positive note. In commercial radio airplay, the spoken dialog is usually edited out, possibly because the word "nigger" is used as he is thrown into a jail cell. Also, the last two verses, following this scenario, are omitted as well. The spoken interlude can be seen as an electro-acoustic experiment, exploring the composer's main sensory input. Stevie Wonder's growling voice reveals the inner rage that has been building throughout the song. "Living for the City" still holds a substantial edge in social commentary.
In an interview broadcast in 2010 on UK radio station Radio 4, producer Malcolm Cecil revealed how they made the last verse obtain the raspy, angry vocal sound they were after: "We had to get find a way to get the vocal rougher and harder, sound like someone who'd been through some real shit, so we decided the only thing to do was try and get Steve real angry and get his voice hoarse, so when we were recording that vocal for the last verse again we kept on doing stuff that would get him angry and one of the things he hates is stopping the tape, you know if he doesn't say stop the tape in the middle of a vocal then... well, we broke that rule! We kept on stopping the tape, "Come on Steve, you can do better than that, this is shit" and I was really shirty with him, and we got him hoarse, we wouldn't give him tea, he likes this tea with no milk in it, with the lemon to clear the throat, We didn't give him the tea. (Laughs) He was getting real upset; I think he's still upset with me about that, but we got a great track!"

146. Byron G. Harlan - School Days (When We Were A Couple Of Kids)

147. Hoagy Charmichael & His Pals - Stardust

148. Gershon Kingsley - Popcorn
Wikipedia:
In 1972, Hot Butter's rerecording was a huge hit in many countries. That version is by far the most well-known of this tune. Hot Butter's version became the first primarily electronic-based piece of music to reach the American popular music charts, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Pop Singles and number four on the Adult Contemporary Chart. The single had a great success in Australia where it reached number one for ten weeks. It was also number one in Switzerland, where it topped the chart for ten weeks and stayed for 17 weeks in the top ten. In Norway, it was number one for nine weeks and featured for 21 weeks in the top ten. It was also number one in Germany and reached number five on July 22, 1972 in UK and number 15 in Canada - October 1972. In France, this version of "Popcorn" is the 131st best-selling single of all time, with about 900,000 sales

149. En Vogue - Free Your Mind

150. Dr Dre Feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Nuthin But A "G" Thang
Wikipedia:
"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" is listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It's Dre's only song on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (ranked number 419), not counting two other songs that feature Dre as producer and on vocals, N.W.A.'s "Fuck tha Police" and 2Pac's "California Love". Q magazine listed it as the 24th greatest hip-hop song of all time.

151. Impressions - People Get Ready

152. Bette Midler - The Rose

153. 10cc - I'm Not In Love

154. Eddie Fisher With Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra And Chorus - Oh! My Papa (Oh Mein Papa)
Wikipedia:
"O mein Papa" is a German song, as related by a young woman remembering her beloved, once-famous clown father. It was written by Swiss composer Paul Burkhard in 1939 for the musical Der Schwarze Hecht (The Black Pike), reproduced in 1950 as Feuerwerk (Fireworks) to a libretto by Erik Charell, Jürg Amstein, and Robert Gilbert. In 1954, that musical was turned into the film Feuerwerk with Lilli Palme. Under the original German title, an instrumental version by trumpeter Eddie Calvert topped the UK Singles Chart in 1954, and was also a Top 10 hit in the U.S. It was adapted into English by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons under the title "Oh! My Pa-Pa". A recording by Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter's orchestra & chorus was made at Webster Hall, New York City, on December 12, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-5552 (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10614. Fisher's recording became a #1 hit on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1954. Fisher's version also made the UK Top 10; thus, in the UK, Calvert's version was number one while Fisher's made the top 10, but missed the top spot, and in the U.S., the opposite occurred. Calvert's version has a further claim to fame as the first UK number one to be recorded at the most successful of all British recording studios, Abbey Road.

155. Arthur Gibbs And His Gang - The Charleston

156. Erroll Garner - Misty (Instrumental) (First instrumental of this song classic by Johnny Mathis)

157. Sousa's Band (John Phillip Sousa) - Semper Fidelis March
Wikipedia:
Semper Fidelis is Latin for "Always Faithful" or "Always Loyal". Well known in the United States as the motto of the United States Marine Corps (and often shortened to Semper Fi in Marine contexts). On the United States Marine Corps Seal, the eagle of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem holds a ribbon emblazoned "Semper Fidelis".
Semper Fidelis is also the title of the official march of the United States Marine Corps, composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. Sousa was director of the United States Marine Band ("The President's Own") when a replacement for Hail to the Chief was requested, but later rejected. Sousa considered it to be his "most musical" march.

158. Frank C. Stanley - Auld Lang Syne

159. Enigma - Return To Innocence

160. Enya - Only Time

161. Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

162. George Michael - Praying For Time

163. Wham! - Carless Whispers

164. Glenn Campbell - Wichita Lineman

165. Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket) - When You Wish Upon A Star

166. Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney - Good Morning

167. Hagood Hardy - The Homecoming
Wikipedia:
Hugh Hagood Hardy is best known for the 1975 single, "The Homecoming", (US #41 pop, #6 easy listening) originally created as music to a 1972 TV commercial for Salada tea, and for his soundtrack to the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea films.

168. Harry Richman with Earl Bartnett's Biltmore Orchestra - Puttin' On The Ritz
Wikipedia:
The original version of Berlin's song included references to the then-popular fad of flashily-dressed but poor black Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue, "Spending ev'ry dime / For a wonderful time". The song was featured with the original lyrics in the 1939 film Idiot's Delight, where it was performed by Clark Gable and chorus.

169. Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin'

170. Dan Folgelberg - Leader Of The Band

171. Issac Hayes - Shaft

172. Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men - One Sweet Day
The song experienced success in many countries around the world, especially in the United States. It spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and is the longest running number one song in US chart history.

173. Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You
It was at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, from August 27 to November 26, 1994. The song set a record for the most weeks at number one at the time (tied with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" from late 1992 to early 1993). This record was later broken by "One Sweet Day", a collaboration between Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey, which remained at #1 on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks.

174. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
Wikipedia:
"I Will Always Love You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. The country track was released on June 6 1974 as the second single from Parton's thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene (1974). Recorded on June 13, 1973, the singer wrote the song for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was professionally splitting at the time. "I Will Always Love You" received positive comments from critics and attained commercial success, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart two times. With the accomplishment, Parton became the first artist ever to earn a number one record twice with the same song as a singer, and three times as a writer.
The single spent 14 weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, which at the time was a record. The single became Houston's longest run at number one, smashing her previous record, which was three weeks with 1986's, "Greatest Love of All." It is also the longest running number one single from a soundtrack album.

175. Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
Wikipedia:
The song became Braxton's second consecutive number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It stayed at number one for eleven weeks in a row during late 1996 and early 1997, becoming Braxton's biggest hit to date. It also rose to number two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Background vocals were performed by R&B singers Shanice Wilson and Chante Moore.

176. James Horner - There's No Goodbye...Only Love

177. Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

178. James Taylor - You've Got A Friend

179. Sesame Street - Kermit T. Frog (Jim Henson) - Bein' Green
Written by Joe Raposo in 1970 for the first season of the children's television program Sesame Street.

180. Helen Reddy - Candle On The Water (From the film Pete's Dragon)

181. Henry Hall & The BBC Dance Orchestra Feat. His Orchestra & Val Rising - Teddy Bear's Picnic

182. Henry Burr - Beautiful Ohio

Wikipedia:

"Beautiful Ohio" is the official song of the U.S. State of Ohio.The first lyrics were written by Ballard MacDonald and the music by Robert A. "Bobo" King, who used the name Mary Earl. A bill passed by the Ohio General Assembly in 1969 made it the state's official song. Beautiful Ohio was originally written as a love song by Ballard MacDonald whose lyrics depict a "paradise of love divine."

Lyrics:

Long, long time ago

Someone I know

Had a little red canoe,

In it room for only two.

Love found its start

Then in my heart,

And like a flower grew.

Chorus:

Drifting with the current down a moonlit stream,

While above the Heavens in their glory gleam,

And the stars on high

Twinkle in the sky,

Seeming in a paradise of love divine,

Dreaming of a pair of eyes that looked in mine.

Beautiful Ohio, in dreams again I see

Visions of what used to be.

When McBride rewrote the lyrics for the 1989 version he gave a much more accurate portrayal of Ohio by including things such as the state's cities and factories rather than two imaginary lovers.

183. Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons

184. Weavers - On Top Of Old Smokey

185. Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell - Dueling Banjos

186. Andrew Gold - Thank You For Being A Friend

Wikipedia:

"Thank You For Being A Friend" is a song written by Andrew Gold, who recorded it for his third album, All This and Heaven Too. The single version reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. The song was later re-recorded by Cynthia Fee to serve as the theme song for the NBC sitcom The Golden Girls, and re-recorded again for the series' CBS spin-off The Golden Palace.

187. Anne Murray - You Needed Me

188. Archies - Sugar Sugar

Wikipedia:
"Sugar, Sugar" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. It was a four-week 1969 number-one hit single by fictional characters The Archies. Produced by Jeff Barry, the song was originally released on the album Everything's Archie. The album is the product of a group of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. Ron Dante's lead vocals were accompanied by those of Toni Wine (who sang the line "I can make your life so sweet"), and Andy Kim. Together they provided the voices of the Archies using multitracking.

When the song was initially released, Kirshner had promotion men play it for radio station execs without telling them the name of the group (due to the somewhat disappointing chart performance of the Archies' previous single, "Bang-Shang-a-Lang", which went to number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts). Only after most of the DJs liked the song were they told that it was performed by a cartoon group. The Archies' hit wound up as one of the biggest (and most unexpected) number-one hits of the year, one of the biggest bubblegum hits of all time, both in America and in Great Britain, thanks partly to association with the hit CBS-TV Saturday morning cartoon series.

The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" was the 1969 number-one single of the year. A week after topping the RPM 100 national singles chart in Canada on September 13, 1969 (where it spent three weeks), it went on to spend four weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 from September 20 and eight weeks at the top of the UK singles chart. The song lists at number 63 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time. It also peaked at one in the South African Singles Chart. On February 5, 2006, "Sugar, Sugar" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, as co-writer Andy Kim is originally from Montreal, Quebec.

189. Argent - God Gave Rock N Roll To You

Wikipedia:

"God Gave Rock and Roll to You" is a 1973 released song by British band Argent. It was recorded in 1971 during the sessions for their album All Together Now, but originally did not appear as an album track until 1973's In Deep, and was released as a successful single at that time. The 1997 CD re-release of All Together Now has the track included as a bonus. It has been covered by many artists, including Petra, Midtown, The Truth, and Bride. The song was remade by Kiss as "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You II" for the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey in 1991. It was later covered by Unrest on the "Buy This Used CD" compilation CD in 1993.

Recently it was rerecorded by the Brazilian progressive metal band Oficina G3, in DVD D.D.G Experience.

However, one the most recognized versions besides Kiss is the 1977 version by the christian rock band Petra from the album Come Join us. Which has an epic style version and a 2 minute reprise.