Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2021 Update)

[Henry Suárez]

Rolling Stones simply just stinks, their charts (if that blatant rip-off of Billboard Streaming songs can even be called an "official chart") suck, their "critics" list suck, their political bias suck.

[back2blk]

Nina Simone is nowhere on that list. Damn.

[jenglisbe]

There is no song that could be #1 and please everyone. "Respect" isn't a personal favorite of mine, but on popularity and impact you can't really disagree with it here. My vote would have been Al Green "Let's Stay Together."

Why aren't we talking about "Royals" being all the way up at #30?

I didn't notice Kendrick's "Alright" being top 50! Love it!

[garrettlen]

“Respect” the Greatest song of all time? Yeah…I’m not so sure about that one.

Just another list in the end.

[Gary]

I agree.

Respect from Aretha is a good song

But it is in itself a remake.

[Zeebz]

There’s several issues with this list, but “Respect” being number one isn’t one of them. Everyone’s opinions will differ, of course, but the fact that “Respect” is a remake shouldn’t automatically discredit its placement.

The song itself is not only iconic, but it’s also a groundbreaking song in terms of context, coming along at a pivotal time in history. Aretha’s lyrical changes help to set the song apart and to give it meaning, so the fact it is a cover is almost irrelevant in context of this discussion.

[Gary]

Sept 22, 2021 21:52:08 GMT -5 Zeebz said:

There’s several issues with this list, but “Respect” being number one isn’t one of them. Everyone’s opinions will differ, of course, but the fact that “Respect” is a remake shouldn’t automatically discredit its placement.

The song itself is not only iconic, but it’s also a groundbreaking song in terms of context, coming along at a pivotal time in history. Aretha’s lyrical changes help to set the song apart and to give it meaning, so the fact it is a cover is almost irrelevant in context of this discussion.

That's nice - not saying it is a bad song- in fact it is a great song and her version exceeds the original

But Greatest Song of All Time? My opinion may be irrelevant but the 2004 list had it 5th - a better placement for a song that is not original than the best ever - in my opinion

[jenglisbe]

Sept 22, 2021 21:42:05 GMT -5 Gary said:

But it is in itself a remake.

Why does that matter?

(It should also be noted there are other covers on the list, including "All Along the Watchtower" and "I Will Always Love You.")

[Gary]

Sept 22, 2021 22:20:34 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Sept 22, 2021 21:42:05 GMT -5 Gary said:

But it is in itself a remake.

Why does that matter?

(It should also be noted there are other covers on the list, including "All Along the Watchtower" and "I Will Always Love You.")

Greatest song of all time - in my irrelevant opinion should have higher standards than a copy of someone else’s song

Only an opinion. Nothing more

[Clode]

Gary I respectfully disagree with your opinion, Just because Aretha Franklin's "Respect" is a cover of the original should not mean that it shouldn't have topped this Top 500 All Time list just because Aretha wasn't the original Singer. 

[Gary]

No problem, the next list they publish will likely have a different #1 yet(this was 5th in 2004 and leapfrogged over 4 songs by changing up the voters) - my opinion isn't popular but it is still just an opinion - that is all I got on this

[jenglisbe]

Everyone should keep in mind the same exact people didn't create the 2004 list as did this list. This list was also compiled by different people than who did their yearly lists, etc. So, there shouldn't really be an expectation of consistency. That would be like expecting Pulse to have the same poll results in 2004 as in 2021 despite many members no longer being here, and many new ones having joined.

[Zeebz]

Sept 22, 2021 17:44:18 GMT -5 back2blk said:

Nina Simone is nowhere on that list. Damn.

There’s definitely not enough from her, but she did make it at #172 with “Mississippi Goddam.”

[back2blk]

Sept 23, 2021 7:36:52 GMT -5 Zeebz said:

Sept 22, 2021 17:44:18 GMT -5 back2blk said:

Nina Simone is nowhere on that list. Damn.

There’s definitely not enough from her, but she did make it at #172 with “Mississippi Goddam.”

Oh Thank Goodness.  I must have searched her name without having had expanded the list first.

Another notable omission is Frank Sinatra. 

[85la]

A few other things I noticed with the list, just to start with the top ten, is that a lot of the songs seem quite random and far from the greatest. #2, Fight the Power, is kind of a head-scratcher, as well as the Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever at #7?!! It's like wtf? I know that's regarded as one of their better known songs (I personally don't like it), but to rank in the top 10, ahead of their other standards such as I Want to Hold Your Hand and Hey Jude, or even In My Life or Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is kind of mind-boggling.

Another sort of mind-boggling placement is Taylor Swift's All Too Well at #69, beating out all of her other songs in her vast catalog except for Blank Space down at #357. I must have heard the song when I first listened to the Red album back when it came out, but I had zero remembrance of it thereafter, of course it was never a single, and I had no idea of it's standing as a minor cult classic.

Something I also noticed is that Prince has more songs than Michael Jackson (6 to 3), and most of them rank much higher, which isn't what most would probably expect given Michael's generally higher standing and King of Pop status. You have to wonder if the many allegations against him have really marred his legacy, whether they're true or not.

And then there's a few surprising snubs from the list, who only had one very low-ranking song or none at all, like Janet Jackson, Mariah, and Celine.

Although many of the choices seem odd and out of left-field, I do like how the list, compared to the 2004 one, is more representative of different decades, artist ethnicities, and genres, though it's Rolling Stone, so it still obviously skews towards the classic rock era of the 60s and 70s.

[jodakyellow]

I guess I’ll stand (nearly) alone in loving this list. The bar for lists like this has been set so, so, so low, and this easily clears it.

“Fight The Power” isn’t a headscratcher at all; it’s ranked highly on lists like this before. Back in the early 2000s Vh1 had it in the top 20 for “Songs of the Past 25 Years,” and it makes sense that it’s only risen in stature since then.

I’m always baffled by people saying “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the greatest song of all time; to me it’s the kind of faux-“deep” hit that’s catnip to 14 year olds.

The next time they do this, “Old Town Road” and “Dynamite” will certainly fall off, as will “Truth Hurts” and some others that may have been boosted by recency bias. I can’t imagine Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” keeping its top 10 placement in the next version, either.

More than anything, it’s cool to see them attempt to shake up critical consensus a little with some choices no one saw coming.. Should “Get Ur Freak On” be as high as it is? Idk, but damn if it isn’t fun to see it there.

Finally, I have to assume Rob Sheffield campaigned hard to get “All Too Well” that high. It was immediately a cult classic among her fans, and I think Rob gets some credit for the length of its shelf life and starting the critical consensus that it’s her best song.

[Enigma.]

Sept 24, 2021 21:15:56 GMT -5 85la said:

And then there's a few surprising snubs from the list, who only had one very low-ranking song or none at all, like Janet Jackson, Mariah, and Celine.

Janet is so underrated that it hurts. The 2000s r&b stars wouldn't basically exist without her.

[85la]

^ well, i'm not quite sure about "wouldn't exist," but I agree that she is underrated.

[Private Dancer]

Honestly, forget Rolling Stones and there lists. This the same publication thst claimed that "Formation" was the greatest video of all time. Pay them dust

[kierz7]

Sept 25, 2021 7:14:56 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

Sept 24, 2021 21:15:56 GMT -5 85la said:

And then there's a few surprising snubs from the list, who only had one very low-ranking song or none at all, like Janet Jackson, Mariah, and Celine.

Janet is so underrated that it hurts. The 2000s r&b stars wouldn't basically exist without her.

I agree.

She is one of the premier blueprints among Female pop stars, alongside Madonna, if we’re speaking contemporary acts, yet she doesn’t receive nearly as much credit.

It’s due to a combination of issues however.

1) Her team is absolutely dreadful. Her Spotify playlisting is incredibly low/weak and her YouTube page remains a complete disaster - they’ve only just recently managed to upload some of her songs/videos in HQ yet she has so many are still missing. All of this has succeeded the lack of exposure she received during the Digital era also. Since the Superbowl incident, almost an entire generation of music listeners (particularly the younger ones) haven’t been introduced to her nearly as much.

2) She’s made some horrible business decisions over the past 12-15 years, especially when it comes to touring. She’s become notorious for cancelling and/or cutting entire tour legs short and I think it’s caused some heavy distrust towards her, even from her older and more loyal fans and particularly her international base.

All of this can be salvaged, and I hope the release of her documentary later this year is the start of it, but she is so far behind her peers in terms of current success (and has been for a long time) and social media exposure. It’s very upsetting.

[Enigma.]

Agree, and to add, basically all the pop stars from the late 80s-early 90s lack in streaming. Paula Abdul's highest streamed song on Spotify has 57 million listens! Mimi's pre-Music Box streams are diastrous too compared to what comes later on. I think there is a generation of pop fans that haven't yet been familiar with streaming and/or the pop/r&b music doesn't just resonate that well. If we are talking about early 90s, it's all rock and grunge.

[crazyb]

I love how the 2010 list was completely forgotten, although they only really added songs and the entire top 25 remained unchanged.

[85la]

Sept 26, 2021 15:41:43 GMT -5 crazyb said:

I love how the 2010 list was completely forgotten, although they only really added songs and the entire top 25 remained unchanged.

Hmm didn't know that, but yeah just a quick skim through that list and it looks very similar to 2004.


To add to the Janet Jackson discussion, another thing that always seemed very puzzling to me is that if you look at her sales totals, most of her catalog seems to be vastly under-certified by the RIAA, about one to two million per album! If you look at the date of her certs, they all stop a year or two after each album release, it's as if her label doesn't care anymore after that. Are they really that bothered that they can't do something this simple?

[jenglisbe]

Sept 24, 2021 21:15:56 GMT -5 85la said:

Something I also noticed is that Prince has more songs than Michael Jackson (6 to 3), and most of them rank much higher, which isn't what most would probably expect given Michael's generally higher standing and King of Pop status. You have to wonder if the many allegations against him have really marred his legacy, whether they're true or not.

I thought Prince has always been more loved critically. MJ was more commercially successful. And with The Jackson 5 having at least one entry, that would add to Michael's total.

[85la]

Sept 26, 2021 18:47:10 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Sept 24, 2021 21:15:56 GMT -5 85la said:

Something I also noticed is that Prince has more songs than Michael Jackson (6 to 3), and most of them rank much higher, which isn't what most would probably expect given Michael's generally higher standing and King of Pop status. You have to wonder if the many allegations against him have really marred his legacy, whether they're true or not.

I thought Prince has always been more loved critically. MJ was more commercially successful. And with The Jackson 5 having at least one entry, that would add to Michael's total.

I haven't had the same impression, but I agree to disagree.

[jenglisbe]

Sept 26, 2021 20:24:25 GMT -5 85la said:

Sept 26, 2021 18:47:10 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

I thought Prince has always been more loved critically. MJ was more commercially successful. And with The Jackson 5 having at least one entry, that would add to Michael's total.

I haven't had the same impression, but I agree to disagree.

Acclaimed Music collects critics lists for both singles and albums and then compiles overall lists. Prince is the #9 artist all-time based on the lists they've compiled, while Michael is #29:
acclaimedmusic.net/top_artists/t0.htm

For singles specifically, Prince is #8 and Michael is #19:
acclaimedmusic.net/top_artists/t0s.htm

[Deleted]

So many questionable choices on here, mainly the 2010s inclusions. I mean DYNAMITE being on here? Bad Guy and Thank U Next being among the top 200? Freakin GASOLINA in the top 100?

And not even a single Gorillaz track?

Something I noticed, it feels like certain picks were picked by the crowd only going by their YT views, with picks like Don’t Stop Believin’. Or why Creep is among the highest of the Radiohead singles.

[leonagwen]

In my opinion, the greatest song of all time should be either, Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven or Imagine.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Oct 25, 2021 0:20:15 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

In my opinion, the greatest song of all time should be either, Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven or Imagine.

Meh. They’re all overblown. It’s not 1996 anymore.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Oct 25, 2021 0:20:15 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

In my opinion, the greatest song of all time should be either, Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven or Imagine.