DISCLAIMER: The following is subject to change as my opinions continue to evolve.
So if you’ve been following this blog for the last half a year or so, you’ve probably noticed a shift towards list-based posts. Figured I might as well just keep the trend going…
As the title suggests, today we’ll be tackling my favorite songs from each year since 1960. That said, in order to make this a little easier on myself, I established one rule, and only one; I couldn’t use any songs from my favorite albums of each year.
With that out of the way, let’s just get right to it:
1960: Roy Orbison - “Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)”
1961: Elvis Presley - “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
1962: Elvis Presley - “Return to Sender”
1963: Peter, Paul & Mary - “Blowin’ in the Wind”
1964: The Animals - “House of the Rising Sun”
1965: The Beatles - “Day Tripper”
1966: The Beach Boys - “God Only Knows”
1967: Jimi Hendrix - “Little Wing”
1968: The Beatles - “Revolution”
1969: The Rolling Stones - “Gimme Shelter”
1970: The Beatles - “Let It Be (Single Version)”
1971: The Rolling Stones - “Wild Horses”
1972: Elton John - “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)”
1973: The Rolling Stones - “Angie”
1974: Queen - “Killer Queen”
1975: Heart - “Crazy on You”
1976: Aerosmith - “Rats in the Cellar”
1977: Kiss - “I Stole Your Love”
1978: The Cars - “Just What I Needed”
1979: The Police - “Message in a Bottle”
1980: Devo - “Whip It”
1981: Rush - “Limelight”
1982: Michael Jackson - “Thriller”
1983: U2 - “New Year’s Day (Video Version)”
1984: The Smiths - “How Soon Is Now?”
1985: Kiss - “Tears Are Falling”
1986: Kim Wilde - “You Keep Me Hangin On”
1987: REM - “The One I Love”
1988: Edie Brickell - “What I Am”
1989: Faith No More - “From Out of Nowhere”
1990: Pantera - “Cemetery Gates”
1991: Guns N’ Roses - “November Rain”
1992: Blind Melon - “No Rain”
1993: Pearl Jam - “Rearviewmirror”
1994: Nine Inch Nails - “Closer”
1995: The Smashing Pumpkins - “1979”
1996: Tool - “Forty-Six & 2”
1997: The Verve - “Bittersweet Symphony”
1998: Jerry Cantrell - “Dickeye”
1999: Collective Soul - “Heavy”
2000: LeAnn Rimes - “Can’t Fight the Moonlight”
2001: Weezer - “Island in the Sun”
2002: Queens of the Stone Age - “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire”
2003: No Doubt - “It’s My Life”
2004: Keane - “Everybody’s Changing”
2005: Audioslave - “Be Yourself”
2006: Tool - “The Pot”
2007: Foo Fighters - “Stranger Things Have Happened”
2008: Slipknot - “Sulfur”
2009: Silversun Pickups - “Panic Switch”
2010: The Black Keys - “Next Girl”
2011: Adele - “He Won’t Go”
2012: Slash - “Standing in the Sun”
2013: Arctic Monkeys - “R U Mine?”
2014: Run the Jewels - “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)”
2015: The Dead Weather - “Let Me Through”
2016: Metallica - “Hardwired”
2017: Greta Van Fleet - “Edge of Darkness”
2018: Jack White - “Over and Over and Over”
2019: Tool - “Descending”
2020: The Smashing Pumpkins - “Cyr”
2021: Slipknot - “The Chapeltown Rag”
2022: Red Hot Chili Peppers - “The Shape I’m Takin’”
And there you have it! Like always, rock turned out to be the dominant genre here, though I tried to be as diverse as my tastes would allow me…
I find it funny that “November Rain” and “No Rain” ended up right next to one another, given how similar both titles are, let alone the fact that the singers of each of those bands went to high school together, and even appeared on some of one another’s music. Similarly, all members of Rage Against the Machine appear on here, but not together… I’m sure there are even more patterns than the ones mentioned here, but that was all I was able to notice… Well, that was fun! Maybe I’ll be able to come up with even more pointless lists in the future.
Peace!
UPDATE: If I had to pick just one song per decade (and only one per artist), I’d go with this (with an extra decade for good measure):
1950’s: Elvis Presley - “Hound Dog”
1960’s: The Rolling Stones - “Gimme Shelter”
1970’s: The Beatles - “Let It Be”
1980’s: Kiss - “Tears Are Falling”
1990’s: Guns N’ Roses - “November Rain”
2000’s: Weezer - “Island in the Sun”
2010’s: Adele - “He Won’t Go”
2020’s: Red Hot Chili Peppers - “The Shape I’m Takin’”
Related Article: Top 5 Songs Per Year
