NPR 100: Master List of top 300 Songs
The list below was compiled by members of the NPR News and Cultural Programming staff and several distinguished music critics and scholars.
“Adagio for Strings” Samuel Barber (prem. 1938)
Afro-American Symphony William Grant Still (1930)
“After Hours” Avery Parrish (1940)
“Ain’t That a Shame” Fats Domino (1955)
“Airmail Special” Jimmy Mundy/Goodman/Charlie Christian (1941)
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” Irving Berlin (1911)
“All or Nothing at All” Jack Lawrence/Arthur Altman (1940)
“All the Things You Are” Oscar Hammerstein/Jerome Kern (1939)
“Always Late (With Your Kisses)” Lefty Frizzell/Blackie Crawford (1950)
“Always on My Mind” Johnny Christopher/Mark James/Wayne Thompson (1982)
Amahl and the Night Visitors Gian Carlo Menotti (1951)
“Angel from Montgomery” John Prine, as performed by Bonnie Raitt (1971)
“Appalchian Spring” Aaron Copland (1944)
“April in Paris” Vernon Duke (1932), as performed by Count Basie (1955)
“As Time Goes By” Herman Hupfeld (1931)
Ashokan Farewell (soundtrack to PBS series “The Civil War”) Jay Ungar (1990)
“Ay-te Te Fee” Clifton Chenier (1955)
“Back in the Saddle Again” Ray Whitley/Gene Autry (1939)
Ballet Mecanique George Antheil (prem. 1926)
“Be My Baby” Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector (1963), as performed by The Ronettes
The Big Country (Film score) Jerome Moross (1958)
Big Pink (Album) The Band (1968)
“Big Train” Wynton Marsalis (1999)
“Big Yellow Taxi” Joni Mitchell (1970)
“Billy Jean” Michael Jackson (1982)
“Black Angels” George Crumb (1970)
“Blowin’ In The Wind” Bob Dylan (1962)
“Blue Moon Of Kentucky” Bill Monroe (1947)
“Blue Suede Shoes” Carl Perkins (1956)
“Blues In The Night” Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen (1941)
“Body & Soul” instrumental version by Coleman Hawkins (1939)
“Boogie Chillun” John Lee Hooker (1949)
“Born On The Bayou” Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
Born To Run (Album) Bruce Springsteen (1975)
“Bouquet Of Roses” Steve Nelson/Bob Hilliard, as performed by Eddy Arnold (1947)
The Bridge (Album) Sonny Rollins (1962)
“Brilliant Corners” Thelonius Monk (1956)
“Cabaret” Fred Ebb/John Kander (1966)
“Caldonia (What Makes Your Big Head So Hard?)” Fleecie Moore, as performed by Louis Jordan (1945)
“Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday’s Just As Bad)” T-Bone Walker (1947)
“Candy Man” Mississippi John Hurt
“Change Is Gonna Come” Sam Cooke (1965)
A Chorus Line (Musical) Marvin Hamlisch & Edward Kleban (1975)
“The Christmas Song” Robert Wells, Mel Torme, as performed by The Nat King Cole Trio (1946)
“Coal Creek March” Pete Steele
“Coal Miner’s Daughter” Loretta Lynn (1971)
“Coat Of Many Colors” Dolly Parton (1971)
“Come Out” Steve Reich (1966)
“Come Sunday” Duke Ellington (1943)
“Coo Coo Bird” Traditional, as performed by Clarence “Tom” Ashley (1929)
“Crazy” Willie Nelson, as performed by Patsy Cline (1961)
“Crazy Arms” Chuck Seals/Ralph Mooney, as performed by Ray Price (1956)
“Crazy Blues” Perry Bradford, as performed by Mamie Smith (1920)
“Crescent” John Coltrane (1964)
“Dark As A Dungeon” Merle Travis (1947)
“Dark Star” Grateful Dead (1969)
“Dawgology” David Grisman/Richard Greene (1974)
“Deep River Blues” arrangement Doc Watson (1964)
“Der Fuehrer’s Face” Oliver Wallace (1942)
“Django” John Lewis, as performed by Modern Jazz Quartet (1955)
“Doo Wop (That Thing)” Lauryn Hill
“Dream A Little Dream Of Me” Gus Kahn/Wilber Schwandt/Fabian Andre performed by Kate Smith (1931); revived by Mama Cass Elliot (1963)
Drumming, Steve Reich (1971)
“Ebony Concerto” Igor Stravinsky (1945)
Einstein On The Beach Philip Glass (coll. w/Robert Wilson) (1976)
“El Watusi” Ray Barretto (1962)
Endtroducing (Album) DJ Shadow (1996)
“Everyday People” Sly And The Family Stone (1968)
“Fanfare For The Common Man” Aaron Copland (prem. 1943)
“Fever” John Davenport/Eddie Cooley (1956), as performed Peggy Lee (1958)
Fiddler On The Roof (Musical) Sheldon Harnick/Jerry Bock (1964)
“Fine & Mellow” Billie Holiday (1940)
“Fire And Rain” James Taylor (1970)
“Flash Light” Parliament (1978)
“Flying Home” Lionel Hampton (1942)
“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” Earl Scruggs, as performed by Earle Flatt, Lester Scruggs And The Foggy Mountain Boys (1949)
“Four Saints In Three Acts” Virgil Thomson (1934)
“42nd Street” Al Dubin/Harry Warren (1933)
“4:33” John Cage (1952)
Freak Out! (Album), Frank Zappa (1966)
“Freight Train” Elizabeth Cotton (1905)
“F*** Tha Police” N.W.A. (1989)
“Give My Regards To Broadway” George M. Cohan (1904)
“God Bless America” Irving Berlin (1939)
“Gone With The Wind” Max Steiner (1939)
“(Good Old) Mountain Dew” Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1920)
“Good Times” Chic (1979)
“Good Vibrations” The Beach Boys (1966)
“Goodbye Old Paint” Jess Morris
Graceland (Album) Paul Simon (1986)
“Great Balls Of Fire” Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
“The Great Pretender” The Platters (1955)
“Grand Canyon Suite” Ferde Grofe (1931)
Guys & Dolls (Musical) Frank Loesser (prem. 1950)
Gypsy (Musical) Stephen Sondheim/Jule Styne (1959)
“Handful Of Keys” Fats Waller (1933)
“He Stopped Loving Her Today” Bobby Braddock/Curly Putman, as performed by George Jones (1960s)
Head Hunters (Album) Herbie Hancock (1973)
“Hellhound On My Trail” Robert Johnson (1937)
“Hello Dolly” Jerry Herman, as performed by Louis Armstrong (1964)
“Help Me” Sonny Boy Williamson II (1963)
“Here You Come Again” by Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil, as performed by Dolly Parton (1977)
“Hey Good Lookin’” Hank Williams (1951)
“His Eye Is On The Sparrow” C.D. Martin/C.H. Gabriel, as performed by Mahalia Jackson (1958)
“Hoochie Coochie Man” Willie Dixon, as performed by Muddy Waters (1954)
Horses (Album) Patti Smith (1975)
“Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel” Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller; Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley, as performed by Elvis Presley (1956)
“Honeysuckle Rose” Andy Razaf/Fats Waller (1929)
Hoo Doo Man Blues (Album) Junior Wells (1965)
Hymn And Fuguing Tunes Series Henry Cowell (1944-1964)
“I Can’t Get Started” Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke (1935), as performed by Bunny Berrigan & His Orchestra
“I Got Rhythm” George & Ira Gershwin (1930)
“I Know You’re Married (But I Love You Still)” Don Reno & Red Smiley
“I Pity The Fool” Deadric Malone (1960); as performed by Bobby “Blue” Bland (1961)
“I Walk The Line” Johnny Cash (1956)
“I Wanna Be Sedated” The Ramones (1977)
“I Wanna Be Your Dog” The Stooges (1972)
“I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart” Patsy Montana (1936)
“I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again” Maddox Brothers & Rose(1946-1951)
“I’m A Man/Mannish Boy” McKinley Morganfield (aka Muddy Waters), as performed by Bo Diddley (1955)
“I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” Ned Washington, George Bassman (1932)
“I’m Movin’ On” Hank Snow (1950)
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” Hank Williams (1949)
“In A Mist” Bix Beiderbecke (1927)
“In C” Terry Riley (1964)
“In The Mood” Andy Razaf, Joe Garland (1939), as performed by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra (1940)
“The Incredible Flutist” Walter Piston (1938)
“(Goodnight) Irene” Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly) and John Lomax; The Weavers(1950),
“It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back” Public Enemy (1988)
“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” By J.D. Miller, as performed by Kitty Wells (1952)
“It’s Too Soon To Know” Deborah Chessler (1948);
“Jamaica Farewell” Lord Burgess; as performed by Harry Belafonte (1956)
Jazz Samba (Album) Stan Getz W/Charlie Byrd (1963)
“Jeremy” Pearl Jam (1991)
“Joe Hill” Alfred Hayes, Earl Robinson (1938)
“Jolie Blonde” Leo Soileau (approx. 1928)
“Joy Spring” Clifford Brown (1956)
“Juke” Little Walter Jacobs (1952)
Kind Of Blue (Album) Miles Davis (1959)
“King Porter Stomp” Jelly Roll Morton (1924)
“Kiss Me, Kate” Cole Porter (1948)
Knoxville: Summer Of 1915 Samuel Barber (prem. 1948)
“Ko Ko” Charlie Parker (1945)
“La Bamba” William Clauson, as performed by Ritchie Valens (1958)
“Lester Leaps In” Lester Young (1939)
“Let’s Stay Together” Al Green (1971)
“Lift Every Voice And Sing” James Weldon Johnson, as performed by the Southern Sons
“Light My Fire” The Doors (1967)
“Like A Rolling Stone” Bob Dylan (1965)
“Like A Virgin” Madonna (1985)
“Little Maggie” Ralph Stanley (1947/48)
“Little Old Log Cabin” Fiddlin’ John Carson (approx. 1923)
“Lonesome River” Stanley Brothers (1950)
“Loser” Beck (1994)
“Louie Louie” Richard Berry, as performed by The Kingsmen (1963)
“Love Potion No. 9” Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller, as performed by The Clovers (1959)
A Love Supreme (Album), John Coltrane (1964)
“Lush Life” Billy Strayhorn (1938)
“Mack The Knife” Marc Blitzstein, Kurt Weill, as performed by Ella Fitzgerald (1960)
“Makin’ Whoopee” Gus Kahn/Walter Donaldson (1928)
“Mal Hombre” Lydia Mendoza
“Mama Tried” Merle Haggard (1968)
“Manteca” Dizzy Gillespie/Chano Pozo (1947)
“Mardi Gras In New Orleans” Professor Longhair (1949)
“Maybellene” Chuck Berry (1955)
“Memories Of You” Andy Razaf/Eubie Blake (1930)
“The Message” Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel (1982)
Pat Metheny Group (Album) Pat Metheny Group (1978)
“Midnight On The Water” Benny Thomassen
“Midnight Special” Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly)
“Mr. Tambourine Man” Bob Dylan, as performed by The Byrds (1965)
“Moby Dick” Peter Mennin (1952)
“Mood Indigo” Duke Ellington (1931)
“More Than A Paycheck” Ysaye Barnwell, as performed by Sweet Honey In The Rock (1982)
“Move On Up A Little Higher” Robert Anderson, as performed by Mahalia Jackson (1947)
My Fair Lady (Musical) Lerner & Lowe (1956)
“My Funny Valentine” Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart (1937)
“My Girl” William Robinson, Ronald White, as performed by The Temptations (1965)
“My Mammy” Sam Lewis, Joe Young, Walter Donaldson, as performed by Al Jolson (1918)
“Mystery Train” Junior Parker/Sam Phillips, as performed by Junior Parker (1953)
Nefertiti The Beautiful One Has Come (Album) Cecil Taylor (live recording from 1962/released 1997)
“Night & Day” Cole Porter (1932)
“A Night In Tunisia” Dizzy Gillespie (1946)
“Nixon In China” John Adams (1987)
“Oh, Lady Be Good!” George & Ira Gershwin, as performed by Ella Fitzgerald (1924);
Oklahoma! (Musical) Rodgers & Hammerstein (1943)
“Old Home Place” Dean Webb/Mitch Jayne, as performed by J.D. Crowe And The New South (1975)
“On Broadway” Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Leiber & Stoller (1962)
“Once In A Lifetime” The Talking Heads (1983)
“One O’clock Jump” Count Basie (1938)
“Oye Como Va” Tito Puente (1963), as performed by by Santana (1971)
“Pal Joey” Rodgers & Hart (1940)
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” James Brown (1965)
“Peggy Sue” Jerry Allison/Buddy Holly/Norman Petty, as performed by Buddy Holly (1957)
“People Get Ready” Curtis Mayfield, as performed by The Impressions (1965)
“Phone Booth” Dennis Walker/Robert Cray/Richard Cousins/Mike Vannice, as performed by The Robert Cray Band (1983)
Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord Sonata” Charles Ives (1909-1915)
“Piece Of My Heart” Bert Berns/Jerry Ragovoy, as performed by Janis Joplin & Big Brother And The Holding Company (1971)
“Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie” Clarence “Pine Top” Smith (1929)
“Pithecanthropus Erectus” Charles Mingus (1956)
Play (Album), Moby (1999)
“Pony Blues” Charley Patton (approx. 1910)
Porgy And Bess (Opera) George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin/Dubose Heyward (1935)
“Pretty Woman” Roy Orbison & Bill Dees (1964)
“Purple Haze” Jimi Hendrix (1967)
Psycho (Film score) Bernard Herrmann (1960)
“Quiet Village” Les Baxter (1951
“Radio Free Europe” R.E.M. (1983)
“Rapper’s Delight” Sugarhill Gang (1979)
“Respect” Otis Redding, as performed by Aretha Franklin (1967)
“Rhapsody In Blue” George Gershwin (1924)
“Rock Around The Clock” Max Freedman and Jimmy De Knight (1953)
“Rocket 88” Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats (1951)
“Roll 'Em Pete” Joe Turner/Pete Johnson (1941)
“Rosetta” Earl Hines/Henri Woode (1928)
“'Round Midnight” Thelonius Monk (1946)
“(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” Bob Troup (1946); as performed by Nat King Cole
“Sail Away” Randy Newman (1972)
“Sail Away Ladies” Uncle Dave Macon
“St. Louis Blues” W.C. Handy (1914)
“Sally Anne” Tommy Jarrell
“Sally Gooden” Eck Robertson (1922)
“San Antonio Rose” Bob Wills And The Texas Playboys (1938)
“See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” Blind Lemon Jefferson (1928)
“See See Rider” Ma Rainey (1925)
“Shady Grove” Doc Watson
“Theme from Shaft” Isaac Hayes (1971)
The Shape Of Jazz To Come (Album) Ornette Coleman (1959)
“She Thinks I Still Care” Dickey Lee Lipscomb/Steve Duffy, as performed by George Jones (1962)
Showboat (Musical) Hammerstein/Kern (1927)
“Sin City” Flying Burrito Brothers (1969)
“Sing, Sing, Sing” Louis Prima (1936),
“Singin’ In The Rain” Arthur Freed/Nacio Herb Brown (1952)
“Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” Otis Redding & Steve Cropper (1968)
Six Characters In Search Of An Author Hugo Weisgall (1959)
“The Sky Is Crying” Bobby Robinson/Elmore James as performed by Elmore James (1959)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” Nirvana (1991)
“Soldier’s Joy” Gid Tanner And The Skillet Lickers (1929)
“Some Enchanted Evening” Rodgers & Hammerstein (1949)
“Sometime Ago” Chick Corea (1973)
“Spartacus” Alex North (1960)
“Spoonful” Willie Dixon, as performed by Howlin’ Wolf (1960)
“Stand By Your Man” Tammy Wynnette & Billy Sherrill (1968)
“Stardust” Mitchell Parish & Hoagy Carmichael (1929)
“Star Wars” John Williams (1977)
“Steel Guitar Rag” Merle Travis/Cliffie Stone, & Leon Mcauliffe (1941; lyrics added 1946)
“String Quartet No. 3” Elliot Carter (1973)
“Strings Of Life” Derrick May (1987)
Studies For Piano Player Conlon Nancarrow (1950-1968)
“Surely God Is Able” Rev. W. Herbert Brewster; Marion Williams
“Susannah” Carlisle Floyd (1955)
Sweeney Todd (Musical) Stephen Sondheim (1979)
“(I’ve Got A) Sweet Little Angel” B.B. King (1964)
“Swee-Pea” Wayne Shorter (1969)
“Swinging Doors” Merle Haggard (1966)
“Symphony No. 1” Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (1983)
Symphony No. 2 “Romantic” Howard Hanson (1930)
Symphony No. 3 Roy Harris (1937)
Symphony No. 3 Wallingford Riegger (prem. 1948)
Symphony No. 3 William Schuman (prem. 1941)
“Symphony Of Psalms” Igor Stravinsky (1948)
“Symphony Of Rage And Remembrance” John Corigliano (1989)
“‘T’ For Texas (Blue Yodel)” Jimmie Rodgers (1928)
“'Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do” Porter Grainger/Graham Prince/Clarence Williams, as performed by Bessie Smith (1922),
“Take Five” Paul Desmond & Dave Brubeck (1960)
“Take My Hand, Precious Lord” Thomas A. Dorsey (1932)
“Take The ‘A’ Train” Billy Strayhorn, as performed by Duke Ellington Orchestra (1941)
Talking Book (Album) Stevie Wonder (1972)
Tapestry (Album) Carole King (1971)
“Tenderly” Jack Lawrence & Walter Gross, as performed by Sarah Vaughan
“There Stands The Glass” Mary Jean Shurtz/Russ Hull/Audrey Grisham, as performed by Webb Pierce (1953)
“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” George & Ira Gershwin (1937)
“This Land Is Your Land” Woody Guthrie (1956)
“This Train” Sister Rosetta Tharpe
“Tiger Rag/Aunt Hagar’s Blues/Willow Weep For Me” Art Tatum (1933)
“Tom Dooley” Dave Guard, as performed by The Kingston Trio (1958)
“Trouble In Mind” Richard M. Jones, as performed by Bertha “Chippie” Hill (1926)
Trout Mask Replica (Album) Captain Beefheart (1969)
“Un Poco Loco” Bud Powell (1951)
The Velvet Underground & Nico (Album) The Velvet Underground (1967)
“Walk Don’t Run” Ventures (1960)
“Walk This Way” Joe Perry & Steve Tyler, as performed by Run D.M.C. & Aerosmith (1986)
“Walking The Floor Over You” Ernest Tubb (1941)
“Waltz For Debby” Bill Evans (1956)
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Carl Stallings (1940s & 1950s)
“Watermelon Man” Mongo Santamaria (1963)
“We Shall Overcome” Zilphia Horton, Frank Hamilton, Guy Carawan, Pete Seeger (1960)
“West End Blues” Clarence Williams & Joe Oliver, as performed by Louis Armstrong And His Hot Five (1928)
West Side Story (Musical) Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim (1957)
“What’d I Say” Ray Charles (1959)
“What’s Going On” Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye, & Renauldo Benson, as performed by Marvin Gaye (1970)
“When Doves Cry” Prince (1984)
“When The Saints Go Marching In” The Golden Gate Quartet
“Where Did Our Love Go” Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland,
as performed by The Supremes (1964)
“White Christmas” Irving Berlin; Bing Crosby (1942)
“Wildwood Flower” Carter Family (1927)
Wizard Of Oz (Film score) E.Y. Harburg & Harold Arlen (1939)
“Wreck Of The Old 97” Henry C. Work; Vernon Dalhart (1924)
“The Yankee Doodle Boy” George M. Cohan (1904)
Zen Arcade (Album) Husker Du (1984)
Enjoy! 
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