# Rollingstone's 500 (!) greatest songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 12, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397 "2004-12-12T03:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/1 "2004-12-12T03:33:31Z")
[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/\_/id/6596661/500songs](http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6596661/500songs) _Good Vibrations_ in the number **6** spot?!?! Wow. Other comments from the Peanut Gallery? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/2 "2004-12-12T03:38:16Z")
The list is crap, for the most part, and I can only think of one reason for the top 2 on the list. And if that _was_ the reason, the list is even more crap. ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/3 "2004-12-12T03:54:17Z")
It’s nice that they appreciate the greatness which is The Beach Boys - God Only Knows. I love that song, but it seems that hardly anyone I know has heard of it, oddly enough! ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/4 "2004-12-12T04:15:24Z")
Yeah I’m going to have to go with crap as well. How many times do the damn beatles need to be on the same list?! Rolling Stone has just become another suck-up mag for crappy musicians. I think they need to bring The Good Doctor back. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/5 "2004-12-12T04:40:05Z")
I have some problems with this list. First, it seems weighted less in favor of purely commercial artists like Madonna (which is a good thing), but it’s weighted very strongly in favor of darlings like the Beatles and Nirvana. Fine, but how about limiting it to one song per artist, and let others have their chance in the sun? Second, they should’ve ended it with 2000. “Hey Ya” is too new to know just how well it’ll stand up next to the Beatles. (Besides, it sucks, IMHO.) Third, even if they won’t limit it to one song per artist, there’s just too much Beatles and not enough Johnny Cash. I want to see the methodology they used to put it together. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/6 "2004-12-12T04:42:00Z")
The thing that bugs the hell out of me is out of these top 500 songs, only 24 have been released since 1990. And only 3 since 2000, two of which were Eminem songs. Hey, I like Good Vibrations…and the Beatles, I just think the last 15 years of music (we’re almost there) has been sorely neglected on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/7 "2004-12-12T04:45:19Z")
The Ronettes “Be My Baby” is the twenty-second all-time greatest rock song? Um, I’ve heard the song - it isn’t. I’m starting to suspect that lists like these are crap. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/8 "2004-12-12T16:11:26Z")
A few random thoughts… **The Good:** If you’re going to pick only one Cheap Trick song, damn right it should be _Surrender_. I’m impressed that they included _White Man in Hammersmith Palais_ as one of The Clash’s five songs. \ They included the New York Dolls’ _Personality Crisis_! Well done! Whenever I read through lists like this, one of the things that pegs my BS meter is when they don’t include _Fuck tha Police_ by N.W.A. or _Bring the Noise_ by Public Enemy. This list passed the test on both counts. \*\*The Bad: \*\* Blondie has three songs on the list, but _Rapture_ (one of the most ahead-of-its-time songs ever) isn’t one of them. Billy Joel, John Lennon, Paul McCartney only rate one song each. That’s the same amount as Madonna, Pavement, the Pixies, Tupac and The Verve. WTF?? ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/9 "2004-12-12T16:16:56Z")
I agree with those who say that the last 10 to 15 years are almost non existent in the list… and I’ll confess I’ve lost track of what’s hip and what’s not. Although hearing what plays on radio nowadays, I will say I am at least in partial agreement that the overall quality has gone down (just _my_ opinion here) along with the talent. Be that as it may, I still find many questionable choices in that list and I, too, wouldn’t mind some clarification as to the methodology used to compile it. As for too many Beatles’ songs finding themselves on the list, there **never** can be too much of THAT! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/10 "2004-12-12T21:03:42Z")
_Imagine_ made #3 - that’s a good thing IMO. _Baker Street_ is nowhere to be found on that list - not a good thing. These lists are way too opinion based to take as anything other than the compiler’s music preferences. While their tastes agree with mine as far as the heavier treatment of the '60s through '80s as opposed to the '90s and today, there was so much more during '78-79 than what they included. It is nice to read up on the descriptions of the songs, though, just to find out more about them. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/11 "2004-12-12T21:44:25Z")
There’s no way to make a list like this that will please everyone, or even MOST people. Lists like this are always just filler. Even so, this list is even worse than most, because it’s so obviously the work of a committee that’s less interested in picking good songs than in touching all the bases. Perfect example: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is clearly on the list ONLY because the listmakers realized their top ten was too retro, and they felt they HAD to put a “modern” rock song in the top ten, lest they be charged (correctly) with being boring old hippies stuck in the Sixties. And “Johnny B. Goode” (not even Chuck Berry’s greatest single) is in the top ten solely because the Rolling Stone staff felt they had to pay tribute to Chuck, who’s the closest thing rock and roll has to a father. My guess: they decided Chuck Berry had to be somewhere in the top ten, and just cited his best known (but not best) song. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/12 "2004-12-12T22:53:19Z")
**Won’t Get Fooled Again** is 133? Sheesh. Neil Young got shafted. His first song on the list is at 297, far behind such a luminary as **Hot Stuff** by Donna Summer. ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/13 "2004-12-12T23:20:34Z")
Yep. Hey Ya is the 180th best song of all time. ALL TIME. and the 4th best rap(arguable) song. Yeah thats right. God do i hate that song. And only one Tupac song? California Love? What about Changes? Life Goes On? This list is a joke. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/14 "2004-12-12T23:36:32Z")
Simon & Garfunkel debut at #47. Meanwhile The Ronettes are at #22. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/15 "2004-12-13T00:24:23Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > Simon & Garfunkel debut at #47. Meanwhile The Ronettes are at #22. > > 😕 Man, am I the only one who’s gonna give the Ronettes some respect? Be My Baby is a great song and the first one that employed the Wall of Sound. Listen to it with the volume turned up and it’s pretty amazing. I remember watching that History of Rock thing that PBS shows every once in a while, and Brian Wilson talks about the first time he heard that song - he was so blown away, he had to pull the car over. As for the rest of the list, eh, these lists are always a little bullshit. I’m not a big Beatles’ fan, so no way am I going to agree with most of those picks. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/16 "2004-12-13T01:04:28Z")
While some of the list I terribly disagree with (Hey Ya?) I’m happy to say Weezer slipped on the list at #497 with Buddy Holly. I’d say some other songs were better, but Weezer is practically my favorite band, and they are quite good just not very known. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/17 "2004-12-13T01:11:57Z")
I don’t disagree much with the Top 50, but then again I’m approaching geezerdom. There can never be too many Beatles songs on a list like this. Remember, kids: The _c_ in _rap_ is silent. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/18 "2004-12-13T02:25:03Z")
Awful, awful list. Did the editor have an affair with Chuck Berry, or something?? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/19 "2004-12-13T02:45:19Z")
500 songs and not one by Steely Dan. That’s seriously messed up…Not even _Rikki Don’t Lose That Number_. I guess neither Becker and Fagen were on the voting committee. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397/20 "2004-12-13T02:50:41Z")
> [@Gail](#): > > 500 songs and not one by Steely Dan. That’s seriously messed up…Not even _Rikki Don’t Lose That Number_. I guess neither Becker and Fagen were on the voting committee. It’s hard to look at a list and try and think of everyone you think should be on it, and check if they are there. Thus, I completely missed that Steely Dan didn’t make it, and that is insanity. I’m not saying that they’re the pinnacle of rock (well, IMHO, they are way up there) but I can’t believe a top 500 list would not include them somewhere, especially considering some of the music that did make the cut. As I said. Crap. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rollingstones-500-greatest-songs/279397.md?page=2)