Rolling Stone's Top 500 Songs List Is Rough 

I have a feeling The Rolling Stone office is half boomers and half tiktokers and they just resent eachother

Can’t believe the Rolling Stones made 500 songs together

Fantano saying “no sicko mode?” Felt deep

Dude, Billie Eilish really is one place above Comfortably fucking Numb

This list tried so hard to be modern and diverse it destroyed any sense of having such a list.

it was really brave of them to put Taio_Cruz_Dynamite_full.mp3 in all 500 spots actually

No songs in Spanish or any language besides English. Nothing before 1937. Yes, definitely a comprehensive list of the best songs ever made by mankind. Instead they should just call it the best Rock, Pop, and Rap English songs since 1937.

I can’t believe Crazy Frog by Axel F is not even on the list.

A lot of people who make lists like this worry about it would be "dated" not having modern music on it, but in fact arbitrarily picking random recent popular hits will date the list far worse in years to come.

I was pleasantly surprised when Melon put "Dance Monkey" at #1 on his personal list after a quick change in heart

Enter Sandman I think absolutely belongs on that list if only for its ubiquity, near-perfect production for hard rock, and being probably the most successful gateway song into heavier music

I checked the list and just to give you a picture of how insane it is "Stairway To Heaven" is at #61 while Missy Elliot's "Get Ur Freak On" is at #9...

Kelly Clarkson "Since You Been Gone"... Got way higher than Michael Jackson's "Beat It"................ Makes sense.

Anthony should make his own list of his top 500 songs and then make a video about it

Elliott Smith was one of the greatest songwriters of all time and they didn't include him on this list. For shame! They could have at least put Between the Bars in there somewhere.

It’s impossible to make a list of the greatest songs of all time. There are so many things you have to account for such as the impact that the song had among its respective genre and its artistic value and contribution to the music scene as a whole

The fact that the highest daft punk track is Get lucky at 465 is criminal. Did they just forget that Discovery exists?

"Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles directly ahead of "Under Pressure" by freaking David Bowie and Queen is hilarious.

I have the 2010 edition of this list and mostly agree with it and used it as a template to expose myself to genres I never gave a chance, like Gnarles Barkley, Prince & Bob Dylan. This new list just feels like they are doing what's been trendy, weird, or successful without accounting for its actual musical quality.

List is terrible but I think enter sandman totally belongs on a top 500. Probably the most well known metal song worldwide.

Rolling Stone could have saved a lot of heartache if they had simply said "list is in no particular order". There's no point trying to rate songs from a huge variety of genres: each genre deserves it's on consideration. No point in comparing "Everlong" to Miles Davis' "So What".

I've just checked that Rolling Stones has a total of 422 songs, how is it possible to make top 500 songs?

Thank you for pointing out the criminal lack of heavy metal on this list. 🙏🏽

“Strange Fruit” and “Fast Car” are both timeless masterpieces. Powerful, poetic lyrics. Top notch performances. They can bring tears to your eyes. Both songs work as cultural artifacts of their respective eras and still feel relevant today. If you wanted to put another black woman besides Aretha in the top ten, you couldn’t do much better than picking one of these songs. …then again, “Get Your Freak On” was a big part of my growing up. I remember going to high school dances, buzzed on Five O Clock Vodka or Mikes Hard Lemonade, and trying to get my freak on. The song’s timeless sentiments of “I’m so great” and “let’s have sex” really resonated with me then. It’s like she could read my mind.

They really jumped the gun on this one. They didn't even wait for time to end

Drake had 3 spots on this list. More than Eminem, Biggie, 2PAC, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Kanye... don't even get me started on the fact that Nas and MF DOOM aren't even on the mf list. The list is a joke.

Agree on all points. Electronic music from Boards of Canada, Aphex, Vangelis, et al and Gorillaz and Massive Attack are sorely missing. Gigantic hole in the Top 500 is "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck, it's timeless and popular (actually should be in Top 20 easy) and about 10 other jazz songs.

love how all of the best songs in all of human history were made within a period of 70 years! that makes so much sense!

This list was created by Rolling Stone finding 500 random people, asking each their favorite song, and compiling the results in order.

I wasn’t expecting East by Earl Sweatshirt to take all 500 spots but I can’t say I’m disappointed

Hey! Just found your channel and watched loads of your videos. Excellent, keep up the good work. 👍

I appreciate the attempt to incorporate modern artists, but I feel like they placed too high a priority on modern popularity. The truth is that the cultural impact that many songs had in the 60s and 70s is just way bigger than anything that came after. The amount of songs that are just "get stuck in your head" significance that place higher than songs that embodied whole generations and still attract listeners 40-60 years later is just incredible.

Putting "Bad Guy" over " Beat It", "Nothing Compares 2 U" ( either version of that one slaps) AND " You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" should be considered a felony

This list be like: "C.R.E.A.M - Wu Tang Clan" "Oh cool! This song is awesome! Lets see the next-" "Dance monkey - Tones and I"

In Rolling Stone’s opinion, “Of all time” just means from American (and occasionally British) artists? There is so much innovative, artistic, and inspiring music all around the world, and they’re just choosing stuff that they think will appeal to the English-speaking demographic😅

they should have made smaller lists but for many genres, because it feels like they are cramming tons of stuff into the list from far too many genres that have very little in common and it also feels like some genres were completely left out of the list, plus the idea of having artists choose the songs is creating hella bias and adds way too many opinions to the list, rather than having a team of actual critics specialized in individual genres who could choose the songs in a more logical way.

I just have a hard time accepting a song that is less than three years old could ever reasonably be considered an "all time" classic. Doesn't the idea of a list like this insinuate longevity over immediate impact?

I’m surprised that you had all 16 tracks on Total Xanarchy in your personal top 20. I do agree with you Melon that Rolling Stone is severely under representing Lil Xan and his impact on the music industry with their joke of a list.

Your mentioning of a lowest common denominator from a voting system of many great voters is exactly why your channel is great. Yes there are strong disagreements at times but the agrees hit hard. To have a big group of reviewers makes it feel like fact when it’s no more fact than one opinion, but with one opinion you understand it’s just someones taste. Idk i just love ya man

Can’t argue too much with where “When Doves Cry” or “Purple Rain” ended up, but what is “Little Red Corvette” doing at 360? If it isn’t Prince’s best song, it’s quite possibly his most influential. Artists today still chase that sound.

Melon’s hysterical laughter is more powerful than any roast will ever be.

While I disagree, I respect the decision to have Lizzo - Juice in all 500 spots

In a list of 500 greatest lists of all time, I would put this list at number 500.

i still believe system of a down should have at least one song here. most preferably would be Chop Suey, Sugar, or War

We need melon to publish his own 500 greatest list

It would have been far less egregious had they done a top 100 for each of the last five decades. It's hard to not have modern songs feel like pandering, when those tunes have not been given time to marinate for a generation or two.

For those of you who are wondering, Bohemian Rhapsody is at 17 in this list

I think adding in any songs from the last 10 years is tricky af. It’s really hard to tell how songs will be viewed long term so close to when they’ve been released. This goes double for songs released within the last 2-3 years.

Many of the placements were bizarre. And yes, Aphex Twin and Gorillaz not getting a single song was genuinely bizarre.

Rolling Stone: we should probably include some songs to demonstrate the incredible creativity and talent in Latin music Rolling Stone: *puts Gasolina at 50*

'Zombie' by The Cranberries is one of the best songs of all time (in my opinion). It's not even on this list

We have a thing in the netherlands called “the top 2000” it basically only exists of rock and pop classics, but still maybe it’s worth reviewing

The fact that Billie eilish is the centre point of their graphic tells you all you need to know about this list 😂

I'm glad to see WAP at #1. I have new found respect for RSM.

I'm actually doing my thesis on this right now! Would love to chat with you about this sometime.

Fantano, I want to give you a shout because I had never given Synth Pop a try before this video... I think I just wrote it off as the 80s sucking or something... but after your Blue Monday mention I looked up some New Order/Kraftwerk/Gary Numan/etc. and found some good stuff that I enjoy!

the beatles not being a number one was rolling stone "stepping outside their shell"

Instead of doing top 500, they should do either Top 250 classics (I’d say anything before 2000) and Top 250 Modern (after 2000). Both time periods have fantastic songs but I feel like putting so many recent songs will date this list. Also, some songs can’t be compared. How does a 1950’s easy rock track score higher or below a Nicki Minaj, kind of not taking it seriously, rap song from the 21st century. Also? If this truly is a ‘all time list’, then this is fundamentally flawed. No music except stuff popular in western countries, and only western countries. No Classical or any other genre from before 1950’s. No music from other countries, Indian, Japanese, North Korean. But it’s OK. The worst song of 2019 by a whispering 14 year old is allowed on instead

Only started watching this channel recently, and I know it's his job, but I can't help but admire how much music he knows.

You should do your own version of these lists Anthony

Honestly, if there were songs from the 2000’s that should be on this list, I would pick these four: Hey Ya - Outkast Crazy - Gnarles Barkley Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz One More Time - Daft Punk Feel free to reply with your 2000’s songs pic :p

really happy for rolling stone that they decided to give Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" the top spot. really the obvious choice

Glad to see you're still reppin' my two favorite boys, Nick and Tom, Melon

I feel like I’ve heard that Robyns Dancing on my own have inspired a lot of the pop music that came after it and I can see why.

They actually cannot FATHOM THE IDEA OF A SONG BEING A HIT FOR LIKE TWO YEARS NOT MAKING IT ONE OF THE BEST SONGS OF ALL TIME

The 500 greatest songs that americans heard.

We need to see your top 500 song list fantano!!

got to the part with rappers delight and immediately closed this tab and listened to the full length ver. instead of finishing this video. filled me with more joy than i imagine dunking on this list would

If they're going to make a ranking like this, then they need to separate it into two lists - one being the most influential/iconic songs of all time, and the other being the greatest songs of all time. I feel that the two sides are clearly very often at odds with each other.

I can't believe NAV had all top 10 spots

Lorde royals as #30 gives me physical pain. What is this, 7th grade lunch break?

Just for clarification, "All the Young Dudes" was written and produced by David Bowie with Mott the Hoople. Now, Bowie had recorded his own version back around the same time, but it never made in onto the record. Later, from the '90s and onward, his version of the song would be released on different "rarities or hits" albums and also he would perform the song live. Just saying.

I personally think it's literally impossible to come up with a list that satisfies everyone when it comes to music. No matter what criteria you use, Music is the most taste based, subjective form of art and one thing that sounds great to someone can sound terrible to someone else. I can love a black metal album for it's raw, violent, low fi mix and someone else might hate it for the exact same reasons. Even if you use criteria like popularity or impact there's still gonna be a ton of disagreements. So when a publication comes up with a list like this, it's just basically a way for them to get some reactions and get some clicks, that's all. It's clear people who voted on this list don't listen to Electronic Music, Prog Rock or Metal at all. And they have no right to declare this list as the greatest songs of all time. And my point is that NOBODY has the right to make this list, because there's nobody out there who likes all type of music. All we can do is to just say "hey these are my favorites" and move on.

So much respect to rolling stone for having all 500 spots go to Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard, I agree 100 percent

I remember the last time Rolling Stone had a list of the top 500 songs. I thought it was 2009, but I could be wrong. I looked through it online and could understand why people no longer subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine. One example: Patsy Cline had more songs (2) than either the Talking Heads, The Pretenders, Traffic, Doobie Bros., Carole King or Santana. And I found three songs by the Ramones

'sign of the times' felt like a PR machine revving up to try to convince us that styles is a serious artist, similar to his being plonked into a chris nolan film. completely unconvincing imo and it's strange to me that rolling stone are still thinking about it now that it has served its purpose as a vehicle

This is more like “top 500 songs you’ll be forced to hear at karaoke night”

respect to the authors, i cant even fathom how hard a list of that caliber would’ve been to make. would’ve been even more respect if it was any good

Anthony, Please start a series of a journey creating your top 500 songs. Or do it on Twitch, and track your multiple revisions for RU-vid. You are the new Rolling Stones in some sort and would really love to hear your take.

I think we can look back at music that's, say, over a decade old (on the low end), and get a rough approximation of how "important" it is based on how influential it's been, what artists today are coming up modeling themselves after it, how many people are still listening to it 10+ years after its release, etc., etc. I'd be a lot more interested in a list like that but it's a lot more work to actually put something like that together than to just ask a bunch of boomer artists and producers what their favorite songs are. It just seems incredibly naive to me that anyone can state a track that dropped a few years ago is one of the best of all time no matter how good it seems in the moment. Also, Strawberry Fields Forever? Greatest Beatles song? I'll accept that some Beatles song is going to have to take a spot in the top 10 but couldn't it at least be A Day In The Life?

Imagine they tried to actually do a top500 songs of all time? Including jazz and symphonic, and all around the world? Who is even qualified?

It's not an all time list without the 12th symphony of Beethoven !

I think a lot of the problem with these lists is the perspective, a song that was recently released is going to have a lot more influence because it's more present in peoples conscience but will a song released last year still be highly regarded 30 years from now

Ranking the best music of all time is such a moot point, I know it’s like basically an obligation for Rolling Stone but it’s so relative to what one enjoys and sees as good. Music is a lot like food in a way, you can pretty much immediately tell whether or not you like it. Perhaps the more you consume you may get sick of it or start to enjoy it. We all grow up with different flavors as part of our pallet and as we get older we may feel inclined to expand it, but it’s near impossible to not have that original craving for those familiar tastes creep into your judgement of new ones. We’re naturally just biased, and I applaud Anthony for taking an objective view of most things he reviews but personal preferences are bound to make their way into something as subjective as music.

more than anything im just surprised gimme shelter didnt quite crack the top 10

Honestly, the most WTF moment on this list is Get Ur Freak On being in the top 10.

Fountains of Wayne is one of the most underrated band / artist on that list

You just have to read how they came up with the list to realize it's not a real ranking, it's just a list of a handful of people's favorite songs.

I think Aphex Twin has said RS wanted to interview him for his 'drukqs' release but he wasn't interested. They threatened him with bad press if he didn't agree to it and then they gave drukqs their ludicrous 1 star review. They've seemed to have it in for him ever since.

Comfortably numb below bad guy. And no Linkin Park? What in the actual fuck

No Sinatra? WTF? “One For My Baby”, “Summer Wind”, “Angel Eyes”, even “Strangers In the Night” No Tony Bennett “I Left My Heart in SF”, “When Joanna Loved Me”?

This list is like a hipster trying to show how open minded they are by incorporating random pop artists into their taste.

The list is incredibly American-centric. The only UK tracks are from insanely well known artists and while they probably deserve to be there there's a lot that ought to be alongside it. Even adding in a bunch of UK voters all you get is an Anglo-centric list that's leaving ninety-plus percent of the world unrepresented, there's definitely enough music out there to take Livin' on a Prayer and Fix You out of the reckoning.

Melonhead have you done a top 500 recently? Haven't seen one for a while

Title: Top 500 list is rough Anthony: As far as the list goes I don't have too many issues with it

Man a list like this can literally never be circumspect. It doesnt matter who's making it. it could only realistically have been made to please.

Are these the greatest songs artistically, influentially , based popularity ? I feel like if you pick either one the list changes significantly and by combining them it has a lesser impact

Can someone explain to me how "Dancing on my own" was on this list? I've never heard of it and doesn't strike me as a "best of the week" let alone ever!! Did I miss something?

My uncle bought me an iPod nano long ago. Excited I went up to his room to get some music on it ASAP, I DL this playlist. And I felt dirty for doing so, unclean. This was 2010ish, and I'd guess little has changed

The biggest fault of a list like this is that they feel the need to put them in some specific order. Just have a 500 list without an order, no hierarchy, just like "hey, these songs are good"