The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America's musical and cultural heritage" in American schools. Hundreds of voters, who included elected officials, people from the music industry and from the media, teachers, and students, were asked in 2001 by the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to choose the top 365 songs (not necessarily by Americans) of the 20th century with historical significance in mind. RIAA selected the voters, and about 15% (200) of the 1,300 selected voters responded.[1][2][3]
The list
The list of the top 25 songs, in the order of votes received. Each song is followed by the name of the artist who made the most notable recording of the song.[4]
| Rank | Title | Artist | Year |
|---|
| 1 | "Over the Rainbow" (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg) | Judy Garland | 1939 |
| 2 | "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) | Bing Crosby | 1942 |
| 3 | "This Land Is Your Land" (Woody Guthrie) | Woody Guthrie | 1940 |
| 4 | "Respect" (Otis Redding) | Aretha Franklin | 1967 |
| 5 | "American Pie" (Don McLean) | Don McLean | 1972 |
| 6 | "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (Don Raye, Hughie Prince) | The Andrews Sisters | 1941 |
| 7 | West Side Story (album) | Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim | 1957 |
| 8 | "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (Jack Norworth, Albert Von Tilzer) | Billy Murray | 1908 |
| 9 | "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) | The Righteous Brothers | 1964 |
| 10 | "The Entertainer" (Scott Joplin) | Scott Joplin | 1902 |
| 11 | "In the Mood" (Wingy Manone, Andy Razaf, Joe Garland) | Glenn Miller Orchestra | 1940 |
| 12 | "Rock Around the Clock" (Max C. Freedman, James E. Myers) | Bill Haley & His Comets | 1954 |
| 13 | "When the Saints Go Marching In" | Louis Armstrong | 1938 |
| 14 | "You Are My Sunshine" | Jimmie Davis | 1939 |
| 15 | "Mack the Knife" (Kurt Weill, Bertholt Brecht) | Bobby Darin | 1959 |
| 16 | "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) | The Rolling Stones | 1965 |
| 17 | "Take the 'A' Train" (Billy Strayhorn, Joya Sherrill) | Duke Ellington Orchestra | 1941 |
| 18 | "Blueberry Hill" (Larry Stock, Al Lewis) | Fats Domino | 1956 |
| 19 | "God Bless America" (Irving Berlin) | Kate Smith | 1938 |
| 20 | "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (John Philip Sousa) | Sousa's Band | 1897 |
| 21 | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) | Marvin Gaye | 1968 |
| 22 | "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (Redding, Steve Cropper) | Otis Redding | 1967 |
| 23 | "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (George C. Cory Jr., (Douglass Cross) | Tony Bennett | 1962 |
| 24 | "Good Vibrations" (Brian Wilson, Mike Love) | The Beach Boys | 1966 |
| 25 | "Stand by Me" (Ben E. King, Leiber and Stoller) | Ben E. King | 1961 |
References