The Global 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Bob Dylan: Like a Rolling Stone
Lyrics & Music: Bob Dylan
U.S., English, 1965

How does it feel?” That was the pregnant question Dylan put not just to a former love but also to himself and the universe. Considered too long at many radio stations, the song was actually economical, packing cynicism, compassion, resentment, insight, loss of innocence and the endless road into 6 minutes and 13 seconds. With Like a Rolling Stone, Dylan rewrote the rules of popular music, confirmed his transition from folk to rock and set a standard that echoed half a century later when he won the Nobel Prize in literature.
Ah you never turned around to see the frowns/On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you/You never understood that it ain’t no good/You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you/You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat/Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat/Ain’t it hard when you discovered that/He really wasn’t where it’s at/After he took from you everything he could steal/How does it feel, how does it feel?/To be on your own, with no direction home/Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone

Miriam Makeba: Pata Pata / Touch Touch
Lyrics & music: Miriam Makeba
South Africa, Xhosa, 1967

Pata Pata was (as the song says) the name of a dance popular in the bars of Johannesburg’s townships in the 1950s, when Makeba wrote and first recorded the song in Xhosa. In different versions of the dance, the male or female taps their partner’s body to the rhythm of the dance. Makeba released what became the definitive version in the United States in 1967 (with a spoken English verse added). During her long exile from South Africa, the song, as well as the artist, was banned.
So we grooved and said: “Check it out!”/This is the Pata Pata…/So we grooved and said: “Check it out!”/This is the Pata Pata…/That’s it, lady!/This is the Pata Pata…/That’s it, lady!/This is the Pata Pata…/Pata Pata is the name of the dance/We do down Johannesburg way/And everybody starts to move/As soon as Pata Pata starts to play

João Gilberto: Chega de Saudade / No More Blues
Lyrics: Vinicius de Moraes/Music: António Carlos Jobim
Brazil, Portuguese, 1959

First recorded by Elizete Cardoso, it was João Gilberto’s version that made Chega de Saudade the defining song of bossa nova and joined him to Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes as the genre’s holy trinity. The singer pines for a departed love and teases out the nuances—yearning, nostalgia, hope—of the elusive Portuguese word “saudade.”
Go, my sadness, and tell her that without her I cannot exist/Tell her in a prayer/To come back, because I can’t suffer anymore/No more blues…/But if she comes back/What a beautiful thing/What a crazy thing/For there are fewer fish swimming in the sea/Than the number of kisses I’ll give to her lips

Edith Piaf: Milord
Lyrics: Georges Moustaki/Music: Marguerite Monnot
France, French, 1959

France’s greatest singer had two other hits (La Vie en Rose and Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien) that could arguably be called signature songs, but Milord was her most classic, and most perfect, chanson, a vivid story and at least part autobiographical. The narrator is a “girl of the port… a shadow of the street”; (Piaf was raised in a brothel, where the prostitutes served as surrogate mothers and babysitters). In the song she sees and falls in love with an upper-class Englishman she has observed walking with a beautiful woman. One day he appears alone, she invites him to sit at her table, breaks through his shell, provokes tears and then cheers him up.
Come along, Milord/Sit at my table/It is so cold, outside/Here it’s comfortable/Relax, Milord/And make yourself at ease/Lay your troubles on my heart/And your feet on a chair/I know you, Milord/You’ve never seen me, I’m just a girl from the docks/A shadow of the street…/I saw you/As you passed yesterday/You were so proud/God! The sky made you perfect/Your silk scarf/Floating on your shoulders/You could have been taken for a king…/A woman on your arm/How beautiful she was…/It made my heart shiver…

Lata Mangeshkar: Lag Jaa Gale /  लग जा गले / Embrace Me
Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan/Music: Madan Mohan
India, Hindi, 1964

Mangeshkar was a seminal figure in Indian music, earning titles like “Nightingale of India” and “Voice of the Millennium.” It was largely due to her commanding presence that Bollywood playback singers came to be regarded as stars in the own right, often as celebrated as the actors who lip-synced to their vocals. The Hindi lyrics of Lag Jaa Gale describe what may be a final encounter of lovers. Though composed for the film Who Kaun Thi? (Who Was She?), it is in the classical Dadra style.
Embrace me, for this beautiful evening may not come again/Perhaps we may never meet again in this life/Fate has given us these few moments/You can look at me from up close as much as you wish/Your fate may never again have this opportunity

The Beatles: Yesterday
Lyrics & music: Paul McCartney, John Lennon
U.K., English, 1965

Yesterday is the most covered song in the Beatles’ catalogue and arguably the most covered song in music history. It was also one of the first popular songs to include classical accompaniment, so maybe George Harrison wasn’t too far off when he quipped—in reaction to the long delay of the lyrics—“Paul’s always talking about that song. You’d think he was Beethoven or someone!”
Yesterday/All my troubles seemed so far away/Now it looks as though they’re here to stay/Oh, I believe in yesterday/Suddenly/I’m not half the man I used to be/There’s a shadow hanging over me/Oh, yesterday came suddenly/Why she had to go/I don’t know, she wouldn’t say/I said something wrong/Now I long for yesterday

Cui Jian (崔健): Yiwusuoyou / 一无所有 / Nothing to My Name
Lyrics & music: Cui Jian
China, Chinese (Mandarin), 1989

Ostensibly about a young man rejected by a girlfriend for being poor, as a metaphor Nothing to My Name is about young people being disrespected by their leaders. Cui Jian’s greatest hit was a tipping point, musically and politically, a mix of Chinese tradition and Western rock that became the freedom anthem for the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, where he played it live, in 1989. Though never banned from performing, after Tiananmen he was restricted to small venues until 2005. 
I have asked endlessly/when will you go with me?/But you always laugh at me, for having nothing to my name/I want to share my dreams with you, and my freedom/but you always laugh at me, for having nothing/Oh! When will you go with me?/The ground beneath my feet is moving/the water by my side is flowing/but you always laugh at me, for having nothing/Why is your laughter never enough?/[Why does your laughter never end?]/Why do I always have to chase you?/Could it be that in front of you/I forever have nothing to my name

Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40: Burbujas de Amor / Love Bubbles
Lyrics & music: Juan Luis Guerra
Dominican Republic, Spanish, 1990

One of the most beloved Latin artists of all time, Guerra took Dominican merengue and bolero-infused bachata onto the international stage. In Burbujas de Amor he uses vivid metaphors of magical realism and palpable sensuality to explore the depth and fragility of love, something as buoyant and as delicate as a bubble.
I have a heart/That’s been maimed by hope and reason/I have a heart that wakes early, wherever it may be/¡Ay ay ay ay ay!/And this heart/Bares itself impatiently before your voice/Poor heart/That can’t catch its sanity/I would like to be a fish/So I could put my nose into your fish tank/So I could blow love bubbles everywhere, ohhhh/To stay awake all night/Soaked in you/A fish/To adorn your waist with corals/And to draw love silhouettes under the moon, ohhh/To satisfy this madness/While soaked in you

Fela Kuti: Water No Get Enemy
Lyrics & music: Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti
Nigeria, Yoruba/English, 1972

Water No Get Enemy is Kuti in mellow-thoughtful mode, channeling a Yoruba proverb about the power of nature. It was actually the B-side of Expensive Shit, based on the comical effort by Nigerian police to plant a marijuana joint on him and send him to prison for 10 years—thwarted when Kuti swapped bucket samples with a fellow prisoner and passed his drug test.
If you want to wash, you’ll use water/If you want to prepare soup, you’ll use water/If your head feels hot, water will cool it/If your child is growing up, he’ll use water/If water kills your child, you’ll use water/Nothing without water/Water has no enemy

Aretha Franklin: Respect
Lyrics & Music: Otis Redding
U.S., English, 1967

Otis Redding wrote Respect and took the ballad about a man asking his woman for appreciation to number 4 on the Billboard charts in 1965. Aretha Franklin had performed the song—switching its gender—in her live shows; she recorded a new version for her 1967 album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, turning it into an empowerment anthem by a confident woman asking for respect from her man. She added the spelling out of R-E-S-P-E-C-T and the repeating line “sock it to me.” The song did more than any other to enmesh her into the fabric of American music as the Queen of Soul.
What you want/Baby, I got it/What you need/Do you know I got it?/All I’m askin’/Is for a little respect when you get home (just a little bit)/Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home/(Just a little bit) mister (just a little bit)/I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re gone/Ain’t gonna do you wrong ’cause I don’t wanna/All I’m askin’/Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)

Rachid Taha: Ya Raya / يا الرايح / O Emigrant
Lyrics & music: Abderrahmane Amrani
Algeria/France, Arabic, 1993

Ya Rayah was written and released in 1973 by the great chaâbi singer-songwriter Dahmane el-Harrachi (stage name of Abderrahmane Amrani). Rachid Taha recorded the song in 1993 taking it to a new generation and to new heights. Both artists were Algerians who spent much of their lives in France and the song spoke to millions of emigrants about the dilemma and definition of “home.”
O emigrant, where are you going?/Sooner or later you will come back exhausted/Many ignorant people regretted this before you and me/How many overpopulated countries and empty lands have you seen?/How much time have you wasted?/How much time have you yet to lose?/O stranger in those foreign lands you’ve got to make many sacrifices/Destiny and Time follow their course and yet you ignore them/Why is your heart so sad, why are you so miserable like this?/Hardship will never last and you may learn or build something/

Carlos Gardel: El Dia Que Me Quieras / The Day That You Love Me
Lyrics: Alfredo Le Pera/Music: Carlos Gardel
Argentina, Spanish, 1934

Gardel was the alpha and omega of tango; perhaps no other genre has such an unrivalled master. At the top of his repertoire was El Dia Que Me Quieras.
The day that you love me/The rose that adorns/Will dress itself up/In the brightest of colors/And the bells will say/To the wind that you are mine/And the fountains will go crazy/Telling each other about your love.

Hibari Misora: Ringo Oiwake / リンゴ追分 / Apple Blossoms Scatter in the Wind
Lyrics & music: Fujio Ozawa, Masao Yoneyama
Japan, Japanese, 1952

A cultural icon, Misora was a leading singer and actress in post-World War II Japan. Ringo Oiwake is a metaphor for sorrow that follows happiness.
The cotton-like white clouds flowed over Mount Oiwake/The peach and cherry blossoms bloomed/And then came the season of early blooming apple blossoms, the happiest of times/But the relentless, heartless rain fell and scattered the white petals

Fabrizio de Andrè: Il Pescatore / The Fisherman
Lyrics: Fabrizio de Andrè/Music: Gian Piero Reverberi, Franco Zauli
Italy, Italian, 1970

In the subversive’s folk song, an old fisherman on a beach gives food and drink to a man who identifies himself as a killer, then feigns ignorance when the police ask if he has seen anything. De André was Italy’s leading singer-songwriter for more than 40 years.
In the shadow of the late-day sun/a fisherman dozed/a furrow along his face like a kind of smile/A murderer came to the beach/big eyes like those of a child/two eyes enormous with fear/the mirrors of an adventure/And he asked the old man/“Give me bread/I don’t have much time and I’m too hungry”/And he asked the old man/“Give me wine I’m thirsty, and I’m an killer”/The old man opened his eyes to the sun/He didn’t even look around/But he poured the wine and broke the bread/for the one who said, “I’m hungry, I’m thirsty?

Teresa Teng: Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin / 月亮代表我的心 / The Moon Represents My Heart
Lyrics: Sun Yi/Music: Weng Ching-hsi
Taiwan, Chinese (Mandarin), 1977

Teng’s career began in her native Taiwan in the late 1960s, but her audience grew exponentially when mainland China began to open up to the world in the 1970s. For 30 years under communism, music had consisted mostly of revolutionary songs, so romantic ballads combining pop and operatic elements constituted a sea change. Teng’s song comparing love to the constancy of the moon became one of the biggest hits of all time across Asia and was covered by artists as far away as Nana Mouskouri and Jon Bon Jovi.
You ask how deeply I love you/And just how great my love is/My affection is real/And my love is true/The moon represents my heart/You ask how deeply I love you/And just how great my love is/My affection does not waver/And my love doesn’t change/The moon represents my heart/So soft was the kiss/That moved my heart/Such a deep affection/Makes me long for you now

Angélique Kidjo: Wombo Lombo / Spirit of the Dance
Lyrics & music: Angelique Kidjo, Jean Hébrail
Benin, Yoruba/English, 1996

A dance hymn celebrating African heart and resilience, even in the face of adversity, Angélique Kidjo’s best known song revolves around a man capable of amazing agility and how his energy inspires others.
Do you think anyone else can do it?/Really this dance has got something/Something, no way you can’t beat it/Wombo lombo/Wombo lombo/Have you ever seen this man moving?/Do you think anyone else can do it?/Really this dance has got something

Aster Aweke: Ayzoh / አይዞህ / Come, Cheer Up
Lyrics & music: Aster Aweke
Ethiopia, Amharic, 2006

Aster Aweke’s message is uplifting and her voice is charismatic. In Ayzoh she sings of life’s hardship, confusion, the search for meaning, the struggle for freedom, and the capacity to learn from experience and mistakes.
The heart is restless and always searching/It craves and longs for something/The mind is occupied with thoughts/The soul yearns and calls out/Come, come, come, come/The heart wanders in confusion/Trying to find a purpose/In the midst of worries and doubts/Lost and searching for direction/Come, come, come, come/In this world full of sorrow and pain/Enduring hardship and struggle/Continuing to pursue knowledge and wisdom/Overcoming challenges and obstacles/Our hearts are filled with endless love

Simon & Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence
Lyrics & music: Paul Simon
U.S., English, 1965

At the heart of The Sound of Silence are Simon’s cryptic lyrics about darkness and light, alienation and a prophet’s warnings written in graffiti—but the message almost died. The song’s original acoustic version appeared on the duo’s debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which flopped so miserably that they split up. But their producer, without their knowledge, did a remix, adding an overdub of electric instruments and drums, and released it as a single that went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The duo quickly reunited—and relaunched their careers.
Hello darkness, my old friend/I’ve come to talk with you again/Because a vision softly creeping/Left its seeds while I was sleeping/And the vision that was planted in my brain/Still remains/Within the sound of silence

Uum Kulthum: Alf Leila w Leila / 1001 Nights / الف ليلة وليله
Lyrics: Morsi Gamil Aziz/Music: Baligh Hamdi
Egypt, Arabic, 1969

Buena Vista Social Club: De Camino a La Vereda / Don’t Take the Shortcut
Lyrics & music: Ibrahim Ferrer
Cuba, Spanish, 1997

Papa Wemba: Sala Keba / Be Careful
Lyrics & music: Papa Wemba, Lokua Kanza
D.R. Congo, Lingala, 1995

Marlene Dietrich: Lili Marleen
Lyrics: Hans Leip/Music: Norbert Schultze
Germany/U.S., German, 1944

Fairuz: Yes’ed Sabahak / يسعد صباحك / May Your Morning Be Happy
Lyrics & music: Elias Rahbani, Ziad Rahbani, Mustafa Ahmad
Lebanon, Arabic, 1995

Rosalia: Di Mi Nombre / Say My Name
Lyrics & music: Rosalia Vila Tobella, Pablo Diaz Reixa, Anton Alvarez Alfaro
Spain, Spanish, 2018

Georges Brassens: Les Copains d’Abord / Mates First of All
Lyrics & music: Georges Brassens
France, French, 1964

Mohammed Rafi: Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho / चौदहवीं का चाँद हो / Are You the Moon or the Sun?
Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni/Music: Ravi Shankar Sharma
India, Hindi, 1960

Chuck Berry: Johnny B. Goode
Lyrics & music: Chuck Berry
U.S., English, 1958

Cesária Evora: Sodade / Longing
Lyrics & music: Armando Zeferino Soares
Cape Verde, Cape Verdean Creole, 1992

Jacques Brel: La Chanson des Vieux Amants / Song for Old Lovers
Lyrics & music: Jacques Brel, Gérard Jouannest
Belgium, French, 1966

Salif Keita: Moussolou / Women
Lyrics & music: Salif Keita
Mali, Maninka, 2002

Noor Jehan: Chandni Raatein / چاندنی راتیں / Moonlit Nights
Lyrics: Mushir Kazmi/Music: Feroze Nizami
Pakistan, Urdu, 1952

Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah
Lyrics & music: Leonard Cohen
Canada, English, 1984

Kyu Sakamoto: Ue o Muite Aruko / 上を向いて歩こう / I Look Up as I Walk (Sukiyaki)
Lyrics: Rokusuke Ei/Music: Hachidai Nakamura
Japan, Japanese, 1961

Asha Bhosle: Aaiye Meherbaan / आइये मेहरबाँ / Come, Dear One
Lyrics: Qamar Jalalabadi/Music: O.P. Nayyar
India, Hindi, 1958

Faye Wong: Zhi mi bu hui / 執迷不悔  / No Regrets
Lyrics: Faye Wong/Music: Yuan Wei-Ren
China/Hong Kong, Chinese (Cantonese/Mandarin), 1993

Amália Rodrigues: Barco Negro / Black Sailboat
Lyrics: David Mourão-Ferreira, Piratini/Music: Caco Velho
Portugal, Portuguese, 1955

Stevie Wonder: Superstition
Lyrics & music: Stevie Wonder
U.S., English, 1972

Asmahan (Amal al-Atrash): Ya Habibi Taala / يا حبيبي تعال / Come My Darling
Lyrics & music: Ahmed Rami
Syria/Egypt, Arabic, 1940

Camarón de la Isla (with Paco de Lucia): Como el Agua / Like Water
Lyrics & music: Pepe de Lucia [José Sánchez Gomez]
Spain, Spanish, 1981

Ofra Haza: Ode Le’Eli /  אודה לאלי / I Give Thanks to God
Lyrics: Shalom Shabazi/Music: Traditional
Israel, Hebrew, 1984

Widely considered the greatest voice in Israeli history, Ofra Haza was a megastar in life, embracing pop, traditional and devotional songs, and maintained her legendary status after her death at the age of 42. From her album Fifty Gates of Wisdom, Ode Le’eli is a testament to the power of faith and prayer, the lyrics written by a 17th-century Yemeni rabbi.
I give thanks to God, who created me/He will hear my voice and bring forth my words/I will bow down to his name, I will bow down/I will sing praise of you with my words/Waves to your conscience, to the teacher of all teachers/For out of thee is light and thou art redeemed by love

Amira Medunjanin: Moj dilbere / My Darling
Lyrics & music: Traditional
Bosnia, Bosnian, 2016

Often described as “the Bosnian Billie Holiday,” Medunjanin has put her stunning voice at the center of sevdalinka, the melancholy folk genre at the heart of her country’s cultural identity. Moj dilbere is a love song of total surrender, dating from Ottoman times.
My darling, where are you going?/Take me wherever you go/Take me, sell me in the bazaar/Trade me for gold and then gild your doorway

Oumou Sangaré: Diaraby Nene / The Shivers of Passion
Lyrics & music: Oumou Sangaré
Mali, Bambara 1998

Mali is a music superpower and Oumou Sangaré is at the top of the pyramid, a singer-songwriter both dedicated to traditional music and pushing society forward—in her advocacy and in her lyrics—with her counter-traditional advocacy on social issues, especially women’s rights. Though her voice is powerful, in Diaraby Nene she portrays a woman shaken by the experience of love.
Baby, thinking too much is not good/Baby, the shivers are not good/Brr, oh God! The shivers are not good in this life/To my fathers, may your protection be upon me/To my mothers, my hands are behind my back [in humility]/Oh God, singing griots, you must forgive me/When I say “the shivers”, it’s not those of the rain/When I say “the shivers”, it’s not those of the winter…/When I say “the shivers”, it’s the shivers of romantic passion

Googoosh: Man Amadeh-Am / من آمدم / I’ve Come to You
Lyrics & music: Jalil Zaland
Iran, Persian, 1975

Vladimir Vysotsky: Dorzhnaya istoriya / Дорожная история / Roadside Story
Lyrics & music: Vladimir Vysotsky
Russia (Soviet Union), Russian, 1972

Often called the Soviet Dylan, Vysotsky was an enormously influential singer-songwriter and actor, even though—or perhaps because—his songs of social criticism were scorned in government-controlled publications and some of his films were censored. One of his best-known songs, Roadside Story (sometimes titled “500 Miles” in English) is the saga of an ex-con truck driver on an ill-fated run with his partner.
We both knew all about the road/And how they needed our load/And that our job was to sit and drive through day and night/Who could have said, New Year’s day/500 miles either way/The blizzard’s strong, and we can honk with all our might/”Shut down the truck”, he says at last/”You see yourself that we won’t last/You see that there’s no use to even pray/500 miles on either end/By dawn for certain we’ll be dead/And so snowed in we won’t even need a grave”

Kaushiki Chakraborty: Raag Bhimpalasi / राग भीमपलासी / Afternoon Raga
Lyrics & music: Sadarang
India, Vraj, 2015

A towering figure of classical Indian music, Kaushiki Chakraborty is also known for her performances of folk music, Rabindra Sangeet (based on the poems of Tagore), film music and other genres. She has received many music awards, in India and abroad, and is also known for her promotion of women’s empowerment. In her rendition of the classical Hindustani Raag Bhimpalasi she sings a four-line verse followed by elaborate vocal ornamentation. The raga is designed to evoke sringara—a mood of romantic love and attraction—and it portrays a newlywed bride working through her emotions as she navigates her new family structure.
Go away, go back to your home/My mother-in-law and sister-in-law will hear you/For while I do love you/You have deceived me

Grigoris Bithikotsis: Sto Periyiali To Kryfo – Arnisi / Στο περιγιάλι το κρυφό – Άρνηση / On the Hidden Shore – Denial
Lyrics: Giorgos Seferis/Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Greece, Greek, 1962

A Greek trinity: Grigoris Bithikotsis, one of the greatest singers of Greek popular music, especially rebetiko; Giorgos Seferis, a seminal Greek poet and Nobel laureate in literature; and composer Mikis Theodorakis.
On the hidden shore, a white dove/We were thirsty, but the water was salty/On the golden sand we wrote her name/Tenderly the sea’s breeze blew, and erased the letters/With what heart, what breath/What desires and what passion/We packed up our mistakes/And changed our lives

A singer-songwriter and kora player from a griot family, Kanté adapted Yéké yéké from a traditional song about village girls approaching marriage age who practice flirting with each other, trying out endearments. The song was one of the biggest African hits of all time and also a breakthrough success in Western Europe.
If you don’t kiss me now, that’s a sin/This is our new start and a solid happy ending/hey you, I’m crazy for you… you have such a pretty face…/you play the leading role in a fairy tale I have invented/you are my prince super, I’m your princess

Spotlight-averse Cabrel is the greatest French singer-songwriter of the past 50 years, and one of the most influential of all time, his monumental work bridging folk, blues-rock and French chanson. From his first album, Petite Marie is a hymn to Mariette, the woman he would soon marry.
I’m waiting for you, frozen/Under a tile on your roof/The cold night wind sends me back to the ballad/That I wrote for you/Little tornado, you say that life/Is a ring around each finger/Under the Florida sun, my pockets are empty/And my eyes cry out of cold/I come from the sky and the stars that among themselves speak only of you/About a musician who moves his hands/Over a piece of wood/About their love, bluer than the sky around”

Shakira became the most popular female Latin vocalist of all time based on her incandescent voice, magnetic stage presence and versatility as a singer-songwriter, dancer and producer. Her piercing vocals are front and center on No, a slow-burning ballad about ending a toxic relationship.
No, don’t try to apologize/Don’t play at insisting/Excuses existed before you did/No, don’t look at me like before/Don’t speak of us in the plural/Rhetoric is your most lethal weapon/I’m going to ask you never to come back/I regret that you can still hurt me here/Inside…

Fassie’s voice made her one of South Africa’s most admired entertainers, but she was also known for her songs about the poor in Johannesburg’s townships, her outspoken opposition to apartheid and her stage antics. Vuli Ndlela was released four years after the 1994 election that made Nelson Mandela the nation’s president. On the surface a song about a mother’s joy at the unexpected success of a son in finding a bride, the themes of unrequited love and success when hope was lost also seem an echo of the long struggle for racial equality.
Clear the path Miss Gossip/For my son is getting married today/Clear the path/Don’t be jealous/My son has a good catch/I never thought I’d meet my daughter-in-law/The girl said “Yes!”/Are you watching? Remove those spectacles/Come to the wedding, we are hosting a wedding today/They said that my son is a player, they said he would never wed/Clear the path…

In 1967 Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso, both recently relocated from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro, released their joint debut album Domingo into the gap between bossa nova and tropicalismo. More than anything else, it was the lead track, Coração Vagabundo, the launched both their careers.
My heart never gets tired of hoping/Of one day being all that it wants/My child-like heart isn’t just a memory of a woman’s happy figure that passed through my dreams/Without saying goodbye and made of my eyes an almost endless cry/My vagabond heart wants to keep the world in me

Written in emulation of a classical music suite and featuring some of the richest harmonies in folk and rock history, Stephen Stills’ composition was a tribute to his girlfriend Judy Collins (Sweet Judy Blue Eyes) who was in the studio when the group recorded the demo tapes. The couple’s breakup was imminent, but the song went down in history.
It’s getting to the point where I’m no fun anymore/I am sorry/Sometimes it hurts so badly I must cry out loud/I am lonely/I am yours, you are mine/You are what you are/You make it hard/Remember what we’ve said and done/And felt about each other/Oh, babe have mercy/Don’t let the past remind us of what we are not now/I am not dreaming…

If any Indian performer can claim to be the spiritual successor to Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, it is Shreya Ghosal, who has won more than 200 Indian film and music awards and is recognized internationally. She was spellbinding as a playback singer for the 2022 film Gangubai Kathiawadi, based on a true story about a small-town girl forced into prostitution who becomes not only the madam of her brothel but also a politician and crusader for women’s rights. Jab Saiyaan, the movie’s unlikely central song, is about innocence.
When my beloved returned in the evening/My name sounded even more beautiful/I danced while accepting fiery blame…/I hardly have time to look in the mirror/When compared to my beloved’s love, even the fire appears gloomy

Wainaina is a prominent figure in Kenya not only for his music—benga, with pan-African influences—but also his activism on social and political issues. Twende Twende, a prescription for unity in the pursuit of progress, is one of his best known songs.
Let’s go, let’s go/Forward, not back/Turn around with me, it takes love to unite, to succeed/We need love in order to move forward/Our suffering – perhaps we lack love, lack of love brings distress/There’s more to Mama Africa than poverty and war/I wish we had a fighting chance to show off who we are/Lets go, lets go, come with me/Lets go, lets go, side by side/Forward, let’s go, lets go”

Perhaps the power of A Case of You is the rare merging of Mitchell’s vivid poetry (with inspired reflections from Shakespeare and Rilke) and a delivery that is simultaneously flowing-soaring song and intimate conversation.
Oh, I am a lonely painter/I live in a box of paints/I’m frightened by the devil/And I’m drawn to those ones that ain’t afraid/I remember that time you told me/You said, “Love is touching souls”/Surely you touched mine/’Cause part of you pours out of me…/Oh, you’re in my blood like holy wine/You taste so bitter and so sweet/Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling/Still I’d be on my feet/I would still be on my feet

Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera… Embedded in the three-word refrain is a dual meaning essential to the song’s mystique. “Guantanamera” means “girl from Guantanamo,” while “guajira” can mean either “peasant girl” or a style of Cuban country music. The three words form a hinge that makes the song at once romantic, poetic and patriotic. Sung by myriad artists, it became a standard for the great Celia Cruz, appearing on more than 240 different recordings and compilations of her work.
I am a truthful man from the land of the palm trees/Before dying I want to share these poems of my soul/My verses are a clear green, and they are a flaming crimson/I grow a white rose in June as in January/For the sincere friend who gives me his hand/And for the cruel one who would tear out the heart with which I live/I do not cultivate thistles nor nettles, I cultivate a white rose/Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera”

The music world is a better place because of bands of many countries that honor traditional folk in contemporary garb. But there is only one Värttinä. The group began in 1983 when a few village mothers and grandmothers encouraged their children to learn some traditional songs in the Karelian dialect of Finnish, accompanied by kantele, an ancient zither. In the blink of an eye a core band emerged, eventually adding sax, accordion, guitars and the works; then came new lyrics in ancient tropes. Värttinä became an evolving roster of strong women—men to the back on instruments—pioneering a sound at the crossroads of folk, jazz and pop-rock. They also turned a village of 2,000 souls into a music mecca.
Cast the veil of worries from my brow, into the grave of silent aspirations/Take the chains of longing from my ankles, cast them into the well of grudges/Conceal the tears of suffering, hide the jibes of the betrayer/Come, beautiful bearer of yearning/Enclose my sorrows in the shelter of your embrace/Bear my most beautiful longing…

Emerging as a leading singer-songwriter of the Turkish pop scene in the 1970s, Aksu became a cultural matriarch and a social influencer at home and a bridge to other nations through collaborations with world artists. Even as an entertainer with strong positions, she is more than capable of expressing nuance, doubt and vulnerability in her songs. Git is a good example.
Do you want to do it, then leave, go ahead/Don’t worry about me, I can live alone/We both know that nothing lasts forever/I can fall in love again, any time…/Leave, leave, leave/No! Please stay, don’t leave/I lied, it’s not true, I’m not ready to break up at all/We have more to live together, our journey is incomplete…/This is right for both of us, leave/Believe me, I am not as sad as you think/There is the joy and excitement/Of beginning a brand new life in my heart/Now leave”

Though mostly associated with Pinoy rock, Freddie Aguilar composed Anak in Western folk style. The song is autobiographical, about a son who disappoints his parents by quitting school, traveling far with just a guitar and eventually becoming a gambler. He wrote the song as an apology. Anak became the most popular song in Philippine history, inspired a movie and led the artist’s reconciliation with his parents.
Isn’t it you that changed a lot/Disobeyed [your parents], remained stubborn?/You didn’t take the time/To think about all they did for you/You wanted only what pleased you/And just ignored them/And the days passed/You took a wrong turn/You are imprisoned in a horrible vice/And you approach your dear mother/”Child, what happened to you?” she asks/And without your noticing, your eyes fill with tears…”

Marvin Gaye was the third Motown artist to record I Heard It Through the Grapevine between 1967 and 1968, but his version embedded itself most deeply into music history and in 1998 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for “historic, artistic and significant value.” Historic footnote: The term “through the grapevine,” sometimes called the “grape vine telegraph,” was first used to describe clandestine communication between slaves in the pre-Civil War American south.
I know a man ain’t supposed to cry/But these tears, I can’t hold inside/Losing you would end my life, you see/’Cause you mean that much to me/You could have told me yourself/That you love someone else/Instead I heard it through the grapevine/Not much longer would you be mine/Oh, I heard it through the grapevine/And I’m just about to lose my mind/Honey, honey, yeah

Okinawa looms large in Japanese music constellation and the folk-rock legend Shoukichi Kina is one of the island’s brightest stars. His cycle-of-life song, often reduced to the single word “Hana” (flower) has rarefied status in Japan and is known around the world.
Rivers are flowing/Where oh where do they go?/People are flowing too/Where oh where do they go?/About the time when the flow arrives somewhere/As flowers, as flowers I want to let them bloom/Cry as much as you can, laugh all you want/Someday, one day, someday, one day, the flowers will be made to bloom

Rammstein pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hard Rock) genre, on their way to becoming the most successful band in German history. Both minimalist and juggling explicit lyrics with buried meanings, they come off as deceptively simple. A sample in their greatest song is the ambiguity between “du hast mich” (you have me) and “du hasst mich” (you hate me), suggesting the potential, as one reviewer put it, “for festering resentment in long-term relationships.”
You, you have, you have me/You have me, you asked me/You asked me, you asked me and I said nothing/Do you want “until death separates you”/”To be faithful to her for all days?”/(Yes) No/(Yes) No/Do you want, “until death separates you”/”To love her, even in bad days?”/(Yes) No/(Yes) No/You, you have (hate), you have (hate) me

One of the most beloved songs in Polish history, Grechuta’s ode to the future has been covered by more than a dozen artists, included on numerous film soundtracks and even adopted as a football club anthem.
So many days you lived life to the fullest/So many moments that left you out of breath/When you regret the experiences of which nothing is left/There’s only one thing you should remember/The important days are the ones still to come/The best moments are the ones we have not yet lived

As Mexico’s greatest rock band, Maná has etched its name not only in music but also in advocacy. The title track of their 1995 album, Cuando Los Ángelos Lloran is a rock en español elegy to Chico Mendes, the Brazilian environmental activist and defender of the Amazon’s Indigenous peoples.
When the angels cry, rain falls on the village/Rain falls on the bell tower/Someone died, an angel fell/An angel died/An angel departed and won’t return/When the assassin fled, and Chico Méndez died/the jungle drowned in weeping/He left two beautiful children, a courageous wife/And a jungle in agony

The first male-female ensemble in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Arian released four albums between 2000 and 2015 before disbanding. Shaparak is a reach-for-the-sky allegory about a butterfly, drunk on floral fragrances, pursuing love.
The agitated butterfly flew over the flowers in the garden…/He was in love with a dreamy fragrance, his heart overflowing with longing/The flowers laughed, and asked the butterfly, “How familiar you are with love?/Love is present here, right in front of us”/But the butterfly had a unique passion…/His beloved fragrance was behind a stone wall of thorns/He seemed to have no way to see his beloved/To express his love, he had to pass over the wall/He flew up toward infinity, to love, to the pinnacle of sight/Fly, fly butterfly!

Zahir was a singer-songwriter whose work embraced folk music, Persian literature, Indian classical and Western pop-rock. Acclaimed as the “Elvis of Afghanistan,” his death in a 1979 car accident sparked conspiracy theories and the turbulent decades that followed saw his tomb repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. In the echo of the love song Baz Amadi Aye Jane Man is the story of a nation that never gives up hope.
Oh my dear, you have returned after leaving me alone/Many souls are willing to sacrifice their own lives for yours/My soul and hundreds of others like me/Are willing to give themselves up for you/I who was once free from the entanglements of life have now become a slave to your commands…/You asked who my beloved is?/It is you, my love, it is you/As the morning bird sings its song of greeting, tonight I will sing your praises

Eshete’s career thrived in the “swinging Addis” era of the late 1960s and early 1970’s—the declining years of Emperor Haile Selassie’s rule. But a communist coup put an end to the free musical expression and for the next 20 years Eshete sang mostly patriotic songs. A cultural revival in the 1990s allowed him to resume regular performances. One of the greatest hits from his repertoire is Yewoine Haregitu, in which a man asks the woman who broke his heart to at least dance with him.
Come, I beg you, or I shall die/I won’t forget what you did to me/Your heart has chosen someone else/Forget everything, come and have a good time with me/Show me your Eskista [dance] with your breasts—shoulders/shoulders, shoulders, shoulders

Best known worldwide for her power ballads in English, Dion has had a rich parallel career in her native French; during the 1990s and early 2000s she alternated releasing studio albums in each language. S’il suffisait d’aimer was the title track of her sixteenth album. Produced and largely written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, the album won a Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy equivalent) for Francophone album of the year and also became one of the best-selling French-language albums of all time, helped by sales in non-French-speaking markets.
I dream about his face, but I can’t accept his body/And then I imagine him living with me/I would have so much to say to him, if only I knew how to speak/How to make him see deep into my thoughts/But how do others do it, those who have it all…/If it were enough to love one another, if it were enough to love/If we could change things a bit, so that we only shared love/I would make a dream of this world, an eternity

From the 1930s to the 1960s, Tănase was Romania’s national diva, singing in styles that ranged from chanson and tango to operetta and folk, and compared in stature to Edith Piaf and Amalia Rodrigues. Lume, Lume was the song for which she was most known.
World, world, sister world/When will I have enough of you/When I give up bread for Lent/And the glass will give up on me/Maybe then I’ll have enough of you/When they hammer the nails on my coffin/When they put me in my grave/That’s how the world is, transient/One is born, another dies/World, sister world/The born one suffers/The dead one rots

Juanes forged his career merging various Colombian styles into Latin alternative rock and using his music to promote his humanitarian vision. As of 2023, he has won three Grammys and 23 Latin Grammys, making him one of the most decorated Spanish-language artists of all time. Volverte a Ver is at the pinnacle of his many soaring love anthems.
I would give anything to see you again/I would give up my life, my defenses, my boots and my faith/In the trenches of my loneliness/Your eyes are my light and your splendor is my heart/And if not for you I couldn’t live/In the vacuum of these days, without knowing/And if not for you I wouldn’t be happy/Like I am when I leave with your kisses

Rasa Sayang is folk song popular throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. It has been performed by many artists, though Hanie Soraya stands out for the charm and exuberance she gives it—not to mention the background adventure of her video. Because the song is composed in the traditional pantun form, each quatrain may contain couplets that do not fit together coherently but that advance a rhyme scheme.
Where cempedak tree grows without the fence/Go prod them gently with a stake/A youthful learner I, so hence/Be kind to point out each mistake…/With golden plantains sail away/Whilst on a chest lies one that’s ripe/The debts of gold we can repay/But debts of kindness last through life

Lightfoot’s songbook is a lyrical catalogue to human experience, from tragedy (The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald) to history (Canadian Railroad Trilogy), from kindness (Rainy Day People) to longing (Song for a Winter’s Night) and beyond. Arguably his most euduring song, If You Could Read My Mind was bitterly inspired by his own divorce. It also sold his poetry short by comparing it to an old-time movie or a paperback novel.
If you could read my mind, love/What a tale my thoughts could tell/Just like an old-time movie/’Bout a ghost from a wishing well/In a castle dark or a fortress strong/With chains upon my feet/You know that ghost is me/And I will never be set free/As long as I’m a ghost, you can’t see

As a young woman in Algeria, Massi was part of a political rock band, but death threats drove her into exile in France. Twenty-five years on, she still looks homeward and sings truth to power; her 2019 album Oumniya is a poetic treatise rooted in folk and chaâbi, the songs often nuanced by bitter lyrics served with her tender voice and soothing music. The title track denounces an oligarchy’s treachery.
I gave you my hand … you stabbed me…/I offered my cheek … and you slapped me/You who live without frustration/I offered you honey … you doused me with bitterness…/It’s my fault… I deserve such treatment/It seems you are like the moon/A luminous face and a well-hidden secret/In the sky, the moon is well lit/But flowers and thorns cannot be compared/My roots are well known/But from a distance, you look human

Koité’s talent is amplified by the way he surrounds himself with people and leaves nothing as he finds it. His instrument of choice is a guitar, but he tunes it on a pentatonic scale and plays it open string, like an n’goni, one of the instruments favored by his griot ancestors. His songs are filled with community and fraternity, perhaps a reflection of his 17 brothers and sisters. He dedicated N’Teri to friends in the music world, friends from before he became a musician, and “all the people who have welcomed me, shown me kindness and hospitality, who have made me smile…”
Dear friends, God has spoiled you/If I were in your place, I would have thanked him a hundred times over…/You met me with a smile; God will return it to you/You grasped my hands tightly and filled me with your power/You invited me to sit in the shade of a tree/You gave me tea to drink/And I said to myself: my God, man is capable of wonders/For all who have showed me a day of respect/I love you, follow you, greet you, acknowledge you…/Source of hope and joy, I will always be grateful to you

In a career that spanned more than 60 years, Trenet wrote 1,000 songs. At the pinnacle was La Mer, the chanson-jazz classic that was covered by artists the world over in more than 4,000 separate recordings. He said he composed the music on a train travelling along the Mediterranean, but buried it in a desk for three years after someone told him “it didn’t have enough swing.”
The sea you see dancing/Along the bright gulfs/Has silvery reflections, The sea/Reflections changing under the rain/The sea in the summer sky/Mingles its white sheep/With the angels so pure, The sea/Infinite shepherdess of blue…/The sea has cradled them/Along the bright gulfs/And with a love song, The sea/Has cradled my heart for life

Samba wouldn’t be the same without Dorival Caymmi, and his Samba da Minha Terra is one of the defining classics of the genre, helping to ensure that his native Bahia was co-equal with Rio de Janeiro in the samba constellation.
The samba of my homeland makes the body flexible/When it’s sung everyone plays around/I was born in samba and in it I grew up/I’m a wizard at samba, and never been apart from it/Whoever doesn’t like samba cannot be trusted/Either he’s out of his mind or sick in the foot!”

Tarkan Tevetoğlu was already a successful singer-songwriter in 1999, when Şımarık—written by Sezen Aksu, one of his greatest boosters—supercharged his career. The song, widely covered and performed in many languages, takes the point of view of a man obsessed with a woman he can’t have.
She walks with a man, arms linked/And in doing so drives me crazy/She chews gum, insolently/Making the bubbles burst/Maybe that’s why I’m so nuts about her/Because I didn’t win her for myself…/Eyes painted black/coquettish, glaring red lips/She stands up to me, defies me/Flashing a disdainful grin/Did we learn it this way from our fathers?/New customs have entered the old village…/My big disgrace/when I get hold of you … (kiss, kiss)/I seek protection with you, babe/I’m lying in your lap, babe/I’m burning in your fire, babe/Have mercy!

The Magic Flute is a good-versus-evil fairy tale with themes of Masonic symbolism and Enlightenment thinking, shadowed by one of the great female villains of all time. Mozart died at age 35 two months after the opera’s September 1791 debut. In Der Hölle Rache, the enraged Queen of the Night hands a knife to her daughter, ordering her to kill Sarastro. Mozart’s sister-in-law Josepha Hofer was the original queen; in modern times the Australian soprano Joan Sutherland was peerless in the role.
Hell’s vengeance boils in my heart/Death and despair blaze about me!/If Sarastro doesn’t feel the pain of death through you/Ah…/Then you will not be my daughter anymore/Ah…/Disowned be you forever/Abandoned be you forever/Destroyed be forever/All the bonds of nature/If not through you Sarastro will turn pale!/Hear, gods of revenge, hear the mother’s oath!

Many great singer-songwriters are lauded for “cinematic” lyrics, but Swift rewrote the score/screenplay on breaking up with All Too Well, a twice-released long-simmering power ballad widely viewed as her greatest song (so far). Hard-to-overlook zinger line: “They say all’s well that ends well, but I’m in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind.”
I walked through the door with you/The air was cold/But something about it felt like home somehow/And I left my scarf there at your sister’s house/And you’ve still got it in your drawer even now…/And I know it’s long gone and that magic’s not here no more/And I might be okay but I’m not fine at all

A folksinger, fiddler and composer, Moldestad is also that rare musician who can capture joy and sorrow in a single note—in every sweet word a seed of loss, in every wintry chord a memory of flowers. Jakob Sande’s poem is all love and light but the composer injects an achingly beautiful balance.
When I look into your eyes/It’s like a starry night/They sparkle and shine against mine/With the brilliance of an eternal fire/The stars and the silvery moon/Light up in deep blue/And lined up in ethereal azure/Stands Venus sunny and trembling…/Oh, how I love you

Junoon was a pioneering Sufi band and Sayonee marked a turning point in the evolution for Pakistani music, representing a fusion of mystical and modern poetry, traditional and rock music. Inspired by the 17th-century poet Bulleh Shah, the song explores themes of love, spiritual awakening, the exploration of human emotion and the eternal quest for divine union.
O soulmate… soulmate/I’m not at peace, even for a moment/And there’s no solution to that/Who will turn the gold coin/As there’s no jeweler to do that/I’m not at peace even for a moment/What is a man’s worth/As he’s there today and not tomorrow/O soulmate… soulmate… soulmate…

Early in her career—which now spans 40 years—Bel sang with the leading Congolese bands and became the first female soukous performer to achieve fame across Africa. Eswi Yo Wapi was the title track of her debut album, released when she was 22. The song tells the story of a woman breaking away from a dysfunctional marriage.
Let me be on my own/let me end this relationship/before you spread more lies about our issues/At first I didn’t believe the things I heard/But today I saw three times the things you say about my body/There’s no longer any doubt/You are a man and I am a woman, who do you doubt?/I fear a difficult, gossiping man like you/You dressed me up and I was fine with that/you took me out to show me off everywhere/only to take credit for yourself…/I am removing myself from the frying pan/Where does it hurt you?/Where exactly does it hurt you?

Pham Duy was a central figure in Vietnamese music, a singer-songwriter with more than 1,000 compositions to his credit, but whose 91 years were marked by exile, the government’s banning of his work and ultimately respect in his homeland. He combined traditional and contemporary styles, sang folk, spiritual and profane songs, and anthems of resistance and refugees. The Rain on the Leaves reflects at once Vietnamese and universal experience.
The rain on the leaves is the tears of joy/Of the girl whose boy returns from the war/The rain on the leaves is the bitter tears/When a mother hears her son is no more/The rain on the leaves is the cry that is torn/From a baby just born as life is begun/The rain on the leaves is an old couple’s love/Much greater now than when they were young…/The rain on the leaves is the heart’s distress/And a loneliness, as life passes by/The rain on the leaves is the last caress/And a tenderness before love can die

O Canto da Cidade, title track of Mercury’s second album, highlighted her identity as a daughter of Salvador, aligned samba-reggae with axé and turbocharged her career.
The song of this city is me/The song of this city is mine/The ghetto, the street, the faith/I walk through the beautiful city/The sound of the afoxé and my strength/Where does it come from?/Nobody can explain, this strength is beautiful/This is true love/You’ll go wherever I go/Don’t say you don’t want me/Don’t say you don’t want me anymore/I am the silence of the night/I am the morning sun/A thousand times the world turns/But there’s always a final line/I am the first to sing/I am carnival

Kate Rusby: Sweet Bride
Lyrics & music: Kate Rusby
U.K., English, 1999

Khadja Nin: Sina Mali, Sina Deni / No Fortune, No Debt
Lyrics: Khadja Nin, Stevie Wonder/Music: Stevie Wonder
Burundi, Swahili, 1996

Adriana Varela: Barrio de Tango / Tango’s Neighborhood
Lyrics: Homero Manzi/Music: Anibal Troilo
Argentina, Spanish, 1994

Predrag Gojković Cune: Ljubav mi srce mori / љубав ми срце мори / Love Makes My Heart Ache
Lyrics: Pantelija Radivojevic/Music: A. Krnjevac Todorovic
Serbia, Serbian (Serbo-Croatian), 1969