Every singer wants a hit. But this song is a cult piece and one of the most beautiful compositions ever…
The company Macclaimed Music recently published a list of the TOP fifty greatest hits of the music scene. But it was by no means a random selection or songs that were at the top of the world charts. Macclaimed Music founder Henrik Ferenzon took an honest approach. He searched for the greatest hits of all time and found the critics’ ratings for them from 2008-2020. And that wasn’t all!
Evaluation criteria
Ferenzen came up with a special way of rating songs, which consists of pairing songs that compete with each other. It finds out how many times she has won in the critics’ music charts. What year is it from (older hits are better scored), how long has it stayed on the music scene and what genre does it belong to. “Songs that brought something new — whether it was lyrics, music, message, or even a music category — had a better chance of ranking better,” says Ferenzon.
Great lyrics and music
And who won the music contest? Among the best songs was Bob Dylan’s acclaimed 1965 song Like a Rolling Stone. Critics liked the song’s story, which depicts the emotional story of a woman – (“Miss Lonely”) – who comes from high society and hits rock bottom. The track has an interesting musical performance, mixing ironic organ and the ironic voice of a young Bob Dylan with the urgency of electric guitars and drums. “It’s like the song is rushing like a runaway train,” says Ferenzon, adding that the originality of the “song” also lies in the fact that the singer mixed a lot of musical genres – from folk, rock to blues.”
Six-minute “stretcher”
Another interesting thing about Bob Dylan’s hit is its length. At the time the singer released it, there was no radio playing a song longer than three minutes. But the hit song of the young singer was more than twice as long. Radios initially refused to play such a “giant”, precisely because of its length. But in the end, due to the success of the song, she changed the rules. A Like Rolling Stone became one of the most played songs ever.
More hits in the top ten
Nirvana’s hit Smells Like Teen Spirit was ranked second among the other best-rated hits of all time. In third place is The Beatles – The Day in the Life. Other hits also made it to the top ten, such as Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys or Respect by Aretha Franklin. The selection also includes (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones.
