Narrowing down my top ten favorite singles on Spotify is no easy feat, but for you dear reader I will do anything. Why make this list at all? Well, this post will serve as a kind of time capsule of my tastes as of April 2025. I can look back at it twenty years from now and see if anything has changed.
My musical preferences are indeed eclectic. My favorite recording artist of all time is Bob Marley which speaks to my Jamaican roots. And "Redemption Song" does top the list as my favorite song of all time, but if you’re curious about the others keep reading to see what other artists made my list. [Feeling Good by Nina Simone, Redemption Song by Bob Marley, One by U2, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, Method Man by Wu-Tang Clan, No Woman, No Cry as covered and remixed by The Fugees and Wyclef Jean, Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem and When Doves Cry by Prince.]
10. Lacrimosa by Mozart
Coming in at number 10 is the "Lacrimosa" movement from "Mozart’s Requiem". A requiem is a mass for the dead in the Catholic Church. Though I am not Catholic, the requiem Mass was the soundtrack to my high school choir days. Our choir teacher taught it to us and we sang it far and wide even going to the Vatican in Rome. Lacrimosa is Latin for “tearful” or “weeping”. The text of the “Lacrimosa" movement, which is part of the “Dies Irae” sequence, makes reference to the day of judgment when the dead will be resurrected and judged.
This is a pretty heavy “song” to include on the list, but I feel obligated to add it because those years spent singing on my high school choir — shout out to Rye Country Day School — were great years. When we went to Italy, we traversed the entire country in a whirlwind two weeks. We visited Vatican City, of course, Rome, Florence and Venice. The gelato in Florence — the absolute capital of Italian ice cream — was to die for. I remember the fog in Venice most clearly. It was as thick as could be. One could hardly see more than a couple feet away. It was beautiful to walk through and experience.
This is what songs do. They bring us back to a place and time and crystallize experiences. I am forever grateful to my high school choir teacher for broadening my musical repertoire with classical pieces such as the "Lacrimosa".
This is what songs do. They bring us back to a place and time and crystallize experiences. I am forever grateful to my high school choir teacher for broadening my musical repertoire with classical pieces such as the "Lacrimosa".
9. When Doves Cry by Prince
"When Doves Cry" by Prince is a song in the key of A minor which for whatever reason is a minor key that I love. Without even knowing that a song is in A minor, I will intuitively respond to it, possibly because there is something incredibly haunting about that key. The song was the last song Prince wrote for the "Purple Rain" album, and it debuted in 1984. "Purple Rain" was, of course, aso the name of the semi-autobiographical film starring Prince.
My love of Prince began in college with an a cappella group singing a rousing rendition of this very song. I am embarrassed to admit that didn’t discover Prince until I was college-aged. I would go to the group’s concerts and sit in the darkened theatre at Johns Hopkins reveling in the synchronicity of the music and dance moves. I have always loved a cappella music because without accompaniment the human voice lifted in song sounds absolutely beautiful. I never had the nerve to audition for the group, but I gleefully watched them from afar.
8. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles
No top ten list of songs, albums or recording artists would be complete without mention of the Beatles. Paul McCartney and John Lennon are credited with writing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" from the album of the same name. Apparently the band was on a plane, and someone asked McCartney what the “s” and “p” stood for on his in flight meal and he replied “salt and pepper”. A concept album with the Beatles playing the fictional band was born.
"Rocky Raccoon" and "Lovely Rita" were also contenders for this spot as was "Yesterday" but Sgt. Pepper won out in the end because of its overall vibe. The Beatles never performed the song live which is truly criminal but according to Wikipedia, McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison did perform it with Eric Clapton at his wedding in 1979. Oh to be a fly on that wall(!)
The Beatles frequently make the list of the top bands in history and it’s easy to see why. The boys from Liverpool England changed the face of rock music forever with their unique sound and even more unique lyrics.
7. Method Man by Method Man of the Wu-Tang Clan
M-E-T-H-O-D…MAN. "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" often appears on the list of best rap albums of all time. The song that made my top ten is "Method Man" - a solo effort by the rapper of the same name. Wu-Tang has been close to my heart ever since their debut album came out in 1993. Fun fact: we moved to Staten Island when I started college in Baltimore so I would live there during the summers and winter break. Wu-Tang of course hails from Staten Island — or Shaolin as they call it — so living there always made me feel a little closer to them.
The song is a virtuoso performance that samples artists from Kool & the Gang to jazz legend Thelonius Monk. The rappers of Wu-Tang Clan including Method Man, RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard (may he rest in peace) and Ghostface Killah et al. are some of the greatest rappers to have ever lived in my humble opinion. Interestingly enough, Method Man recorded the song after being inspired by Michael Jackson's cover of the Beatles hit "Come Together". He reportedly based some of the hook on that song. It just goes to show that the artists on our list influence each other much like the next entry was influenced by the artist who recorded the number one song on our list — Bob Marley.
6. No Woman, No Cry by the Fugees
"No Woman, No Cry" is a cover of a Bob Marley track recorded by the Fugees on their sophomore album The Score. Wyclef Jean changes some of the original lyrics to match his upbring, for example "a government yard in Trenchtown" famously becomes "a project yard in Brooklyn". The Fugees are one of my favorite groups of all time, and "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is a seminal album.
This song makes the list because of its message. Bob Marley was a "conscious" reggae artist who believed in principles like peace, justice and equality. Marley reminiscences about his time cooking cornmeal porridge in one of Kingston's most notorious neighborhoods — Trenchtown. As a child of Jamaicans myself, I can testify to the deliciousness of cooking outside on a open fire. When I was a kid, my cousins would make saltfish and boiled dumplings outside on an open flame away from the prying eyes of adults. I can attest that food cooked on a open flame is ten times better than food cooked on a indoors on a gas stove.
This song was remixed in 1996 and Stephen Marley, Bob Marley's son, featured on the track with Wyclef Jean reprising his part and Lauryn Hill singing backup vocals. It's amazing how similar Stephen sounds to his father. The song was initially recorded in 1974 for the album "Natty Dread" but still very much resonates today. In a well-deserved honor, Bob Marley and the Wailer's live version of "No Woman, No Cry" was included on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at No. 37.
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the anthem of a generation that came of age in the 1990s, and Kurt Cobain was its leader. With 13 million sales worldwide, it is one of the best selling songs of all time. The chorus goes:
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us
This iconic chorus reverberated through my teen years. I would watch the music video on MTV with rapt attention. When Cobain died, I was as devastated as if I had lost a family member. He was the voice of a generation.