The Nation’s Favourite Song: When the British public voted on the greatest song ever written
“You can’t trust people. People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis,” Super Hans famously said, perfectly summing up the general taste of the public in Peep Show. It’s true you can’t trust people, and every week, the state of the mainstream music chart proves that.
Usually, when it comes down to lists where the whole nation has been asked to chime in, the results feel like a headache. Sometimes, they’re devastatingly dull, like when we vote shortbread as the second-best biscuit. Other times, the hypocrisy makes me want to tear my hair out as the UK, a country increasingly hostile towards immigrants, routinely votes for curry as our favourite meal. So, when it comes to asking the country for their view on the best songs ever written, my expectations are low.
But at least as a nation, it seems we’re fiercely proud of our own. A heavy percentage of the top 100 list comes from UK-born and bred artists, reminding the world that we have exported some of the finest talent the world has ever seen. The Beatles especially come up time and time again with tracks like ‘Day Tripper’, ‘She Loves You’, ‘Let It Be’, and even George Harrison’s solo track ‘My Sweet Lord’ all making the list.
Other UK artists backed heavily by the population are Oasis, Spice Girls, Elton John, Kate Bush and even Sex Pistols. Surprisingly, the list covers all bases of British musical history, from Britpop to art rock to punk and pop. There are some notable absences, though, as no tracks from Blur, Pink Floyd or modern leaders like Arctic Monkeys appear, so many it remains true that we can’t totally trust people to be clued up.
Or maybe, and as superior as it sounds, we can’t trust people to be cool. Instead, prime real estate in the top 30 goes to the likes of Steps and Melanie C, with Robbie Williams very nearly bagging the top spot with his much-beloved mum’s anthem ‘Angels’.
All in all, I think it’s a fact that the UK’s taste is unusual and eclectic. With one of the most thriving and vast music scenes in the world, providing a place for new talent across all genres to develop, it’s a country with a willingness to listen to just about everything. That’s summed up beautifully by our utter adoration for Queen’s art rock odyssey, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Voting it as the number one best song, the Queen track is by no means a typical, radio-friendly mainstream hit. In fact, when it was recorded, their label executives tried everything to bury the track, thinking it would never be a hit due to its long runtime and manoeuvering musical style. But there’s something about that song, surely some magic in it, as it hit number one upon release and has stayed tight in the UK’s hearts since.
A school disco staple, a karaoke hit and the perfect song to sing along in the car, no matter who the passenger is, everyone of all ages and creeds seems to love ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. So, while you can’t trust people, at least they didn’t vote for Coldplay as the number one spot.
The UK’s top 100 favourite songs:
- Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
- Imagine – John Lennon
- Hey Jude – The Beatles
- Dancing Queen – Abba
- Like a Prayer – Madonna
- Angels – Robbie Williams
- Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
- Wannabe – Spice Girls
- Yesterday – The Beatles
- Let It Be – The Beatles
- Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
- Don’t Look Back in Anger – Oasis
- Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor
- Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley
- Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
- Losing My Religion – REM
- Hotel California – the Eagles
- (Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams
- A Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
- With or Without You – U2
- Candle in the Wind ’97/Something About the Way You Look Tonight – Elton John
- I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston
- Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
- Vogue – Madonna
- Heartbeat/Tragedy – Steps
- Thriller – Michael Jackson
- Never Ever – All Saints
- My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion
- I Turn to You – Melanie C
- Wonderwall – Oasis
- American Pie – Don McLean
- Everybody Hurts – REM
- Careless Whisper – George Michael
- Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty
- Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
- I’ll be Missing You – Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
- I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction) – the Rolling Stones
- Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve
- I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
- Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush
- Better the Devil You Know – Kylie Minogue
- Vienna – Ultravox
- She Loves You – The Beatles
- Music – Madonna
- Every Breath You Take – The Police
- Layla – Derek and The Dominoes
- The Winner Takes it All – Abba
- Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
- My Sweet Lord – George Harrison
- I’m Not in Love – 10cc
- Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
- Unchained Melody – Righteous Brothers
- Back For Good – Take That
- Stan – Eminem
- Without You – Nilsson
- God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
- Don’t You Want Me – The Human League
- I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith
- Bat Out of Hell – Meat Loaf
- Help! – The Beatles
- Heroes – David Bowie
- Purple Rain – Prince
- Can’t Get You Out of My Head – Kylie Minogue
- Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
- God Save the Queen – Sex Pistols
- China in Your Hand – T’Pau
- Hero – Mariah Carey
- Whole Again – Atomic Kitten
- Love is All Around – Wet Wet Wet
- Space Oddity – David Bowie
- Make Me Smile (Come up and See Me) – Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
- Knowing Me Knowing You – Abba
- The Drugs Don’t Work – The Verve
- Teenage Kicks – The Undertones
- Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
- Cars – Gary Numan
- Mr Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
- 2 Become 1 – Spice Girls
- Rock DJ – Robbie Williams
- Pure Shores – All Saints
- Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
- Holler – Spice Girls
- Into the Groove – Madonna
- Believe – Cher
- Independent Woman – Destiny’s Child
- Tainted Love – Soft Cell
- I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
- My Generation -The Who
- Day Tripper/We Can Work it Out – The Beatles
- Common People – Pulp
- Waterloo Sunset – the Kinks
- You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling – Righteous Brothers
- Voodoo Chile – Jimi Hendrix
- Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
- Sweet Child of Mine – Guns N’ Roses
- Anarchy in the UK – Sex Pistols
- Eternal Flame – Bangles
- Without You – Mariah Carey
- All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
- How Do I Live – Leanne Rimes
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