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    About the Gold
   Standard Song List
 
   What is the GSSL?
   Origin, Biases, Limits
   About the 14 Genres
   117 Funny GS Songs
   25 Children's GS Songs
   One Song in a Million
   Offensive GS Songs

  

 

 

   Images of the GSSL

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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   The Gold Standard
   Song List appears
   throughout
   How Music REALLY
   Works!, 2nd Ed.

  
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What Is the Gold Standard Song List?

PAGE INDEX

What Is the Gold Standard Song List? And What's It For?

Songwriting Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

Listing Conventions

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WHAT IS THE GOLD STANDARD SONG LIST? AND WHAT'S IT FOR?

  • The Gold Standard Song List (GSSL) is an indexed database of information on 5,000 of the greatest songs in popular music, composed over a 100-year period, in 14 genres ranging from ragtime to rap.
     

  • The GSSL  was created specifically for readers of the book, How Music REALLY Works!, 2nd Edition, which references hundreds of songs from the GSSL to illustrate points of excellence in both songwriting artistry and technical skill.
     

  • If you're a songwriter or performer (or producer or lyricist-rapper) who aspires to break away from the pack by developing a distinctive, signature sound, you will find the Gold Standard Song List a particularly useful resource.
      
      

  • How Music REALLY Works!, 2nd Edition, provides songwriters and performers with specific, practical information on how to dramatically improve songwriting and performing skills. The book focuses on techniques for creating memorable, emotionally powerful music and lyrics.
      

  • For a quick VISUAL LOOK of the full Gold Standard Song List, click here.
      

SONGWRITING DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS: A STANDARD OF  EXCELLENCE TO IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS

  • Everybody learns by example. So, if you write or perform popular music, whether in hip-hop, rock, jazz, country, or any other genre, and you want to improve your skills, these 5,000 songs—the “gold standard of songwriting”—serve as an invaluable standard of excellence, a reference resource for you to consult at any stage in your musical career.
     

  • You will probably find many songs on the GSSL that you've never heard, but that will—if you seek out recordings of them—inspire and enlighten you.
      

  • There's enough information on each GSSL-listed song to enable you to find at least one or more recordings of the song, as well as the lyrics.
      

  • How Music REALLY Works!, 2nd Edition cites hundreds of Gold Standard songs, groups of songs, and recorded performances to illustrate points of excellence in both songwriting artistry and technical skill.
     

LISTING CONVENTIONS

  • The full Gold Standard Song List is sorted 7 different ways at this website.

  • The GSSL provides the following information for each song:

-  YEAR COMPOSED (1900 through 1999).

The year composed is often earlier than the year the song was first recorded or became well known.

-  SONG TITLE

Articles/determiners (a, an, the) appear at the end of the title (e. g., Love Supreme, A).

Songs beginning with numbers are spelled out for alphabetizing purposes, followed by the "number"  title. For example, the song 1952 Vincent Black Lightning is listed as Nineteen Fifty-two Vincent Black Lightning (1952 Vincent Black Lightning).

-  GENRE

The following 14 genres are represented on the list:

  Folk/Roots
Classical
Musical/Film
Blues
Jazz
Ragtime
Country/Bluegrass
Gospel
Swing
R & B/Soul
Rock/Pop
Reggae
Dance/Electronica
Hip-Hop

For details, see About the 14 Genres.

-  SONGWRITER(S)

Within each of the 7 sorted versions of the GSSL on this website, each song is listed only once. This has obvious implications for alphabetizing the names of songwriters when there are 2 or more for one song.

On the GSSL, where 2 or more people wrote the song, here are the conventions:

  • In a composer-lyricist partnership, the composer is listed first. For example, if you're looking for songs written or co-written by the lyricist Johnny Mercer, who co-wrote numerous Gold Standard songs in partnership with quite a few composers, type Mercer, J (without a period after the J) into the search box. You will find about 3 dozen Johnny Mercer songs.
      

  • If one of the songwriters is better known, that person is listed first: Domino, F., & Bartholomew, D. for songs co-written by Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino.
      

  • If a partnership order is widely known, this order is preserved: Lennon, J., & McCartney, P. for songs they wrote as members of The Beatles, even in cases where it's generally known that only one of them actually wrote the song.
      

  • Where a band is credited as songwriter instead of an individual member, the band is listed as songwriter (e. g. Moxy Fruvous).

-  PERFORMER(S)

There's no separate column for "performer" or "recording artist" because the Gold Standard Song List focuses on songs and songwriters. However, in the "Songwriter" column, following the name(s) of the songwriter(s), there's an abbreviation, REC, followed by the name of at least one performer or group who has recorded the song.

 

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