Ten Songwriting Masterpieces You Need To Know

Sometimes you listen to a song and think, whoever wrote this deserves a nobel prize in literature, or, whoever composed this needs to be declared a saint.

It doesn’t happen often, but when everything comes together flawlessly in a musical work of art you hit that REPEAT button as fast as you can and let yourself be catapulted to heaven for a little while.

Here’s a list of ten songwriting masterpieces that put every other song out there to shame — along with short explanations of just what it is that makes them such outstanding beacons of songwriting.

10. “King Of Anything”

performed and written by Sara Bareilles

… because it’s the sweetest fuck-you track you’ll ever hear.

… because it flawlessly puts into words what you’d like to say ever so often but don’t dare to.

9. “Little Sister”

performed and written by Trixie Mattel (a.k.a. Brian Firkus)

… because it’s a country-folk track that powerfully breaks the idyllic-small-town narrative.

… because the question “if you only lived here, did you really ever live at all?” has the power to change the life of every teenager born in a small town.

… because the line “you think that you’re growing, but you’re just tall” is just so, so, SO heartbreaking in this context.

8. “Biology”

performed by Girls Aloud, written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Lisa Cowling, Giselle Sommerville

… because of its deep, groundbraking lyrics … just kidding.

… because it’s really a mini medley squeezed into three-and-a-half minutes.

… because it breaks out of pop music conventions and is still a catchy-as-hell banger.

… because it clearly shows that taking risks in the standardised world of pop music can pay off.

7. “Sovereign Light Café”

performed and written by Keane

… because it makes the tiny, rundown café in Bexton-on-Sea (yes, that really exists) sound beautiful and oh-so romantic.

… because it may be read as being about a love affair between two teenage boys that drifted apart over time (“we were friends and lovers”, “I’m a better man now”, “you can run away, boy”).

… because by including so many names of real places — without sounding like a pointless list — it transports you right to the coast of Southern England.

6. “Who’d Have Known”

performed by Lily Allen, written by Lily Allen, Steve Robson, Greg Kurstin, Gary Barlow, Jason Orange, Mark Owen, Howard Donald

… because it’s the most beautiful love song you’ll ever hear, and yet somehow avoids being stereotypically cheesy.

… because every single line is so damn relatable.

… because Lily sing-speaking “today you accidentally called me baby” is the sweetest thing on earth.

… because the chorus melody Lily stole from Take That’s “Shine” is incredibly smooth and fits the song even better than it fits Take That’s original.

5. “Since You’ve Gone To Heaven”

performed by Brandy Clark, written by Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally

… because it describes the aftermath of somebody’s death better than most novels do.

… because it’s so rich in detail that you feel like you know the entire town by the end of the song.

… because the writing is so on point, it makes even the closure of a saw mill move you to tears.

… because the chorus lines “since you’ve gone to heaven, the whole world’s gone to hell” play with the heaven/hell imagery in an excitingly new, touching way.

4. “At Seventeen”

performed and written by Janis Ian

… because everybody who wasn’t popular in school can relate to this on so many levels.

… because the opening lines “I learned the truth at seventeen, that love was meant for beauty queens” are not only among the best opening lines ever written, but also describe society as a whole perfectly in so few words.

… because of this chorus: “those of us with ravaged faces, lacking in the social graces, desperately remained at home, inventing lovers on the phone, who called to say ‘come dance with me’ and murmured vague obscenities.” Cue tears.

3. “Merry Go ‘Round”

performed by Kacey Musgraves, written by Kacey Musgraves, Shane McAnally, Luke Laird

… because it’s the saddest, most merciless, and above all most accurate description of small-town life ever.

… because it proved that country music doesn’t have to be about the same old narratives over and over again, thereby introducing a whole new generation to the genre.

… because the witty chorus lines “Mama’s hooked on Mary Kay, brother’s hooked on Mary Jane, and daddy’s hooked on Mary two doors down” are GE-NI-US.

… because the line “same hurt in every heart, same trailer different park” is incredibly sad in its raw simplicity.

… because the incorporation of nursery rhymes shouldn’t work — but does.

2. “Return To OZ”

performed and written by the Scissor Sisters

… because it’s about an intriguing and important topic — drug abuse in LGBTQ communities.

… because the allusions to the Wizard of OZ franchise work amazingly well, creating an appropriately eery and sad imagery.

… because the second verse about the Queen with a Hundred Heads wandering the halls, “thinking nothing at all” is incredibly poignant in the aforementioned context.

… because the bridge is the perfect climax of the narrative, a powerful and moving interplay of lyrics and music that summarises the desperation and longing of an entire subculture.

1. “Being Boring”

performed and written by the Pet Shop Boys

… because it’s one of the most complex songs ever written, and yet poignant and clear in its message(s).

… because it envelops musings about the death of a gay man from an AIDS-related disease in the late 80s in melancholy-yet-hopeful reminiscence.

… because it introduces the reality of the AIDS crisis in a subdued, yet immensely powerful way in the final verse (“but I thought, in spite of dreams, you’d be sitting somewhere here with me”).

… because it makes you smile with one line, then ball your eyes out with the next.

… because, in addition to all of this, the chorus hooks are catchy and absolutely pop-behemoth-worthy (“we were always hoping that looking back we could always rely on a friend”).

… because it’s the best song ever written. Period.

Did you notice that American songwriter Shane McAnally is the only person to have two songs on this list (“Since You’ve Gone To Heaven” and “Merry Go ‘Round”)? Check his other work out, he’s — obviously — amazing.

What song do you think should be added to this list? Let me know, I’m curious!