America at 250: Songs

Here, not including classical, is my list of 250 songs that represent America. A diverse array of styles, from Broadway to blues, salsa to soul, and folk to rap. A couple of folk songs are included whose artists are unknown, and whose specific recordings don't matter - such as Yankee Doodle, and Dixie. Otherwise artists are listed either by composer, or, more often, by performer if there is a specific recording in mind (such as Ella Fitzgerald's version of Summertime). Artists don't repeat (with one or two sly exceptions) for maximum variety. Without further ado:

Yankee Doodle (1770)

The Star-Spangled Banner – Francis Scott Key (1814)

Sherburne (1844)

Oh, Susanna – Stephen Foster (1848)

Turkey in the Straw (1857)

Dixie – Dan Emmett (1859)

Battle Hymn of the Republic – Julia Ward Howe (1862)

When Johnny Comes Marching Home – Patrick Gilmore (1863)

The Entertainer – Scott Joplin (1902)

Lift Every Voice and Sing – Manhattan Harmony Four (1905)

You’re a Grand Old Rag – George M. Cohan (1906)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game – Edward Meeker (1908)

Swing Low Sweet Chariot – Fisk Jubilee Singers (1909)

America the Beautiful – Katharine Lee Bates (1911)

I Ain’t Got Nobody – Marion Harris (1916)

Original Dixieland Jass Band – Livery Stable Blues (1917)

The Moon Shines on the Moonshine – Bert Williams (1919)

I’m Just Wild About Harry – Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake (1921)

Ain’t We Got Fun – Billy Jones and Ernest Hare (1921)

Sallie Gooden – Eck Robertson (1922)

The Charleston – James P. Johnson (1923)

See See Rider – Ma Rainy (1924)

St. Louis Blues – WC Handy (1925)

Black Bottom Stomp – Jelly Roll Morton (1926)

Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground – Blind Willie Johnson (1927)

Ol’ Man River – Paul Robeson (1927)

Stardust – Hoagy Carmichael (1927)

Blue Skies – Irving Kaufman (1927)

Toot Toot Tootsie – Al Jolson (1927)

Big Rock Candy Mountains – Harry McClintock (1928)

St. James Infirmary – Hot Fives (1928)

Statesboro Blues – Blind Willie McTell (1928)

Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out – Bessie Smith (1929)

Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Fats Waller (1929)

Mood Indigo – Duke Ellington (1930)

Puttin’ on the Ritz – Harry Richman (1930)

Minnie the Moocher – Cab Calloway (1931)

House of the Rising Sun – Clarence Ashley (1933)

Tumbling Tumbleweeds – Sons of the Pioneers (1934)

Anything Goes – Cole Porter (1934)

Can the Circle Be Unbroken – The Carter Family (1935)

Wabash Cannonball – Roy Acuff (1936)

The Way You Look Tonight – Fred Astaire (1936)

Hellhound on My Trail – Robert Johnson (1937)

Where or When – Ray Heatherton (1937)

God Bless America – Irving Berlin (1938)

Sing, Sing, Sing – Benny Goodman (1938)

Strange Fruit – Billie Holiday (1939)

In the Mood – Glenn Miller (1939)

Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland (1939)

Body and Soul – Coleman Hawkins (1939)

If I Didn’t Care – Ink Spots (1939)

You Are My Sunshine – Jimmie Davis (1940)

When You Wish Upon a Star – Cliff Edwards (1940)

Wholly Cats – Charlie Christian and Lester Young (1940)

On Top of Old Smoky – Burl Ives (1941)

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy – The Andrews Sisters (1941)

White Christmas – Bing Crosby (1942)

As Time Goes By – Dooley Wilson (1942)

Stormy Weather – Lena Horne (1943)

Oklahoma – Rodgers and Hammerstein (1943)

This Land Is Your Land – Woody Guthrie (1945)

In The Pines (Where Did You Sleep Last Night) – Lead Belly (1946)

Amazing Grace – Dixie Hummingbirds (1946)

Yardbird Suite – Charlie Parker Septet (1946)

There’s No Business Like Show Business – Ethel Merman (1946)

Move on Up a Little Higher – Mahalia Jackson (1947)

Home on the Range – Gene Autrey (1947)

Blue Moon of Kentucky – Bill Monroe (1947)

Manteca – Dizzy Gillespie (1947)

‘Round Midnight – Thelonious Monk (1947)

We Shall Overcome – Pete Seeger (1947)

Mardi Gras in New Orleans – Professor Longhair (1949)

Ghost Riders in the Sky – Stan Jones (1949)

I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – Hank Williams (1949)

Saturday Night Fish Fry – Louis Jordan (1949)

Foggy Mountain Breakdown – Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (1950)

The Tennessee Waltz – Patti Page (1950)

Man of Constant Sorrow – The Stanley Brothers (1951)

Unforgettable – Nat King Cole (1951)

Go Down, Moses – Marian Anderson (1952)

Singin’ in the Rain – Gene Kelly (1952)

Vaya con Dios – Les Paul and Mary Ford (1953)

Mr. Sandman – Chordettes (1954)

Hoochie Coochie Man – Muddy Waters (1954)

Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley (1954)

April in Paris – Count Basie (1955)

Tutti Frutti – Little Richard (1955)

Every Day I Have the Blues – BB King (1955)

Smokestack Lightening – Howlin’ Wolf (1956)

You Make Me Feel So Young – Frank Sinatra (1956)

Jump, Jive, an’ Wail – Louis Prima (1956)

In the Still of the Night – Five Satins (1956)

Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino (1956)

Hound Dog – Elvis Presley (1956)

I Walk the Line – Johnny Cash (1956)

Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald (1957)

Cool – Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (1957)

Bye Bye Love – Everly Brothers (1957)

El Cayuco – Tito Puente (1958)

Moanin’ – Art Blakey (1958)

Tom Dooley – Kingston Trio (1958)

Stagger Lee – Lloyd Price (1958)

Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry (1958)

La Bamba – Ritchie Valens (1958)

So What – Miles Davis (1959)

Take Five – Dave Brubeck (1959)

Mack the Knife – Bobby Darin (1959)

I Only Have Eyes for You – The Flamingos (1959)

Big Iron – Marty Robbins (1959)

Shout – Isley Brothers (1959)

Silver Dagger – Joan Baez (1960)

Ain’t That a Kick in the Head – Dean Martin (1960)

At Last – Etta James (1960)

Georgia on My Mind – Ray Charles (1960)

Giant Steps – John Coltrane (1960)

Stand By Me – Ben E. King (1961)

Crazy – Patsy Cline (1961)

Moon River – Mercer and Mancini (1961)

I Left My Heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett (1962)

Up on the Roof – The Drifters (1962)

Be My Baby – The Ronettes (1963)

People – Barbra Streisand (1964)

A Change is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke (1964)

Walk On By – Dionne Warwick (1964)

My Girl – The Temptations (1964)

Mississippi Goddam – Nina Simone (1964)

Tracks of My Tears – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1965)

Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – James Brown (1965)

Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan (1965)

The Sound of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel (1965)

God Only Knows – The Beach Boys (1966)

You Keep Me Hangin’ On – The Supremes (1966)

California Dreamin’ – Mamas and the Papas (1966)

Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong (1967)

Respect – Aretha Franklin (1967)

Heroin – The Velvet Underground (1967)

Everyday People – Sly and the Family Stone (1968)

All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix (1968)

Mama Tried – Merle Haggard (1968)

Hickory Wind – The Byrds (1968)

Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond (1969)

Oye Como Va – Santana (1970)

Fire and Rain – James Taylor (1970)

Friend of the Devil – Grateful Dead (1970)

Coal Miner’s Daughter – Loretta Lynn (1970)

You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman – Carole King (1971)

Me and Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin (1971)

What’s Goin’ On – Marvin Gaye (1971)

Let’s Stay Together – Al Green (1971)

Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano (1971)

Superstition – Stevie Wonder (1972)

School’s Out – Alice Cooper (1972)

Jolene – Dolly Parton (1973)

Honky Tonk Heroes – Waylon Jennings (1973)

Piano Man – Billy Joel (1973)

You’re No Good – Linda Ronstadt (1974)

One – Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban (1975)

All That Jazz – Kander and Ebb (1975)

Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen (1975)

Gloria – Patti Smith (1975)

Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain – Willie Nelson (1975)

Hotel California – The Eagles (1976)

Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones (1976)

Periodico de Ayer – Hector Lavoe (1976)

Birdland – Weather Report (1977)

I Feel Love – Donna Summer (1977)

I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor (1978)

You’re the One That I Want – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (1978)

September – Earth, Wind, and Fire (1978)

Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock – Funkadelic (1978)

Y.M.C.A. – Village People (1978)

Plastico – Willie Colon and Ruben Blades (1978)

Rainbow Connection – Jim Henson (1979)

He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones (1980)

We Got the Beat – The Go-Gos (1980)

Once in a Lifetime – Talking Heads (1980)

I Love Rock n Roll – Joan Jett (1981)

Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey (1981)

Super Freak – Rick James (1981)

Planet Rock – Afrika Bambaataa (1982)

The Message – Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five (1982)

Billie Jean – Michael Jackson (1982)

Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper (1983)

Purple Rain – Prince (1984)

Livin’ on a Prayer – Jon Bon Jovi (1986)

Walk This Way – Run DMC ft. Aerosmith (1986)

Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns n Roses (1987)

Paid in Full – Eric B and Rakim (1987)

Bring the Noise – Public Enemy (1988)

Fast Car – Tracy Chapman (1988)

Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty (1989)

Like a Prayer – Madonna (1989)

Straight Outta Compton – NWA (1989)

Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks (1990)

I’ve Got That Old Feeling – Alison Krauss (1990)

Fancy – Reb McEntire (1990)

Mind Playing Tricks on Me – Geto Boys (1991)

Scenario – A Tribe Called Quest (1991)

Enter Sandman – Metallica (1991)

Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana (1991)

I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston (1992)

Juicy – Notorious B.I.G. (1994)

Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley (1994)

Hurt – Nine Inch Nails (1994)

All I Want for Christmas is You – Mariah Carey (1994)

Dear Mama – 2Pac (1995)

Gangsta’s Paradise – Coolio ft. L.V. (1995)

Seasons of Love – Jonathan Larson (1996)

Doo Wop (That Thing) – Lauryn Hill (1998)

Paper Bag – Fiona Apple (1999)

Run On – Moby (1999)

B.O.B. – Outkast (2000)

Last Nite – The Strokes (2000)

Fallin’ – Alicia Keys (2001)

Lose Yourself – Eminem (2002)

Come Away with Me – Norah Jones (2002)

None of Us Are Free – Solomon Burke (2002)

Work It – Missy Elliott (2002)

Defying Gravity – Stephen Schwartz (2003)

In da Club – 50 Cent (2003)

Seven Nation Army – White Stripes (2003)

99 Problems – Jay Z (2004)

Toxic – Britney Spears (2004)

Yeah! – Usher ft. Lil John and Ludacris (2004)

Holiday – Green Day (2004)

Chicago – Sufjan Stevens (2005)

Crazy – Gnarls Barkley (2006)

North American Scum – LCD Soundsystem (2007)

Bad Romance – Lady Gaga (2009)

Lost in the World – Kanye West ft. Bon Iver (2010)

Way Down Hadestown – Anais Mitchell (2010)

Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites – Skrillex (2010)

Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO (2011)

Summertime Sadness – Lana del Rey (2012)

Black Gold – Esperanza Spalding (2012)

Let It Go – Idina Menzel (2013)

Happy – Pharrell Williams (2013)

Q.U.E.E.N. – Janelle Monae ft. Erykah Badu (2013)

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift (2014)

Uptown Funk – Mark Robson ft. Bruno Mars (2014)

Alright – Kendrick Lamar (2015)

Wait For It – Lin-Manuel Miranda (2015)

See You Again – Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth (2015)

Formation – Beyonce (2016)

At the Purchaser’s Option – Rhiannon Giddens (2017)

Despacito – Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee (2017)

Bad Guy – Billie Eilish (2019)

Old Town Road – Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus (2019)

DTMF – Bad Bunny (2025)