Top 10 Best The Rolling Stones Songs

The Top Ten
1 Paint It Black

If you could only put yourself back in the day - segregation, assassinations, dictators, 'Nam, no birth control or abortion, before the flower children and Woodstock - this spoke from the heart, the urgency, and then a sitar (magical escapist thinking) of all things. A confused, passionate age, and this says it all. I could not foresee this thing happening to you. Yes.

This is their best song. It is edgier than all the rest. It is a very visual song. One of my all-time favorite songs. I do like Wild Horses, and I think that song needs mention, but I have heard renditions of Wild Horses that were done better than the original by different artists.

2 Gimme Shelter

This is an amazing song! I love that the top three are "Paint It Black," "Gimme Shelter," and "Sympathy for the Devil." I think they're way better than "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

While I know that PIB and SFTD are more popular, this song is quite simply amazing. None of those songs come even close to the level of raw emotion and mastery this song displays.

Everything, from the moody guitars to the message to the amazing and beautiful voice work of Merry Clayton (just listen to how her voice breaks in the middle of the song - amazing), works together to create a masterpiece.

I'm not even a fan of The Rolling Stones, and I consider this one of the greatest songs of all time.

3 Sympathy for the Devil

First off, there's never been anything like it before or since. It's simple, with lyrical content that most simple minds will never grasp. Jagger's delivery is legendary, with a bite. The bass by Keith (not to take anything away from Mr. Wyman) as well as his guitar, have never been surpassed. But pay close attention to Nicky Hopkins and therein lies the best rock 'n roll piano on record. I could vote for about 20 favorite Stones songs, depending on the mood I'm in. But to be honest, there is truly no better rock song than this one!

4 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Exquisite, elegantly simple, yet so, so powerful and so deep, as in emblematic of the times where rock actually came to maturation. Rock was the music that expressed the most revolutionary decade that marked what was to happen and be developed till the end of the century. Nobody has matched the mix of simplicity and power of this song, both in form and content.

I was there during the high times of the Beatles and the Stones. Absolutely nothing like Satisfaction. The ultimate killer song then and now. Not to denigrate the other great songs, but there is something about the opening chords of Satisfaction, the simple driving rhythm, and the metronomic timing that elevates simplicity into a masterpiece.

5 You Can't Always Get What You Want

Jagger has a great voice all the time, but for some reason in this song, when he sings that "You can't always get what you want," it just hits people. And I guess I'm just a cliché because it hits me too.

Love it! I heard a young boy singing it solo at a gas station, and my love for the song made me melt when I heard him singing it as he pumped gas for his mom. Best Rolling Stones song!

Honestly, if I could vote for 1A and 1B, it would be this and Gimme Shelter. Just an epic song, musically, vocally, lyrically, the Stones' magnum opus.

6 Jumpin' Jack Flash

Almost PERFECT... Think about Mean Streets, about De Niro. The song fits his character the best. The riff is awesome, and the lyrics are great. I love the vocals. It deserves the 2nd place, after Gimme Shelter, obviously.

Funkin' awesome! The pace of the songs is really nice! One of the first songs I heard by this band. I listened to all the more critically acclaimed ones, but this still is my favorite.

The greatest rock song ever written. It is dangerous, it is edgy, and it is hopeful all at the same time. It is incomparable live.

7 Brown Sugar

This should definitely be No.1! Because of the energy flooding into you when listening to this rock 'n roll masterpiece! From the first riff, you just get into it and want to sing it out loud in the metro instead of just keeping it for yourself through your headphones!

"I'm no schoolboy, but I know what I like." I'm surprised this song doesn't get more love. One of the coolest guitar riffs ever. Not to mention some of their best lyrics.

Another favorite… They performed it at the concert last night in DETROIT, accompanied by amazing fireworks… Totally fantastic… A night to remember…

8 Angie

Beautiful, beautiful song, sort of unlike the Stones, but with the violin and piano, and vocals… Amazing. Such a sweet, unusual, sad song. At least top five, I'd say first, but they have a lot of other great stuff too. I'm a 13-year-old girl. A lot of us listen to Justin Bieber and One Direction, and loads of auto-tuned junk, but not me. I love rock, alt, things that aren't constantly playing on Top 40. Rock on.

This is the song that I connect with the breakup of my first love. It takes you back to how you felt and makes me realize how much I cared. It is a ballad that I can listen to over and over again. This song had the ability to consume my life for the couple of months after. It's kind of a relief. I'd say definitely The Rolling Stones' best and most heartfelt song.

9 Start Me Up

No way! Start Me Up in seventh place? This one should be in first or second place. It's all, the lyrics, the music, Jagger, but above all, the mood it gets you into.

"Don't make a grown man cry!" This song is my favorite song of all time, VERY well produced, the lyrics tie together well.

It's not their only good song, dude. The Rolling Stones have many awesome songs, including this one!

10 Wild Horses

This is the world's most beautiful piece of music ever made! You'll fall in love with this song immediately. Well, even God couldn't create a better song than this masterpiece! Or maybe The Stones are God?

Best Rolling Stones song. It makes me cry every time I listen to it. Also, I don't understand why "Under My Thumb" isn't included. It's one of my favorite songs of The Rolling Stones!

How can you not love this song! Especially if you know why it was written (Mick's split from Marianne Faithfull). Lyrics and harmonies are incredibly made for each other.

The Contenders
11 Under My Thumb

Definitely in my Top 10 songs of all time. A great example of how all of their songs are different and unique. Sympathy for the Devil, Angie, and Gimme Shelter are some of my other favorites.

Even better now that it's in the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - it fits the character of Gideon Graves perfectly.

One of my favorites, along with Paint it Black and Satisfaction.

12 Miss You

Catchy and funky, it still holds up. Lots of the older albums have too much nostalgia powering their popularity, but this one I've been listening to over and over. This song is the best on the album - I can't get the hook out of my mind. Then the sax solos come in, and it ends even better than it started.

This song is proof that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards can write for any audience. This tune embodied the popular disco of the late '70s and, combined with the classic rock and roll, became one of their catchiest, riffiest, bluesiest, and most danceable songs all in one. Amazing.

13 It's Only Rock 'N' Roll

Wow, this song is this low! That's crazy. It's a fantastic song, and anyone who's listened to rock before should know that this is the best.

Seriously underrated song... This one should be much higher on the list! Great vocals and solo...

Great Stones sing-along song that always finds itself stuck in your head for days on end.

14 Beast of Burden

Maybe their only song where the lyrics actually matter (Gimme Shelter is my number two, and the few lyrics I know, I feel really good I have wrong) and they are beautiful. Put simply, I'm done playing games, done dancing around the truth. I love you. If you feel the same way, then that's great, but if not, I'll walk right out that door. Complex concept in the simplest of lyrics. Only Willie Nelson can write lyrics that accomplish that as well as this song.

I'm a huge classic/prog rock fan. Yes, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin - that's my jam, and normally I can't stand the Stones.

But this song is them at their best. It belongs up there with Gimme Shelter and Can't Always Get What You Want.

15 Ruby Tuesday

This song makes me want to pick up my guitar and strum my beating heart out of my chest. It's not a hard rock song, but this really makes me feel a certain kind of special.

How is this only #13? This should be third! Are there any restaurants called Paint It Black or Sympathy for the Devil?

This song should be way higher on the list. One of my personal favorites.

16 Can't You Hear Me Knocking

This song, a top 5 Stones song in my humble opinion, was the beginning of the end for Mick Taylor. The trouble was, he was too good - technically, at least - compared with Keith. Still, a fantastic jam to end the track.

This is my favorite The Rolling Stones song... the saxophone solo is one of the best solos in the world... and then the guitar is also amazing... you just go into a daze listening to this song...

Check out the alternate version of the song.

The original has a great start, but it sort of descends into a musical rut. That's mainly why I like the alternate version better. It's short and sweet.

17 Honky Tonk Women

So many great songs to choose from, but Honky Tonk Women delivers throughout from every angle.

Great song and the beginning of their new sound where Keith uses open G tuning on the guitar.

I think this song is the most bluesy of all the songs by The Rolling Stones. I love it.

18 She's a Rainbow

Makes you imagine him singing, and when the cymbal sounds, rainbows appear behind Jagger. Also reminds you of a happy and sanguine girl that drives you mad.

Metallica - Unforgiven and Rolling Stones - She's a Rainbow. These are the best songs in the world.

This song has calm music. It makes you happy when you're listening to it.

19 Get Off My Cloud

Great song. Surprised it's so low on the list. Seen it performed live by a tribute band which was amazing, can only imagine how good it would be by the Stones.

Not my favorite Stones song, but it really is awesome. This tune should at least be top 20!

20 Rocks Off

You've got it all in this track: sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. It's got the humor of the Stones. It's got the attitude of the Stones. It perfectly captures the Stones' ability to groove and jam like no other. Altogether tasty.

One of the most underrated songs ever. I love every part of it. It's one of my all-time favorite songs.

Ridiculously underrated! It's easily my favorite Stones tune. Those horns are heaven!

21 Street Fighting Man

My absolute favorite. Right, it's maybe not their best song but should be higher than 22. The tune just makes me want to dance every time, and it has a great message... pure banger.

While this isn't one of my favorite Stones songs, I still gotta acknowledge that it's one of their greatest. It should be way higher than 24th.

Shocked but not flabbergasted. In my opinion, Street Fighting Man is second to Sympathy for the Devil on Beggars.

22 Let's Spend the Night Together

Recorded proof that the Stones could take on the Beatles, Beach Boys, or the Kinks and be just as good as them. Criminally underrated song from their catalog, it has such an amazing vibe.

I'm not a Stones fan by any means. But this song is incredible. It deserves to be higher than #22.

23 19th Nervous Breakdown
24 Tumbling Dice

This is a great song from Exile on Main St. Perhaps the best song ever recorded by The Rolling Stones was removed from the same album by Phil Spector, the producer. He knew it was perhaps their best and put it on the "B" side of Tumbling Dice. Search for "Plundered My Soul" and prepare to be blown away. This is their best ever. The guitar work is pure Stones. Trust me, if you have never heard this song, then you have never heard the Stones at their best. P.S. Phil Spector also took off "Don't Let Me Down" from the Let It Be album and sold it as a "B" side.

25 As Tears Go By

The best song, according to me, is so different from the other tracks. Jagger and Faithfull should have ended up together. I don't know why they were embarrassed by this song. I think this song is one of the best The Rolling Stones ever produced.

What! Has nobody heard this beautiful song? Mick Jagger's pensive vocals and Keith Richards' one-of-a-kind guitar tune make this song one of the top ten songs by The Rolling Stones.

ATGB is such a beautiful, sad, and timeless song. My Number 1. It should be much higher, although you can't always get what you want (great song too). Also, I can't argue with the top 3.

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