After examining the Rolling Stone Magazine's top 20 greatest songs of all time, we have found three overarching themes which each of these songs can be grouped. The first two themes are clear, with majority of songs being either relationship oriented or protest oriented. The third group represents a less clear minority. This group of three songs either seem to be contemplating or retelling life experiences. 

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The majority of the relationship group contained surprisingly negative messages. Songs such as "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, "Hey Jude" and "Yesterday" by the Beatles, "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry, and "Hound Dog" by Elvis, either discuss some kind of break up or sexual indecency, while only three songs provided positive conceptions of relationships- usually glorifying the partner. These songs were "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles, and "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles. The fact that there are twice as many negative songs about relationships in this well respected list of songs than positive songs can tell us several things. The first is that negative love songs have received more respect from the Rolling Stone's Critics, which may serve as a bias for the chart. Second we can infer that negative songs may have more long term relevancy than positive songs. Finally, since 9 of the top 20 songs are about relationships, it magnifies the importance of human relationships (especially negative ones) have on the human psyche.

 

The second most prevalent group was protest songs. These songs either called for Civil Rights change or took a closer look at class divisions- primarily that of youth versus the older generations. The racial protest songs were written by Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke during the Civil Rights movements of the 1960's and early 1970's. These songs were not only great songs but became anthems in the struggle for racial equality. However, the protest songs among white artists tended to focus more on generational clash such as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", The Rollings Stone's "Satisfaction", and the Who's "My Generation", or the songs focused on the search for peace such as The Clash's "London Calling", and John Lennon's "Imagine". This shows that during times of political or social strife, people not only expressed themselves through riots and protests, but also expressed their views through music. The fact that so many of these songs found themselves on this list show the continued prevalence of these issues in society and continued importance of their messages.

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The three songs that neither discuss relationships or attempt to elicit societal change discuss life on a broader basis. Where Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" is not much more than autobiographical song about his upbringing, you can still ascertain life elements he lived under. He did not receive a good education and his only way to stardom was through music. Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" discusses how his dream has shaped his experiences and how he spiritually views the world and his life. Finally Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" is an ultimate example of contemplation of life's issues. He looks philosophically at metaphorical life problems, but concludes the answer to these questions are forever alluding humanity. This strange class of songs tells us there is place for originality in music, and that great music does not necessarily have to be about relationships or protest.

 

Beyond these three categories we found potential bias from the Rolling Stones critics. Of these songs, 75% of them were written before 1970. This shows historical bias toward older songs. However, this could be explained if one of the deciding factors of a "great song" was its influence on other songs, artists and even genres. This could also explain the inclusion of the 1991 song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as Nirvana has been credited with the popularity of Grunge music and an increased respect for alternative rock. 

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