Canadian Songs: Top 100

First posted 2/4/2021; updated 2/14/2021.

Canada: Top 100 Songs

These are the top songs by Canadian artists, as determined by an aggregate of 19 best-of lists. Songs which were only considered which were by artists born in Canada or groups which originated in Canada. Note: click here to see other genre-specific song lists. You can also check out the DMDB’s rating of Canada’s Biggest #1 Songs, most of which are not actually by Canadian artists. 1. Neil Young “Heart of Gold” (1972) 2. Bachman-Turner Overdrive “Takin’ Care of Business” (1974) 3. Bryan Adams “Summer of ‘69” (1984) 4. The Guess Who “American Woman” (1970) 5. Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know” (1995) 6. The Band “The Weight” (1968) 7. Loverboy “Working for the Weekend” (1981) 8. Tom Cochrane “Life Is a Highway” (1992) 9. Gordon Lightfoot “If You Could Read My Mind” (1970) 10. Leonard Cohen “Hallelujah” (1984) 11. Celine Dion “My Heart Will Go On” (1997) 12. Joni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970) 13. Corey Hart “Sunglasses at Night” (1984) 14. Nickelback “How You Remind Me” (2001) 15. Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe” (2011) 16. Bachman-Turner Overdrive “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” (1974) 17. Rush “Tom Sawyer” (1981) 18. Barenaked Ladies “If I Had a $1,000,000” (1992) 19. Gordon Lightfoot “Sundown” (1974) 20. Barenaked Ladies “One Week” (1998) 21. The Tragically Hip “Bobcaygeon” (1998) 22. Steppenwolf “Born to Be Wild” (1968) 23. Men Without Hats “The Safety Dance” (1982) 24. Alanis Morissette “Ironic” (1995) 25. The Guess Who “No Sugar Tonight” (1970) 26. Paul Anka “Diana” (1957) 27. Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” (1991) 28. k.d. lang “Constant Craving” (1992) 29. Avril Lavigne “Complicated” (2002) 30. Allanah Myles “Black Velvet” (1989) 31. Anne Murray “Snowbird” (1970) 32. Neil Young “Rockin’ in the Free World” (1989) 33. Trooper “Raise a Little Hell” (1978) 34. Gordon Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976) 35. Spirit of the West “Home for a Rest” (1990) 36. Rush “The Spirit of Radio” (1980) 37. The Guess Who “These Eyes” (1969) 38. Glass Tiger “Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone” (1986) 39. Steppenwolf “Magic Carpet Ride” (1968) 40. Justin Bieber “Sorry” (2015) 41. Andy Kim “Rock Me Gently” (1974) 42. Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” (1974) 43. Bryan Adams “Heaven” (1984) 44. The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face” (2015) 45. Daniel Powter “Bad Day” (2005) 46. Neil Young “Old Man” (1972) 47. Justin Bieber “Love Yourself” (2015) 48. Arcade Fire “Wake Up” (2004) 49. Bruce Cockburn “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” (1984) 50. Tom Cochrane & Red Rider “Big League” (1988) 51. Rush “Closer to the Heart” (1977) 52. Five Man Electrical Band “Signs” (1971) 53. Celine Dion “Because You Loved Me” (1996) 54. The Weeknd with Daft Punk “Starboy” (2016) 55. Bryan Adams “Run to You” (1984) 56. Snow “Informer” (1993) 57. Celine Dion “The Power of Love” (1993) 58. The Tragically Hip “Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)” (1992) 59. The Weeknd “The Hills” (2015) 60. Martha & the Muffins “Echo Beach” (1980) 61. The Tragically Hip “New Orleans Is Sinking” (1989) 62. Nelly Furtado with Timbaland “Promiscuous” (2006) 63. Blue Rodeo “Lost Together” (1992) 64. Shania Twain “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” (1997) 65. Drake with Wizkid & Kyla “One Dance” (4/5/2016) 66. Magic! “Rude” (2013) 67. Nick Gilder “Hot Child in the City” (1978) 68. Nelly Furtado “Say It Right” (2006) 69. Sheriff “When I’m with You” (1983) 70. The Guess Who “Share the Land” (1970) 71. Paul Anka with Odia Coates “You’re Having My Baby” (1974) 72. Neil Young “My My Hey Hey (Into the Black)” (1979) 73. Joni Mitchell “Both Sides Now” (1969) 74. Ian & Sylvia “Four Strong Winds” (1963) 75. Barenaked Ladies “Brian Wilson” (1992) 76. Bryan Adams “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” (1995) 77. Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl” (1969) 78. Anne Murray “You Needed Me” (1978) 79. Bryan Adams with Sting & Rod Stewart “All for Love” (1993) 80. Crash Test Dummies “Superman’s Song” (1991) 81. The Crew-Cuts “Sh-Boom” (1954) 82. Nickelback “Photograph” (2005) 83. Drake “In My Feelings” (2018) 84. Justin Bieber “What Do You Mean?” (2015) 85. The Tragically Hip “Wheat Kings” (1992) 86. Shania Twain “You’re Still the One” (1997) 87. Red Rider “Lunatic Fringe” (1981) 88. The Weeknd “Blinding Lights” (2019) 89. Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” (2007) 90. Shania Twain “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (1997) 91. The Guess Who “No Time” (1969) 92. Sarah McLachlan “Angel” (1997) 93. The Tragically Hip “Ahead by a Century” (1996) 94. Drake “Hotline Bling” (2015) 95. Drake “Nice for What” (2018) 96. Finger Eleven “Paralyzer” (2007) 97. Jeff Healey Band “Angel Eyes” (1988) 98. Celine Dion “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” (1996) 99. Neil Young with Crosby, Stills & Nash “Ohio” (1970) 100. Payola$ “Eyes of a Stranger” (1982) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists” Dave’s Music Database: “Canada: Biggest #1 Songs”

Tori Amos released covers album Strange Little Girls

Strange Little Girls Tori Amos

Released: September 18, 2001 Peak: 4 US, 16 UK, 8 CN, 7 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: adult alternative singer/songwriter

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. New Age (Lou Reed) [4:37] ’97 Bonnie & Clyde (Marshall Mathers, Jeff Bass, Mark Bass) [5:46] Strange Little Girl (Brian Duffy, Dave Greenfield, Hans Warmling, Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel) [3:50] (11/13/01, --) Enjoy the Silence (Martin Gore) [4:10] I’m Not in Love (Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman) [5:39] Rattlesnakes (Lloyd Cole, Neil Clark) [3:59] Time (Tom Waits) [5:23] Heart of Gold (Neil Young) [4:00] I Don’t Like Mondays (Bob Geldof) [4:21] Happiness Is a Warm Gun (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) [9:55] Raining Blood (Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King) [6:22] Real Men (Joe Jackson) [4:07] Total Running Time: 62:09

Rating: 3.408 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Something that goes unspoken in the cult of Tori Amos is that she knows the value of press and that she knows how to exploit it. So, six albums into her career, and several years since she captured headlines, she released Strange Little Girls, a collection of covers intended to strike a dagger into the heart of how males view females in pop songs. To be honest, you wouldn’t know that from listening to the record, but you might have an idea by looking at the four separate collector-oriented covers, and reading the reviews, previews, and interviews Tori did prior to and at the time of release.” AMG “The only track that really feels that way is Eminem’s 97 Bonnie and Clyde, where Amos heightens the tension by close-mic’ing her vocals and reading with a hammy theatricalness that results in a cut about as chilling as the original, but without the context.” AMG “After that, there really aren’t many songs that sound like they’re a female switch in perspective, apart from maybe the Stranglers’ title track (which she does a nice job with), and it’s very hard to tell what she’s trying to say with these songs. Is she the fat blonde actress in the Velvet Underground’s New Age? Mother Superior in the Beatles’ Happiness is a Warm Gun (recorded with an anti-gun recitation from her father)? Is she the chair in Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence? How does Tom Waits’ Time fit into the equation?” AMG “Tori never tells us, either lyrically or through her musical arrangements – witness the bizarre deconstruction of Neil Young’s Heart of Gold, another song that doesn’t seem to fit her theme, so she dresses it up in flanged guitar and neo-trip-hop beats.” AMG “Tori’s sexual politics are so poorly constructed, appearing almost nonexistent, that the music by default rises to the forefront and it almost meets the demands. For the most part, this is a solid record – overly produced and not as inventive as her takes on ‘Angie’ and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ but rarely as wretched as ‘Heart of Gold.’ Though there’s a bit too much surface sheen, it’s a solid record, yet it’s not particularly distinctive, so the pre-release hype about the gender deconstructions of Strange Little Girls makes sense, because the only way this distinguishes itself is through its stated intention – and if the album doesn’t make the intentions specific, it’s best to get the word out any way possible. And while all that press may have given the impression that this is something new, something different – precisely what it was meant to do – it really is nothing more than another, pretty good Tori Amos record, only not quite as interesting because she didn’t write the tunes.” AMG Personally, the DMDB saw an intriguing story line that played out, based on the track order. First, the album introduces an eccentric girl through tracks like Strange Little Girl. Then, we see her struggling with an unrequited relationship (I’m Not in Love, ‘Heart of Gold’). Finally, she is pushed over the edge and goes on a murderous rampage (I Don’t Like Mondays, ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun,’ Raining Blood). In the end, the listener is left with Tori’s take on Joe Jackson’s already phenomenal commentary on our stereotypes of men (Real Men), only now it takes on a very different meaning. The listener wonders if the album’s character is struggling with male/female identities, potentially even gender identity crisis, that has led to her behavior. It may not have been Tori’s intent, but it is how the DMDB interpreted it.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 6/3/2022.

Neil Young “Old Man” released

Old Man Neil Young

Writer(s): Neil Young (see lyrics here) Released: April 17, 1972 First Charted: April 28, 1972 Peak: 31 BB, 26 CB, 27 GR, 33 HR, 4 CL, 4 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 101.08 video, 137.68 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Rock singer/songwriter Neil Young was born in 1945 in Toronto. He rose to fame as a member of Buffalo Springfield and also worked with Crosby, Stills & Nash on their 1970 classic Déjà Vu before releasing his own critical and commercial peak with Harvest, his fourth solo album. Most of the attention was focused on “Heart of Gold,” Young’s only #1 song. It was considered a significant song in the singer/songwriter movement of the 1970s and a prime example of folk rock at its best. However, the album also featured gems such as “The Needle and the Damage Done” and “Old Man.” The latter was written about an old caretaker Louis Avila on Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in California. Young said, “Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there’s this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, ‘Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?’ And I said, ‘Well, just lucky, Louis, just really lucky.’ And he said, ‘Well, that’s the darndedest thing I ever heard.’ And I wrote this song for him.” WK The song compared an old man and young man’s life, showing how the older man used to be like the younger one and that they largely have the same needs. Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor both sang on the song; Taylor also played a six-string banjo tuned like a guitar. WK They also sang on “Heart of Gold.” Ronstadt said, “I thought they were such beautiful songs. I loved them…I don’t think we started until midnight and it was dawn when we came out out…It was really exciting. I just thought I’ve been part of something really wonderful.” SF The song has been used and performed in many settings. One of the most notable was a cover of the song by Beck in 2022 to promote a football game between the Tampa Bay Buccanneers and Kansas City Chiefs. It was a nod to 45-year-old quarterback Tom Brady, the oldest player in the league, vs. the young QB phenom Patrick Mahomes. Both won Super Bowls at 24 years old, making for a perfect reference to the line in the song “24 and there’s so much more.” WK It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Neil Young SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/14/2024; last updated 4/26/2024.

Neil Young hit #1 with “Heart of Gold”

Heart of Gold Neil Young

Writer(s): Neil Young (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 29, 1972 Peak: 11 US, 11 CB, 12 GR, 11 HR, 8 AC, 1 CL, 10 UK, 12 CN, 14 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 92.0 video, 373.84 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Critic John Rockwell once called Neil Young “the quintessential hippie-cowboy loner.” FB The legendary artist first made a name for himself with Buffalo Springfield in the late ‘60s before striking out on his own. In 1970, he collaborated with Crosby, Stills & Nash, contributing classics like “Ohio” and “Helpless” before returning to his solo career. In 1972, he found his biggest success with Harvest, his fourth solo album. The album produced the only top-40 hits of his solo career with the chart-topping “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man.” Harvest and “Heart of Gold” were perfect representations of the ‘70s singer/songwriter era, when adult-contemporary and folk-driven artists like Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor found huge mainstream success. Both of them lent their backup vocals to “Heart of Gold.” They were in Nashville to perform on Johnny Cash’s TV show and Elliot Mazer, the producer for Harvest, invited them to perform on the album. WK During the recording of the album, Young was wearing a brace because of a back injury. He explained that it made the album mellower because he couldn’t stand for long periods of time to play electric guitar, but he could play acoustic sitting down. All Music Guide’s Denise Sullivan called it “the ultimate campire song,” AMG noting that it is marked by “a little harmonica, a little peddle steel, his natural twang, and two simple verses that speak of the universal condition.” AMG “Heart of Gold” served as the “perfect expression of the brooding idiosyncratic artist at the height of his quest.” FB It featured “one of Young’s most haunting, memorable melodies, sung in his usual broken voice.” TB Bob Dylan said that while he always liked Neil Young, he despised “Heart of Gold” because it was the only time it bothered him that someone else sounded like him. WK Young himself has knocked it, saying in the liner notes for his 1977 Decade compilation, “This song put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch.” A wide variety of artists have recorded the song, including Tori Amos, Boney M, Johnny Cash, Bettye LaVette, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Passenger, Roxette, and James Taylor. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Neil Young AMG All Music Guide review by Denise Sullivan FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 308. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 193-4. SF Songfacts DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 129. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 134. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/5/2021; last updated 4/28/2024.