Talk:List of signature songs

This article was nominated for deletion. Please review the prior discussions if you are considering re-nomination:

keep, 15 June 2005, see discussion.
keep, 26 November 2011, see discussion.

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the List of signature songs article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1: 6 months

Songs

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Songs, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of songs on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SongsWikipedia:WikiProject SongsTemplate:WikiProject Songssong

Lists

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Lists, an attempt to structure and organize all list pages on Wikipedia. If you wish to help, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.ListsWikipedia:WikiProject ListsTemplate:WikiProject ListsList
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Disputed examples of signature songs. Read this before adding entries to the article's example section. This is a list of artists/songs people regularly try to add to the article but for which there's in fact no consensus. In alphabetical order:

AC/DC (e.g.: "Back In Black", "Thunderstruck", "You Shook Me All Night Long")
Aerosmith (e.g.: "Dream On", "Sweet Emotion", "Walk This Way")
Band of Horses (e.g.: "The (Billion Day) Funeral", "Is There a Ghost", "No One's Gonna Love You", "Laredo")
The Beach Boys (e.g.: "Surfin' USA","Good Vibrations")
The Beatles (e.g.: "She Loves You","I Want to Hold Your Hand","Hey Jude", "Yesterday", "Let It Be")
Beck (e.g.: "Loser", "Where It's At")
The Beta Band (e.g.: "Round the Bend", "Squares", "Dry the Rain")
Black Sabbath (e.g.: "Iron Man", "Paranoid", "Black Sabbath")
Garth Brooks (e.g.: "The Dance", "If Tomorrow Never Comes", "Friends in Low Places")
Peter Gabriel (e.g.: "Solsbury Hill", "Sledgehammer")
Green Day (e.g.: "Longview", "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams")
Guns N' Roses ("e.g.": "Sweet Child O'Mine", "Welcome to the Jungle")
Jimi Hendrix (e.g.: "Purple Haze", "All Along the Watchtower", "Foxy Lady")
Janet Jackson (e.g.: "That's the Way Love Goes", "Rhythm Nation")
Gordon Lightfoot (e.g.: "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown")
Madonna (e.g.: "Material Girl", "Like a Virgin", "Vogue")
Massive Attack (e.g.: "Teardrop", "Karmacoma", "Safe from Harm", "Unfinished Sympathy")
Matchbox Twenty (e.g.: "Push", "Real World", "Bent")
Metallica (e.g.: "One", "Enter Sandman", "Master of Puppets")
Pearl Jam (e.g.: "Even Flow", "Jeremy", "Black")
Pink Floyd (e.g.: "Money", "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", "Learning to Fly")
Radiohead (e.g.:"Street Spirit (Fade Out)", "Karma Police", "Creep")
Red Hot Chili Peppers (e.g.: "Under The Bridge", "Give It Away", "Californication")
Britney Spears (e.g.: "...Baby One More Time", "Oops!... I Did It Again")
Sublime (e.g.: "Doin' Time", "Wrong Way", "What I Got", "Date Rape")
Sugar Ray (e.g.: "Fly", "Every Morning")
Third Eye Blind (e.g.: "Semi-Charmed Life", "Jumper")
Train (e.g.: "Meet Virginia", "Drops of Jupiter")
U2 (e.g.: "One", "Where the Streets Have No Name", "Pride (In the Name of Love)")
The Velvet Underground (e.g.: "Heroin", "Sweet Jane")

Nirvana's signature song

DO NOT remove Nirvana from the signature songs list. Smells Like Teen Spirit is undoubtedly their signature song, and I've got a source to prove it. --ndrly 17:16, 14 December 2006

Sharing a signature song....

This is referenced twice, once in the second paragraph of the article and again in an entirely new section. One or the other needs to go.

AC/DC signature song

I don't think "You Shook Me All Night Long" is AC/DC's signature song. If you ask someone which song first comes to mind when the band is referenced, I think the answer would most often be "Back In Black". Thoughts? Should this be changed? Michiganstateman (talk) 14:10, 18 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've reverted your changes because you haven't provided a source. Considering another song is already listed, might need consensus here before changing. Doctorhawkes (talk) 21:23, 18 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's hard to provide a definitive source for some of these things, because it can be subjective. But Back In Black has far more streams across essentially every platform, which I think counts for something. Rolling Stone also ranks it as the definitive #1 AC/DC song. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-ac-dc-songs-153246/back-in-black-3-76402/ Michiganstateman (talk) 13:09, 20 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You have not provided a source to back up your personal opinion. The list is based on sources, not users' opinions Bedivere (talk) 14:48, 20 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I did not just provide my personal opinion. I gave you numbers illustrating popularity, and I am not sure what else you want. I think it's already a stronger argument than the existing "source". Michiganstateman (talk) 15:52, 27 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A source saying "X is ACDC's signature song" for example. This isn't about popularity, but how a song is defined as the signature song of certain band, in this case, AC/DC. A signature song might not be the most popular song of a performer. Bedivere (talk) 19:01, 27 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's fair, but I'm not really sure what concrete criteria you want to refer to here, then. If we can't base it on popularity numbers, it's going to be totally subjective. I think if we want to keep any pretense of deciding this based on logic instead of just pure opinion, it should be based off popularity. After all, is it not more likely that a band's most popular song will be the one most often associated with the band? Michiganstateman (talk) 15:11, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I mean that the "signature song" title should only referenced to a reliable source that actually states it is the band's signature song. Sometimes it happens that sources differ on which song is a band's or individual's signature song, and in those cases, they are not included. Bedivere (talk) 21:33, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In this case, a "reliable source" is just some guy saying that he thinks it's their signature song --- arguably about as valuable of a source as whatever I think. It could also be Highway to Hell. But different people will give you different answers, and with something so easily disputed, I don't see why referring to popularity is a bad idea. It's a measure of well-known it is, which is directly related to how iconic or 'signature' is it considered. Michiganstateman (talk) 02:23, 1 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'd argue it should at least be moved to 'disputed' Michiganstateman (talk) 12:17, 10 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Sometimes it happens that sources differ on which song is a band's or individual's signature song, and in those cases, they are not included." I'm sorry to somewhat restart this discussion, but I have to disagree with that stance. The lead of this article states in its opening sentence that a band can have more than one signature song, so I don't see why sources having differing opinions on what is a signature song or not would equal that neither get included. And while I definitely agree that we should be going off of reliable secondary sources rather than the "this is their most popular song trust me" card, the same logic can be applied to what I'm saying now. If several sources stated that Metallica's signature song is "Enter Sandman", and an equal amount (or even slightly less) said it was "Master of Puppets", I don't see a reason why they both couldn't be listed (this would also practically resolve the alleged "no consensus" bands). λ NegativeMP1 05:07, 24 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I am okay with moving it to the "disputed" category, my point is that to say that it's "You Shook Me All Night Long" is a far cry from Back In Black or Thunderstruck. Moving it to disputed is fine, then. Michiganstateman (talk) 00:43, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm working on an update to this list that will incorporate artists with two more signature songs if demonstrated as such by reliable sources. There's a pretty good chance that YSMANL, BIB, or Thunderstruck could all get listed as a result, and as I said prior, the "disputed artists" category will likely be eliminated. The way that this list is currently organized is nothing more than a relic of a different era of Wikipedia, and I'm hoping to change that. If you think there's any other artists on the page right now that have a "signature song" besides what is listed, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. λ NegativeMP1 00:49, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good. I'd be a little careful about requiring a stone-cold "reliable source", given that music by nature is subjective and even an article from a publication is still just one guy giving his opinion, but I do understand the want for a bit more credibility. Perhaps cross-reference the numbers on YouTube views or Spotify streams with opinions when deciding this stuff. Michiganstateman (talk) 02:58, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Count Basie Signature Song

I would submit that we should list "Moten Swing" as the signature song for Count Basie and His Orchestra. I have it on good authority (jazz band instructor) that the Orchestra played this at every performance, and often included an interlude during which the Count introduced each member of the band to the audience by name. I would happily track down archival sources to support this, if the community would find this of interest. 71.167.225.116 (talk) 06:35, 26 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

List is too long and doesn't account for regional differences

Whether Semisonic is a well-known enough band to feature on the list is debatable but in Europe, Secret Smile is the band's best-known song. Shorten the list to major artists with a clear signature tune. LumpiSpoerl (talk) 06:12, 12 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Whether the list is too long or not is debatable, but do you have a reliable source that accounts for these "regional differences"? And a proper rationale for why these regional differences are actually relevant? λ NegativeMP1 06:50, 12 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@NegativeMP1

Yes.

in the UK and Europe, Semisonic are regarded as a One Hit Wonder for "Secret Smile" so their signature tune in North America would not be the same across the Atlantic.

On the other hand, some British bands such as Bauhaus had success with many songs in their home country.

Just two examples of the list being far too long and very heavy on lesser-known US and UK artists. LumpiSpoerl (talk) 09:35, 13 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@NegativeMP1

To illustrate what a signature tune is, is it necessary to have such a long list is more the question. LumpiSpoerl (talk) 09:38, 13 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]