Written by Alakshendra SinghNew Delhi | Updated: October 9, 2025 09:28 PM IST 5 min readKendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift both cracked the top 10. (Photo: Reuters/Instagram/TayloSwift)Music is a subjective endeavour, but some things are considered to be universal truths. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the greatest songs of all time, The Eminem Show is a masterpiece, and Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, wasn’t her best work. To induce further debate in society, Rolling Stone just released the list of the 250 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century, and the rankings are bound to start a discussion.The list starts with the band Train’s song “Drops of Jupiter,” as it navigates its way through the Post Malones and Aviciis, as Mac Miller’s song “2009” gives the first shock of the list, ranking at 240. Kid Cudi’s iconic track “Day N’ Nite” just finished three spots ahead, while Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” ranks higher than both of them at 236, which makes little sense. Bright Eyes’ “Day In My Life” is another very surprising ranking, but it’s understandable in some reality out there in the multiverse.ALSO READ: John Lennon was a great musician, a bad bandmate, and an even worse husband, and we still celebrate him for itThink of every single song that defined the last 25 years of your life, or less. There is a high chance that they are lying somewhere very low on this list. For example, Kesha’s “Tik Tok” isn’t a symphonic masterpiece that would make Mozart jump out of his grave in the hope of some real competition, but it’s still iconic. It was playing in grocery stores, cinema lobbies, malls, and every other place with a speaker. Still, the song finds itself on the 220th spot. Taylor’s “Love Story” sits at 213, while Green Day’s “Jesus of Suburbia” is at 205. (Their only entry in the list, by the way.)“Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence, the track that kicked down the door of goth rock for an entire generation, is hanging on to the 195th spot on the list. To balance it out, the curators dragged down another revered track from a different genre, “Ms Jackson” by Outkast, which is at 184. TI, Jimmy Eat World, and Sabrina Carpenter all rank above “Chop Suey” by System of a Down. Linkin Park has just one song in the whole list, and that too is their collaboration with Jay-Z for “Numb” and “Encore”. The next ‘slap in your face’ ranking is Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”, which sits at 157; how?Coldplay only get entry into the list with “The Scientist”, and even that is beaten by the Justin Bieber version of “Despacito”. You would think that a song that forced the people over at the King’s land to add a word to the dictionary would at least crack the top 100; well, you would think wrong. Eminem’s “Stan” sits at 121, and our 100th best song of this century is Frank Ocean’s “Novocane,” which no one would have a problem with, if not for the songs that have ranked lower.Arctic Monkeys enter the chart with their song “Do I Wanna Know” at the 85th spot, while Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” was ranked at 73. N’Sync’s calling card “Bye Bye Bye” is at 67, and Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” is at 65. U2’s ‘Beautiful Day’ bagged the 57th spot and was beaten to the top 50 by tracks like Lil Uzi Vert’s “XO Tour Life” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee,” which just means that something strange is afoot. Fortunately Amy Winehouse made it to the top 50 with “Back to Black,” but 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” fell short.Story continues below this adALSO READ: Beyoncé, the most successful artist at the Grammys, was still ‘snubbed’; her husband, fans, and Kanye West never let us forget thisEminem’s “Lose Yourself,” which won an Academy Award for Best Original Track, couldn’t get past the 39th spot, while Daft Punk’s sole entry, “One More Time,” hung on to 28 on the rankings. Jay-Z, Chappelle Roan, Steve Lacy, Drake, Mariah Carey, and Billie Eilish all made it to the top 25. The top 10 list is as follows:-10. Frank Ocean – ‘Thinking About You’9. Britney Spears – ‘Toxic’8. Radiohead- Idioteque7. Kendrick Lamar- ‘Alright’6. Robyn- ‘Dancing On My Own’5. Taylor Swift- ‘All Too Well’4. The White Stripes – ‘Seven Nation Army’3. Beyoncé ft. Jay Z – ‘Crazy In Love’2. Hey Hey Hey – ‘Maps’1. Missy Elliot- Get Your Freak OnIf the rankings were made for the purpose of being shared around, dissected and talked about, then this is a job well done. However, too many great artistes haven’t been given the props they deserve, considering the kind of movement their songs began or stopped.Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd