13 Songs That Changed the World: A History of Rock and Roll

This essay discusses 13 iconic songs that have influenced music for generations and explores the history of rock and roll. Each song is analyzed for its unique value and influence on sub-genres of music. The essay also highlights three songs that deserve special mention for their impact on rock music. References are provided for further reading.

Running head: HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
History Of Rock and Roll
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
Introduction:
The purpose of this essay is to discuss few very famous songs made between the 70’s
to early 90’s and have influenced music for countless generations. These songs have been
etched in the history of rock music, each imparting a unique value and influencing several
sub-genre of music. Discussed below are 13 such songs that deserves to be put on my track
list as the “Songs that changed the world”.
Song #: Ace of Spades
Artist Name: Motorhead
Reason for picking the song: This track introduces the listeners to the fast-paced style of
rock and roll that has been perfected by Motorhead. The heavy bass line, fast drumming and
swift guitar solos makes it one of the most iconic tracks of its time, influencing countless
bands. This track is considered as the early prototype of thrash metal.
Genre: Hard Rock, Early Thrash metal
Song #: Winds of change
Artist Name: Scorpions
Reason for picking the song: Scorpions have always been regarded as a classic Glam band.
The song is based on breaking the wall of Berlin, which brought the people of East and West
Germany, and marking the end of the cold war. The song instills hope, and that the ‘winds of
change’ can swoop over any force.

2HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
Genre: Glam
Song #: Black Magic Woman
Artist Name: Carlos Santana
Reason for picking the song: This song introduces the Latin funk style combined with
elements of rock and roll, which was the unique aspect of Carlos Santana’s music. His guitar
genius, combined with the unique percussion style of Latino music, makes Black Magic
Woman a legendary song of its period (Marcus).
Genre: Funk, Latin
Song #: Beasley Street
Artist Name: John Cooper Clarke
Reason for picking the song: John Cooper Clark is a brilliant songwriter, his unique way
using language to express his thoughts gave him the title of ‘bard’, as he was foremost a poet.
Beasley Street is a narrative on our postmodern society, portraying it in all its grittiness and
absurdities. This undervalued masterpiece deserves an honorary mention (Friedlander).
Genre: Singer Songwriter
Song #: Sweet Home Alabama
Artist Name: Lynyard Skynyard

3HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
Reason for picking the song: This classic rock masterpiece takes the elements of country
music (that romanticizes the beauty of the countryside) with rock music. Lynyard Skynyard
infused such elements to perfection, and sweet home Alabama is a perfect example of such a
unison (Moore).
Genre: Country Rock
Song #: Rock the Casbah
Artist Name: The Clash
Reason for picking the song: Clash is one of the pioneer punk bands from the UK, and their
style and subject has always been influenced by the contemporary society and events. The
song Rock the Casbah was response to the ban of Western Music in Iran. It represents how
rock and roll was associated with freedom of thought and a ban on such music is a
deliberation against this freedom (Gruen).
Genre: Punk
Song #: Burnt Offerings
Artist Name: Christian Death
Reason for picking the song: Christian Death is a pioneer Goth rock band, with the vocalist
Rozz Williams being legendary in his music circuit, having influenced several other Goth
Bands such as Bauhaus, Sisters of mercy and London after Midnight. Burnt offerings
effectively captures the gothic feelings through its down toned guitars, dystopian tunes and
haunting voice (Rogers).

4HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
Genre: Goth Rock
Song #: Cars
Artist Name: Gary Numan
Reason for picking the song: This track is a classic new wave/ Synth Rock, relying heavily
on the work of synth, using sound effects to mimic the concept of the sound and an eerie style
of vocals. This combination makes this track a unique combination of new wave and Synth
Rock, and have influenced other genres such as Industrial Rock (Baddeley).
Genre: New Wave/Synth Rock
Song #: I love rock n roll
Artist Name: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Reason for picking the song: This is a famous song by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts that
talks about the love for rock and roll as the name suggest. The song uses punk elements that
were a huge influence on Joan Jett and fuses it with hard rock, making it much heavier in
sound. The track continues to be a fan favorite and a major influence for several Post Punk
bands (Sondheimer).
Genre: Post Punk
Song #: Fortunate Son
Artist Name: Credence and Clearwater revival

5HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
Reason for picking the song: This song talks about the effects of war. The band has strong
blues influence, and amazing vocal dexterity. The high-pitched voice of makes Credence and
Clearwater a unique band and the song has been considered as one of the greatest hit single
released by the band (Mazullo).
Genre: Blues Rock
Song #: Pigs (three different ones)
Artist Name: Pink Floyd
Reason for picking the song: Pink Floyd is probably one of the greatest band in early rock
and roll, and they have experimented on a variety of musical styles, but most famously
known for its psychedelic elements. Pigs (three different ones) is about the greed of the
politicians, and has a significant resemblance to the Orwellian classic “The Animal farm”.
The unique lyrical content makes this track a memorable one (Unwin).
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Song #: Ziggy Stardust
Artist Name: David Bowie
Reason for picking the song: David Bowie was famously known to invent and reinvent his on
stage persona, which was a per of his music act. Ziggy Stardust is a persona of an alien and a
rockstar who is living among us, observing our society. His persona had an androgynous
look, and blurred the difference between how a male and female presented themselves on

6HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
stage. This have later been picked up my later Glam Bands. Such influence makes Ziggy
Stardust an important song in music history (Hajdu).
Genre: Pop rock
Song #: Paint it black
Artist Name: Rolling Stones
Reason for picking the song: Rolling stones was probably one of the most famous rock
bands, who influenced innumerable number of musicians across the world. The song also
talks about war, and how it changes our mind and perceptions in a beautiful manner. This is
one of the most legendary rock songs ever to be produced (Nehring).
Genre: Hard Rock
Out of these 13 songs, three songs that I believe deserves special mentions due to the
extent of its impact on Rock music includes Burnt Offerings by Christian Death, Ace of
Spades by Motorhead and Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie. These three songs not only reflect
the musical style of its age, but also projects how the music changed over the years,
influencing entire genre of fast paced, down toned, heavy guitar riffs and quick drumming.
Burnt Offerings represents the dark lyrical themes that can be seen in case of genre such as
Black Metal and Death Metal. Ziggy Stardust on the other hand represented the early form of
Glam band, and the Glam persona, while Ace of Spades showed the early forms of thrash
metal.

7HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL
References:
Baddeley, Gavin. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship & Rock'n'Roll. Plexus Publishing,
2015.
Friedlander, Paul. Rock and roll: A social history. Routledge, 2018.
Gruen, Bob. The Clash: Photographs by Bob Gruen. Omnibus Press, 2015.
Hajdu, David. "DAVID BOWIE A Life." (2017): 44-44.
Marcus, Greil. Mystery train: images of America in rock'n'roll music. Penguin, 2015.
Mazullo, Mark. "Fans and Critics: Greil Marcus's Mystery Train as Rock'n'Roll History."
Rock Music. Routledge, 2017. 11-35.
Moore, Allan F. Rock: The Primary Text-Developing a Musicology of Rock: The Primary
Text-Developing a Musicology of Rock. Routledge, 2017.
Nehring, Neil. "Introduction: The Rolling Stones." (2015): 221-225.
Rogers, Dave. Rock'n'roll. Routledge, 2016.
Sondheimer, Adrian. "Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’Roll." Journal of the American Academy of
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 54.4 (2015): 328.
Unwin, Peter. "Roger Waters and Pink Floyd: The Concept Albums." Canadian Journal of
Communication 42.3 (2017).

8HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL