These iconic songs were written in a flash. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for songs that were written or conceived — and that the writers were able to finish at least a good chunk of — in a relatively short amount of time.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for songs that were written
00:08or conceived and that the writers were able to finish, at least a good chunk of, in a
00:13relatively short amount of time.
00:2120.
00:23Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden We've all had the experience of getting
00:27a song stuck in our heads, but most of us probably have never had the experience of
00:32writing a song in our heads.
00:39Then again, most of us aren't Chris Cornell.
00:41Cornell, Soundgarden's frontman at the time, was driving home from the studio when he pretty
00:46much conceived of the whole musical arrangement for the track.
00:54Funnily enough, the genesis of it was based on a TV anchor saying what he misheard as
01:00Black Hole Sun.
01:05Then the track was put down and the lyrics flowed out of him just the next day.
01:09According to Cornell, the grunge tune was penned in about 15 minutes.
01:1819.
01:21She-Wolf – Shakira With its minimal fabric and lack of a full
01:27leg and arm, we could easily believe that the black outfit Shakira wears in the She-Wolf
01:32video was made in about 10 minutes.
01:43We're joking of course, but while we have no information to support that theory, we
01:47do know that the song itself came together in that short amount of time.
01:56Shakira has spoken out about being in a bad mood when Inspiration hit.
02:00Next thing she knew, she was in the corner of the studio writing the words and melody.
02:0810 minutes later, what we'd come to know as She-Wolf was pretty much all there.
02:1718.
02:19Damn It – Blink-182 We know some of the best songs of all time
02:24come from writing about breakups and heartache.
02:30And there's no denying that Damn It by Blink-182 is an epic creation.
02:41But funnily enough, bassist Mark Hoppus actually wasn't dealing with the fresh sadness of
02:46a relationship ending when he wrote it.
02:49Indeed, Hoppus was reportedly simply chilling and noodling on a guitar when he came up with
02:54the music and the lyrics for this fictional breakup song.
03:01Apparently an idea struck, and it struck hard and fast.
03:04We're not exaggerating, it apparently necessitated only 10 minutes of his time.
03:1317.
03:17Put A Ring On It – Beyoncé One fateful day, singer, songwriter, and
03:30record producer Tarius The Dream Nash walked into a recording studio to make a song for
03:35Beyoncé's next album.
03:37When he walked in, he had no idea what he was going to do.
03:41About 17 minutes later, he essentially had single ladies put a ring on it.
03:50Well actually, he wrote something else first, we don't know what it was.
03:54But then in just 17 minutes, he penned one of the most iconic songs of the decade.
04:02Some further work and Queen Bey's delivery would produce the tune that's been dubbed
04:06an anthem for single ladies everywhere.
04:1116.
04:15Born This Way – Lady Gaga Lady Gaga wanted her own This Is Who I Am
04:21record.
04:22She definitely got it with Born This Way.
04:30In fact, the title track of her sophomore album has become an empowering This Is Who
04:34I Am song for a whole lot of people.
04:37It helped everyone from the kids on Glee to Gaga's fans the world over feel seen.
04:48And to think the star wrote it in less than it's probably taking you to watch this video.
04:56As she put it, the creation of the song was like an immaculate conception.
05:01A conception that only took about 10 minutes.
05:03Talk about an epic and speedy birth.
05:1015.
05:11American Woman – The Guess Who Normally at concerts, bands play songs that
05:17they've already written.
05:18However, in 1969, The Guess Who did something a little different, but not on purpose.
05:32During a show in Ontario, the band was taking a break so Randy Bachman could change a broken
05:36string on his guitar.
05:43Well in the course of trying to tune the instrument, Bachman started riffing a tune that caught
05:47everyone's attention.
05:48He just kept playing it while the rest of the band took the stage and joined in.
05:57Needing some lyrics, and having recently had the American government try to draft them,
06:01Burton Cummings improvised American Woman, Stay Away From Me.
06:0914.
06:10Supersonic – Oasis One day, while the rest of the band was taking
06:14a break and enjoying some takeout, Noel Gallagher stayed back to perfect his guitar riff and
06:19write some lyrics.
06:23The story goes that within half an hour, he walked back over to everyone and played
06:27what we know as Supersonic.
06:34From there, Oasis went into the studio to record the hit, and by the end of the day,
06:38they had a completed track.
06:48While their work on that occasion was meant to be a demo, it was never changed.
06:52The version you hear on the album is the same one they recorded, That Fateful Day.
07:0013.
07:02Chandelier – Sia Sia is no stranger to writing songs quickly.
07:10In 2012, she was given the music too, and wrote the lyrics for Rihanna's Diamonds
07:18in just 14 minutes.
07:19But there's more.
07:20When she turns out the lyrics for her 2014 hit, Chandelier, spring onto the page just
07:25about as quickly.
07:31As she told NPR, Chandelier took like 4 minutes to write the chords, then like 12-15 minutes
07:37to write the lyrics, probably 10 or 15 minutes to cut the vocals.
07:53That's not a whole lot of time to create a bonafide hit.
07:56Interestingly, Sia originally penned the tune with either Rihanna or Beyonce in mind, but
08:01As we know, it ended up in her own hands.
08:1012.
08:11Free Fallin' – Tom Petty Like the great Irving Berlin, Tom Petty didn't
08:17need professional training to develop a knack for songwriting.
08:20Take Free Fallin', one of the Heartbreaker's biggest hits.
08:29Petty came up with the song spontaneously while jamming with fellow musician Jeff Lynne.
08:34Though Lynne's initial response seemed playful, he offered notes that quickly tightened up
08:38the chord structure and encouraged Petty to lift the chorus to higher octaves.
08:48The words spilled out as if the track had already been written, and both men immediately
08:52knew it was a hit.
08:56Similarly, Petty would later compose Wildflowers in mere minutes.
09:01That one materialized so easily that he was actually concerned there was something not
09:05right going on.
09:0811.
09:10Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen Freddie Mercury was a great singer, an excellent
09:17songwriter, but just an average guitar player.
09:22Indeed, he didn't know more than a few chords.
09:29However, that and roughly five to ten minutes were all he needed to pen one of Queen's
09:34catchiest tunes.
09:41Mercury actually talked about how his limited proficiency on the instrument helped him write
09:46Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
09:48He said,
09:49In one way, it was quite a good thing because I was restricted.
09:52I couldn't work through too many chords and because of that restriction, I wrote a
10:01good song, I think.
10:03We think so too.
10:0610.
10:08Royals – Lord This hard-hitting pop number blasted onto
10:17our radio waves and owned the summer of 2013, allowing the young New Zealand artist Lord
10:23to take the music industry by storm.
10:31The lyrics were written by the young star in only half an hour, and offer a criticism
10:36of the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
10:45This chart-topper later went on to receive widespread acclaim, as well as Grammy Awards
10:49for Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year.
10:579.
11:01Paranoid – Black Sabbath Being the title track of one of Black Sabbath's
11:12most popular albums might make you think it was written by the devil himself and sent
11:17to the band via a bolt of lightning.
11:25Although it may have been that easy to write this influential metal classic, this legendary
11:29single was actually an afterthought for the rest of the album, and was rushed together
11:34in order to be a filler song for it.
11:42Call it fate or sheer dumb luck, but one thing is for sure, this song rocks.
11:508.
11:54All The Young Dudes – Mott The Hoople
11:57In the early 70s, Mott The Hoople was ready to split due to the lack of success.
12:09This 1972 hit came from none other than David Bowie, who penned the track on the spot for
12:14the band after hearing of the group's potential disbanding.
12:22The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame considers it one of the songs that shaped, well, rock
12:26and roll.
12:33David Bowie would later record a cover of the song only months later.
12:36In other words, it's a glam rock classic, and Mott The Hoople would go on to have a
12:41successful career, all thanks to Bowie's penmanship.
12:497.
12:52Sweet Child O' Mine – Guns N' Roses
12:56Slash may have called it practicing, but the rest of the band called it a hit in the making.
13:04The opening riff of this 1988 classic started as Slash's string-skipping exercise, which
13:10The rest of the group saw an opportunity to write a killer hard rock tune.
13:20Within an hour of the band hearing Slash's signature riff, they had the rest of the instrumentation
13:25down and by the next afternoon, the song had lyrics.
13:32The track was obviously refined in the studio, however it was initially ready to go in only
13:38an hour.
13:39Which is extremely impressive by our standards.
13:436.
13:45I Can't Get No Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
13:50Who says divine inspiration is a myth?
13:52Certainly not us after hearing the story behind this tune.
13:59Indeed, Keith Richards states the epic riff of this 1965 rock song came to him in a dream.
14:08Waking up in the middle of the night, he grabbed
14:18his bedside guitar and a tape recorder and played what he heard, followed by what he
14:23described as 40 minutes of snoring.
14:26After showing the riff to Mick Jagger, he laid down the lyrics in only 10 minutes.
14:35The rest, as they say, was rock and roll history.
14:395.
14:41Loser – Beck From the jangly guitar to the addictive chorus
14:46and the laid back attitude, this one gets stuck in our heads from the first notes.
14:54Beck, a rising artist, was self-conscious about the song, hence the melancholy chorus
15:02and monotone vocals.
15:09Although Beck had the idea for the tune for years, it wasn't until he sat down in record
15:14producer Carl Stevenson's kitchen that it came to life, in just over 6 hours no less.
15:25And with the result hitting number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, who's the loser
15:29now?
15:324.
15:34You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party – The Beastie Boys
15:39A parody of the party lifestyle, Fight For Your Right is often misinterpreted and taken
15:44too seriously by most listeners.
15:51We couldn't care less, seeing it as one hell of a tune.
15:57According to the band, they penned the lyrics on napkins in just 5 minutes along with the
16:02help of producer Rick Rubin and friend Tom Cushman.
16:11The end product would create a music video so good, it needed a star-studded sequel 15
16:17years later.
16:183.
16:19Night Moves – Bob Seger Reliving youth and the joys of young love
16:31can be as tragic as it is exhilarating, and Seger's majestic look back at his first
16:37romance is one hell of a trip down memory lane.
16:43While at a recording session in Toronto, on the last day before he had to leave, Seger
16:48composed and recorded Night Moves.
16:53Seger's sax player had already headed home, so to finish the song, he quickly brought
16:58in some local musicians to enhance the track.
17:01To say they hit the nail on the head would be a massive understatement.
17:062.
17:09Under Pressure – Queen and David Bowie How many stories do you know that start with
17:21the words, well, Queen and David Bowie were jamming in Switzerland?
17:25Funnily enough, that's just how Under Pressure came to be.
17:30Yes, you heard us right.
17:35While the song is credited equally between the four band members and Bowie, Freddie Mercury
17:40is known to have composed most of the music, with Bowie taking most of the lyrical credit.
17:47Interestingly, Mercury's scat singing is actually a leftover result of the musicians
17:57improvising in the song's early imaginings.
18:231.
18:25What I Say – Ray Charles Not only does this two-part song mark Ray
18:30Charles' break into mainstream pop, but it's also just about as groovy as groovy
18:35can be.
18:36And it was written in just one evening.
18:44After racking hit after hit of rhythm and blues tracks, Charles composed this track
18:49accidentally while improvising to fill the time before a live audience.
19:00The result speaks for itself.
19:03For one thing, What I Say made it onto Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
19:14As if that wasn't enough, it's also credited as being one of the first soul tunes ever
19:19recorded.
19:24Which of these quickly written tunes is your favorite?
19:27Let us know in the comments!