Top 10 Quickly Written Songs

This hard hitting pop number blasted onto our radio waves and owned the summer of 2013, allowing the young New Zealand artist Lorde to take the music industry by storm. The lyrics were written by the young kiwi in only half an hour, and offer a criticism of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. This chart topper later went on to receive widespread acclaim as well as Grammy awards for Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year.

Being the title track on one of Black Sabbath’s most popular albums might make you think it was written by the devil himself and sent to the band via a bolt of lightning…Although it may have been that easy to write this influential metal classic. This legendary single was actually an afterthought to the rest of the album, and was rushed together in order to be a “filler” song for the album. Call if fate, or sheer dumb luck, but this song rocks!

In the early ‘70s, Mott the Hoople was ready to split due to the lack of success. This 1972 hit came from none other than David Bowie, who penned the track on the spot for the band after hearing of the group’s potential disbanding. Considered by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll, David Bowie would later record a cover of the song only months later. A glam rock classic, Mott the Hoople would go on to have a successful career all thanks to the penmanship of David Bowie.

Slash may have called it practicing, but the rest of the band called it a hit in the making! The opening riff of this 1988 classic started as Slash’s “string skipping” exercise, which the rest of the group saw as an opportunity to write a killer hard rock tune. Within an hour of the band hearing Slash’s signature riff, the band had the rest of the instrumentation down, and by the next afternoon the song had lyrics. The track was obviously refined in studio, however the song was initially ready to go in only an hour, which is extremely impressive by our standards.

Who says divine inspiration is a myth? Keith Richards states the kickass riff to this 1965 rock song came to him in a dream. Waking in the middle of the night he grabbed his bedside guitar and a tape recorder and played what he heard followed by what he described as “forty minutes of snoring.” After showing the riff to Mick Jagger, he laid down the lyrics in only 10 minutes and the rest was rock and roll history.

From the jangly guitar, to the addictive chorus and the laid back attitude, this song gets stuck in our heads from the first notes. Beck, a rising artist, was self conscious about the song, hence the melancholy chorus and monotone vocals. Although Beck had the idea for the song for years, it wasn’t until he sat down in record producer Carl Stephenson’s kitchen that the song came to life in just over six hours. And with the song hitting number 1 on the modern rock tracks chart, who’s the loser now?

A parody of the party lifestyle, Fight for your Right is often misinterpreted and taken too seriously by most listeners. We could care less though, seeing as it’s one hell of a tune. According to the band, they penned the lyrics on napkins in just five minutes along with the help of producer Rick Rubin and friend Tom Cushman. The end product would create a music video so good, it needed a star-studded sequel 15 years later.

Reliving youth and the joys of young love can be as tragic as it is exhilarating, and Seger’s majestic look back at his first romance is one hell of a trip down memory lane. While at a recording session in Toronto, on the last day before he had to leave, Seger composed and recorded “Night Moves”. Seger’s sax player had already headed home, so to finish the song, he quickly brought in some local musicians to enhance the track.

How many stories do you know that start with the words: “While Queen and David Bowie were jamming in Switzerland…”? Funnily enough, that’s just how “Under Pressure” came to be. While the song is credited equally between the four band members and Bowie, Freddie Mercury is known to have composed most of the music, with Bowie taking most of the lyrical credit. Mercury’s scat singing is actually a left over result of the musicians improvising in the song's early imaginings.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

“Born This Way” (2011)
Lady Gaga

“All Falls Down” (2004)
Kanye West feat. Syleena Johnson

“Dammit” (1997)
Blink-182

“Mad World” (1982)
Tears for Fears

“Losing My Religion” (1991)
R.E.M.

Not only does this two-part song mark Ray Charles’ break into mainstream pop, but it’s also just about as groovy as groovy can be, and it was written in just one evening. After racking hit after hit of Rhythm and Blues tracks, Charles composed this track accidentally while improvising to fill the time before a live audience. Not only did the song make it on to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, but it is also credited as being one of the first soul songs ever recorded.