Fifty years ago, 1968 was a great year for music. This was the year that many classic bands and musicians launched their careers: the Doors, Deep Purple and Canned Heat. Today, most teenagers don’t listen to music from the 60’s and the 70’s, but the songs are recognizable to many. As someone who loves classic rock, I have put together a list of the top 10 songs from 50 years ago that every teen needs to hear.

#10 “Hush” by Deep Purple. This song was a huge stepping stone in the famous rock band Deep Purple’s career. In 1968 it became incredibly famous and made Deep Purple famous in the UK and US. I love this song because of the keyboard solo in the middle of it.

#9 “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles. This song was written by George Harrison. Harrison got the idea for this song by flipping to a random page in a random book and he saw the words “gently weeps,” so he decided to write a song about these words.

#8 “That’s it for the other one” by The Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead was a huge rock group in the late 60s and 70s. This 8-minute song was a starting point for Grateful Dead’s career. This song was written by Bob Weir, and it uses lots of poetry to tell the story. The reason I really like this song is because of the lyrics, the song uses a lot of metaphors like “He came around and busted me for smiling on a cloudy day” this lyric does not literally mean he got busted for smiling on a smiley day. This lyric was part of a story wrote by Bob Weir about getting arrested for being too happy.

#7 “Going Up To The Country” by Canned Heat. This song reached the top of the charts at the very beginning of 1969, but it was released at the end of 1968 and this folk rock song made Canned Heat very famous. They were invited to play the song at Woodstock. I love this song because it has a country music type of vibe to it. It also has a great flute intro before the band kicks in.

#6 “Folsom Prison Blues (Live at Folsom)” by Johnny Cash. The original Folsom Prison Blues came out in 1957 but Johnny Cash played it live at Folsom Prison to the prisoners in 1968 and it immediately became incredibly famous.

#5 “Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones. This song was written about the dark side of humanity and it quickly rose to the top of the charts. I really like this song because I love the lyrics and the meaning behind the lyrics. Most of the lyrics represent something evil and cruel like ” I shouted out, who killed the Kennedy’s? When after all it was you and me.” This lyric is a example of the narrator (The Devil) preaching the dark side of humanity.

#4 “All Along The Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix. This song was originally written by Bob Dylan but Jimi Hendrix covered it and it became a huge hit and Jimi Hendrix most famous recognizable song. I love this song for its crazy guitar solos played by Hendrix.

#3 “Sunshine Of Your Love” by Cream. Cream was formed by guitarist Eric Clapton. This is Cream’s most iconic song. This song quickly rose to the top of the charts in 1968 and is still a anthem of rock music for its recognizable guitar riff played by Clapton.

#2 “Hello, I Love You” by The Doors. The Doors were a huge band of the 60’s, many bands admired their psychedelic sound and they influenced music so much. In 1968 The Doors released the album Waiting For the Sun. This album had the song “Hello, I Love You” in it and the song made this album famous. This song rose to number three on the charts, and it’s one of The Doors most popular songs. I love this song because The Doors are one of my favorite bands.

And finally the number one spot on the list goes to “Hey Jude” by The Beatles. This song was written by Paul McCartney and it was written for John Lennon’s son to comfort him during the divorce of his parents. This song was number one on the charts in 1968 and it will always be remembered as one of the best songs by The Beatles. This is one of my favorite songs ever because of Paul McCartney’s beautiful vocals and piano playing.

I strongly recommend to go check these songs out. Even if you don’t like old music they are still worth listening to because they are such greatly written songs that these artist put a lot of work into.