Nirvana tops all-time best song list

IT was the disaffected anthem for a generation of angry youth, now Nirvana's classic song Smells Like Teen Spirit has been voted the greatest song of all time.

The Hottest 100 of All Time, put together by youth radio station Triple J, attracted over 500,000 votes for nearly 13,000 songs, but in the end it was grunge-rock pioneers Nirvana who claimed the No.1 spot, proving that the band that changed the face of music in the 90's has lost none of their importance or influence.

"After all these years that scream hasn't diminished one bit," said Triple J music director Richard Kingsmill.

The Top 10 followed along similar lines, with Rage Against the Machines' Killing in the Name of (No.2), Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah (No.3) and Last Goodbye (No.7), Radiohead's Paranoid Android (No.5) and the Foo Fighters' Everlong (No.9) all coming from the decade inhabited by Generation X.

Like the Top 10, the rest of the list was heavily dominated by Rock and Alternative songs, with over 80 of the tracks fitting into the 'Rock' or 'Alternative' genres.

Brit alt-rock band Radiohead landed four songs in the Top 100, with Paranoid Android (No.5), Creep, Karma Police (No.13), (No.15), and Fake Plastic Trees (No.28), as did American songwriter Jeff Buckley, who is still mourned to this day after drowning tragically in 1994, with Hallelujah (No.3), Last Goodbye (No.3), Lover, You Should Have Come Over (No.56) and Grace (No.69).

The Top 10

    * 1.   Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
    * 2.   Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name
    * 3.   Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
    * 4.   Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
    * 5.   Radiohead - Paranoid Android
    * 6.   Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
    * 7.   Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
    * 8.   Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
    * 9.   Foo Fighters - Everlong
    * 10. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven


See the full list of Triple J's Hottest 100 Of All Time 2009 here


Watch our video playlist of some of Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time

Listen to our audio playlist of Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time


Who's missing from the list? Should your favourite song have been higher? Tell us below.