Unexpected musical partnerships that rocked the charts
It might surprise you to learn that some of pop music's most recognized and elaborate hits were written in a matter of hours, and in some cases just a few minutes! Yes, there are songwriters out there who can turn round a tune on a dime, often by design but sometimes from a dream. And there are examples of memorable songs born simply out of a riff or an off-the-cuff jam session. Whatever way you cut it, there are numerous examples of music made by the minute.
Intrigued? Click through and note these hit songs written in a matter of hours.
Ten minutes is all it took Lade Gaga to write her international superhit 'Just Dance.' She had a little help from Akon and his producer RedOne, but essentially the song's structure was completed in 600 seconds.
Ed Sheeran wrote 'Photograph' in just 10 minutes. He penned the track with Johnny McDaid from Snow Patrol after playing guitar over a loop that was being repeated on McDaid's laptop.
During an 2012 interview with Digital Spy, Taylor Swift revealed that she wrote 'We Are Never Getting Back Together' with Shellback and Max Martin in just 25 minutes.
The lyrics to the first verse of Rihanna's 2007 hit 'Umbrella' were completed in just in 60 seconds—co-written by Jay-Z, Tricky Stewart, Kuk Harrell, and The-Dream (Terius Youngdell Nash). In a matter of hours a demo of the track had been recorded.
By coincidence, David Bowie and Queen were recording in the same studio in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1981. The track came around by chance, with Freddie Mercury recalling that "it happened very spontaneously and very quickly indeed." John Deacon's iconic bass line was created early on in the session, with Brian May laying a guitar riff on top. Within 24 hours 'Under Pressure' was completed.
'Sweet Child O' Mine' was the third single off GNR's debut album, 'Appetite for Destruction.' The lyrics came from a poem Axl Rose was working on, which eventually became a song about his girlfriend. Guitarist Slash's memorable opening riff was figured out within the hour, although it took him all afternoon to time it out.
Incredibly, it took Adele just 10 minutes to put down the vocals and record the theme song to the James Bond movie 'Skyfall' (2012), which subsequently won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Written in 1969 by Elton John's long-term collaborator Bernie Taupin, 'Your Song' was conceived while the songwriter was having breakfast. John wrote the music in 20 minutes.
In an often-told story, the origin of 'Yesterday' came to Paul McCartney in a dream. He woke up the next morning, sat at the piano and found the chords to it. It is one of the most covered songs in popular music history.
One of Ray Charles' signature songs, 'What'd I Say' was composed in under 15 minutes while he was improvising with his orchestra and backup singers at a live show in Pittsburg in 1958. The audience reacted with such enthusiasm that Charles decided to record it.
The story goes that Keith Richards woke up in bed with the melody to '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' in his head. Using his acoustic guitar he recorded it onto a cassette, and then promptly fell back asleep.
After being sent a pop-tinged instrumental track by record producer Kane Beatz, Nicki Minaj called up songwriter and frequent collaborator Ester Dean and asked her to meet her in a Los Angeles studio. 'Super Bass' was recorded that night.
The song '40' appears on U2's 1983 album 'War' and according to Bono was inspired by an abandoned Adam Clayton bass line and Psalm 40, on which he based his lyrics. He elaborated: "We wrote this song in about 10 minutes, we recorded it in about 10 minutes, we mixed it in about 10 minutes and we played it, then, for another 10 minutes and that's nothing to do with why it's called '40'."
David Bowie's seminal composition 'Life on Mars?' came together after he began humming the melody during a walk in a park. Later at home he sat at the piano, and by the end of the afternoon he had completed one of the greatest rock ballads ever composed.
In August 1970, the Gibb brothers reconvened as a trio after a temporary split and promptly came up with 'Lonely Days,' written in 10 minutes and in the same afternoon as 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?' was penned. Besides writing their own material, the Bee Gees have created numerous hits for other artists.
Hip-hop outfit the Beastie Boys took just five minutes to come up with their anthem to unbridled reveling, created in the first instance as a goof on dumb rock songs and aimed towards frat boys and their wild partying.
According to guitarist Jimmy Page, 'Rock and Roll' developed from a spontaneous jam session while the band were trying to finish recording the track 'Four Sticks.' In less than half an hour, the basis of the song was completed. It appears on the 1971 album 'Led Zeppelin IV.'
According to a 2013 interview Kanye West gave to The New York Times, 'All Falls Down' was done and dusted within 15 minutes. The track features singer Syleena Johnson.
"'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' took me five or 10 minutes," Freddie Mercury revealed to Melody Maker in 1981. The previous year the song had become the band's first no. 1 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
One of the fastest pop songs ever to come to market was John Lennon's 'Instant Karma.' Written and recorded over the course of a single Tuesday, on January 27, 1970, the single was released 13 days later. The song reached the top five in the British and American singles charts, where it became the first solo single by a member of the Beatles to sell a million copies.
'Losing My Religion' took shape within five minutes of guitarist Peter Buck coming up with the now familiar riff he was experimenting with on the mandolin, which he was still learning to play.
As with several songs on this list, 'Seven Nation Army' began life as a simple guitar riff, in this case during a sound check by Jack White as the band was preparing for a gig in Melbourne, Australia. The music developed into the track that later became known as 'Seven Nation Army,' which was recorded for the band's 2003 album 'Elephant.'
Keyboardist Andrew Ferris came up with the riff for 'Need You Tonight' while heading to the airport from Melbourne to meet front man Michael Hutchence in Hong Kong. Inspired, he asked the cab driver to wait while he went back up to his hotel room to record the riff. An hour later he had created the foundations for 'Need You Tonight' —the only INXS single to reach no. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
'The Cave' saw light in Bannerman's Bar, a popular Edinburgh pub, crafted within minutes during a sound check by the band as they prepared for a gig in said pub. The song would go on to win four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
According to SiriusXM, ELO's Jeff Lynn claimed he nailed down the basic verse and chorus structure to 1975's 'Evil Woman' in six minutes—the quickest song he'd ever written.
'Supersonic,' released in April 1994 as their debut single, catapulted English rock band Oasis into the British music stratosphere. The song was penned by Noel Gallagher, a task that took him just 10 minutes.
The title track and first single from Billy Joel's 1993 album 'River of Dreams' is another song that first appeared in a dream. Joel woke up with it, but according to a conversation with Howard Stern in 2010: "I thought, who the hell am I to try to pull off this gospel song, so I took a shower to wash this song away. I sang it in the shower and knew I had to do it."
English heavy metal band Black Sabbath recorded their second studio album in a matter of days. 'Paranoid,' the titular track, was in fact included as an afterthought, written as a three-minute filler—and in a drunken haze by all accounts—for the album. It was cut in 20 minutes and became the band's biggest single.
The debut single by The Knack, 'My Sharona' was written by bandmembers Berton Averre and Doug Fieger in just 15 minutes, though music insiders insist it took another quarter hour to mix. In 30 minutes the band had a no. 1 US Billboard Hot 100 single in the bag.
In 2013, New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde revealed to Billboard that her debut single 'Royals' took just 30 minutes to write.
Sources: (Vanity Fair) (Daily Mail) (The New York Times) (History) (Metal Injection) (Billboard)
See also: The highest-earning songs of all time
Hit songs written in a matter of hours
Music made by the minute
MUSIC Entertainment
It might surprise you to learn that some of pop music's most recognized and elaborate hits were written in a matter of hours, and in some cases just a few minutes! Yes, there are songwriters out there who can turn round a tune on a dime, often by design but sometimes from a dream. And there are examples of memorable songs born simply out of a riff or an off-the-cuff jam session. Whatever way you cut it, there are numerous examples of music made by the minute.
Intrigued? Click through and note these hit songs written in a matter of hours.