10 Standout Rock Songs With The Word "Soul" In The Title

Feature Photo: Glynnis Jones : Shutterstock.com

This list is not about simply collecting the ten most famous songs with the word “soul” in the title. We wanted to dig a little deeper and include records that deserve more attention, from Maria McKee and Southside Johnny to Wilson Pickett, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Buffalo Springfield. Some of these songs are well known to devoted fans but rarely turn up on the usual classic-rock lists. Others come from albums or B-sides that casual listeners may have missed completely. The common thread is the word “soul,” but the music stretches from rock and blues to R&B, funk, Latin rock, and singer-songwriter territory. That variety is exactly why this list was worth putting together.

# 10 – The Soul Cages – Sting

Sting released “The Soul Cages” as the title track of his 1991 album, a record shaped by the death of his father and memories of growing up near the shipyards in Wallsend. Sting wrote the song during a period when grief had left him unable to work for a time. The album eventually became his way back into writing, with the sea, ships, his hometown, and his father appearing throughout the material. “The Soul Cages” turns those ideas into something darker and more forceful than the album’s quieter moments. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. It remains one of Sting’s most personal recordings without ever sounding like a simple diary entry.

Read More: Top 10 Sting Songs

# 9 – Sullen Soul – Maria McKee

“Sullen Soul” appears on Maria McKee’s 2005 album Peddlin’ Dreams. The song was written by Jim Akin, McKee’s longtime collaborator and producer, and the album was recorded with a deliberately open, home-studio feel. McKee’s vocal carries most of the emotional weight while the arrangement stays rough enough to keep the song from sounding polished for its own sake. Akin’s guitars, bass, and steel guitar help give the track its lonely Americana atmosphere. McKee has always been at her best when she can move from restraint to a full-throated vocal without warning, and “Sullen Soul” gives her room to do exactly that. It is one of the strongest deep cuts on an album that deserved a much wider audience.

# 8 – Easy On My Soul – Free / Bad Company

Paul Rodgers wrote “Easy on My Soul” and first recorded it with Free for the band’s final studio album, Heartbreaker, in 1973. The song has the loose, soulful feel that made Free sound so different from many of the heavier British bands around them. Rodgers carried the song into Bad Company, whose version was released as the B-side of “Movin’ On” and later returned on expanded editions of the band’s debut album. Hearing both versions makes the connection between Free and Bad Company especially clear. The song never became a major radio staple, which is surprising considering how naturally it fits Rodgers’ voice. For us, “Easy on My Soul” is exactly the kind of overlooked song this list was designed to celebrate.

Read More: Top 10 Free Songs

# 7 – Soul Brother – Queen

Queen released “Soul Brother” in 1981 as the B-side of “Under Pressure.” The song is credited to all four members of Queen and was produced by the band with Mack. Freddie Mercury sings in a playful falsetto while the lyric drops references to other Queen songs and turns the whole performance into an inside joke among the band. Brian May later remembered Mercury telling him that he had written the song about him and had done it very quickly. “Soul Brother” later resurfaced on Queen compilations and deluxe reissues, including the expanded Hot Space. It is a strange little B-side, but that is exactly why longtime Queen fans love it.

# 6 – Soul’s On Fire – Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes

“Soul’s on Fire” appears on Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ 1991 comeback album Better Days. Southside Johnny Lyon and Steven Van Zandt wrote the song together, and Van Zandt produced the album. The reunion mattered because Van Zandt had played such a major role in shaping the Jukes’ earliest records before the two went separate ways. The track begins with its own instrumental introduction and then opens into a long, bruising soul-rock performance. Southside Johnny sings it with the roughness and desperation that always separated him from smoother R&B singers. Better Days brought the old Asbury Park chemistry back, and “Soul’s on Fire” is one of the best reasons to hear the whole record.

Read More: Top 10 Southside Johnny Songs

# 5 – Club Soul City – Gary U.S. Bonds

GARY U.S. BONDS ON THE LINE vinyl record

Gary U.S. Bonds recorded “Club Soul City” for his 1982 album On the Line. Bruce Springsteen wrote the song and co-produced the album with Steven Van Zandt during the period when Bonds was working closely with members of the E Street Band. Danny Federici, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, and other familiar players helped give the record the combination of rock and old-school R&B that suited Bonds perfectly. “Club Soul City” is built like an invitation to a place where the music never has to stop. Springsteen’s writing is easy to recognize, but Bonds never sounds like he is borrowing somebody else’s identity. The song remains one of the best cuts from the remarkable early-1980s comeback Bonds made with the Jersey Shore crowd behind him.

# 4 – Soul Dance Number Three – Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett opened his 1967 album The Sound of Wilson Pickett with “Soul Dance Number Three.” Pickett wrote the song with Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, and the recording came out of the Southern soul world that was driving some of Pickett’s greatest work. Steve Cropper’s guitar, Duck Dunn’s bass, Al Jackson’s drums, and the horn section give the track a hard, economical groove. Pickett does not waste much time explaining the dance because his voice and the band already tell you what to do. The single reached the R&B Top 10 even though it is rarely mentioned alongside “Mustang Sally” or “In the Midnight Hour.” That makes it a perfect example of how deep Pickett’s catalog really is.

Read More: Top 10 Wilson Pickett Songs

# 3 – Monkey In Your Soul – Steely Dan

“Monkey in Your Soul” closes Steely Dan’s 1974 album Pretzel Logic. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker wrote the song, with Gary Katz producing and Roger Nichols engineering. Fagen handles the lead vocal and keyboards, Becker plays bass, Jim Gordon is on drums, and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter adds guitar. The track is short, funky, and just abrasive enough to make a strange ending for an album that had already moved Steely Dan well beyond ordinary rock arrangements. The lyric has the usual Becker-Fagen edge, with enough ambiguity to keep anybody from reducing it to one simple meaning. Because it follows “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Pretzel Logic,” and several other better-known songs, “Monkey in Your Soul” remains one of the album’s easiest tracks to overlook.

# 2 – Soul Sacrifice – Santana

“Soul Sacrifice” closed Santana’s self-titled 1969 debut album and became legendary almost immediately because of the band’s performance at Woodstock. Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, David Brown, and Marcus Malone share the composition credit. The studio recording puts Santana’s guitar against Rolie’s organ and the percussion of José “Chepito” Areas and Michael Carabello, with Michael Shrieve on drums and Brown on bass. At Woodstock, the band was still largely unknown to the national audience, but “Soul Sacrifice” gave them one of the festival’s defining performances. Shrieve’s drum solo and Santana’s guitar turned the instrumental into the kind of performance people remembered after the film appeared. Few bands have ever announced themselves to the wider world as dramatically as Santana did with this song.

Read More: Top 10 Santana Songs

# 1 – Mr. Soul – Buffalo Springfield

Neil Young wrote “Mr. Soul” during Buffalo Springfield’s brief but turbulent run and recorded it with the band in 1967. The song was released as the B-side of “Bluebird” and later opened the album Buffalo Springfield Again. Brian Stone and Charles Greene produced the original recording, with Young on lead vocal and guitar. The lyrics look at fame from the viewpoint of someone who has already discovered that attention can be both flattering and deeply uncomfortable. The guitar riff gives the song a harder edge than much of Buffalo Springfield’s folk-rock material. “Mr. Soul” earns the top spot because it sounds like Neil Young already becoming the writer he would be for the next half-century.

Read More: Top 10 Buffalo Springfield Songs