10 Best Rock Songs With The Word 'Always' In The Title

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The word “always” can mean devotion, habit, regret, or something a person simply cannot shake. Rock songs have used it for promises, broken relationships, stubborn memories, and even the frustration of not getting what you want. The ten songs on this list come from very different corners of rock and roll, but each one puts that single word to good use. Some are love songs, some are warnings, and a few are harder to pin down.

# 10 – Always with Me, Always with You – Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani released “Always with Me, Always with You” on his 1987 album Surfing with the Alien. Satriani wrote and arranged the instrumental and produced it with John Cuniberti. Instead of using lyrics, Satriani lets the melody carry the feeling, playing one of the warmest and most recognizable guitar themes of his career. The song gives the album a calmer moment between the harder-edged tracks around it. It became one of Satriani’s signature pieces and remains a good example of how expressive an instrumental rock song can be without saying a word.

Read More: Top 10 Joe Satriani Songs

# 9 – Always On Your Side – Sheryl Crow featuring Sting

Sheryl Crow first recorded “Always on Your Side” for her 2005 album Wildflower, then revisited it as a duet with Sting in 2006. Crow wrote the song and co-produced it with John Shanks. The duet works because the two voices don’t compete; Sting simply steps into the conversation and offers another point of view. The lyric looks back at a relationship with affection, confusion, and the feeling that some questions never really get answered. The single reached the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Crow and Sting a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. It is a quiet record, but the restraint is what makes it work.

Read More: Top 10 Sheryl Crow Songs

# 8 – Always on the Run – Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz released “Always on the Run” in 1991 as the first single from his second album, Mama Said. Kravitz co-wrote the song with Slash, whose guitar riff gives the record much of its bite. The two had known each other since their school days, and their chemistry is easy to hear once Slash enters the track. Kravitz mixes hard rock, funk, and soul without making the record feel overworked. The rhythm section stays locked into the groove while the guitars do the shouting. More than three decades later, it still sounds like two musicians having a very good time making a loud rock record.

Read More: Top 10 Lenny Kravitz Songs

# 7 – The Heart Always Knows – Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - Soultime

“The Heart Always Knows” appeared on Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes’ 2015 album Soultime!. The record leans hard into the soul and R&B traditions that have always been part of the Jukes’ sound. Southside Johnny sings this one like a man who has lived through enough relationships to know that the heart rarely listens to good advice. The horns and backing vocals give the song an old-school feel without turning it into a museum piece. There is nothing flashy about it; the appeal comes from the groove, the band, and that worn-in lead vocal. It is exactly the kind of song Southside Johnny has always known how to sell.

Read More: Top 10 Southside Johnny Songs

# 6 – Always Be Together – Pablo Cruise

“Always Be Together” comes from Pablo Cruise’s 1978 album Worlds Away. David Jenkins and Cory Lerios wrote the song, and Bill Schnee produced the album. The lyric is about a couple that has already been through hard times and somehow managed to stay together, which gives the song more substance than a simple promise of forever. Pablo Cruise wraps that idea in the smooth California rock sound that made Worlds Away the band’s biggest album. The track was not one of the album’s major singles, but it fits comfortably beside better-known songs such as “Love Will Find a Way.” It is polished soft rock, but there is a real relationship underneath the polish.

Read More: Top 10 Pablo Cruise Songs

# 5 – That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be – Carly Simon

Carly Simon’s “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” was released in 1971 as the lead single from her self-titled debut album. Simon wrote the music and Jacob Brackman wrote the lyrics, with Eddie Kramer producing the recording. The song looks at marriage with far more doubt than the typical romantic hit, as Simon weighs what she has been told a relationship should be against what she sees around her. That tension gives the record a dark edge even when the melody is beautiful. The single reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Simon a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also helped introduce a songwriter who was never afraid to make a love song complicated.

Read More: Top 10 Carly Simon Songs

# 4 – Always On My Mind – Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley recorded “Always on My Mind” at RCA Studio C in Hollywood on March 29, 1972, only weeks after his separation from Priscilla Presley. Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James wrote the song, and Elvis gives it the kind of performance that makes every apology sound personal. RCA issued the recording in 1972 with “Separate Ways,” using “Always on My Mind” as the B-side in the United States while the sides were reversed in the United Kingdom. James Burton, Emory Gordy, Ronnie Tutt, Glen D. Hardin, and J.D. Sumner & The Stamps were among the musicians and singers on the session. The arrangement stays out of Elvis’s way and lets the regret in his voice carry the record. It became one of the defining ballads of the final years of his career.

Read More: Top 10 Elvis Presley Love Songs

# 3 – She’s Always A Woman – Billy Joel

Billy Joel recorded “She’s Always a Woman” for his 1977 album The Stranger, with Phil Ramone producing the sessions at A&R Recording in New York City. Joel wrote the song about Elizabeth Weber, who was his wife and manager at the time. The lyric lists plenty of difficult qualities but keeps returning to the same conclusion: he loves her as she is. Joel’s piano and the acoustic arrangement keep the song intimate even when the words get sharp. Released as a single in 1978, it reached number seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains one of the strongest examples of Joel writing a love song without pretending the person he loves is perfect.

Read More: Top 10 Billy Joel Songs

# 2 – Always – Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi released “Always” in 1994 as the lead single from the greatest-hits album Cross Road. Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song, and Peter Collins produced the recording. It was originally intended for the film Romeo Is Bleeding, but Jon Bon Jovi held it back after seeing the movie and later returned to the song. The decision paid off: “Always” reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the band’s final top-ten single on that chart. It was also the last Bon Jovi single to feature bassist Alec John Such before his departure from the band. Big vocals, big guitars, and a giant chorus made it exactly the kind of power ballad Bon Jovi could deliver better than almost anyone in the 1990s.

# 1 – You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones released “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” in 1969 as the B-side of “Honky Tonk Women” and later included it on Let It Bleed. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote the song, and Jimmy Miller produced the recording. The London Bach Choir opens the track before the Stones gradually turn it into a mixture of rock, gospel, and something close to a communal singalong. The title sounds pessimistic until Jagger gets to the other half of the thought: sometimes you get what you need. The song did not chart on its original release, but when London Records re-serviced the single in 1973 it reached number forty-two on the Billboard Hot 100. Few Rolling Stones songs have produced a line that has traveled this far beyond the record itself.