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100 Greatest Popular Songs Of The 1940s

Criteria: These songs from the 1940s were chosen and ranked according to their initial and lasting popularity and also on their impact and influence on the course of musical history. At that time most songs were recorded by many different artists, so we have listed more than one version of each song on the majority of the entries. The most significant version of the song is the one by the first artist that is listed.

Last Updated: 2009-12-21
Popular Songs Of The 1940s
  1. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
  2. The Christmas Song - Nat "King" Cole
  3. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday
  4. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington
  5. Star Dust - Artie Shaw 
  6. Swinging On A Star - Bing Crosby
  7. You Always Hurt The One You Love - Mills Brothers
  8. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrews Sisters
  9. Chattanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller (Tex Beneke & the Modernaires)
10. Paper Doll - Mills Brothers
11. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
12. Sentimental Journey - Les Brown (Doris Day) 
13. I'll Be Seeing You - Bing Crosby / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
14. I'll Never Smile Again - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra) 
15. Riders In The Sky (A Cowboy Legend) - Vaughn Monroe / Peggy Lee
16. Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo
17. That's My Desire - Frankie Laine / Sammy Kaye 
18. Don't Fence Me In - Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters / Roy Rogers / Gene Autry
19. Jingle, Jangle, Jingle - Kay Kyser / Gene Autry
20. Tuxedo Junction - Glenn Miller
21. Nature Boy - Nat "King" Cole / Frank Sinatra / Sarah Vaughan
22. Brazil - Xavier Cugat / Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
23. Green Eyes - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
24. Frenesi - Artie Shaw
25. Till The End Of Time - Perry Como / Les Brown / Dick Haymes
26. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be) - Billie Holiday / Sarah Vaughan
27. Moonlight Cocktail - Glenn Miller
28. Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
29. This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
30. You Are My Sunshine - Jimmie Davis
31. That Lucky Old Sun - Frankie Laine / Vaughn Monroe
32. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons - Nat "King" Cole / Eddy Howard / Dinah Shore
33. (I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo - Glenn Miller (Marion Hutton & the Modernaires)
34. Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree - Glenn Miller / Andrews Sisters
35. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Johnny Mercer / Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
36. Maria Elena - Jimmy Dorsey / Wayne King
37. A String Of Pearls - Glenn Miller
38. The Gypsy - Ink Spots / Dinah Shore / Sammy Kaye (Mary Marlow)
39. Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me) - Peggy Lee
40. Near You - Francis Craig / Andrews Sisters / Larry Green / Alvino Rey
41. Amapola - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
42. Peg O' My Heart - Harmonicats / Buddy Clark / Three Suns
43. Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Glenn Miller
44. Pistol Packin' Mama - Al Dexter / Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
45. You'll Never Know - Dick Haymes / Frank Sinatra
46. To Each His Own - Eddy Howard / Ink Spots / Freddy Martin / Modernaires
47. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire - Ink Spots / Hoarce Heidt / Tommy Tucker
48. Cool Water - Sons Of The Pioneers
49. As Time Goes By - Dooley Wilson
50. Opus No. 1 - Tommy Dorsey
51. Rum And Coca-Cola - Andrews Sisters
52. The Breeze And I - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly)
53. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, And Me) - Ink Spots / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
54. I've Heard That Song Before - Harry James (Helen Forrest)
55. Baby It's Cold Outside - Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whiting / Dinah Shore & Buddy Clark
56. Tangerine - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
57. Buttons And Bows - Dinah Shore / Dinning Sisters
58. Besame Mucho - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
59. 'Round Midnight - Thelonius Monk
60. I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You) - Harry James (Dick Haymes) / Ink Spots
61. Cruising Down The River - Blue Barron / Russ Morgan / Jack Smith (Clark Sisters)
62. (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover - Vera Lynn / Kay Kyser / Glenn Miller
63. Anniversary Song - Al Jolson / Dinah Shore / Guy Lombardo / Tex Beneke
64. A Night In Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
65. I Can Dream, Can't I - Andrews Sisters
66. In The Blue Of The Evening - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
67. Prisoner Of Love - Perry Como / Billy Eckstine / Ink Spots
68. Sleepy Lagoon - Harry James
69. Blues In The Night - Woody Herman / Jimmie Lunceford / Dinah Shore
70. A Tree In The Meadow - Margaret Whiting
71. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Ink Spots / Duke Ellington / Glen Gray
72. Daddy - Sammy Kaye
73. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Vaughn Monroe
74. Oh! What It Seemed To Be - Frankie Carle / Frank Sinatra / Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes
75. Imagination - Glenn Miller / Tommy Dorsey / Ella Fitzgerald
76. There! I've Said It Again - Vaughn Monroe / Jimmy Dorsey (Teddy Walters)
77. Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer - Song Spinners / Willie Kelly
78. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) - Tex Williams
79. The Old Lamp-Lighter - Sammy Kaye / Kay Kyser
80. When You Wish Upon A Star - Cliff Edwards / Glenn Miller / Guy Lombardo
81. Open The Door, Richard - Count Basie / Three Flames / Dusty Fletcher
82. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby) - Louis Jordan / Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
83. Shoo-Shoo Baby - Andrews Sisters / Ella Mae Morse
84. Linda - Ray Noble (Buddy Clark) / Charlie Spivak
85. Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall - Ella Fitzgerald & the Ink Spots
86. Jukebox Saturday Night - Glenn Miller (Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke & the Modernaires)
87. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - Red Foley
88. Some Enchanted Evening - Perry Como / Bing Crosby / Jo Stafford / Frank Sinatra
89. Rag Mop - Ames Brothers / Johnnie Lee Wills
90. On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer / Bing Crosby
91. Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition! - Kay Kyser / Merry Macs
92. I'll Walk Alone - Dinah Shore / Martha Tilton / Mary Martin
93. Ballerina - Vaughn Monroe / Buddy Clark / Bing Crosby
94. I'm looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover - Art Mooney / Russ Morgan / Alvino Rey
95. Jersey Bounce - Benny Goodman / Jimmy Dorsey
96. Mule Train - Frankie Laine / Tennessee Ernie Ford / Bing Crosby / Vaughn Monroe
97. G.I. Jive - Louis Jordan / Johnny Mercer
98. You Call Everybody Darlin' - Al Trace / Andrews Sisters / Anne Vincent
99. Maybe - Ink Spots
100. Der Fuehrer's Face - Spike Jones (Carl Grayson & Willie Spicer)
Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby

Nat King Cole
Nat "King" Cole

Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington

Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers

Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw

Andrews Sisters
Andrews Sisters








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