What is 3221+?

OK, so ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon is the best song ever, or perhaps it is ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan. There are thousands of lists all across the internet, ranking songs by popularity, most played, most streamed, or most covered.

But imagine, if rather than being chosen in a ‘best of’ list, songs were pitted together head to head. What if we took the Top 32 tracks in Rolling Stone’s 2024 list and put them into a standard, seeded draw for the final 32 of a ‘World Cup’ type knockout competition?

The first round would look something like this

Aretha Franklin - Respect v. Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy

Beyonce ft. Jay-Z - Crazy in Love v. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams v. The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night

Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On v. Kanye West ft. Pusha T - Runaway

Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone v. Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter v. Robyn - Dancing on My Own

Stevie Wonder - Superstition v. Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit v. Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime

Public Enemy - Fight the Power v. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand v. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

Outkast - Hey Ya v. David Bowie - Heroes

The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever v. Joni Mitchell - A Case of You

Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come v. Lorde - Royals

The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset v. John Lennon - Imagine

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows v. The Ronettes - Be My Baby

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On v. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

There are some intriguing early match-ups and in the top half of the draw the No.1 song (Repect by Aretha Franklin) would (assuming higher seeds always won) face Juicy (Notorious B.I.G).; Crazy in Love (Beyonce); Get your Freak On (Missy Elliott); and Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan) before meeting Fight the Power by Public Enemy in the final.

In the bottom half Public Enemy would have faced Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones The Beatles (twice with I Want to Hold Your Hand and Strawberry Fields Forever) and A Change is Going to Come by Sam Cooke on their way to the final against Aretha Franklin.

Imagine by John Lennon, which has so often topped the lists for best songs ever would have been knocked out by Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks) in the first round. Other first-round losers would have included Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen); Heroes (David Bowie); Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen) and Purple Rain (Prince and the Revolution).

3211+ aims to do that and more. Sign up now to stay n the loop and join us when we launch in early August.

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How 3221+ Competitions Work