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Songs with Numbers in the Title: 24 Hits and the Stories Behind the Numbers

Two dozen songs with a number in the title, from Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" to the Spice Girls' "2 Become 1," with the story behind each one.

By Written Facts StaffUpdated October 14, 20268 min read

You're building a playlist for a road trip, a birthday party or a trivia round, and someone sets the rule: only songs with a number in the title. You think of "9 to 5" and then go blank. Here are two dozen that fit, from Dolly Parton's office anthem to the Spice Girls' Christmas chart-topper. Each comes with the story behind it: who made it, when it came out, and how far it climbed. They're grouped by what the number is doing: telling the time, counting an age, keeping a tally, adding up a love, or sounding an alarm.

Numbers that tell the time

The most natural place for a number in a song is on a clock or a calendar.

  • "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton. Parton wrote and recorded it as the theme for the 1980 comedy film 9 to 5. It earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and won two Grammys: Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
  • "12:51" by The Strokes. Written by Julian Casablancas and produced by Gordon Raphael, it was released on October 6, 2003, as the lead single from Room on Fire. It reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
  • "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago. The title is a timestamp. Keyboardist Robert Lamm wrote it about working on music at 25 or 26 minutes to 4:00 a.m. The band released it as a single on June 12, 1970, from Chicago II, and it peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies. Written by Ed Robertson, this was the lead single from their 1998 album Stunt. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 17, 1998, and stayed there for exactly one week.
  • "Six Days on the Road" by Dave Dudley. Two truck drivers, Earl Green and Carl Montgomery, wrote it. Dudley's version came out in May 1963 and reached number 2 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles and number 32 on the Hot 100. Taj Mahal later recorded a cover, but the original hit belongs to Dudley.
  • "Five Years" by David Bowie. Bowie wrote and co-produced it as the opening track of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, released June 16, 1972.

Numbers that count an age

From hours and years, it's a short step to the number everyone carries around: their age.

  • "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles. Written mainly by Paul McCartney and recorded at EMI Studios in London in December 1966, it appeared on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was released on May 26, 1967, in the UK and June 2, 1967, in the US. The age is spelled out in words, not numerals.
  • "I'm Eighteen" by Alice Cooper. This was Cooper's breakthrough single, released in the US on November 11, 1970. It then appeared on Love It to Death in March 1971 and reached number 21 on the US charts.

Numbers that keep a tally

Some songs use a number the way you'd use a list: to show how many of something there are.

  • "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon. Released in December 1975 from Still Crazy After All These Years, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 7, 1976. It was Simon's only solo chart-topping single.
  • "99 Problems" by Jay-Z. Rick Rubin produced it for The Black Album (2003), and it was issued as a single on April 27, 2004. The chorus was adapted from Ice-T's 1993 track of the same name.
  • "99 Luftballons" by Nena. The West German band released it in 1983. The song reached number 1 in the UK, Australia and Canada, and the original German recording peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984.
  • "Land of 1,000 Dances" by Wilson Pickett. Pickett recorded Chris Kenner's R&B composition on May 11, 1966, at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. It went to number 1 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart in September 1966 and number 6 on the Hot 100.
  • "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton. Released on February 18, 2002, as the lead single from her debut album Be Not Nobody, it peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • "Five Colours in Her Hair" by McFly. The English pop-rock band released it on March 29, 2004, as the lead single from Room on the 3rd Floor. It spent two weeks at number one in the UK.
  • "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes. Jack White wrote and produced it as the lead single from Elephant (2003). It won the Grammy for Best Rock Song at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards.
  • "The Three Fates" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Keith Emerson composed this instrumental suite for the band's self-titled 1970 debut. It is split into three parts named for the Fates of Greek myth: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.

Numbers that add up to love

Counting turns romantic quickly. One plus one, three times over, number nine in a bottle.

  • "2 Become 1" by the Spice Girls. Released in the UK on December 16, 1996, it was the group's first Christmas number one. It held the top of the UK Singles Chart for three weeks.
  • "Three Times a Lady" by The Commodores. Lionel Richie wrote it, and the Commodores recorded it for their 1978 album Natural High. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks starting August 12, 1978. It's sometimes credited to Kenny Rogers, but the hit is the Commodores'.
  • "I Would Die 4 U" by Prince. The fourth single from the 1984 soundtrack Purple Rain, it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the Hot Black Singles chart.
  • "Love Potion No. 9" by The Clovers. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote it. The Clovers recorded it on June 8, 1959, and United Artists released it that July. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts.
  • "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain. Released as a single in 1998 from her 1997 album Come On Over, it won Grammys for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1999.
  • "...Baby One More Time" by Travis. The Scottish band's acoustic cover of Britney Spears' debut single came out in 1999 as a B-side to their single "Turn." It's a handy pick if your playlist leans indie rather than pop.

Numbers that sound an alarm

Not every number is playful. Two of the sharpest titles here use simple arithmetic and an emergency number to make a point.

  • "911 Is a Joke" by Public Enemy. Flavor Flav performed it and The Bomb Squad produced it. Released on April 9, 1990, from Fear of a Black Planet, it criticized how slowly paramedics responded in Black communities. It reached number one on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart.
  • "2 + 2 = ?" by The Bob Seger System. An anti-Vietnam War protest single released in January 1968, it was later included on the band's debut album, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man.

Getting the titles right

Before the playlist goes out, check a few titles that are easy to garble:

  • It's "Love Potion No. 9," not "Portion."
  • Nena's German title is "99 Luftballons," with one "o" in "ballons."
  • The Beatles wrote out "Sixty-Four" in words.
  • Alice Cooper's song is "I'm Eighteen," not "I Am Eighteen."
  • Dolly Parton's song is simply "9 to 5."
  • The band is Emerson, Lake & Palmer, in that order.
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