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The most recognizable songs of all-time

The most recognizable songs of all-time
Smile / Stone / Getty Images / Smile / Stone / Getty Images

How well do you know your music?

While most people are able to sing along to iconic chorus’ in well-known songs, how many of us are able to know the tune just by listening to the first few seconds of a song?

A survey conducted by “Hooked On Music” asked over 12,000 participants to give the name of a song that was randomly selected out of a list of 1,000 iconic tunes.

While many were able to be recognized instantly, here were the top 20 songs that were ranked most well-known and the average time they were able to be identified:

  1. Spice Girls – Wannabe: 2.29 seconds
  2. Lou Bega – Mambo No 5: 2.48 seconds
  3. Survivor – Eye of the Tiger: 2.62 seconds
  4. Lady Gaga – Just Dance: 2.66 seconds
  5. ABBA – SOS: 2.73 seconds
  6. Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman: 2.73 seconds
  7. Michael Jackson – Beat It: 2.80 seconds
  8. Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You: 2.83 seconds
  9. The Human League – Don’t You Want Me: 2.83 seconds
  10. Aerosmith – I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing: 2.84 seconds
  11. Lady Gaga – Poker Face: 2.88 seconds
  12. Hanson – MMMbop: 2.89 seconds
  13. Elvis Presley – It’s Now Or Never: 2.91 seconds
  14. Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet: 2.94 seconds
  15. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean: 2.97 seconds
  16. Culture Club – Karma Chameleon: 2.99 seconds
  17. Britney Spears – Baby One More Time: 2.99 seconds
  18. Elvis Presley – Devil in Disguise: 3.01 seconds
  19. Boney M – Rivers of Babylon: 3.03 seconds
  20. Elton John – Candle in the Wind: 3.04 seconds

How many of these songs do you know well?

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