Songs With ‘No’ in the Title – Top 18 Songs

If you’re looking for songs with the word ‘no’ in the title to add to your playlist, I’ve got you covered. In this article, I’ve compiled the top 18 ‘no’ songs by hitmakers from different music genres and generations, from classic rock songs of the 60s to pop and R&B or soul hits of the 2000s.

Below are some of the best songs with ‘no’ in the title:

‘No Quarter’ – Led Zeppelin
‘No Expectations’ – The Rolling Stones
‘No Reply’ – The Beatles
‘Caroline, No’ – Brian Wilson
‘No Surrender’ – Bruce Springsteen
‘No Fun’ – The Stooges
‘No No Song’ – Ringo Starr
‘No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature’ – The Guess Who
‘Tell Her No’ – The Zombies
‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ – Alice Cooper
‘No, No No’ – Dawn Penn
‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ – Diana Ross
‘No More Tears’ – Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand
‘No Diggity’ – BlackStreet
‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ – Tom Petty
‘No Woman, No Cry’ – Bob Marley
‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ – Rolling Stones
‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ – Bill Withers

Read on to learn more about these songs that have ‘no’ in the title. Plus, a few interesting facts about each one.

Best Songs With ‘No’ in the Title

1. ‘No Quarter’ by Led Zeppelin

‘No Quarter‘ is the 1973 song written by vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist John Paul Jones. It’s part of Led Zeppelin’s fifth studio album, the Houses of the Holy.

There are many reasons why this song is iconic. There’s the use of variable speed to change the song’s pitch to create a more intense mood. Or, the compression of the guitar parts gives the song a unique sound to the band.

Trivia: Pirates often say “no quarter” to mean that they won’t give mercy to their victims.

2. ‘No Expectations’ by The Rolling Stones

‘No Expectations’ is part of Rolling Stone’s 1968 album Beggars Banquet. The writing of the song is credited to lead vocalist Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards.

The song has different meanings for different people. The song’s lyrics and bluesy and soulful feel leave other people mourning for the loss of a love or the end of companionship.

The song took on a new meaning for the band when Brian Jones, the original leader of Rolling Stones, died in 1969. It was for this song that he did his last slide guitar playing.

3. ‘No Reply’ by The Beatles

“No Reply” is part of the album Beatles for Sale (1964). John Lennon was the song’s main writer, but it was later credited to him and Paul McCartney.

They supposedly wrote this song for Tommy Quickly, an English rock and roll singer managed by their manager Brian Epstein. However, Quickly never recorded and released the song, so the Beatles used it instead.

Some interesting facts about the song:

It begins with vocals, which was rarely done during their time.
It was one of Lennon’s first songs that tells a story with a beginning and an end.

4. ‘Caroline, No’ by Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson, the leader of The Beach Boys, considers this song one of his best compositions. He wrote ‘Caroline, No’ with songwriter Tony Asher, who he previously worked with for his song ‘God Only Knows.’

This song is based on the songwriters’ personal relationships —Wilson with his first wife, Marilyn, and Asher with his ex-girlfriend, Carol. When Asher visited his ex-girlfriend in New York City, he was struck by her drastic change, including her new haircut. This inspired him to write this song’s first line: “Where did your long hair go”?

5. ‘No Surrender’ by Bruce Springsteen

‘No Surrender‘ came to represent Springsteen’s friendship with his bandmates. It was the last track added to his album Born in the U.S.A. An interesting fact is the original title of the song was “Brothers Under The Bridges.”

Taylor Swift grabbed a line from the song for a live performance. She wrote this on her arm: “We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school.” There’s so much truth to that lyric. Don’t you agree?

6. ‘No Fun’ by The Stooges

Well, if we were, to be honest, the lyrics of this song are kind of stupid. And yet The Stooges, specifically Iggy Pop, managed to turn this type of song into something iconic.

‘No Fun’ is one of the band’s biggest hits. You can find the song from the band’s first self-titled album, one of our time’s best debut long players.

According to Iggy Pop, the guitar riff came out of their jam session. He wrote the lyrics, which he based on Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line.”

7. ‘No No Song’ by Ringo Starr

Ringo considers the ‘No No Song’ as an “anti-drug” song, which is ironic because he wasn’t sober during this time. Ringo and Hoyt Axton were smoking the biggest spliff and drinking a big bottle of Jack Daniel’s while writing this song.

Despite the drug references, the ‘No No Song’ became Ringo’s seventh song to enter the top 10 list in the United States. The success of the song prompted Axton to release his version in 1975. His version featured the stoner comedy duo Cheech & Chong.

8. ‘No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature’ by The Guess Who

Randy Bachman, the lead guitarist of The Guess Who, wrote ‘No Sugar Tonight.’ This was the last song he played before leaving the group because of his Mormon religious beliefs.

This song has an interesting background story. One day, Randy and a bandmate were walking in downtown Berkeley, California. As he was crossing the street to avoid four big biker men, he witnessed a big biker lady getting into a heated argument with one of the bikers. Before she left, she shouted to him, “You’re not getting any sugar tonight.”

9. ‘Tell Her No’ by The Zombies

The Zombies is a 1960s rock band from St. Albans, United Kingdom. Unlike their single ‘She’s Not There,’ ‘Tell Her No’ fared well only in the United States.

Written by their guitarist Rod Argent, this song tells the story of a guy who felt that his girlfriend was most likely cheating on him. So, he’s begging the other guy not to fall for her advances.

10. ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ by Alice Cooper

If you’ve ever seen Alice Cooper perform, it’s safe to say you’re well aware of his wild on-stage persona. His audiences don’t mind, but his friends, family, and mother’s church groups were unsure how to react to it.

This song was his way of telling them that he doesn’t care what they think of his wild-man stage antics. There are far worse things that he could’ve been doing with his life.

11. ‘You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)’ by Dawn Penn

According to Dawn, around eight people claimed they wrote ‘You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)’ when it became a hit. The truth is Dawn wrote it during a time when she was heartbroken.

Dawn first recorded ‘You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)’ in 1967. But in the ’70s, she quit the music business to live in the Virgin Islands. After two decades away from the limelight, she decided to revive her career and re-recorded this song thrice. The last version became a major hit, especially in the United Kingdom.

12. ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Diana Ross

song titles with no in them — Diana Ross

The Supremes originally sang this song on Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations, released in 1968. Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the husband-and-wife songwriters who wrote Ross’ first (flopped) solo single, overhauled the song to extend it to six minutes.

This move proved to be a real game-changer. ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ became her first big solo hit after leaving The Supremes. It ended Edwin Starr’s ‘War’ three-week run and replaced it at the number one spot in the US.

13. ‘No More Tears’ by Donna Summer & Barbra Streisand

When the “Queen of Disco” and the “top-selling female artist of all time” work together, you know the song’s bound to be a hit. ‘No More Tears’ ‘became the #1 song on the Hot 100 (1979).

It was singer and songwriter Paul Jabara’s idea to introduce Streisand to Summer to do the duet. He wrote ‘No More Tears’ with his songwriter friend Bruce Roberts in just ten minutes. The message behind the song is something we can all relate to—dreaming of finding the right person for us.

14. ‘No Diggity’ by BlackStreet

‘No Diggity’ was the first single in Blackstreet’s 1996 second album “Another Level.” The group won a Grammy in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category for this song the following year. It’s the only Grammy Award they ever won.

In case you’re wondering, ‘No Diggity’ is an English colloquial term for “no doubt.” During those days, people used the term as a way to affirm someone. Although the song’s words and the music video don’t clearly express it, it is supposedly a woman-empowerment song.

15. ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ by Tom Petty

Tom Petty is best known for being the legendary lead vocalist and guitarist of the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers band. When the band took some time off after their 1983 tour, Tom worked with Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart to write this song, which deviated from The Heartbreakers music style.

When the music video for ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ came out, it stirred a lot of controversies. The theme of the music video was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Towards the end of the video, the body of the actress playing Alice became a cake and was eaten by Tom and other people.

16. ‘No Woman, No Cry’ by Bob Marley

The title ‘No Woman, No Cry’ doesn’t mean that there’s no reason to cry if there are no women. The song celebrates the strength of every woman.

Bob Marley wrote this song, but he decided to credit it to his friend Vincent Ford. But why? During that time, he was in a contractual dispute with his publishing company, Cayman Music. He didn’t want to associate his new songs with the company, so he listed multiple songwriters (e.g., band members, family, and friends) on the album’s sleeves.

17. ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ by Rolling Stones

Forty-five years ago, Keith Richards claimed he heard the notes for this song while he was dead asleep. He was wise enough to immediately record the historic riff on his cassette player, as well as the words, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” It was Mick Jagger who finished the song the following day.

Among all their songs, ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ would probably be the best song to represent The Rolling Stones. It’s the song that caused the rapid rise of the band to stardom.

18. ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ by Bill Withers

If you’re like me, who watched Notting Hill for the nth time, you’ll remember ‘Ain’t No Sunshine‘ playing in the background while Will (Hugh Grant) is walking through the Portobello Road market. This song was also used in the movies Munich (2005), Old School (2003), and Girls Town (1996).

‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ is Bill Withers’ first hit single. He was inspired to write this song after watching Days Of Wine And Roses (1962).

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Conclusion – Songs With ‘No’ in the Title

Have you listened to any of these songs before? If you want to feel empowered, chase the blues away (when you feel lonely or useless), or declare your independence from the opinions of others, then put any of these songs on and start singing at the top of your lungs.

To refresh your memory, here’s the list again of the best songs with ‘no’ in the title: