Songs That Start With O

Let’s be honest: nostalgia is a dirty liar. It filters out the cringey haircuts and the soul-crushing boredom of 2004, leaving us with a glossy montage of “better times.” But music? Music is the one thing that doesn’t lie. When you hear a song from twenty years ago, you don’t just hear a melody: you hear exactly who you were when you were still naive enough to think life had a roadmap.

Jump to:

• The Soundtrack of Our Delusion: A Look Back at the “O” Hits
• The Post-2000 “O” Files: A Countdown
• Our Pick: The “O” Song That Defined an Era
• Full List of O Songs
• Songs That Start With O – Spotify Playlist
• The Heritage: 10 Essential “O” Classics (Pre-2000)
• Final Thoughts: The Resonance of the “O”
• FAQ: Songs Starting With “O”

The Soundtrack of Our Delusion: A Look Back at the “O” Hits

I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time obsessing over charts, and there is something strangely poetic about songs that start with an O. From the over-the-top R&B of the mid-aughts to the genre-less chaos of the late 2010s, the letter O has been the starting point for some of the most defining moments of our lives.

I remember sitting in my basement in 2005, burning CDs and feeling like the world was wide open. We weren’t just listening to music; we were building identities from 3.5-minute audio snippets. So, let’s look at the tracks that actually moved the needle, without the corporate fluff.

The Post-2000 “O” Files: A Countdown

10. “Only Time” – Enya (2001)

There is a weird irony in a New Age Celtic song becoming the backdrop for a global tragedy. In 2001, we didn’t want club bangers; we wanted to feel like things would be okay. This song was the sonic equivalent of a Xanax. It was everywhere: graduation montages, memorial tributes, quiet car rides where no one knew what to say. It forced us to sit with the discomfort of the unknown.

Iconic Lyric: “Who can say where the road goes, where the day flows? Only time.”

9. “Oops!… I Did It Again” – Britney Spears (2000)

If you want to understand the peak of the “manufactured yet perfect” pop era, look no further. Britney wasn’t just a singer; she was a mirror for our cultural obsession with perfection and the eventual cracks in it. This song was a middle finger disguised as a flirtation. I remember the red catsuit and the Mars set: it was ridiculous, it was expensive, and it was the last gasp of pure, pre-internet monoculture.

Iconic Lyric: “Oops!… I did it again. I played with your heart, got lost in the game. Oh baby, baby.”

8. “Over My Head (Cable Car)” – The Fray (2006)

This was the peak of “Sensitive Man with a Piano” music. In 2006, if you weren’t contemplating a breakup while staring at rain on a windowpane, were you even alive? The Fray captured that specific brand of mid-20s existential dread: the feeling that everyone else has the script and you’re the only one forgetting your lines.

Iconic Lyric: “I never knew, I never knew that everything was falling through. That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue.”

7. “Obsessed” – Mariah Carey (2009)

Mariah Carey is the patron saint of being “unbothered” while clearly being very bothered. This track was a masterclass in weaponized pettiness. It was the digital age’s version of a public duel. Watching a billionaire pop star dress up like a stalker in a music video just to prove a point was the kind of high-level drama we all lived for before Twitter made it exhausting.

Iconic Lyric: “Why are you so obsessed with me? Boy, I wanna know, lying that you’re sexing me.”

6. “Outta Control” – 50 Cent & Mobb Deep (2005)

2005 was the year of the club anthem that sounded like it was recorded in a bunker. 50 Cent was at the height of his “invincible” phase. This song didn’t ask for your attention; it took it. It was the sound of peak G-Unit: dark, heavy, and completely unapologetic. It reminded us that sometimes, the best music is the stuff that makes you feel a little bit dangerous.

Iconic Lyric: “Shorty you know, I ain’t playin’ with you, right? I’m gonna give you the business.”

5. “Oh” – Ciara & Ludacris (2005)

Atlanta owned the mid-2000s, and Ciara was the queen of that heavy, slowed-down “Crunk&B” sound. “Oh” felt like it was vibrating at a different frequency than everything else on the radio. It was the sound of a summer where every car passing you had the bass turned up high enough to rattle your teeth. It was effortless, and in 2005, effortlessness was the ultimate currency.

Iconic Lyric: “The ATL, everybody doin’ the ‘Oh’ / Got that crunk in your trunk, and you ready to go.”

4. “One More Night” – Maroon 5 (2012)

We’ve all been in that relationship. The one where you know, intellectually, that the person is a disaster, but your lizard brain keeps dragging you back for “one more night.” Maroon 5 turned that toxic loop into a global hit. It’s a song about the failure of willpower, set to a reggae beat that you couldn’t escape if you tried.

Iconic Lyric: “I know I’ve got to find a way to let you go / But tonight, there’s an emptiness inside.”

3. “One Dance” – Drake, WizKid & Kyla (2016)

Drake is the king of making “sad but wealthy” music, but with “One Dance,” he actually let us have some fun. This was the moment the US charts finally realized the rest of the world existed. It was a global mashup that felt like a hazy, alcohol-fueled night where you don’t want to leave the floor because once the lights come up, you have to deal with your actual life again.

Iconic Lyric: “Got a Hennessy in my hand, one more time ‘fore I go.”

2. “Only Girl (In The World)” – Rihanna (2010)

Rihanna doesn’t do “subtle.” This song was a sonic explosion. It came out at the peak of the EDM-pop crossover, and it felt like a demand rather than a request. It was about the ego, the desire to be the center of someone’s universe, and the sheer power of a voice that could cut through any club speakers in the world.

Iconic Lyric: “I want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.”

1. “Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus (2019)

If you want to see the music industry’s gatekeepers have a collective aneurysm, just look at this song. Lil Nas X didn’t just write a hit; he hacked the culture. It was country, it was trap, it was a meme, and it was a masterpiece of “I don’t give a damn.” It proved that in the streaming era, the fans decide what “O” song matters, not the executives in suits.

Iconic Lyric: “I got the horses in the back, horse tack is attached. Hat is matte black, got the boots that’s black to match.”

Our Pick: The “O” Song That Defined an Era

If I had to stake my reputation on one track that captures the shift from polished 90s pop to our chaotic, genre-fluid future, it’s “One More Time” by Daft Punk (2001). It’s the ultimate “O” song because it’s a paradox: it’s literally a machine singing about human celebration. In an era when we were all terrified of technology (remember Y2K?), these two French guys in robot helmets told us to just keep dancing. It’s visceral, it’s repetitive, and it’s undeniably hopeful. Every time that autotuned hook kicks in, you aren’t just listening to a club track; you’re listening to the exact moment the 21st century found its groove. It’s the song that reminds us that even if the world is ending, we might as well go out with a four-on-the-floor beat.

Full List of O Songs

*Note: The last three songs were massive global hits but did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100. Similarly, “One Of Them Girls” (Lee Brice) and others not shown in the primary top section may have dominated Genre-specific charts (like Country or Dance) without significant Hot 100 tenure.

Browse all songs by letter in our A–Z Music Hub →

Songs That Start With O – Spotify Playlist

The Heritage: 10 Essential “O” Classics (Pre-2000)

Before we had TikTok algorithms, we had these. These are the tracks that taught us how to feel things.

1. “Only the Lonely” – Roy Orbison (1960): The original king of “it’s 3 AM and I’m sad.”
2. “One” – U2 (1991): A song about how hard it is to actually love someone.
3. “On the Road Again” – Willie Nelson (1980): The ultimate “I’m leaving my problems behind” anthem.
4. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” – Yes (1983): The sound of the ’80s trying to figure out the future.
5. “Once in a Lifetime” – Talking Heads (1980): A midlife crisis you can dance to.
6. “Open Arms” – Journey (1981): Pure, unadulterated vulnerability.
7. “Our House” – Madness (1982): Proof that domestic life can be a bop.
8. “One Way or Another” – Blondie (1978): When “stalking” was still a catchy punk-rock trope.
9. “Old Time Rock and Roll” – Bob Seger (1978): The official anthem of people who hate new music.
10. “O-o-h Child” – The Five Stairsteps (1970): The musical equivalent of your mom telling you it’s going to be okay.

Final Thoughts: The Resonance of the “O”

Looking back at this list, I’m struck by how much we use music to survive ourselves. We listened to “Only Time” when we were scared, “Oops!” when we were feeling reckless, and “Old Town Road” when we just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Music isn’t just about the charts or the numbers. It’s about the fact that ten years from now, you’ll hear one of these “O” songs in a grocery store, and for three seconds, you’ll be twenty years old again, feeling everything all at once. And that, more than anything, is why we keep listening.

FAQ: Songs Starting With “O”