The bond between siblings is a rich and complicated one that varies from family to family. Brothers and sisters can be friends, rivals, confidants, co-conspirators and bitter enemies—possibly all at the same time. No wonder there have been so many brilliant songs on the subject.
To honor this rich musical history, we’ve created a list of the 20 best songs about siblings. Selections include classics about brotherly love, odes to sisterly solidarity and one left-field depiction of taboo familial loving that only Prince would dare attempt. In addition to The Purple One, the featured artists range from Elvis Presley to ’60s soul giants to British Invasion rockers to modern art-pop auteur Grimes. Billy Idol snags a spot with a sneering ’80s fave, and Canadian punks PUP check in with a song that’ll have you thinking twice about going camping with your sister. Plus, They Might Be Giants remind us that TV theme songs can sometimes be transcendent.
While all of the songs are very different, they share at least one thing in common: They describe relationships with people we don’t get to choose. In life, we theoretically get to pick our friends and lovers, but our brothers and sisters are just kind of there. Ideally, we love them and want only the best for them—but we sometimes loathe, envy, or worry deeply for them. The 20 songs on our list touch on all of these feelings and more, presenting complex family dynamics in the form of easily digestible slices of pop. Even only kids will dig them.
