15 Best Obsession Songs of All Time

Total Views on YouTube- 12 million

Silver Springs is a song by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac. The single was written by singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks and was originally planned to be released in the band's 1977 album Rumours. However, it was relegated to the B-side of Go Your Own Way.

It gained traction in 1997 when a live version was released via the 1997 album The Dance. The song was also nominated at the 1998 Grammy Awards in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Stevie came up with the title from a freeway sign saying "Silver Springs, Maryland".

Silver Springs was uploaded to YouTube in 2018 and currently has 12 million views on the video-sharing platform. 

The song is about Nicks's perspective on her breakup with the band's lead guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham. However, the lyrics imply that the subject of the song is obsessed with her former partner and envies his new girlfriend. 

The song suggests that the relationship's charm faded with time. The protagonist's partner has moved on but she still has a hard time letting go.

Total Views on YouTube- 20 Million

No One Gonna Love You by Jennifer Hudson is a song about jealousy. It was released as a single in her second album titled I Remember Me. 

The song was written and produced by record producer Rich Harrison.

No One Gonna Love You peaked at no. 19 in the Hot Dance Club Songs chart and no. 23 in the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Similarly, its official video, published on YouTube on June 24, 2011, has over 20 million views. 

The song is about a woman who is too obsessed with her boyfriend. She suggests via the lyrics that nobody can love him more than her.

Due to her clingy nature, the boyfriend starts distancing himself from her which the girlfriend can't accept. It even gets to the point where the woman's partner stops receiving her calls but she still texts him.

Total Views on YouTube- 26 Million

Private Eyes is a 1981 song by the American musical duo Hall & Oates. It was released in their tenth album titled Private Eyes. 

The single remained at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart from November 7-20, 1981, and was the band's third track to reach the no. 1 spot. It was uploaded to YouTube on April 20, 2015, where it currently has 26 million views. 

Written by Janna Allen and Warren Pash, the song was arranged by singer Daryl Hall. 

Private Eyes is about a stalker who is constantly surveilling his crush. The subject is watching her every move and wants her to feel the same for him. 

As the girl tries to avoid him, the subject goes increasingly confrontational. He asks her to not lie to him about anything as he would eventually find out the truth. 

The subject even goes on to say the girl to not hide from him as he would identify her in any disguise.

Total Views on YouTube- 33 Million

Shiver is a 2000 rock song by the British band Coldplay. It was released in the band's debut album Parachutes. 

The single was written by the band's frontman Steve Martin in collaboration with Guy Berryman, Will Champion, and Jonny Buckland.

Initially, the song was believed to be about Natalie Imbruglia, with whom Chris was linked at the time. However, the singer later denied the claims. A four-minute 59 seconds long video was uploaded on YouTube in 2011; it has 33 million views as of 2023. 

Shiver features a lonely guy who grows increasingly infatuated with his crush. He constantly thinks about her and wants to be with her from the moment he wakes up till he sleeps at night. 

Despite his repeated advances, the girl doesn't fall for him. As his creepy behavior persists, she gets terrified. But, the guy tells her not to shiver and even asks her to accept him as he was a changed man.  

Total Views on YouTube - 54 Million

I'm Gonna Getcha Good by Shania Twain is a song about obessive love. It was released as a single in her fourth album titled "Up!".

The official music video of the song was shared on YouTube on May 24, 2011. It has 54 million views as of 2023. 

The four minutes and two seconds long single is one of the most popular songs of the musician. It remained in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 26 consecutive weeks, peaking at no. 7 in December 2002. 

The singer talks about her obsession with a man whom she never wants to let go of. The protagonist has taken the "till death do us part" approach too seriously and wants to have her crush for the rest of he life. She even goes on to objectify the man, calling him a "fine piece of real estate."

The subject explains her plan to own him for the rest of her life. Even after knowing that the guy has no feelings for her, she assures that he will eventually fall for her. 

Total Views on YouTube - 136 Million

Escape is a song by Enrique Iglesias is a total obsession song. It featured in his 2001 album of the same name. 

It was one of his most successful songs at the time, reaching no.12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and no. 3 in the UK Singles chart.  Its official video was shared on Enrique's YouTube channel on December 25, 2009, where it has been viewed over 136 million times. 

Iglesias wrote the song in collaboration with David Siegel, Kara DioGuardi, and Steve Morales. It was also released in the Spanish language with the title Escapar. 

Over the years, the song has been interpreted in two ways. Some listeners have called it a romantic masterpiece, whereas others call it a freaky song. 

Listeners have pointed out the chorus as a threat by the subject to his lover. Though he allows his partner to leave if she wants, she has nowhere to go where he can't find her. It is a classic example of the saying, "they call it stalking, I call it love."

Total Views on YouTube - 204 Million

Obsessed is a 2009 song by American musician Mariah Carey, featured in her 12th album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. 

It reached no. 7 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was written by Mariah along with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart.

The official video of the song, released on November 26, 2009, has over 204 million views on YouTube. 

The single is not about obsessing in the conventional sense. But, it was created as a diss for rapper Eminem's obsession with her. After the Rap God hitmaker claimed that he dated Carey for six months in 2001, she denied ever dating the rapper. As a response to her statement, Eminem trashed her relationship with her then-husband Nick Cannon in his song Bagpipes From Baghdad.

Obsessed was made a response to Eminem's creepy behavior towards her. In the video, Mariah appears as both the star and her stalker. Her outfit as the stalker resembles Eminem's attire at the time. 

Although Carey doesn't use the rapper's name, she asks the real MC to step to the mic, which is a diss to the lines from Eminem's iconic song The Real Slim Shady. She also asks the reason for the rapper's constant obsession with her in the first line of the song.

Total Views on YouTube - 206 Million

If I Can't Have You is a 2019 song by Canadian musician Shawn Mendes. 

Co-written by Mendes, Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Nate Mercereau, and Ojivolta, the single was released in Shawn's self-titled third album. It peaked at the second position on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100 charts. 

The song's official video was released on YouTube on May 3, 2019, and has over 206 million views as of 2023.

The narrator is an obsessed person who is growing creepier as the song progresses. He has a huge crush on somebody but wonders if it's too late to confess his true feelings. The subject of the song talks about how she is always in his mind and nothing matters if he doesn't have her. The words "can't move on, if we're still going to talk" also give the vibe that the narrator is having a hard time moving on from his past relationship.

Total Views on YouTube - 345 Million

Bad Liar is a 2017 single from Selena Gomez which was featured as a bonus track on her third album Rare. 

Co-written by Gomez, Julia Michaels, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Justin Tranter, the song was produced by Kirkpatrick. Its official video has more than 345 million views on YouTube. 

The song is about a woman who is obsessed with a guy but doesn't want him to know. So, she tries to avoid him to distract herself. Instead, she grows delusional and starts mistaking strangers for her crush. 

The protagonist tries hard not to think about the guy but it just makes her more obsessed.

Total Views on YouTube - 622 Million

Stan is a 2000 song by American rapper Eminem featuring British musician Dido. It was featured in his third studio album titled The Marshall Mathers LP. 

The song reached the 51st position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached no. 1 in 12 countries. The long version video, which was uploaded on YouTube on Christmas Day 2009, has over 622 million views. 

Stan is considered one of the best songs by Eminem alongside The Real Slim Shady and Lose Yourself. 

It shows a fictionalized story of a fan's growing obsession with Eminem. The song progresses as the fan, who is named Stan, talks about writing a letter to the rapper. The narrator has a pregnant girlfriend who becomes increasingly worried about his obsession.

The fan writes three letters to Eminem but doesn't get a single reply. With each letter, he grows more unstable and eventually reaches the point where he commits suicide with his pregnant girlfriend in the car of his trunk.

Eminem finally replies to Stan after reading his three letters. He apologizes for not writing to him sooner and also asks him to take care of his girlfriend. The song ends with the rapper realizing that a guy from the news, who killed his pregnant girlfriend and committed suicide, was actually his fan Stan. 

Stan is a satire of the celebrity culture where fans overly obsess about their favorite stars.

Total Views on YouTube - 689 Million

She Will Be Loved is a 2004 song by the American pop band Maroon 5. It was released as a single in their first studio album titled Songs About Jane. 

Co-written by Adam Levine and James Valentine, the song was produced by Matt Wallace under the Octone Label.

She Will Be Loved's official music video was uploaded to YouTube on June 17, 2009; the video currently has over 689 million views. 

The track was nominated at the Grammy Awards in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and is considered Maroon 5's breakthrough song.

In the song, the narrator obsesses over an 18-year-old girl. The girl is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, whereas the narrator has a strong crush on her. He goes to her home uninvited and even stalks her from afar in the rain. 

The guy asks the girl to compromise, which can certainly be interpreted in many ways. Some listeners have suggested that the guy asked her to compromise in exchange for him getting rid of her abusive boyfriend.

Total Views on YouTube - 763 Million

Creep by Radiohead is a desperate song about infatuation. It featured in their first album Pablo Honey. 

Although the song wasn't initially a hit, it became a global sensation after getting reissued in 1993. Creep is considered the most successful single of Radiohead and one of the greatest songs of all time, as per Rolling Stone. 

The song was uploaded to YouTube on July 18, 2008, nearly 16 years after its original release. Despite the late release on YouTube, it has still managed to garner over 763 million views as of 2023.

The narrator of Creep is a guy with low self-esteem who struggles to express his feelings for a girl. The boy feels that he is not worthy of the girl but wants to become a better version of himself. The consecutive lines "I don't belong here" and "She's running out" hints that the guy has finally turned into a stalker and drops in uninvited on the girl, who is now running for her life.

The lyrics of this song are pretty straight forward. The narrator even calls himself "a creep" and a "weirdo". Well, at least he is not trying to disguise himself as a hopeless romantic.

Total Views on YouTube - 1 Billion

Every Breath You Take by The Police is the quintessential song about stalkers. It was featured in the band's 1983 album Synchronicity. 

The song, which was composed by band member Sting, became the biggest hit of 1983 in the US and Canada. It remained no. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight consecutive weeks. 

The track became available on YouTube on July 18, 2008, nearly 25 years after its original release. The song has gone on to garner over a billion views despite its late release on the video-sharing platform.

The song is another example of a stalker disguising himself as a hopeless romantic. The narrator continuously talks about watching his significant other. He watches her breathing, sleeping, playing, and speaking, among others. 

No matter what the girl does, she is always under the guy's surveillance. Further, the narrator also goes on to objectify the woman by calling her a possession. 

Total Views on YouTube - 1.1 Billion

Grenade is a 2010 song by American musician Bruno Mars, featured in his debut album titled Doo-Wops & Hooligans. 

The track reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Canadian Hot 100 chart. It also became a major hit on YouTube, earning over 1.1 billion views. 

The song portrays a guy desperate for a woman to love him back. He sings about catching a grenade or throwing his hands on a blade for her but gets upset when he learns that she wouldn't do the same for him. 

Firstly, just because someone is willing to throw their life away for you, doesn't mean you should too. The protagonist's desperation is more evident in the song's video where he drops in unannounced with a piano. 

The character's idiocy is even clear to the song composers who have discreetly asked viewers not to take the song literally or follow the course of his actions.

Total Views on YouTube - 1.3 Billion

Never Gonna Give You Up is a 1987 song by English musician Rick Astley. 

Produced and written by Stock Aitken Waterman, the single featured in Rick's first album Whenever You Need Somebody. 

The song reached no. 1 in the US, UK, and West Germany charts. It also won the Best British Single Award at the Brit Awards in 1988.

Subsequently, its video was released on YouTube on October 25, 2009. Since then, the song has already generated over 1.3 billion views. 

It might come off as offensive to fans of Rick Astley or Rickrolling; however, Never Gonna Give You Up comes off as a song about a stalker. 

There have multiple discussions on whether or not the single is about a creepy stalker. The supporters of this theory suggest that Rick's deep baritone voice, infused with obsessive lyrics, gives off a stalker vibe. 

Netizens mention that the protagonist's promise to "never give you up" could turn out problematic in case of a divorce or break up. Further, jokes like "if Rick Astley ever took someone hostage, he would never give them up" also support the stalker theory.