3 Enduring Alicia Keys Songs That Will Play Into Eternity

Few songwriters and performers have ever come close to matching the crossover success of Alicia Keys. The glamorous songwriter, singer, and piano player has somehow been able to earn acclaim and attention in pop music while also appealing to those who enjoy more classical-style songs. She’s a mainstay on awards shows and has both street cred and appeal from all ages.

Here below, we wanted to explore three reasons why. A trio of tunes from Keys that have helped her stand above the rest in her field. Indeed, these are three enduring Alicia Keys songs that will play out into eternity.

[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Alicia Keys Wrote For Other Artists]

“Fallin’” from Songs in A Minor (2001)

This track, which opens with an iconic a capella vocal lyric before Alicia Key’s piano comes in, was released on her debut 2001 LP Songs in A Minor. A love song, the tune is about falling in love. But that affection is not without its hardship. Keys, who toes the line between pop star and city gal (and probably skateboards to work) is torn by her adoration for the subject of the song. She keeps falling in and out of love. Who hasn’t been there and felt this same feeling? On the tune, she sings,

I keep on fallin’
In and out of love
With you
Sometimes I love ya
Sometimes you make me blue
Sometimes I feel good
At times I feel used
Lovin’ you darlin’
Makes me so confused

I keep on fallin’ in and out
Of love with you
I never loved someone
The way that I love you

“Girl on Fire” from Girl on Fire (2012)

An ode to women everywhere who are powerful but also in the middle of going through something, this track comes from Key’s 2012 LP of the same name. With a big boom-bap hip-hop beat, Keys sings about the heat that comes from living a life hot with desire, ability, and confusion. Indeed, on the compelling track, Keys sings with her big, effortless voice,

She’s just a girl and she’s on fire
Hotter than a fantasy
Lonely like a highway
She’s livin’ in a world and it’s on fire
Filled with catastrophe
But she knows she can fly away

Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
She got both feet on the ground
And she’s burnin’ it down
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh
She got her head in the clouds
And she’s not backin’ down

This girl is on fire
This girl is on fire
She’s walkin’ on fire
This girl is on fire

“No One” from As I Am (2007)

While the first song on this list is about a person falling in and out of love with another, this song is about pure devotion. There are few performers who can belt out love songs better than Keys and this track is a prime example of her prowess. She is so believable and she pronounces her affection for the other. And on this song, she sings devotedly over a piano riff,

I just want you close
Where you can stay forever
You can be sure
That it will only get better

You and me together
Through the days and nights
I don’t worry ’cause
Everything’s gonna be alright
People keep talking, they can say what they like
But all I know is everything’s gonna be alright

No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I’m feeling
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you, you, you
Can get in the way of what I feel for you

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images