Patti Smith became known in the late 1970s as the “poet laureate of punk rock.” But the truth is that she likely never saw much of a distinction from her earlier work as a writer, and her job as a singer.

Inspired in equal measure by Bob Dylan, Ramones and early American garage rock, Patti Smith created a challenging, emotionally charged body of work. Through the medium of punk rock, she dared to ask the big questions.

Patti Smith is one of the greatest rock artists of all time. These are her 10 best songs!

Top 10 Songs by Patti Smith

10. “Free Money”

There were two groups who really liked punk rock early on – highly excitable kids and music writers. The writers, in particular, liked Patti Smith. But their admiration didn’t just lie in the fact that Smith was a writer herself who had turned to fronting a rock band.

Smith’s early albums, like Bruce Springsteen‘s, captured the very best of early rock n’ roll. “Free Money” is a glorious fantasy of stardom, sure. But it’s also bombastic, funny, and rather sad. It captured the dream without spoiling it. And “Free Money” also happens to be one of Patti Smith’s most rocking songs.

9. “People Have the Power”

Like Bob Dylan, Parri Smith was a mysterious figure. A daring artist who always followed her own path, Smith practically retired at the height of her fame.

She did return briefly for 1988’s “Dream of Life.” While she didn’t hang around long this time either, the album produced the great “People Have the Power.”

While the rest of “Dream of Life” was a slow, sombre affair, MC5’s Fred “Sonic” Smith’s guitar playing gives “People Have the Power” some familiar bite.

8. “Ain’t It Strange”

One of the great rock moments captured on tape, “Ain’t It Strange”, isn’t so much a song as a shamanic ceremony. At the heart of the song is the dialogue between Smith’s ecstatic poetry and guitarist Lenny Kaye’s Fender Stratocaster.

Dubbed rightfully as the Patti Smith Group, “Ain’t It Strange” shows just what a great rock band Smith was leading by 1976.

7. “Pissing in a River”

“Pissing in a River” showed that Smith was hardly about to give up her poetic ambitions after the success of her debut. In fact, the “Radio Ethiopia” album was dedicated to Arthur Rimbaud and Constantin Brancusi.

“Pissing in a River” finely blends the high and low art of which Smith was equally interested. Once again, Smith leads the song toward a powerful crescendo, a trick she’d learned on her journey as a performer.

6. “Ghost Dance”

Like Jim Morrison and The Doors had managed to do at their best, Smith and her group could move into mystical rock territory with ease.

Recorded for the “Easter” album as a tribute to North American tribes who fought against colonialism, “Ghost Dance” is a meditation on life lived in harmony with nature.

5. “Redondo Beach”

The young Patti Smith seemed to have too many ideas to keep up with. Most of them were of a very serious nature. And when there was humour involved, it was of the gallows variety.

“Redondo Beach” is a vamp on a 50s-styled chord progression with a memorable chorus. But it’s a song which captures the public’s observations about a girl jumping into the ocean and taking her life. It satisfied Smith’s desire to write mini rock novels and remains one of her best songs.

4. “Because the Night”

Patti Smith never played the game of the music business. That’s why she eventually was able to get away so easily from making music. But before she did that, she relented and accepted to sing a Bruce Springsteen composition.

The caveat to that is that Springsteen’s “Because the Night” fits Smith’s style. Furthermore, she makes changes to the lyrics and arrangement that make it all the more appropriate for her style.

“Because the Night” will be the one song that casual Patti Smith fans know. It’s her biggest hit. It’s one of the most famous songs of the era. But it’s a delight to hear each time. And I bet Springsteen might’ve regretted giving this one away.

3. “Rock n Roll N****r”

Maybe no other song captured the bravery of Patti Smith as an artist than the confrontational “Rock n Roll N****r.” Smith sings of rock performers like Jimi Hendrix in the song’s lyrics as if addressing martyrs.

Smith uses the controversial N-word knowingly. She includes herself in the category of those for whom the word could be used. She describes herself as a proud outsider.

And, as on the other songs on the “Horses” album, she lets listeners know that she will stop at nothing to find out what life and freedom are really worth.

2. “Dancing Barefoot”

The most gorgeous of songs in Patti Smith’s brief catalogue, “Dancing Barefoot” is a rare declaration of tenderness. This is also, in my view, one of the greatest love songs ever written.

The words carry with them the weight of the very chains of love, as well as the promise of absolution. Smith’s singing is sublime. It’s a unique entry in the history of rock music.

1. “Gloria: In Excelsis Deo”

With “Gloria: In Excelsis Deo,” Patti Smith created a punk-rock hero that every serious critic or traditional rock fan could like. The culmination of Smith’s early poetic journey, “Gloria” sees the artist willingly breaking away from tradition to find wisdom.

Famously, she breaks away from Jesus Christ in order to be free to discover New York’s seedy underbelly. Ironically but fittingly, Smith would leave music and seek religion just a few years later.

It’s the music that packs a punch too. Spurred on by Lenny Kaye‘s excellent, primitive guitar playing, Smith takes apart the familiar “Gloria” and reassembles it as her own. This was the moment that punk rock finally had a serious artist singing its merits.