Ranked: The Top 10 McFly Songs

Mary Horner
May 23
5 min read

With seven number one singles in the UK, six top 10 albums and over 10 million records sold worldwide, McFly are a force to be reckoned with. Starting out as a pop/rock band, throughout the years their sound has ventured into pop-punk and rock, positioning themselves as a well-loved band within multiple genres.

2025 sees the now 22-year-old pop-rock band McFly set to headline Download Festival this spring. Here is a countdown of their 10 best songs!

10) Route 55

Like a hot sunny day in the UK, bassist Dougie Poynter’s lead vocals on a McFly track are rare but loved by all. ‘Route 55’ takes us on a journey to the good old days, past memories that linger on in our minds and a call to leave the past in the past. Mirroring classic Bon Jovi, Danny Jones swoops in to deliver a gritty, rocky chorus that transports you to the classic American highway of ‘Route 55’. A somewhat wistful but hopeful tune to kick off the countdown!

9) Star Girl

First released in 2006, ‘Star Girl’ takes listeners on a cosmic journey of vibrant guitar jams and trumpet solos. ‘Star Girl’ is out of this world - literally. In 2009 the intergalactic pop track was played to astronauts on the international space station. This was due to a phenomenal social media campaign by McFly fans, informally known as Galaxy Defenders (taken from the penultimate line of the track). Since then, the song has achieved earth shattering success. Debuting at number one on the UK singles chart, reaching platinum status and most notably being played every week for two years as part of Chris Moyles's BBC Radio 1 show. ‘Star Girl’ remains a fan favourite and a quintessential McFly anthem.

8) Touch the Rain

Initially intended for their sixth studio album, ‘Touch the Rain’ is one of 13 Lost Songs that the group finally released in 2019. Conceived during a power outage caused by a storm, the lyrics use the elements to strip the song back to create an unadorned, honest masterpiece. The isolated vocals, built up to blend perfectly into a classic McFly guitar solo, and drums that mirror the first rumblings of an imminent storm, gives a country nostalgia meets rural Americana vibe. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, as the record was written in Texas. A lesser-known but still equally nostalgic edition to the band’s impressive catalogue of songs.

7) Party Girl

A song that encapsulates a night out on the dancefloor, ‘Party Girl’ was released as the lead single for McFly’s fifth studio album, Above the Noise. With a music video featuring vampires dressed to kill and a 16th century manor house, this Nosferatu meets synth-pop track signalled an end to the punk undertones of their previous material. Featuring definitive McFly guitar riffs and harmonising ‘ooohs’, ‘Party Girl’, sustains itself as a song that belongs just as much in the club as it does on stage.

6) Room On The 3rd Floor

Take a peek inside the lives of a touring band. Stuffy hotel rooms, noisy neighbours, nonfunctioning air con and broken beds. This song is all about missing home comforts and the trials and tribulations of living somewhere that is not your own. The challenges that come with living away from home bubbles away in the verses and builds to a crescendo of harmonies by the outro. This slower-paced rhythm moves away from the 60s infused sounds of other tracks on the album like ‘Surfer Babe’ whilst retaining a strong connection to listeners across the generations.

5) Happiness

Warm, bright trumpets and lo-fi bass and drums - ‘Happiness’ captures the essence of McFly and marked a new era for the band. This 2020 track exudes positivity, and lit a spark of happiness in the dark isolation that the covid pandemic created. The opening track from their sixth studio album Young Dumb Thrills set the tone for the rest of the album - songs you can’t help but move to. From dancing around the kitchen to conga lines in mosh pits, this uplifting track sits comfortably as a top ten McFly song.

4) Transylvania

With organ-infused melodies, ‘Transylvania’ brings a Victorian gothic edge to the band’s otherwise pop collection from their third studio album, Motion In The Ocean. Theatrical in nature, bassist, vocalist and lead songwriter for this track Dougie Poynter explains how the song was formed through an imagined love tale - a stable boy and a princess that fall in love but cannot be together. Tapping into the storybook imagination of the band and their love for 90s group Jellyfish, ‘Transylvania’ creates a space that encourages listeners to feel accepted and free to be who they want to be. The call and response vocals in the chorus mixed with the marching band drum beat amplifies the unusual but beloved narrative the band created. A quirky anomaly in their catalogue of classic hits, this song is its very own musical, all within 4 minutes!

3) Red

Teased on the 2012 ‘Keep Calm and Play Louder’ tour, ‘Red’ is another demo that the band decided to officially release as part of The Lost Songs collection. Raw, energetic and lively, ‘Red’ reminds us of McFly’s power to create a rock song with a twist. Filled with edgy electric guitar riffs and blended vocals, ‘Red’ honours blues through its melody and rock through its chorus. Red and white flashing lights with a single hanging grill microphone (which singer Danny Jones throws out to the crowd and catches in one effortless motion) makes ‘Red’ one of McFly’s most energised songs played live.

2) Lies

Who knew that an upbeat trumpet melody and guitar riff melody would combine to make such an epic hit? The song in question, ‘Lies’, calls out deceptive behaviour. The bridge pays homage to the band’s second studio album, ‘Wonderland’, with the lyrics “I’m just one drink away/And I'm back in Wonderland like it was yesterday”. Echoing the much darker sides of mental health, and the orchestral finale seen also in ‘She Falls Asleep’, ‘Lies’ carefully balances the feelings of being caught in dishonesty with the frustrations of dealing with it. A certified crowd-pleaser.

1) Five Colours in Her Hair

A true McFly classic. Their debut single and first number one. ‘Five Colours in Her Hair’ introduces itself with a bouncy guitar riff and unified "Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo’s!" recognisable in its first few seconds. Rerecorded to feature a heavier pop-punk style, ‘Five Colours in Her Hair’ has evolved with the band, to fit their fun-loving but edgy feel. Inspired by the character Suzanne 'Sooz' Lee from the Noughties TV Show ‘As If’, the song tells the story of a girl with crazy colours in her hair who quickly captures the attention of everyone who crosses her path. Drawing influence from The Beach Boys, and dubbed ‘the new Beatles’ by the press, McFly had a lot to live up to. ‘Five Colours in Her Hair’ is the song that established the young band as a formidable force across many genres and stands firmly at number one on the top ten countdown!