Jim123

Jim of Seattle, if you go back and read my 2 posts you'll see I repeat the phrase "to me" several times. This means my opinions expressed are "my" opinions addressed to what makes a song great to "me" ......... that means I'm *NOT* addressing what makes a song great to you or anyone else. A thousand different people can have a thousand "different" reasons as to why a song is great to them. All, absolutely *ALL*, of those reasons are 100% valid. It's ok for people to not have precisely "your" reasons, or "my" reasons, regarding why or why not they consider any particular song great or not. Diversity exists whether we like it or not. I think "Over The Rainbow" is one of the greatest and most interesting songs ever written. Another person may think "Over The Rainbow" is a terrible song of no interest at all. *BOTH* views are 100% valid for each of these 2 people.

I've already addressed your concerns in my post with

What makes a song great for "me"? I have a 1 word answer ..... "emotion". What engenders that emotion? A combination of all, or merely several, of the following things ..... the melody, the voice, the lyrics, the musical backing. I have very specific likes and dislikes, all based on my emotions, and of all the trillions of songs written over the past 100 years I would only truly like about 100 or so of them, about 50 of which I have written myself (which should tell you something). My liking or disliking a song has nothing whatsoever to do with academic analysis, therefore can't possibly be fully explained in academic terms. If the song goes to my heart then I like it, if not then I don't like it. It's rare for any song to go to my heart. And so far, not one instrumental that I've heard over the past 65 years of my life has ever gone to my heart ..... I just prefer songs. To "me" a song is great if it hits that emotional spot within me.