TEMPLE OF THE SONG
What are the greatest songs? WHY?

"Comfortably Numb" by David Gilmour, says Jonathan Giurintano, because "amidst The Wall's depressing themes of war, emotional loss, and isolation, Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb' provides a brief respite of aural euphoria to the listener. The pleasantly surprising chorus followed by David Gilmour's emotionally draining guitar solo cement 'Comfortably Numb' as one of the greatest rock songs of all time."

"A Day in the Life" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, says Rob Stephens, "a perfect encore to arguably the best Rock'n'Roll album of all time"--read more

"Fuel" by Ani DiFranco, says Anne-Marie Mueschke, because "it's one of hundreds of distinct poetic endeavors from the folk/rock genre that offers a moment's worth of one person's soulful and raw impressions of what she encounters around her and piques any listener's mind and ears to pay attention to the world. Her clever wordplay combines with an utterly unique voice for a killer song and the beginning of an obsession."

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" by Robbie Robertson, says Steve Smith, because "its pure essence of chorus, 'Na na na na na na,' draws us into unexpected, amazing empathy with defeated Southerners after the Civil War."

"Red Dirt Girl" by Emmylou Harris, says Pat Taylor, because of the life lesson in it--read more

"Smile" by Charlie Chaplin (with words added later by G. Parsons and J. Turner), which Eric Griffin loves "because it’s deceptively simple. Like many songs that become standards, its lyrics crystallize a complex of emotions in a way that risks over-sentimentality, but does not descend into mawkishness. As it cycles though its nine-chord progression, its balance of major and minor chords support the lyrics in such a way that a singer experiences this yoking of words and melody as balancing right on the very cusp of the gladness and sadness the tune evokes. And the sparseness of the lyric is important, too: there’s a lot of room to improvise as the tune lays itself out, which is surely why it has been so attractive to so many artists over so many years."