whats the greatest song ever recorded?

[etilit]

I think in time...Imagine (by john lennon)

im not sure there is another song that can capture humanity

 

[Jonesy92]

I think, as a musician... musically some of the greatest songs ever recorded are many tracks among Pink Floyd's repertoire. On a personal level however, The Smiths tracks really speak to me in the most beautiful of ways.

 

[topdog]

This was fun to think about. When you say "great" I think that implies something that has had a strong impact on the culture. Pink Floyd and Imagine have already been mentioned, and I agree that they are worthy contenders. Here are some others that come to mind:

• Over the Rainbow recorded by Judy Garland on the soundtrack of The Wizard of Oz - This song has touched people all over the world for generations. Of course it's captured the imagination of children, but it's also spoken to adults in challenging cirstances. In London, during the incessant bombing of World War II, the people embraced the song and it's hope for a better, beautiful future in the midst of nightly terror and destruction. Many gay people identified with the feeling of being an alien in the monochrome hetero world, and reaching for a beautiful, Technicolor land that matched the fabulousness of the imagination.
• One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) recorded by Frank Sinatra on his album Only the Lonely in 1958 - This is a great piece of material (by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer) combined with Nelson Riddle's so simple arrangement (just piano, acoustic bass and drums). And Sinatra takes this song and infuses depth and character; it's a like a short play.
• Like a Rolling Stone written and recorded by Bob Dylan in 1965 as the first single off his album Highway 61 Revisited - This is the one where Dylan wails "How does it feel?" on his first all electric rock album. He lost some of his folk music fans, but many recognized the Dylan touch in the poetic lyrics. This marked a turn in rock music as a whole toward more "in your face" aggressive lyric and blues influenced sound. The Doors and the Rolling Stones took their cues from this cut.
• A Day In The Life by The Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - This climactic track from from the ground breaking album completely changed people's understanding of what a pop song is. It's a collage of different melodies, instruments, sound effects and vocals that combine almost like movie. It also captured the feeling of the drug culture, without ever making overt references to drugs in the lyrics.
• Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen on the album A Night At The Opera in 1975 - Like the Beatles, Queen threw out the pop song rule book and recorded this Freddie Mercury rock/pop/classical number that has no chorus, but has become one of the most identifiable recordings in pop music history.

I could go on - Benny Goodman's Take the "A" Train, Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, One by U2, and Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana all altered the shape of pop-rock music in their time.

More thoughts?

 

[darkjimster]

This is a tough one there are so many great song one can pick from if i had to pick one it has to be Allisson Krauss version of Baby Mine i think it beautifully describes a mothers love for her child

 

[brmstn69]

Even though I'm a metal head...