WHO SAYS WHAT IS A GREAT AMERICAN POPULAR SONG ?

Who says what is a great American popular song ? The Classic American popular song tradition and its continued popularity is based on a great many songs written  beginning in the 1920's. That tradition is maintained even today despite the banality and crudeness of much of what is heard over the airwaves today. I have often referred to Alec Wilder's monumental research culminating in American Popular Song    The Great Innovators  1900 -1950. He played over 17,000 songs written in that  time period and the breadth of his study cannot be questioned. It resulted in criteria that he maintained represent the best of American popular song.  He insisted on the importance of " The singing line and including the elements of intensity,unexpectedness,originality,sinuosity of phrase,clarity, naturalness, control, unclutterdness, sophistication and honest sentiment." Quite a laundry list. Only occasionally did he refer to the lyrics of the songs he considered great but listeners hear both words and music and are well aware of the lyrics because that is what the singer provides. One may disagree with any number of conclusions Wilder espouses and he certainly has some very strong opinions about individual songs. However,one should respect the effort involved in producing such a comprehensive study,
 However, does anyone ask the average listeners  making them proudly explain " I really love that song ? " Knowledgeable critics certainly help define musical excellence but ,ultimately, they too are prisoners of their own prejudices, likes and dislikes.
Following Wilder, and building on his initial period for analysis, David Jenness and Don Velsey examined songs written from 1950-2000 in their excellent book " Classic American Popular Song  The second Half-Century, 1950-200. Picking up where Wilder left off, the authors felt that Wilder took too narrow a view with his insistence on the primacy of " the singing line " finding it " Too limiting" and that " A great song has simultaneously two or more " predominant aspects.----the horizontal contour that is a tune, the movement through time that is a tempo or meter, the gait that is rhythm AND the color and vertical density that harmony provides. " The authors maintain that music should be viewed as a gestalt or combination of elements rather any single factor. Most importantly , they believe that " A good song has an emotional impact in the very moment it is heard." This is a very important point and one with which I most wholeheartedly agree. Theoretical analysis of a song may be relevant and technically informed but it pales in comparison with the emotional reaction by a listener to a song that is always greeted by the words" I really love that song !

I have embarked on my own research into finding out from the listener, the  reasons people cite when they exclaim" I really love that song !" We need to acknowledge the very serious scholarship and analysis of songwriting by knowledgeable musicologist but they are still opinions albeit by informed writers.
Some initial focus group survey results reveal some surprising reasons people mention for their response to songs. They have little in common with what Wilder, Vanness and Velsey have established as their criteria for excellence in the popular song  . Listener's criteria d do provide evidence of listener based opinions and they will form the foundation of our ongoing survey design, Surprisingly, musical " experts" and  everyday listeners do agree on what they believe is a great song.

  BUT THEY DO HAVE DIFFERENT REASONS FOR  THINKING THAT A SONG IS GREAT

Stay tuned for further evidence from our pursuit of what listeners like about great popular songs.
'