What is the greatest pop song ever written?

[Jax_Vol]

My first thought on hearing phrase 'Pop music'.



Madonna would be annoyed we haven't tossed her in here somewhere.

 

[kiddiedoc]

Duran Duran .... Hungry Like the Wolf

DD was often dismissed as being a pretty boy band. It was never cool to like them .... but I've always loved that song. It's infectious.

When I was in 4th grade, I saw a high school group perform an "air band" rendition of the song, when it was popular on the radio. That was the first time I had heard it, and I swear that it changed my life.

 

[kiddiedoc]

A few other considerations:

YMCA
September
I Will Always Love You
Stand By Me

 

[hUTch2002]

Summer Girls by LFO. You just don’t get quality writing like, “When you take a sip, you buzz like a hornet, Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets” anymore. Even Rob Van Winkle is jealous of those lyrics!

 

[MAD]

Song I bet none of you have heard.

Was a huge hit in 1983 & 1984 around the world but never released in the states.



Weekly chart performance for "Dolce Vita"

Chart (1983–1984)	Peak position
Argentina (Prensario)[11]	1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14]	1
Denmark (IFPI)[15]	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19]	1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20]	1
Spain (AFYVE)[22]	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13]	2
Ireland (IRMA)[18]	2
Norway (VG-lista)[21]	2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24]	2
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[23]	3
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25]	3
Uruguay (UPI)[27]	3
West Germany (GfK)[28]	3
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[16]	4
UK Singles (OCC)[26]	5
Italy (Musica e dischi)[17]	9
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12]	85

 

[hUTch2002]

Is "beat it" a pop song? If so, that's #1 imo.

What’s crazy is MJ is so good you could actually argue Beat It, easily one of the best ever, isn’t even top 2 on its album.

 

[Jax_Vol]

What’s crazy is MJ is so good you could actually argue Beat It, easily one of the best ever, isn’t even top 2 on its album.

Yeah...he was the GOAT of pop. An amazing life,

Not really a close second place,

 

[LouderVol]

I wouldn't put any particular of his songs as my #1 pop song, but Elton John would be my #2 pop artist after Michael Jackson.

Bennie and the Jets, Rocket Man, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Tiny Dancer, Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting, Levon, I Guess Thats Why They Call It The Blues, Crocodile Rock, Candle In the WInd. Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

probably several others that would be in the top group on a lot of lists.

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

Summer Girls by LFO. You just don’t get quality writing like, “When you take a sip, you buzz like a hornet, Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets” anymore. Even Rob Van Winkle is jealous of those lyrics!

"New Kids on the Block had a buncha hits, Chinese food makes me sick."

Profound!

 

[hUTch2002]

"New Kids on the Block had a buncha hits, Chinese food makes me sick."

Profound!

I swear someone said, as long as you have a catchy tune most people won’t care about the lyrics. Here, let’s prove it. If that’s what happened, they were correct.

 

[n_huffhines]

I swear someone said, as long as you have a catchy tune most people won’t care about the lyrics. Here, let’s prove it. If that’s what happened, they were correct.

I think the defining characteristic of a great pop song is how fun is it to sing along to? Often that's a product of the tune, but lyrics and cadence, etc. are all big components to that.

 

[n_huffhines]

Hey Ya! by Outkast has to rank pretty high on the list.

- It's a timeless, massively appealing song that married hip hop and classic rock.
- You can dance to it.
- It's fun to sing.
- It's upbeat with ironically bummer lyrics that absolutely no one picks up on.

 

[YankeeVol]

Piano Man - Billy Joel

 

[IBlvNTmWrk]

Who else remembers???

 

[HollowaytoSeivers]

"POP Goes the Weasel".

Thank you, feathersax. Just thank you!

 

[hUTch2002]

Hey Ya! by Outkast has to rank pretty high on the list.

- It's a timeless, massively appealing song that married hip hop and classic rock.
- You can dance to it.
- It's fun to sing.
- It's upbeat with ironically bummer lyrics that absolutely no one picks up on.

I like some of their other stuff better but Hey Ya is certainly catchy.

 

[n_huffhines]

I like some of their other stuff better but Hey Ya is certainly catchy.

Oh yeah, they have much better songs. This is just their big pop song

 

[FLVOL_79]

Mmbop by Hanson. Hands down. The song goes hard.

 

[95 Vol Alum]

Mmbop by Hanson. Hands down. The song goes hard.

@GBO18

 

[zjcvols]

A few other considerations:

YMCA
September
I Will Always Love You
Stand By Me

To the bolded, that is basically timeless. It's one of the first songs a lot of people hear because of how popular that song is.

 

[GBO18]

Mmbop by Hanson. Hands down. The song goes hard.

Yep and also I want it that way by the Backstreet Boys. Both songs are perfection.

 

[GroverCleveland]

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Yesterday - Beatles

 

[GroverCleveland]

I wouldn't put any particular of his songs as my #1 pop song, but Elton John would be my #2 pop artist after Michael Jackson.

Bennie and the Jets, Rocket Man, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Tiny Dancer, Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting, Levon, I Guess Thats Why They Call It The Blues, Crocodile Rock, Candle In the WInd. Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

probably several others that would be in the top group on a lot of lists.

My favorite EJ songs are probably Feel Like a Bullet in the Gun of Robert Ford and Goodbye Yellowbrick Road.