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The greatest Pop song yet written and recorded.

 

This thread is an offshoot and was inspired by @mahgister’s wonderful thread "Interesting videos about sounds and music." I made a couple of contributions to that thread, recommending a video recorded quite a few years ago by (I believe) a music teacher, who sits at his keyboard while explaining and demonstrating the construction of the utterly majestic "God Only Knows", written by Brian Wilson (music) and Tony Asher (lyrics), recorded by The Beach Boys (vocals) and the L.A. studio musicians who comprised the legendary Wrecking Crew (instruments), the song found on the Pet Sounds album.

In my posts, I made the case for the highly sophisticated and incredibly brilliant chord progressions, modulations (key changes), and use of inversion (playing a bass note below the tonic of the chord being played on the piano) in the song’s composition. So when the video below appeared when I just jumped onto YouTube, it’s title really caught my eye. It is entitled "Exploring The Mythical Chords Of "God Only Knows"." Brian is well known for his harmony vocal arrangements, but that’s just the icing on the cake; the song itself is in it’s chords and melody. Some of the chord sequences in "God Only Knows" bring me to tears. Add to that the vocal harmonies---many sung in counterpoint---and Carl Wilson's angelic singing of the melody, and you have an absolute masterpiece of a song.

I have long considered "God Only Knows" my favorite song, and imo the "best" song ever written. I’m not alone in that; Paul McCartney has stated he feels the same. I could have added this video to @mahgister’s thread, but I believe the song and it’s appreciation warrant it’s own thread. Watch and listen to this video (and the one I posted in mahgister’s thread), give the song a new listen, and see if you don’t agree with Paul and I. 😉

 

https://youtu.be/I2PHOt9_fGc?si=7NVfhFUBn4aw_GGo

 

 

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jay15206
21 posts
 

^ Spector was Spector. I'm glad he made all his music before he became what he became. I've never heard anything bad about Jack Nitsche, though.

chrisoshea
377 posts
 

On the list;

Kinks - Waterloo Sunset

Devo - Gut Feeling

I. Berlin - Blue Skies

Zappa - Stevie's Spanking

Joni Mitchell - Edith and The Kingpin

G. Greshwin - Summertime

 

tylermunns
601 posts
 

Phil Spector’s vision was original. He was a producer, not an arranger/transcriber.  

He was also no dummy when it came to pop songs.  
“To Know Him Is To Love Him,” with it’s clever bridge chord progression/melody was written solely by Spector.  
He wrote one of my favorite songs ever, “Spanish Harlem” with lyricist Jerry Leiber.
Randy Newman played the “Jack Nitzsche role” on the brilliant Nitzsche-produced music for the soundtrack of the film Performance.  
In that same role as arranger, Randy Newman wrote the absolutely brilliant orchestral arrangement for Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller’s masterpiece, “Is That All There Is?” with brilliant vocals by Peggy Lee.

markny2011
25 posts
 

The greatest pop song written and recorded ....  Lots of interesting opinions here - but I think the answer to this question was not even mentioned !  (Unless I missed it in this lengthy thread ! ).....

The greatest pop song one could argue is the song that has remained on the top 40 charts the longest - meaning it resonated with the largest group of music fans.  It is:   

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey.  It holds the record for the most weeks in the Top 40 history with 86 weeks.   86 weeks !!!   

FYI - she has also earned more than $50 million in royalties for this single song.  And no matter your age, religion, or musical taste, the song is a pop masterpiece.

 

arizonabob's avatar
arizonabob
90 posts
 

My turn...

1  Imagine  John Lennon

2  No Regrets  Tom Rush

3  Triad  Jefferson Airplane (think David Crosby wrote it)

4  Don't Make Me Dream About You  Chris Isaak

They're all tied for first in my estimation

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