**** The best version, or our favorite version of a song does not necessarily have anything to do with artistic merit, but when that song affected us personally, and who first expressed that emotion in the song.****
A very personal call, obviously; and I wouldn’t assume that those criteria apply to everyone. Personally, I couldn’t say “does not necessarily have anything to do with artistic merit”. For me, for any version to be a favorite it has to meet a certain standard of artistic merit. That’s not to say that “most” artistic merit will make it my favorite; but a version lacking artistic merit is unlikely to be a favorite no matter the memories it may conjure up. Just me.
A very personal call, obviously; and I wouldn’t assume that those criteria apply to everyone. Personally, I couldn’t say “does not necessarily have anything to do with artistic merit”. For me, for any version to be a favorite it has to meet a certain standard of artistic merit. That’s not to say that “most” artistic merit will make it my favorite; but a version lacking artistic merit is unlikely to be a favorite no matter the memories it may conjure up. Just me.