Rambling on a Piece of Rock

Rambling on a Piece of Rock by Roxanne McDonald

What makes a song? What makes a song a favorite? What makes a song the greatest of all time?

1. “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan
2. “Satisfaction”, The Rolling Stones
3. “Imagine”, John Lennon
4. “What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye
5. “Respect”, Aretha Franklin
6. “Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys
7. “Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry
8. “Hey Jude,” The Beatles
9. “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Nirvana
10. “What’d I Say,” Ray Charles

Top 10 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”

What does it mean to say “I love that song!”? How does one explain or justify, if, say, he or she has a grade hanging over the head and is forced to, a “favorite” song?

Most challenging, yet, is how does one go about discriminating between such a massive passel of “great” songs to come up with that definitive fav?

Besides the obvious universality of music in general, that is, what is it that makes us like or love a particular piece and, further, share this profound appreciation whether we can articulate it or not?

The air-quotes as necessarily irritating as they are, here I sit, wondering such things.

This unanswerable-in-250-words-or-less question came up yesterday, when I was doing some reminiscing and writing on one of my absolute favorite songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan [who for me is up there with a select few other greatest-ever lyricists—Cohen, Costello…].

Also, I just finished mentioning in the Best Dylan Songs piece how Paul Friedlander suggests the elements to consider when analyzing/reviewing a rock song, include the music (the ensemble, the rhythmic emphasis, the instrumental style, and the vocal solo); the lyrics (the meaning and the message); the artist’s/artists’ history; and the societal context/impact.

I may have missed the further suggestions by Friedlander, but see a couple more components that go into and make a rock piece…or make it “good”: psychological implication and accessibility by association.

That is, how the listening culture mentally perceives the work, what it makes us remember or think of, and how relatable it is certainly contribute to the impact it has on us and make it a favorite, as well, no?

Consider the intimacy of “Georgia” or the simplicity of “Sweet Home Alabama,” for example, and note how both have universal [in the nationwide sense] appeal because they call up memories of home, which we can relate to on any number of levels—be it because we were born in, grew up in, came from, and/or long to return to Georgia or Alabama specifically or home generally.

This, of course, makes the singular expressed appreciation of a piece even more subjective, more personal, more biased. Maybe there were not as many people making “The Macarena” as popular as “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” for instance, but for some reason other than lyrics and beat each had a following; each had enough people personalizing the piece, making it his or her own.

In the same respect, it is necessary to acknowledge that to analyze is not necessarily to evaluate or quantify, but to qualify, to discuss what qualifies a song as ear-worthy, heart-worthy, soul-worthy. And, yeah, the above comparison was a weak one [especially since one is not even rock, really. I don’t know what it is other than a one-hit wonder that made, for a brief moment, a whole culture turn pod people followers.]

Then again, you might tell this person so not trained in music [beyond a single music appreciation course and another elective in music composition which I failed at, miserably] that such complicated preponderances should be left to the likes of more knowledgeable musicologists or music writers at Rolling Stone or that I should just be satisfied when someone says, simply, “That’s my favorite song!”

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