Greatest song ever written

Is this some kind of follow-up to the 100 greatest number 1 singles that was on TV recently?

I have to agree that John Lennon's 'Imagine' does not cut it with me, he was hardly in a position to be preaching about morals etc.

I have always held 'Good Vibrations' by the Beach Boys in high esteem but there are so many other great songs I don't feel that any one can be THE greatest.

I personally would create a shortlist of songs by genre

 

It was started in response to a 'Rolling Stone' article about the 'Best song ever written', which is of course a silly idea, like 'the best novel ever written' or 'the best painting in the world'. Artistic endeavour is, fortunately, not susceptible to objective measurements, apart from in banal terms of highest price at auction, most copies sold, etc.

But the best pop single ever is without doubt 'Waterloo Sunset' by the Kinks.

 

Sorry Joe, I stand corrected then!

Artistic endeavour 'should' not be susceptible to objective measurement but human tendancy is to place everything in class and rank. Hence message strings like this and rating polls the World over.

Logic would dictate that for as much artistic styles there are out there, at least an equal amount of personal taste exists, therefore one persons idea of 'greatest' with any form of art is really only the opinion of a specific demographic/group of people.

Now respect for art is a different matter because if we are open minded then we can always appreciate artistic quality even if it does not conform to our own taste