I've recently started compiling my 100 favorite* albums of the aughts**. One of my criteria/tiebreakers was best song, which logically led to the question of what makes a song great. Here's a partial list of the reasons I consider a song great:
*Favorite, not best or greatest. I'm not that cocky.
**Yes, i realize the aughts technically run from 2001 to 2010. I just don't care that much.
It is 100% awesome
The king of all songs. Often, I compliment the artist out loud when one of these songs ends. Man, that Ted Leo can write a song. The best example I can give here is Fake Empire by The National. It has 40 more plays than any other song in my iTunes.
It makes a killer reference
Let's call this one cognitive assonance*. If I like something, and you like the same thing, I'm more likely to like you. Thus, if a band references something that I like in a song, that will bump my rating up a couple spots. The most frequent genre this one applies to is Hip Hop. Here's Let it Rattle by P.O.S.. There are multiple cognitive assonances at play here. First, I heard of P.O.S. because he brought Craig Finn of The Hold Steady on to a track his previous album, Audition. Second, he references a stellar Mitch Hedberg bit. Listen for it at 0:34 in the video below. Third, he references The Big Lebowski at the end ("You're out of you're element, Donny. Shut up.") Check it out at 3:04.
*I wanted to use the transitive property here, but my math snobbery didn't permit it.
Emotional connection
This is obviously the most difficult to explain, but these are often my favorite songs. These songs bring me back to a very particular time/place. My favorite example here is the entire Meadowlands album by The Wrens. I fell in love with this entire album during my time in Boston. The album is full of uncertainty about the present, regret about the past, and ambivalence about the future, which pretty much nailed me in 2006-2007. I listened to this one almost everyday when walking to BC. Not necessarily good times, but awesome music.
That one awesome section
Perhaps the best example of all time for this is Bohemian Rhapsody, actually has two That Awesome Sections. The first is the entire second half of the song. The second is the headbanging section. Yes, you know what one that is.
I'm going with two examples of this. The first is Ambling Alp by Yeasayer. This is a very good song anyway, but the awesome part is the breakdown in the middle with the staccato triplets and the falsetto (not coincidentally, two of the greatest musical inventions). The awesome part starts at 2:24:
The second example is Fools* by The Dodos. This awesome part is the post-chorus that interrupts the time signature a little bit (maybe it is in 11/8?). Anyway, check it out at 1:23:
* I'm a little ashamed to admit that a Bud Lime commercial made me like this song. Also, Lights Out by Santogold and Daylight by Matt and Kim were brought to my attention by liquor ads.
Greater than the sum of its parts/Guilt
The best analogy here is the 2006 Eastern Conference NBA All Stars. This was the year after the Pistons won the championship with 5 very good starters (Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncy Billups), but no superstars. for the 2006 All Star game, four of these were added to the Eastern Conference squad (not Prince). Essentially, they were elected because they were the best players on the best team, not because they were individually awesome. It felt like they should have some reps on the All-Star team.
Anyway, that's how I feel about all of the Drive-By Truckers albums I own.
Nostalgia/Inertia
Admittedly, these are two sad reasons that a song has 5 stars. If I had my druthers, I'd probably knock them down a star, but I'm a big softy. These are songs I really liked at one time but either my tastes have changed or I came to my senses. Sorry Soundgarden (you still have a cool video though):
Fun to play/pretend to play
Back when I pretended to play guitar, I added a bunch of tracks for this reason (looking at you Yellow Ledbetter). Now, most of these come from Rock Band/Guitar Hero. Best example of all time: Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. I wouldn't have gone near this song without Guitar Hero 3. It also gets bonus points for the picture-in-picture on the guitarists fingers during the solos.
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Now playing: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Four Night Rider
via FoxyTunes
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