Greatest Songs of All Time: What Actually Makes a Song Great?

Everyone has favorite songs. The harder question is determining what deserves to be ranked among the greatest songs of all time.

Is greatness determined by popularity? Lyrics? Melody? Vocals? Innovation? Emotional impact? Influence? Or does the greatest song simply need to survive long enough that people still want to hear it decades later?

There is no single formula, which is exactly why the argument never ends.

A Great Song Needs to Make You Feel Something

Technical excellence helps, but music is ultimately emotional.

A song can have relatively simple lyrics and still become unforgettable because of the feeling it creates. Another can contain brilliant writing but never emotionally connect with a large audience.

Consider songs as different as “Respect,” “Imagine,” “What’s Going On,” “Billie Jean,” “Yesterday,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” They do not sound remotely alike, yet each creates an immediate emotional or musical reaction.

That matters.

Sometimes a few seconds are enough. The opening of “Satisfaction,” the bass line of “Billie Jean,” the harmonies of “Good Vibrations,” or Freddie Mercury beginning “Bohemian Rhapsody” can identify a song almost instantly.

Lyrics Matter, But They Are Not Everything

Bob Dylan helped demonstrate that popular songs could contain sophisticated poetry and social commentary. Lennon and McCartney repeatedly showed how powerful relatively simple words could become when combined with the right melody.

Great lyrics can tell stories, express ideas, describe relationships, protest injustice, or communicate feelings people struggle to express themselves.

But lyrics cannot be the only criterion.

Instrumental music can be great. Dance songs with simple lyrics can be great. Little Richard did not need to write a philosophical essay for “Tutti Frutti” to help change popular music.

The words serve the song—not the other way around.

Melody May Be the Secret Ingredient

Perhaps no ingredient matters more than melody.

A truly great melody survives different arrangements, different singers, and sometimes completely different generations. That helps explain why standards written decades ago can continue being recorded by new artists.

The Beatles were particularly brilliant at melody. So were composers such as Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Prince, and many others.

If people can recognize a song after hearing only a handful of notes, the writer probably did something right.

Innovation and Influence Matter

Some songs become great partly because they change what comes afterward.

“Johnny B. Goode,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “A Day in the Life,” “Good Vibrations,” “Purple Haze,” “Rapper’s Delight,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and countless others helped expand what artists believed popular music could sound like.

Influence should not automatically determine greatness. The first person to do something is not always the person who does it best.

But changing music should count for something.

Popularity and Longevity Cannot Be Ignored

Music critics occasionally become uncomfortable admitting that popularity matters.

It does.

A song does not become great simply because millions of people like it, but connecting with millions of people is itself an accomplishment. If a song remains popular for 30, 40, or 60 years, that becomes even harder to dismiss.

Longevity may be one of the best tests available.

Plenty of songs become enormous hits and disappear from cultural memory. The truly great ones survive radio formats, technology changes, generational shifts, and changing musical tastes.

A teenager discovering a song recorded before his or her parents were born is strong evidence that something about that song still works.

There Is No Perfect Formula

Perhaps the greatest songs combine several qualities: a memorable melody, meaningful or effective lyrics, strong vocals, excellent musicianship, originality, emotion, production, influence, popularity, and longevity.

But even then, people will disagree.

Is “Bohemian Rhapsody” greater than “Respect”? Is “Like a Rolling Stone” greater than “Hey Jude”? Where do “What’s Going On,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Billie Jean,” “God Only Knows,” or “A Change Is Gonna Come” belong?

There is no scientific answer.

And that is exactly the point.

At UltimateRankings.com, fans can vote on the Greatest Songs of All Time rather than letting one magazine, critic, or editorial staff decide for everyone.

Because ultimately, a song becomes great when people continue listening—and continue arguing about it.