# Is there any SONG that we ALL would agree is good (if not great)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 7, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427 "2026-01-07T11:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/41 "2026-01-07T16:14:02Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > But…if such a song exists, it’s probably one of those guilty pleasures none of will admit to liking. Ah, so “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Actually, I’m willing to admit I quite like that one. I’ll nominate it. And now that I think about it, I’m not even sure it fits comfortably into the “guilty pleasure” category. It just seems to me like one that a lot of people would look at that way. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/42 "2026-01-07T16:15:31Z")
The reason I posted a Bob Marley song was mostly because I was remembering a scene from the end of S1 of LOST when Sawyer, Jin, Michael and Walt leave the island on the raft. Sawyer is singing Marley’s “Redemption Song” to himself, and Michael says “Are you singing Bob Marley? I didn’t know you liked Bob Marley.” To which Sawyer replies “Who _doesn’t_ like Bob Marley?” But I picked “Three Little Birds” because I hear it often in TV ads and thought it would be a song that more people would recognize. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/43 "2026-01-07T16:20:10Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I’ve seen this with respect to Nights In White Satin, _ **Stairway to Heaven** _…[/quote] > > I haven’t seen it myself, but there’s a meme that some guitar stores have a rule against playing _Stairway_ when trying out instruments. My good song nomination: Year Of The Cat. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/44 "2026-01-07T16:20:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > A great song, but not everyone’s a fan of Dylan’s singing. The thread is about the song, not the singer. > [@Alessan](#): > > Elevator music. Perhaps, but for it’s time it was a game changer for the music industry. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/45 "2026-01-07T16:26:39Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > These threads amuse me because it should be apparent to anybody who has spent more than two seconds on this forum that we can’t ALL agree on ANYTHING. Yeah, I’m done with these. There is always someone who is going to pick your post apart rather than just add to the discussion. Screw it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/46 "2026-01-07T16:27:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The thread is about the song, not the singer. That raises an interesting question - what does the OP mean by “song”? Is it notes and lyrics, or is it a specific recording? ---
**Author:** ![Meatwater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meatwater/32/20074_2.png) [@Meatwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatwater)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/47 "2026-01-07T16:29:16Z")
I think **White Rabbit** by Jefferson Airplane, **Carry on Wayward Son** by Kansas, and **LA Woman** by The Doors are a couple of the greatest songs ever written. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/48 "2026-01-07T16:54:07Z")
A couple of offbeat (pun not intended) suggestions: “Me and Bobby McGee” – particularly the Janis Joplin version “Sympathy for the Devil” – This is my favorite Rolling Stones song, but I’m suggesting it because in a recent thread about the song many people remarked about it being a great song. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/49 "2026-01-07T16:58:29Z")
> [@anny\_m](#): > > “Sympathy for the Devil” – This is my favorite Rolling Stones song, but I’m suggesting it because in a recent thread about the song many people remarked about it being a great song. I especially like the live version, on _Get Yer Ya-Yas Out_. Very different sound, rhythm, and feel from the studio version – and, it adds a great guitar solo by Mick Taylor (who wasn’t a Stone yet when they recorded the studio version). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/50 "2026-01-07T17:03:44Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I especially like the live version, on _Get Yer Ya-Yas Out_. Very different sound, rhythm, and feel from the studio version – and, it adds a great guitar solo by Mick Taylor (who wasn’t a Stone yet when they recorded the studio version). I also like Mick Taylor’s solo in the live version, but I must admit I have a soft spot for Keith’s solo in the studio version. He doesn’t do much solos, but at that time had to because Brian Jones already was almost a non-entity in the band, and it’s a charming and interesting non-flashy solo. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/51 "2026-01-07T17:04:16Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > it’s a charming and interesting non-flashy solo. Agreed! ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/52 "2026-01-07T17:05:39Z")
I’d second “Year Of The Cat.” Even though most of the album cut is instrumental, the lyrics are absolutely beautiful. Sadly, this was one of my late wife’s favorites and it now makes me quite sad to hear it. Doesn’t stop me from playing it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/53 "2026-01-07T17:09:23Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > The Lowest Common Denominator Not to hijack my own thread, but it seems to me that the lowest common denominator is always one, and that is not interesting at all. I remember that in school I learned the method to find the _ **highest** _ common denominator, and the lowest common multiple. Back to the thread: **[Whiter Shade of Pale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA&list=RDMb3iPP-tHdA&start_radio=1)** by Procol Harum > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Songs so far that I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard before: I was so sure that those YouTube videos where someone reacts to the first hearing of an absolut classic were staged, as it cannot be that someone whith interest in music has never heard XXX before. After reading your list I wonder. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > But…if such a song exists, it’s probably one of those guilty pleasures none of will admit to liking. Ah, you mean **[Yaketi Sax](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcq_xLi2NGo&list=RDZcq_xLi2NGo&start_radio=1)**! > [@Alessan](#): > > what does the OP mean by “song”? Is it notes and lyrics, or is it a specific recording? As my own Yaketi Sax shows, a song does not even need lyrics. Of course every poster is free to link to their favourite version of a song, but I guess a song is a song no matter who sings it. Of course nobody would link to a bad version of their favourite song, right? Right!?! Oh, yes, of course. The Dope… Still, many good ideas so far. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/54 "2026-01-07T17:14:20Z")
Good (if not great). Not sure what that means to me. Does it mean that if it comes on the radio I’ll sing along, or at least won’t change the station? Or does it mean I’m ok with hearing it on heavy rotation, maybe multiple times a day, every day? I don’t think any song nominated so far meets the second test, I’d tire of every one of them before too long. One song I could probably hear many, many times before it got old to me is **Roundabout** by Yes. Something about the urgency of the bassline driving it just moves me. It came on the radio the other day when we were in the car and I was singing along, and my wife turned to me and asked, “You _like_ this song?” It’s not that she didn’t like it, but she didn’t think it was the kind of song I would like. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/55 "2026-01-07T17:18:16Z")
“Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena, que tu cuerpo es pa darle alegria cosah buenah” I remember the song being widely despised when it come out, but it does have a catchy rhythm… _continues humming the song_ ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/56 "2026-01-07T17:32:04Z")
I’m with those who think the answer to the OPs question is no. Not because there aren’t songs I love. I’ve got a playlist of hundreds, maybe thousands, of songs I like. But in every case I can imagine there are people who don’t like that genre, or that style. I mean there are definitely people who only like classical music, and despise all pop music. I’ve known them personally. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/57 "2026-01-07T17:33:37Z")
Also we are Dopers, how does the saying go? if you get two dopers in a room you get three opinions? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/58 "2026-01-07T17:34:46Z")
Yes, I think we’re looking for a song that transcends genre. “Master of Puppets” is one of my faves, but not everyone likes speed metal. Likewise, I will personally veto any prog rock suggestions with extreme prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/59 "2026-01-07T17:45:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > In my Uber days, the one song that everyone, no matter age, race, religion, or whatever, reacted positively to when it came on was _Dancing Queen_. I have a fond memory of attending a ballroom dance with a bunch of college friends. Someone speculated off-handedly about whether one of our good friends was gay. He was a guy who struggled with girls and how to relate to them, though he desperately wanted a relationship of some kind. “Nah,” we decided. “He’s just shy.” Within moments _Dancing Queen_ came on, and while I still don’t think he’s gay, let’s just say his performance undermined our judgement. We laughed so hard and when we told him about it, he laughed too. I don’t hate the song, but I’m not really a fan of that genre. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like **Bohemian Rhapsody.** ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427/60 "2026-01-07T17:45:27Z")
Here’s a full list of songs nominated thus far which I would not veto: Day in the Life America the Beautiful Lean on Me 3 Little Birds Respect Summertime Here Comes the Sun Bohemian Rhapsody Hey Jude Highway to Hell Cherry Pie White Rabbit Me & Bobby McGee Sympathy for the Devil I will add the Jimi Hendrix version of **All Along the Watchtower** , because there should be a Dylan song on the list and it’s not going to be by Dylan. Songs thus far nominated which I haven’t heard of, but may listen to if the list gets whittled down to a reasonable number: Child in Time Build Me Up, Buttercup Rhapsody in Blue Sing Sing Sing Superstar Year of the Cat Anyone want to veto any of those? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-song-that-we-all-would-agree-is-good-if-not-great/1026427.md?page=4)