I think some songs bring up certain personal memories (relationships, holidays, parties, intimate moments, or even just odd moments with friends that bring comfort), and, being as the human brain differs so much when associating sounds with memories, we can explicitly remember moments when we hear certain sounds. For example, I really like Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" because it reminds me of my first kiss. However, a good consensus is that the Run DMC version of said song is better than the original, but I have a personal reason to enjoy the original better which cannot be shared by the consensus.

Just as well, many songs evoke certain emotions which we derive comfort from, despite that song's quality. I personally think Fergie's "London Bridge" is a godawful song, but I still seem to like it for the childishness it provokes.

Songs do bring up personal memories.
I have a suggestion. Many of us have blogs and all of us have music. I would love to embed one of my Pandora music stations into my Blogger page. Do you think this will ever be a possibility?

hey cole - you can add pandora stations (or links to them) from your listener profile page - just click on the "+blog" button above your stations list.

as for songs being tied to personal memories, that is certainly true. but if that's the critical thing, then how is it possible for a song to slay us the first time we hear it?

you could say it's the situation that determines the intensity of our connection with the song, but I still think the quality of the song matters more than anything.

what I'm curious about is, what exactly is that magic thing that makes a song work so well in thousands of different contexts and for millions of different people?

mz

For all of the reasons mentioned above. Music is of one of our most primal emotions. Those deeper emotions inspire many more emotions and most of all memories of a the past, an event, a special partner. We have used music in our past for thousands of years. We are bred for music. Other animals have a few distinct calls and sounds and many can have more. But we have taken our communication into the realm of emotion. And emotions can stir the biggest and strongest of us to cry. Emotions are very powerful. Music is tied so directly to our emotions. When that one song comes out, or that "One formula of tones" hit at us during and event on our life and for many of us that would be the meeting of a special partner, those groups of tones implant upon us very strongly. As a society we are all moving along together. With many arms, legs, individuals all moving in the same direction. So that as we grow with common expierences, songs will mean the same thing to whole groups of people, and if that happens, not only does the artists become filthy rich with fame, fortune, and hopefully long life, but we all in a collective say, "THAT WAS COOL SONG" and if that COOL SONG THINGY happens enough, then the culture will change and often times for the better. Some examples of culture changing music and bands.
Beatles
Elvis <--Don't zap me from your space ship, he is still alive
Pink Floyd <-would they have been famous without LSD
Hank Williams
Miles Davis
Mr. Ray Charles.
**** ARETHA ***** We all know who I am talking about, you don't have to listen to her music to know!!!!!!!

Music is so powerful. Not only in American does music define a generation. BOB DYLAN, ok get it!
I have to admit, I don't get Bob Dylan, great lyics...I guess I am showing my age at only 40! Or is that 40...........

Music is powerful.
The Music Genome Project, lets look at that from another point of view.

What if the technology becomes so advanced that something like this happens.
My station over time (assuming that your picks are cumultive over time)
Should develop a personality of who I am. So if you could analyize not only the mechnical qualites of a song, group, musican, songwriter, one would eventually decipher who I am, my beliefs, my values, my insites.
I could then whilst wooing a partner in which to implant other songs in me head share my station giving her a much better idea of who I am.
Then Pandora could start a match making service increasing revenues, hiring more musicolgist(Is that really a job, how do I get it) and providing us with more and better music, thereby enabling us to "MAKE MORE MUSIC MEMORIES" (I know there is a pun in there somewhere) and more people will listen and subscribe to the Music Genome Matching company increasing revenue...well you get the picture.

I shall shower now after that.

I actually just posted a blog along the same lines, MZ, good stuff. My point in said blog was that there are certain groups that have this amazing energy about them. It's almost as if they wouldn't survive if they couldn't be musicians. And I think that energy is extremely contagious, more so in a live setting, but i think it's an important part of making records as well. For example, as i see it, my job as an engineer, in a nutshell, is to try to capture that moment and energy as best i can and add whatever else the artist and producer feel would enhance the experience. And if we all do our jobs right I think the energy of that performance can come through on the recording as well.
For example, if you listen to Stevie Wonder, you can tell that he gave everything, every time; and I think that is what makes a great artist. And the combination of all of the above can create a great song.

Song lyrics are poetry put to music. Those of us who enjoy poetry know that it is a combination of things that make poetry work just like words in music. Take " We find our hopes like childred, in boxes." It is the notion behind the words and our ability to sync up and relate to it. Whether it is for memory sake or theological or political reasons we sync or don't. It could just be the sound of the words themselves devoid of any real meaning or understanding. Words and lyrics are music too because they have their own meter and harmonies...guess I just defeated every objection and negative opinion I had for RAP not being music... errrrrrg.

hey ashley - an interesting idea, but then again, there are plenty of musicians who give everything they've got to performances, but who still can't make it work, right? certainly the 14 year old kid who just got his first electric guitar might be as into music as anyone on earth, but those first few chords still don't sound nearly as good as they feel....

and mike, maybe I'm in the devil's advocate mood today, but I would not say that song lyrics are poetry put to music. They are lyrics. In fact, there are ways in which music allows a song lyric to be much "less" than poetry, while still being great art.

The music liberates the language somehow in a way that it can't be liberated in poems (of course, in poems, the language is totally liberated as well, in the sense that it's free to do what it wants; but it's free like a parent is free - it has lots more responsibilities).

but we talked about lyrics last week...

I'm still wondering what it is about hit tracks that makes them sound so alive.

Personally, I think it's at least partly a case of intuitively, empathetically perceiving an artist in a state of musical, creative epiphany.

but the thing is, any musician can have an epiphany just discovering a Gm7 chord for the first time (and hey, more power to that!). that isn't a compelling listen.

so I have to think that the epiphany has to be a real step forward, not just for the musician, but for the music as well, otherwise it won't feel right.

which gets us back to the question again - how do we know? of all the mysterious characteristics of songs and music, I think this might be the most mysterious...

you tell me,
mz

Some might search to science to answer the mystery of what makes great music great; some might consider spirituality. My feeling is that the brilliant creators of these songs can give clues that reveal aspects of this challenging question.
Many musicians have spoken about a kind of magic that happens at some very rare performances. Robert Fripp has suggested that a dynamic is created by the fullness of presence of the listener and the musician at the same moment. The good feeling that is provoked by great compositions is probably a cultural thing and doesn't transcend time and location. However there can be special moments, when artists creative capacities are opened wide by a perfect configuration. In rare instances those moments are captured in recordings. These songs can have an eerie "meant to be quality", aural Mona Lisas.
Some claim that masterpieces are formed out of a collective need to hear a certain configuration of vibrations; the composer simply is guided by this community energy.

All the best folks, and keep this discussion alive!,

Marcus

When I first thought about this topic I was in the "it's all about the emotions" camp. After a little thought though it seems like a very mysterious aspect of popular music. The music I like is wildly diverse, from the most catchy bubblegum pop to the most austere prog. In fact I can find something to like in just about any style and genre, even country. Did I just say that?

It can't be the intensity or emotional input of the artist, because we get good and bad music from artists in all kinds of moods and situations. Example: Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors", recorded in the midst of all kinds of turmoil in the band, and yet it's a classic. Some say it was destined to be a classic, BECAUSE of the turmoil. I couldn't say.

MZ,

I think for great songs, sometimes you have to look at a formula that might be taking place. The idea of having an epiphany is plausible in the fact that someone may just come up with an amazing song which everyone can feel down in their feet, but I might attribute these two 1-hit wonders (i.e. Men Without Hats). You might be able to have a couple epiphanies (is that the plural of epiphany?) and bust out two or three awesome songs, but look at bands like U2 who always seem to have these 1 or 2 amazing songs on each album they put out...yet, although I can't specifically describe what it is...these songs seem to be built upon some formula - maybe slow beginng-->verse-->and then explosive chorus. Or possibly Verse in a minor key and then exciting chorus in a major key (kinda like the sun bursting through the clouds). I think the bands that can put out great songs in multiple styles (bluesy, rock, reggae, punkish all from 1 artist) are the true geniuses because they understand music across the board (i.e. Phish) not just their own genre. I would say the Pink Floyd reference falls under this category since each song is totally different from the next. Van Halen is a good example for my idea of the formula - you can always tell VH no matter whether it's Haggar or Roth. It would be interesting to look at some of the early stuff from bands with a ton of "powerful/amazing" songs to see if maybe they came up with a great song thru chance and then built their later and more well-known hits on that one song idea...anyways sorry for the stream of consciousness - back to work

Uel

The answer is, there is no answer! Sometimes the muse is with you, sometimes it's busy. Perhaps we should debate and define 'the muse'???