For a pop song, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with one better crafted than “Goodbye yellow brick road.” It’s got a wonderful tune, not at all repetitive, and wonderful lyrics. Going just a little bit off the beaten path, “A salty dog” by Procol Harum just may be the finest song ever written.
OTOH, one thing I think a well-crafted song needs is that it can be sung well by different people. I dunno that anyone besides Elton John could really do justice to GYBR, nor anyone besides Gary Brooker to Salty dog.
Of course, that’s why folk songs survive. As hackneyed as they are, songs like The Blacksmith, The Banks of Claudy, Annachie Gordon, or the Twa Sisters are really well put together songs.
I could go on here all night about what is crafted, in terms of song.
I coud go on a lot longer about what puts it all in the in the same place and the difference between what has been thought about and what is there among who is who and what is what and where is where and there is there and then is then and all that stuff.
Beyond Dylan and Joni, or behind, if ye like..there’s Jackson.
I love the recording “Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.” Only came out on CD in the last couple of years. That recording of “A Salty Dog” is gorgeous. Although “Whaling Stories” is exceptional, too.
