This Is the Greatest and Best Song in the World

In this ongoing debate, I find myself asking myself, "What would Jack Black say?"

Since I can't ask him, I don't honestly know. But I think he has already, in a sense, answered this question when Tenacious D recorded the song Tribute. For those who don't remember: the greatest and best song in the world was the first song that came to his head when confronted by the Devil, of which he subsequently lost all memory.

I think the point here is that you can record a tribute to the greatest song in the world, but you can't actually record the greatest song in the world. If you could record it, you could listen to it over and over again until it lost its freshness. Radio DJ's could play it too often and talk over the intro. Mediocre cover bands could play it in nightclubs. It could be converted a ringtone that annoys you when someone's phone goes off in a restaurant. Or (worst of all) it could provide the soundtrack for a car commercial.

Ultimately, the greatest rock song is the one that's rocking you at any given "rock moment", either on the dance floor, or in your car, or anywhere rock carries you away.

Canonize it, enshrine it, memorialize it, or over-analyze it, and it ceases to rawk. I assert that Girl's Got Rhythm was a better rock song at the beginning of the week than it is now.