A thread to bring together the most gorgeous pop melodies you've ever heard

Cheap Trick - Voices

 

New Order - Age of Consent

 

I've always loved the melody of this - almost like a lullaby, modulating from minor to major keys

 

Fleetwood Mac, "Dragonfly"...Danny Kirwan at his peak.

 

I love this one too. I remember first hearing it on their 1971 LP 'Distant Light' and being so instantly taken in by the wandering melody, rolling tempo and the harmonium accompaniment. It's rare that a song grabs me as instantaneously as this one did.

 

The Zombies - Care of Cell 44

 

Camel - Highways of the Sun

 

The Superlatives, "Won't You Please Be My Baby"....by the way, to the OP, this is a great idea for a thread!

 

What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life

 

Simon and Garfunkle, Bridge Over Troubled Water

 

RIP Danny

 

Probably my favorite song/melody ever...

Haunting, beautiful and memorable.

 

Is it possible after 60+ years of music appreciation, I'm at a loss as to how one separates a melody from the singer who sings it, or the performance they are known for - particularly in a "pick your favorite" thread.

Oh, I'm perfectly good highlighting "Bring The Mountain Down" by Carmen Rizzo, as blisslfully rendered by Grant Lee Phillips;
or trance queen Zoe Johnston's lilting "You & I" with Delerium;
Phil Collins' astonishingly-heart-rendering song catalog contains such gems as "Take A Look At Me Now" from Against All Odds, and "All Of My Life";
and then there's even "Tiptoe Through The Tulips", which is hard to even listen to in its' most famous 1960's rendition.

But, how do you separate them in your mind from the specific memonic performance tacked onto them in your head, to fairly judge only the melody? How does one separate a Springsteen tune from, "I Like Springsteen", and the 70,000 times you've heard him and him alone taking the mic on it?

And for that matter, what about the background parts, or chord structure (which, by definition, is not a part of a melody that can just as well be re-arranged to live in some totally different arrangement - seek out Sarah McLachlan's "By-the-shores-of-Gitchee-Goomee"-infused take on "Unchained Melody"). I can't deny the melodic journey of Paul Simon's "Hearts & Bones", but I honestly can't separate the tune from the background, it's so evocative of the verse (another thing the melody, technically, isn't.).