I have a couple songs I find come to my mind to be excellent songs, well versed and I could listen to again, and again, and again, and again, and never grow tired of them, I guess you might say if I had an I-pod these are the songs that would be near always being played list:
You Belong To Me - Jo Stafford
Route 66 - either Nat "King" Cole's originally or the early '90's remake by Depeche Mode
At Last - Etta James
Town Without Pity - Gene Pitney
several from the Beatles: Baby's In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, Nowhere Man, Michelle, In My Life,Eleanor Rigby, Something
Three from Barbra Streisand: People, The Way We Were,Songbird
Nowhere To Run - Martha Reeve & the Vandellas
Hang On Sloopy - the McCoys
Lightin' Strikes - Lou Christie
Sonny - Bobby Hebb
Elusive Butterfly - Bob Lind
Somewhere My Love (from "Dr. Zhivago")
San Francisco (Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie (this is also my most favorite male vocalist song of all time, McKenzie's vocals are fabulous on this recording)
Light My Fire - the Doors
Ode To Billie Joe - Bobby Gentry
Those Were The Days - Mary Hopkin
Son-Of-A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
Five from Simon & Garfunkel: The Sound Of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, Scarborough Fair (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme), Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cecilia
Imagine - John Lennon
Two from the Carpenters: (They Long To Be) Close To You & Rainy Days & Mondays
Three from Elton John: Your Song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Goodbye Norma Jean (the original in studio version from the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" lp)
Several from Carole King: I Feel The Earth Move, It's Too Late,
Smackwater Jack, Tapestry, Jazzman
Several from Carly Simon: That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be, You're So Vain,Anticipation, Nobody Does It Better
Two from Don McLean: American Pie, Vincent
Two from Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Killing Me Softly With His Song
Guitar Man - Bread
Now that's my list of songs that I think are excellent and would have near the top of my I-pod playlist up to 1972, I'll have to come back later, I have a couple of things to do for my list post 1972.