Best Pop Song?

[mad rhetorik]

A while back I did a thread asking what your favorite "epics" (songs ten minutes long and over) were. Here's the flip side--what is the perfect "pop" song to you?

Here's some criteria:
1. Has to be at least a minute long, but no more than 4 minutes maximum.
2. Doesn't have to be in radio rotation.
3. Can be in any genre.
4. Can't be an instrumental.
5. Covers are allowed.

Based on the above criteria, here are some of my faves:

Joy Division: "Shadowplay" (Unknown Pleasures) 3:53
Although they never wrote a dud over their three or four-year existence, IMO this is the best song they've ever done (and yes, that's even considering the whole of Closer). A veritable anthem for the night, opening with a dark bassline and crashing cymbals and closing with one of the most desperate, striking guitar solos ever played.

The Pixies: "Where Is My Mind?" (Surfer Rosa) 3:50
Kind of an obvious pick, but I really had a hard time narrowing it down to just one sub-four minute Pixies track. Eerily beautiful, with Kim Deal's ghostlike backing and a more subdued than usual but still quite deranged Black Francis vocal.

McClusky: "To Hell With Good Intentions" (Do Dallas) 2:30 est.
A pounding backbeat, a joyously obnoxious yet undeniably melodic guitar squall, and Falkous chanting lyrics like "My dad is better than your dad/he's got eight cars and a house in Ireland/sing it." The irrepressible anthem for the smartass fucker in all of us.

Bob Dylan: "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (Blood On The Tracks) 2:53
A short, throwaway tune (by Bod Dylan standards) dedicated to a lost lover. It's brief, but undeniably affecting. As much as I love his long, evocative, scenery-chewing romps like "Visions Of Johanna" and "Desolation Row," I wish he would do more songs like this.

Ramones: "Rockaway Beach" (Rocket To Russia) 2:30
Both a hilarious Beach Boys sendup and rocking anthem. Da Bruddas at their best. And the radio stations of the day were too busy playing Kansas and Journey to run this little gem. What a disgrace.

Wire: "Ex Lion Tamer" (Pink Flag) 2:17
This has, word for word, some of the best and most absurd lyrics written, driven by one of the greatest guitar lines in a "pop" song ever. Even if lyrics like "fish fingers all in a line" and "stay glued to your TV set" don't grab you, that driving melody sure as hell will.

Anthrax: "Got The Time" (Persistence Of Time) 2:45
A cover of Joe Jackson, this opens with a lightning-fast bass solo then goes tearing off into a killer thrash number. Although the John Bush-era band has covered it, this only sounds right with Belladonna's punkier vocal style. Still one of my favorite Anthrax songs, even if the fans insist it's overplayed live.

Nirvana: "Serve The Servants" (In Utero) 3:30 est
Opening with a roaring burst of feedback that soon turns into a genuinely catchy melody, Cobain sarcastically intones lyrics like "Teenage angst has paid off well/but now I'm bored and old." While it's not my favorite Nirvana song ("Scentless Apprentice" is) it's the perfect opening number for the harsher, punkier sound of In Utero, and one of its most memorable tracks.

Jimi Hendrix: "All Along The Watchtower" (Electric Ladyland) 3:50 est
Hendrix takes one of Dylan's lyrical gems from the folksy John Wesley Harding album, and with a burst of electricity from his Stratocaster and some wild Mitch Mitchell percussion turns it into a psychedelic standard (you know, the one being constantly played with Vietnam footage on the TV ; P). Jimi's solo midway in burns like a mofo.

Motorhead: "Ace Of Spades" (Ace Of Spades) 3:20 est
As soon as I hear that bass intro, I'm in the mood to break bottles over my head. "That's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever!" Preach on, brother Lemmy. I seriously doubt that there would've been a Metallica if not for this band.

EDIT: I realize that many of the "pop" songs I picked really aren't "pop" in the conventional sense of the word (typically I think of pop as "under the 4-minute barrier"). Here are a few better examples:

White Stripes: "Hello Operator" (De Stijl) 2:00 est
There are other great pop songs in the 'Stripes oeuvre, but I really dig this one. One of my favorite lyrics ever is "My coffin doesn't have a phone." Meg White's goofy little "solos" are fun. Nice harmonica too.

Stone Roses: "Elephant Stone" (debut) 3:30 est
Classic jangly Britpop, though often overlooked in lieu of "I Wanna Be Adored," "Sugar Spun Sister" (good call Jar), "Bye Bye Badman," and "I Am The Resurrection" (which doesn't really fit the "pop" format).

The Who: "Happy Jack" (A Quick One..) 3:00 est
Early Who gem alongside the likes of "I Can't Explain," "Substitute," "I'm A Boy," their cover of "Fortune Teller," and of course "My Generation." Totally nonsensical and fun lyrics, a great bassline, and Moon and Entswistle pounding away in place of a guitar solo. Once Tommy rolled around they wouldn't make fun singles anymore and that's too bad (though I won't deny the quality of some of their later achievements).

R.E.M.: "Radio Free Europe" (Murmur) 3:50 est
Jar couldn't pick a fave R.E.M. entry, so here's mine.

Husker Du: "Books About UFO's (New Day Rising) 3:30 est
If it weren't for the really lo-fi production and abrasive guitar distortion, this would be a killer power pop song. Grant Hart nails this one. Also notable is "The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill" and Mould's "Celebrated Summer." Hell, 90% of that record is ace.

Weezer: "In The Garage" ("Blue") 3:40 est
The epitome of nerd rock right here, with lyrics celebrating "my favorite rock band KISS," and "twelve-sided die." Lots of Cheap Trick-meets-Pixies quirky fun.

The Replacements: "Waitress In The Sky" (Tim) 2:20 est
Yeah, I know Paul wrote better songs ("Bastards Of Young" and "I Will Dare" come to mind), but this hiliarious diss is one of my fave Westerberg moments. "Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer/Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear/A real union flight attendant, my oh my/You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky."

Points go to Dusty for mentioning Blur's "Song #2." Never got tired of that adrenaline blast.

Also notable is Big Star, but I can't narrow it down to one song.."Ballad Of El Goodo" would've been my pick but it's just outside of the 4-minute max.