It was just a game — a lark — but worthwhile, I think. In August, I asked readers, “What is the Greatest Pop Song Ever Sung?” This had come up in something I had written. The last two days, I have been compiling reader responses (with maybe a few comments of my own). For Part I, go here. For Part II — today’s installment, and the concluding one — go here.

How am I defining “pop”? Well, broadly, broadly, broadly — basically to mean non-classical. Anything that is not “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” (an immortal song from Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder). We have a wide range of responses, some of which are accompanied by illuminating, or provocative, arguments.

In today’s installment, for example, Professor Michael Lewis of Williams College explains why, in his view, “Downtown” (composed by Tony Hatch, sung by Petula Clark) is the ultimate pop song.

A reader says he doesn’t know what the criteria are, and then he names two songs (“Against the Wind” and “Brown-eyed Girl”). He then says, “I always have to stop and listen when I hear them.”

That, to me, is an excellent criterion. When a song comes on, do you have to stop and listen to it? If so, that says a great deal about the song. It is a high commendation.

Another reader names “I Only Have Eyes for You,” in the Garfunkel cover. He adds, “I can’t explain it objectively. It got into my head 25 years ago and I still find myself trying to sing it in the car.”

Well, that’s a criterion as well.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these musings, by music-loving folk.