That's a tough call, Jerry.
There have been so many good songs in that last fifty or so years that a choice of one or two is almost impossible. Also, you're asking a group of singers to make the choice. That creates sub-catagories which most people don't have to deal with. I'm certain, for example, that many of us have favorite song which we love to hear but wouldn't, for one reason or another, dare to sing. In my case Stan Rogers' "Mary Ellen Carter" comes to mind. There are songs that we might forget about because we may have been singing them for umpity-ump years and have become so much a part of us that we forget that they are there until it comes time to sing them. At the top of my list is Utah Phillips' "Hymn Song". I've been closing my shows with it for twenty-some-odd years (except my Christmas shows which I close with "Have Yourself A Merry, Little Christmas" by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane). I've no doubt that each of us has one or more songs which are dearly loved but we are embarrassed to admit loving. With me it's a toss-up between "When You Wish Upon A Star" and "Moon River".

I agree with you about songs being a gift. I must add, however, that it is mastery of the craft which enables one to recieve and properly pass along the gift.

Stephen Lee