This week's Snapshot in Prose doesn't capture a particular performer at certain time in his or her career, as is usual. Instead, it captures a perennial keystone of popular culture---the hit song---and examines, via the insights and opinions of performers and other entertainment professionals of the day, what set one song apart from another---in short, what makes a song popular. We thought it'd be interesting to see what the likes of Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby had to say on the topic back 1935, and how salient their insights might be today. Read on, and see what you think.