The amount of ground covered by pop rock and soft and hard rock must be considerable. Does that allow these samples to pass under their respective banners?

The pop rock example has some of the same weaknesses as on earlier pieces where a crude attempt to sound like you imagine the genre does, renders it less authentic. I trip over that ‘baby’ reference as it doesn’t gel with the narrative voice even if that is engaged in relationship drama and has some typical reactions throughout the song.

‘Dearest one’ is more Max Bygraves than standing by graves so that pushes it away from the influence of goth on the hit parade.
It’s enigmatic –  which some pop is but less so I think than simpler messages that wear their common interest on the sleeve – in several places which doesn’t bode well for the pop rock hybrid.

As for soft rock, we’d have to run back through those things we’ve already covered to analyse A Common Misconception. Do jump in at any point. It’s the title right? It’s a bit long and clunky. I know we’ve moved on from pop rock and it’s connotation of popularity or at least the potential for same. I can’t picture James Taylor singing or playing it but then I can’t see him calling an album Tea For The Tillerman or Teaser and the Firecat, or changing his name to Yusuf Islam either.

I know when soft rock was in vogue there were dark rumblings. This explains all the metal and punk and new wave and stark electronic two note wails. Soft rock held its own though.

And this song isn’t soft rock: there is some serious nod to the misery of being rejected, if this is a dominant feature of soft rock, but it’s spoilt by that tricksy entrance to the chorus or whatever the title refrain is.

It’s more like folk rock in its miserablist form at least when you think of Cohen and Dylan; not that I want to invoke their spirit in such a sidereal post. The rest is of a later period when soft rock has been slyly nodded at several times.

Hard rock covers everything from Black Sabbath to the White Stripes with Deep Purple in the middle. Or Black Sabbath to The Black Keys via Blue Cheer if you prefer. I don’t see why you couldn’t use Touching Story even if it’s something you’d normally see in related genres.