Terminology 101

[Bob the Builder]

Who do you refer it:
Song, chart, tune, track ect

From Dictionary.com

Song: =
A brief composition written or adapted for singing. /The act or art of singing: broke into song.

Chart: =
A listing of best-selling recorded music or other items. Often used in the plural: A hit single that reached number 3 on the charts.
A sheet presenting information in the form of graphs or tables.

Tune: =
A melody, especially a simple and easily remembered one.
A song.

Track: =
A distinct selection from a sound recording, such as a phonograph record or compact disk, usually containing an individual work or part of a larger work: the title track of an album.

Most of the time we refer to “Songs” but that does not include instrumentals.
I use to use the term “Chart”, but that appears to refer more to the arrangement.

What on earth is the right terminology?

Brian

[Roy]

I use track. ("it's track number 5 on this CD")

[Yakov]

You could say "recording." For example: Basie's early recording of "One O'Clock Jump" is superior to the recordings of the same chart that Goodman made in the fifties.

Also, in the case of a standard, you could say "version." The version of "Jive at Five" on the Kansas City Five CD is slower than the one Basie recorded with his big band.

Or say "record" and pretend you're a collector of 78's

-yakov