Opinions are unlimited regarding contemporary music. Like, which artists are great and which artists “really suck.” Who deserves a Grammy? And what about those “Greatest Musicians of All Time” lists that ignore the fact that — hello! — “all time” has billions of years yet to run?

Most of the time, issues like “who shoulda” or “who’s better” can be argued for as long as two or more people want to go at it without ever coming to a resolution. However, when artists talk about their own work, the statement is more definitive.

For instance, take Dave Mason and his signature song, “Feelin’ Alright.” Mason wrote it in 1968 and recorded it as a member of Traffic — with Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood — that same year. Most of us would agree that no one interprets an artist’s work better than the artist who created it, but Mason says his favorite recording of the song is the one Joe Cocker made a year later.

“To this day, for me anyway, the Cocker version is the definitive version,” Mason said last Friday, calling from his hideaway on Maui. “There’s the song, and then there’s the interpretation of the song, and so for me — I wrote it and recorded it on the second Traffic album, but Cocker’s version is the definitive version of the song. I mean, without him doing it, that song would never have become as big as it became.”

Mason was enjoying a few days of vacation before the start of his “The Very Best of Dave Mason 2018” tour Wednesday in Honokaa. He plays Hawaiian Brian’s on Thursday and then goes to Kauai and Maui for one-nighters there before before departing for a series of shows on the mainland.

“Feelin’ Alright” is almost 50 years old, but Mason said it’s one of the songs fans can always count on hearing.

“I pretty much do a cross section of a lot of stuff — my (solo) stuff and Traffic — but I always do the songs that people expect and want to hear. That’s why they’re there. It’s no different than if I was there to see somebody,” he said. “If they didn’t do their main songs, I’d be … ” Mason paused. “A little upset.”

Mason was 19 when he wrote “Feelin’ Alright.” He had no expectation at the time that it would become a classic; the original recording by Traffic was released as a single, but when it stalled at No. 123 on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” chart, the song seemed destined to be forgotten.

Cocker’s recording a year later gave the song new life. More than 40 other artists followed his example and recorded their own versions — Mongo Santamaria, the Fifth Dimension, the Jackson Five, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Lou Rawls, Maceo Parker, Grand Funk, the Black Crowes and Lauren Bush, to name nine.

Looking back, Mason said that although he was 19 when he wrote it, “Feelin’ Alright” describes emotions that are as relevant to people in their 40s or 60s as they are to young adults.

“I intentionally write that way. I try not to write about time periods or social events. I write mostly about people and feelings and how people interact, and that never changes,” he said. “I get my inspiration from life in general and my own experiences and my own observations.”

Mason’s latest project as a writer and recording artist is “Pink Lipstick,” a six-song EP that’s available on Mason’s website (visit davemasonmusic.com) and at his concerts. The title song is a fascinating lyric tale of a man of no specified age who is involved with a young woman who is “riding high on daddy’s money” and “thinks she knows what it’s all about” but who, the narrator continues “is much too young … (but) she’s a woman too.”

“A friend of mine basically wrote ‘Pink Lipstick.’ It’s just a fun song,” he said.

Other tracks include “Winifred,” a song he wrote for his wife; a song by Capaldi; and his popular concert stage remake of “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys,” a song written by Capaldi and Winwood, and recorded by Traffic after he left the group.

Buy “Pink Lipstick” at a concert and chances are you’ll be able to get it signed.

“I usually go out after the concerts and sign T-shirts and CDs,” Mason said, describing himself as “a touring man.”

“Touring is pretty much what I do,” he continued. “It’s what I do almost every year. We’ll be out through the middle of March and I’ll take maybe a month off.”

While he’s on tour, Mason’s life is simple.

“I play. I sleep,” he said with a chuckle. “I have my own bus that I travel on, so I’m not packing and unpacking every night.“

Coming up later this year is a collaboration with another Hall of Fame guitarist, Steve Cropper of Booker T & The M.G.’s, an acclaimed studio musician since the early 1960s. Mason says they’ll be playing “my stuff and Traffic” and songs that Cropper wrote or recorded as a studio musician.

“Booker T. & The M.G.’s backed so many people it’s crazy,” Mason said, enthusiasm evident in his voice. “It’ll be a show packed with a lot of hits.”