What makes a song connect?

A guy came to talk to me yesterday after church and asked me, "What makes a (worship) song connect with people?" I'll admit that my first reaction inside my head was a little defensive as I wondered if he was going to be critical of some of our song choices or something. But, as I started to formulate a safe answer, he cut in and said that it was when a song uses "I" instead of "we" and "me" instead of "us" (and so on). He wasn't judging any of our song choices at all, but was just thinking about what made some songs really "connect" and others not (including songs in the service we'd just expeienced). He went on to say that he thought that songs in the first-person -- whether old hymns or new songs -- connected a lot better with people's hearts. I think he's on to something. At the same time, I think there's a time to sing together as the church or the body of Christ (like in "Revive Us Again" or "Had It Not Been the Lord"). In either case, I think that songs from our individual perspective or sung as part of the redeemed Church/family of God speak to our hearts and allow us to have engaged spirits as we turn our thanks and praise and petitions to God. More impersonal songs that talk about God or talk just to each other as believers don't seem to connect as well, in my experience. Lots of worship leaders talk about "horizontal" and "vertical" songs, "horizontal" being to each other and "vertical" being to God. So, what do you think?