* what key is it in, and how can you tell?
* did you hear the grand reunion of themes at the end, or the counterpoint in the interlude (fucking counterpoint in pop music!)?
* how can you even tell that you've arrived at the chorus the first time? Isn't the music supposed to change for the chorus?
* just noticed this one: when the melody starts the 3rd verse, the strings are still busy playing through an accompanimental phrase that started in the previous chorus. So accompaniment, main melody and sectional divisions are tapered
* just sing the goddamned melody out loud. Listen how it outlines and suggests it own chordal accompaniment, while at the same time it has a clear, catchy melodic shape and goal. Also take note of the range-- it's actually difficult to sing because of some of the melodic leaps required
In short, this is a melody and setting on par with the theme from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, or an aria by Bellini.
Edit: since author mentioned Coltrane-- it's worth noting that the first 10 minutes of Love Supreme is Coltrane doing Beethovenian motivic variations over a groove. Beethovenian motivic variations are so prominent even today because they are a surefire way to create musical coherence. E.g., even if Coltrane had a bad night you've still got a hundred chances to hear transpositions, elongations, juxtapositions, and forward development of that little motive over the groove. There's built-in redudancy there.
On the other hand, if you're going to write a pithy melody with a clear rhyming scheme like "God Only Knows," you'd better have every rhythmic and melodic proportion mapped out exactly as you want it. Melodic prowess is more like solving some kind of musical sudoko-- if you don't get it right then the entire audience will hear how it doesn't add up properly.