Slate - The New American Songbook
October 20, 2018 10:10 AM Subscribe
The New American Songbook is emphatically not a list of the best songs of the past quarter-century, although many of these tracks would make that list, too. As predicted by our panel, tomorrow’s oldies, like tomorrow’s America, will be a lot less male-dominated, and a lot more diverse.
Below, find the Top 30 songs, in order, all of which were nominated by at least two of our panelists. You can also read the individual ballots of everyone from Chuck Klosterman to NPR’s Ann Powers to Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood. Which of today’s hits will endure as tomorrow’s golden oldies? Here’s our best guess.
30. Idina Menzel – “Let It Go”
29. Liz Phair – “Fuck and Run”
28. Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers – “Get Lucky”
27. Alanis Morissette – “You Oughta Know”
26. Old Crow Medicine Show – “Wagon Wheel”
25. Destiny’s Child – “Say My Name”
24. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World”
23. Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z – “Crazy in Love”
22. Nine Inch Nails – “Hurt”
21. 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
20. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
19. Oasis – “Wonderwall”
18. Backstreet Boys – “I Want It That Way”
17. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
16. The Killers – “Mr. Brightside”
15. Céline Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
14. Santana ft. Rob Thomas – “Smooth”
13. Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
12. Drake – “Hotline Bling”
11. Eminem – “Lose Yourself”
10. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
9. TLC – “Waterfalls”
8. The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”
7. Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
6. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
5. The Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”
4. Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”
3. Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
2. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
1. Outkast – “Hey Ya”
Below, find the Top 30 songs, in order, all of which were nominated by at least two of our panelists. You can also read the individual ballots of everyone from Chuck Klosterman to NPR’s Ann Powers to Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood. Which of today’s hits will endure as tomorrow’s golden oldies? Here’s our best guess.
30. Idina Menzel – “Let It Go”
29. Liz Phair – “Fuck and Run”
28. Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers – “Get Lucky”
27. Alanis Morissette – “You Oughta Know”
26. Old Crow Medicine Show – “Wagon Wheel”
25. Destiny’s Child – “Say My Name”
24. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World”
23. Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z – “Crazy in Love”
22. Nine Inch Nails – “Hurt”
21. 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
20. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
19. Oasis – “Wonderwall”
18. Backstreet Boys – “I Want It That Way”
17. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
16. The Killers – “Mr. Brightside”
15. Céline Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
14. Santana ft. Rob Thomas – “Smooth”
13. Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
12. Drake – “Hotline Bling”
11. Eminem – “Lose Yourself”
10. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”
9. TLC – “Waterfalls”
8. The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”
7. Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
6. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
5. The Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”
4. Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”
3. Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
2. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
1. Outkast – “Hey Ya”
There are songs (music and sometimes lyrics) and there are records (the recorded interpretations of that music and sometimes lyrics) which often go to completely different places, pursue different "discussions". For instance. Bridge Over Troubled Water (the Simon + G original) and Bridge Over Troubled Water (the Coolies pisstake) and Bridge Over Troubled Water (the Aretha Franklin sweet soul adventure). The song retains the name but not a lot else.
I fear that this list (and the related opining) is not wary enough of this particular distinction.
posted by philip-random at 10:30 AM on October 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I fear that this list (and the related opining) is not wary enough of this particular distinction.
posted by philip-random at 10:30 AM on October 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Usual disclaimers about listicles apply (inherently bogus, etc.), but one thing that I'll immediately pounce on is the idea that a songbook should, ideally, be just that--a collection of songs that are open to interpretation by a variety of artists, and don't depend on the initial or most popular version for their quality. So how many of these really qualify?
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:31 AM on October 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:31 AM on October 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
call it the New American Jukebox and I'd have no complaint
posted by philip-random at 10:32 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 10:32 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Maybe there's one thing that we can all agree on: 'Hey Ya' is pretty catchy.
posted by ovvl at 10:38 AM on October 20, 2018 [20 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 10:38 AM on October 20, 2018 [20 favorites]
My reading is that some of the ballots were more about specific tracks that will make the cut when K-Tel releases the 10 Stardisc Digitally Remastered Version of Totally 2000s, which you can buy now for only 3 easy payments of $19.99. But some of them recognize that there are already songs that are in heavy rotation as cover songs that other bands do in concerts or special appearances, whether for kitsch value or because they are actually great songs or both.
The failure to include Toxic or any other Britney song on this list is really surprising because I feel like Britney covers are pretty ubiquitous and often highlight some of the craftsmanship that goes into those very poppy tunes.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:54 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
The failure to include Toxic or any other Britney song on this list is really surprising because I feel like Britney covers are pretty ubiquitous and often highlight some of the craftsmanship that goes into those very poppy tunes.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:54 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’m very happy that the number one song of the New American Songbook features the line “Don’t want to meet your momma/Just want to make you come-a.”
posted by ejs at 11:03 AM on October 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by ejs at 11:03 AM on October 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
“Don’t want to meet your momma/Just want to make you come-a.”
Ahem, that's "want to make you comma." Sticklers for grammar, those Outkast boys.
posted by explosion at 11:18 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Ahem, that's "want to make you comma." Sticklers for grammar, those Outkast boys.
posted by explosion at 11:18 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Given that it's Slate, I'm surprised they didn't do their usual contrarian thing and fill the list with Current 93 songs or something.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 11:22 AM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by thatwhichfalls at 11:22 AM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
The list that dares to say: anyway, here's Wonderwall. I guess that if you read this as a list of songs we're stuck with, rather than necessarily the best or the greatest, it will probably do. But who is to know?
Not long ago, I read about Pharrell Williams's song that's to be released in one hundred years, if there is anyone left to hear it. It made me wonder about the kind of songs that were released in 1918, whether any of them had a quality that could still speak to the future. If Wikipedia is any guide . . . well, I guess there was some mileage on "Over There" and "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." And brass bands still play "Tiger Rag." But otherwise, crickets; sheet music; ephemera.
What I mean to say is that none of us have any idea what is going to matter to people who are listening in the future or what they'll consider emblematic of us. I like that. Not long ago, I was on a T car where a tween girl was swinging off a pole and singing "Don't Stop Believin'" from the beginning. This is not a prediction I would have made, and I want to live in a world with unpredictable songs.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:22 AM on October 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
Not long ago, I read about Pharrell Williams's song that's to be released in one hundred years, if there is anyone left to hear it. It made me wonder about the kind of songs that were released in 1918, whether any of them had a quality that could still speak to the future. If Wikipedia is any guide . . . well, I guess there was some mileage on "Over There" and "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." And brass bands still play "Tiger Rag." But otherwise, crickets; sheet music; ephemera.
What I mean to say is that none of us have any idea what is going to matter to people who are listening in the future or what they'll consider emblematic of us. I like that. Not long ago, I was on a T car where a tween girl was swinging off a pole and singing "Don't Stop Believin'" from the beginning. This is not a prediction I would have made, and I want to live in a world with unpredictable songs.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:22 AM on October 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
It’s a list, alright... I think I’ll let time sort it out and see.
Not that this list is bad in any way. I just think it’s subjective, perfectly great, just — wanting somehow... but what do I know? Interesting, fun exercise, though.
(Brain suddenly flooded with ideas that others won’t agree with either, heh, I head over to Notes so I can play this game too!) : )
posted by misondre at 11:27 AM on October 20, 2018
Not that this list is bad in any way. I just think it’s subjective, perfectly great, just — wanting somehow... but what do I know? Interesting, fun exercise, though.
(Brain suddenly flooded with ideas that others won’t agree with either, heh, I head over to Notes so I can play this game too!) : )
posted by misondre at 11:27 AM on October 20, 2018
call it the New American Jukebox and I'd have no complaint
Were you also annoyed by the pretentious and glib reference to the Great American Songbook, which is a cultural object from an era that has disappeared and can't be recreated?
posted by thelonius at 11:31 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Were you also annoyed by the pretentious and glib reference to the Great American Songbook, which is a cultural object from an era that has disappeared and can't be recreated?
posted by thelonius at 11:31 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sometimes I think about how in Mexico when a song comes on the jukebox in a bar everyone might start singing along, but at the same time you hear Santana ft. Rob Thomas’s “Smooth” an awful lot.
posted by chrchr at 11:37 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by chrchr at 11:37 AM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Could we please just collectively forget about Smooth?
posted by sacrifix at 11:42 AM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by sacrifix at 11:42 AM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
What is HAPPENING here. I like Drake, but I long for the moment when people admit that "Hotline Bling" is actually bad. (And yes, I saw the "not a list of the best songs of the past quarter-century" part, but I don't buy that "Hotline Bling" has staying power, either. A lot of songs reference outdated tech.)
The only ones I can believe will stick around slot easily into themes: 7 Nation Army for sporting events, Mariah Carey for Christmas, Jay-Z/Alicia Keys for New York, Eminem for sweaty teenage rap battles, etc.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:42 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
The only ones I can believe will stick around slot easily into themes: 7 Nation Army for sporting events, Mariah Carey for Christmas, Jay-Z/Alicia Keys for New York, Eminem for sweaty teenage rap battles, etc.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:42 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Chili peps were robbed.
posted by cnanderson at 11:44 AM on October 20, 2018
posted by cnanderson at 11:44 AM on October 20, 2018
listen. i can't believe i'm even saying this but: where is All Star
posted by poffin boffin at 11:49 AM on October 20, 2018 [20 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 11:49 AM on October 20, 2018 [20 favorites]
Also no Taylor Swift. I swear this is such a classic Slate article I can’t even.
posted by cnanderson at 11:58 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by cnanderson at 11:58 AM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
and fill the list with Current 93 songs or something.
but they're not American.
posted by philip-random at 12:00 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
but they're not American.
posted by philip-random at 12:00 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Which would make the list both contrarian and lazily inaccurate. Even better!
posted by thatwhichfalls at 12:14 PM on October 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by thatwhichfalls at 12:14 PM on October 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
> It made me wonder about the kind of songs that were released in 1918, whether any of them had a quality that could still speak to the future. If Wikipedia is any guide . . . well, I guess there was some mileage on "Over There" and "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." And brass bands still play "Tiger Rag." But otherwise, crickets; sheet music; ephemera.
So one of the things I idly think about sometimes while drifting off to sleep is what the oldest song of current cultural relevance is. I've placed some increasingly tight constraints on what sorts of songs can be considered, though, in order to fend off correct but uninteresting answers. So the question has become something like:
"What's the oldest song that's currently culturally relevant, that's not:
The answer I want is Minnie the Moocher, but I acknowledge that getting this answer might require coming up with a genuinely ridiculous collection of additional constraints.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
So one of the things I idly think about sometimes while drifting off to sleep is what the oldest song of current cultural relevance is. I've placed some increasingly tight constraints on what sorts of songs can be considered, though, in order to fend off correct but uninteresting answers. So the question has become something like:
"What's the oldest song that's currently culturally relevant, that's not:
- Associated with any particular religion (this weeds out hymns)
- Associated with any particular political, nationalist, or patriotic group. sorry, L'Internationale. Sorry, La Marseillaise. Goodbye, Sousa. Go elsewhere, Over There.
- The anthem of any particular political organization. this weeds out Ode to Joy, but just to be sure...
- Isn't considered "classical music" or "baroque" or whatever (goodbye mozart, bach, wagner, and the rest of beethoven)
- Isn't associated with any particular holiday or ceremony (goodbye, "happy birthday to you.")
The answer I want is Minnie the Moocher, but I acknowledge that getting this answer might require coming up with a genuinely ridiculous collection of additional constraints.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
I’m going to guess if there was a top ten list of songs that answer Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon’s question that at least nine of them are nursery rhymes.
posted by cnanderson at 12:59 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by cnanderson at 12:59 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 1:05 PM on October 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Aside from Liz Phair, this seems like an accurate list of music I've heard in grocery stores and in Thai restaurants in Japan.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:08 PM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by betweenthebars at 1:08 PM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
What's the oldest song that's currently culturally relevant
probably Three Blind Mice or something like that
posted by thelonius at 1:10 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
probably Three Blind Mice or something like that
posted by thelonius at 1:10 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Don't know if Wagon Wheele belongs here, maybe some CCR instead? Otherwise, this is pretty solid.
posted by es_de_bah at 1:15 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by es_de_bah at 1:15 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think they are discounting the staying power of this essential modern musical staple
P.S. Clearly these people have never seen scifi, because the only music that will be played in the future is industrial/electronic music. Similarly, I hope you all enjoy wearing vinyl and leather.
posted by Query at 1:16 PM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
P.S. Clearly these people have never seen scifi, because the only music that will be played in the future is industrial/electronic music. Similarly, I hope you all enjoy wearing vinyl and leather.
posted by Query at 1:16 PM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Almost all of these fall into one of two categories for me: either I don't know them or I have heard them so many times that I never want to again.
posted by octothorpe at 1:19 PM on October 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 1:19 PM on October 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
For American purposes, it's likely to be something from the Child Ballads
I can think of half a dozen relatively recent of Barbara Allen, for example, and it's often played at folk festivals.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
I can think of half a dozen relatively recent of Barbara Allen, for example, and it's often played at folk festivals.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
What's the oldest song that's currently culturally relevant
Greensleeves, maybe?
posted by airmail at 2:07 PM on October 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Greensleeves, maybe?
posted by airmail at 2:07 PM on October 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
> Greensleeves, maybe?
That is a damned good answer.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:03 PM on October 20, 2018
That is a damned good answer.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 3:03 PM on October 20, 2018
And then I was like "what is the oldest song" and then a short while later I listened to "Seikilos Epitaph - Club Remix" on youtube because everything is awesome and/or terrible.
posted by surlyben at 3:09 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by surlyben at 3:09 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
The answer I want is Minnie the Moocher, but I acknowledge that getting this answer might require coming up with a genuinely ridiculous collection of additional constraints.
Puttin' on the Ritz is a little older than that, and it would be hard to come up with constraints that remove PotR without being removing MtM. I mean, "Was never publicly sung by Hugh Laurie" would do it, but that's a silly constraint.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 3:48 PM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Puttin' on the Ritz is a little older than that, and it would be hard to come up with constraints that remove PotR without being removing MtM. I mean, "Was never publicly sung by Hugh Laurie" would do it, but that's a silly constraint.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 3:48 PM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Kinda sweet that Patterson Hood listed one from his former bandmate, Jason Isbell.
If "Elephant" doesn't absolutely gut you, you ain't human.
posted by notsnot at 4:54 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
If "Elephant" doesn't absolutely gut you, you ain't human.
posted by notsnot at 4:54 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
If your old song needs to have words that people and/or cartoon roosters would know, start with Stephen Foster and work your way back.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:24 PM on October 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:24 PM on October 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The answer I want is Minnie the Moocher,
You know, I didn't think I knew that song, and then Leslie Odom Jr performed it at his Seattle show earlier this month and of course I did know it, and I am 100% on your side because is there a more fun sing-a-long song?
As for this list, I'm just so glad it has "We Found Love." That song really does feel like it will stand up, because it's so anthemic and fun, but who knows?
posted by lunasol at 5:25 PM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
You know, I didn't think I knew that song, and then Leslie Odom Jr performed it at his Seattle show earlier this month and of course I did know it, and I am 100% on your side because is there a more fun sing-a-long song?
As for this list, I'm just so glad it has "We Found Love." That song really does feel like it will stand up, because it's so anthemic and fun, but who knows?
posted by lunasol at 5:25 PM on October 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Greensleeves, maybe?
...
Isn't associated with any particular holiday or ceremony
Sorry.. Right out. Most people know this song with the alternate lyrics as What Child Is This?
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:11 PM on October 20, 2018
...
Isn't associated with any particular holiday or ceremony
Sorry.. Right out. Most people know this song with the alternate lyrics as What Child Is This?
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:11 PM on October 20, 2018
“Home Sweet Home” is from 1823, but as with some of these other songs, people only know part of it.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:31 PM on October 20, 2018
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:31 PM on October 20, 2018
Note that if it's described as a "songbook" then it implies songs that people will like to cover.
If the quarter century deadline is strict, then 'Smells like Teen Spirit' and 'Under The Bridge' only miss by a couple of years.
posted by ovvl at 7:47 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
If the quarter century deadline is strict, then 'Smells like Teen Spirit' and 'Under The Bridge' only miss by a couple of years.
posted by ovvl at 7:47 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Came in to say Stephen Foster for early American songs that people sing, that are credited to a composer rather than "traditional". As an amateur folksinger, the oldest credited song I sing is "Hard Times Come Again No More", then there's a large gap until Woody Guthrie comes along, more than half a century later.
posted by Daily Alice at 9:07 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Daily Alice at 9:07 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
FTA: "Who could have predicted that “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”—which was, upon its release in 1981, a commercial disappointment from a critically derided band—would become the 20th century’s best-selling digital download?" (emphasis mine)
From Wikipedia: "The song reached number eight on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold over a million copies in vinyl."
Also from Wikipedia: "Escape was released on July 31, 1981, and immediately the album became a mainstream success. The album, which has thus far sold nine times platinum, went to number one on the album charts later that year, and included three top-ten hits: "Who's Cryin' Now", "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Open Arms"."
Feh. If only we could all have such a commercial disappointment.
As soon as I read that I didn't trust this article.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:21 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
From Wikipedia: "The song reached number eight on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold over a million copies in vinyl."
Also from Wikipedia: "Escape was released on July 31, 1981, and immediately the album became a mainstream success. The album, which has thus far sold nine times platinum, went to number one on the album charts later that year, and included three top-ten hits: "Who's Cryin' Now", "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Open Arms"."
Feh. If only we could all have such a commercial disappointment.
As soon as I read that I didn't trust this article.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:21 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Wagon Wheel" will stick around. It's already a karaoke and street busker standard.
posted by smelendez at 9:31 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by smelendez at 9:31 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
If Greensleeves doesn't count as an oldest song still culturally relevant, there are several songs that date back to at least the 1700s. For an example that ties into the article on new standards, the White Stripes did a cover of "Black Jack Davey" on the Seven Nation Army single.
"Black Jack Davey" is a song that traces its lineage to the "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" about which Wikipedia says: The earliest text may be "The Gypsy Loddy", published in the Roxburghe Ballads with an assigned date of 1720. A more certain date is 1740, the publication of Allan Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, which included the ballad as of "The Gypsy Johnny Faa".
There are about a billion different versions of the song, though.
The oldest song I still sing for pleasure is probably "High Barbary" which dates to the late 1500s. But it's probably only culturally relevant to sea shanty enthusiasts (and people who played Assassins Creed IV, which I guess it was in).
posted by surlyben at 10:54 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Black Jack Davey" is a song that traces its lineage to the "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" about which Wikipedia says: The earliest text may be "The Gypsy Loddy", published in the Roxburghe Ballads with an assigned date of 1720. A more certain date is 1740, the publication of Allan Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, which included the ballad as of "The Gypsy Johnny Faa".
There are about a billion different versions of the song, though.
The oldest song I still sing for pleasure is probably "High Barbary" which dates to the late 1500s. But it's probably only culturally relevant to sea shanty enthusiasts (and people who played Assassins Creed IV, which I guess it was in).
posted by surlyben at 10:54 PM on October 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Céline Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
I know very little about popular music these days, but I am willing to bet hard money that fans of this song are outnumbered by the haters by orders of magnitude.
posted by she's not there at 1:12 AM on October 21, 2018
I know very little about popular music these days, but I am willing to bet hard money that fans of this song are outnumbered by the haters by orders of magnitude.
posted by she's not there at 1:12 AM on October 21, 2018
Puttin' on the Ritz is a little older than that, and it would be hard to come up with constraints that remove PotR without being removing MtM. I mean, "Was never publicly sung by Hugh Laurie" would do it, but that's a silly constraint.
(Un)fortunately, that constraint won't work.
posted by Ian Scuffling at 7:11 AM on October 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
(Un)fortunately, that constraint won't work.
posted by Ian Scuffling at 7:11 AM on October 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
> Céline Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
I know very little about popular music these days, but I am willing to bet hard money that fans of this song are outnumbered by the haters by orders of magnitude.
"Hated" is the opposite of "forgotten."
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:03 AM on October 21, 2018
I know very little about popular music these days, but I am willing to bet hard money that fans of this song are outnumbered by the haters by orders of magnitude.
"Hated" is the opposite of "forgotten."
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:03 AM on October 21, 2018
'Hey Ya' is pretty catchy.
The catchiest heartbreak you'll ever dance to.
Know what they say, nothing lasts forever! Then what makes love the exception? Why are we still in denial when we know we're not happy here?
posted by LooseFilter at 11:01 AM on October 21, 2018
The catchiest heartbreak you'll ever dance to.
Know what they say, nothing lasts forever! Then what makes love the exception? Why are we still in denial when we know we're not happy here?
posted by LooseFilter at 11:01 AM on October 21, 2018
Now I want Steven Tibet to do a Current 93 cover album of all of these tracks.
posted by evilDoug at 12:04 PM on October 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by evilDoug at 12:04 PM on October 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
La Cucaracha is of unknown date, but dates back at least to 1819. It did become more popular during the Mexican Revolution, with customized lyrics depending on who you liked and when. I’ll stop now.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:16 PM on October 21, 2018
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:16 PM on October 21, 2018
Granted, this is all a buncha clickbaity nonsense but surely their number one pick Hey Ya is the best song of that period hands down.
posted by sjswitzer at 3:30 PM on October 21, 2018
posted by sjswitzer at 3:30 PM on October 21, 2018
(Idioteque was the best, um, something, but was it a song?)
posted by sjswitzer at 3:36 PM on October 21, 2018
posted by sjswitzer at 3:36 PM on October 21, 2018
> Céline Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
One of the most surreal things I've ever seen in person was a man singing a sincere Karaoke version of this song, while receiving a fairly explicit lap dance from what I assume was a close female friend.
posted by and for no one at 8:35 PM on October 21, 2018
One of the most surreal things I've ever seen in person was a man singing a sincere Karaoke version of this song, while receiving a fairly explicit lap dance from what I assume was a close female friend.
posted by and for no one at 8:35 PM on October 21, 2018
If it's going to be a future America songbook (for all that entails) then shouldn't the songs be current 'hits'? I don't get the inclusion of a very minor Liz Phair track. I also don't get NIN Hurt. If it's a NIN song they are going for then it's Closer. Also Oasis Wonderwall should be replaced by 'Champagne Supernova' which for some terrible reason has become their most common radio song. Either way I'd replace them with something by Pink or one of the random "indie" tracks - You Were Out of My League/Shut Up and Dance/something by M83 or Mgmt.
Oddly I've never heard that Drake song.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:45 AM on October 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oddly I've never heard that Drake song.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:45 AM on October 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I also don't get NIN Hurt.
It's not really a NIN song anymore. Johnny Cash has stolen that song, and it now exists in the canon in that form.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:46 PM on October 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
It's not really a NIN song anymore. Johnny Cash has stolen that song, and it now exists in the canon in that form.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 5:46 PM on October 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yes The_Vegetables! I don’t even like the Red Hot Chili Peppers but they are on the radio ALL THE TIME. And they’ll show up on plenty of stations from the TOP40 to WXRT here in Chicago. Way more than “My Heart Will Go On” or “Smooth”. They are my generation’s “The Eagles”.
posted by cnanderson at 5:48 PM on October 22, 2018
posted by cnanderson at 5:48 PM on October 22, 2018
While I see what the panelists were going for with "Hurt" - as in, yeah, a lot of times what pushes a song to songbook/classic status is a remake at the right time and place, and Cash's version was a big deal - I think I would replace it with Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." Because another thing that can really push a song is not just a hit re-working of the song but a bunch of different versions of the tune. Wikipedia has a cite from '08 that lists over 300 versions of "Hallelujah", I've seen probably close to a dozen amateur and semi-pro musicians take a whack at it just in the Northern Ohio area, there's not only the Jeff Buckley version that made the song popular in the first place, but the Rufus Wainwright version from Shrek, Leann Rimes has apparently made it a staple of her live shows, and we're probably 4 or 5 musical iterations deep where people are hearing the song done by somebody who heard somebody else who heard somebody else who heard the Wainwright or the Buckley version. I think Hallelujah's going to be around for a long long time.
The Liz Phair track seems to be there for something like the same reason - two of the panelists (both from Slate (??)) think the story and emotions of the tune are so strong and true to being a young woman (both panelists are male, so take their analysis with whatever grains of salt you feel appropriate) that it's virtually timeless. Which, reading between the lines, makes me think that they think that someone not even born when the song first came out is going to rediscover it and have a huge hit; either that or it's going to wind up in a bunch of movies and TV shows any day now and get a second life.
Which, personally - meh. It could happen, but . . . . I think a stronger contender would be 4 Non Blondes "What's Up" aka "that other What's Going On song." If only because I do some work in colleges and a little in high schools and Every. Single. Theater. Kid. Loves. This. Song. For like the last ten or fifteen years it's been the Theater Kid Theme Song; they'll march down the hallways arm-in-arm singing it, they'll break into the chorus anytime someone says anything remotely related to the lyrics, it's inescapable and it gets passed on and on and on every year. You can't buy that kind of word-of-mouth publicity, and even though theater kids might not be numerous, a bunch of them are going to wind up in the entertainment business one way or another and have big influence on what tunes get a second or third life. I think this one's going to get big again in the next ten years.
Generally, though, despite my grousing upthread, most of this list seems pretty plausible to me. Maybe not well-known in a hundred years because who the fuck knows, but still tunes that "everyone knows" in 40 or 50 years? Sure.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:29 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
The Liz Phair track seems to be there for something like the same reason - two of the panelists (both from Slate (??)) think the story and emotions of the tune are so strong and true to being a young woman (both panelists are male, so take their analysis with whatever grains of salt you feel appropriate) that it's virtually timeless. Which, reading between the lines, makes me think that they think that someone not even born when the song first came out is going to rediscover it and have a huge hit; either that or it's going to wind up in a bunch of movies and TV shows any day now and get a second life.
Which, personally - meh. It could happen, but . . . . I think a stronger contender would be 4 Non Blondes "What's Up" aka "that other What's Going On song." If only because I do some work in colleges and a little in high schools and Every. Single. Theater. Kid. Loves. This. Song. For like the last ten or fifteen years it's been the Theater Kid Theme Song; they'll march down the hallways arm-in-arm singing it, they'll break into the chorus anytime someone says anything remotely related to the lyrics, it's inescapable and it gets passed on and on and on every year. You can't buy that kind of word-of-mouth publicity, and even though theater kids might not be numerous, a bunch of them are going to wind up in the entertainment business one way or another and have big influence on what tunes get a second or third life. I think this one's going to get big again in the next ten years.
Generally, though, despite my grousing upthread, most of this list seems pretty plausible to me. Maybe not well-known in a hundred years because who the fuck knows, but still tunes that "everyone knows" in 40 or 50 years? Sure.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:29 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think a stronger contender would be 4 Non Blondes "What's Up" aka "that other What's Going On song."
Yeah but nobody actually likes that 4 Non Blondes song. I get why theater kids might like it, but no one else does. The 'let's let some tuneless totally out of leftfield songs be hits' ended with 4 Non-Blondes, Tripping Daisy I got a girl, and Flaming Lips She Don't Use Jelly, and it won't come back with those songs - it'll be fresh new ones.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:57 AM on October 23, 2018
Yeah but nobody actually likes that 4 Non Blondes song. I get why theater kids might like it, but no one else does. The 'let's let some tuneless totally out of leftfield songs be hits' ended with 4 Non-Blondes, Tripping Daisy I got a girl, and Flaming Lips She Don't Use Jelly, and it won't come back with those songs - it'll be fresh new ones.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:57 AM on October 23, 2018
Both “Hallelujah” (1984) and “What’s Up” (1992) miss the cut off for the parameters of this listicle. It’s post-1993 songs.
posted by cnanderson at 12:12 PM on October 23, 2018
posted by cnanderson at 12:12 PM on October 23, 2018
smelendez: ""Wagon Wheel" will stick around. It's already a karaoke and street busker standard."
I'd never heard it until today when it came up on a Google Play playlist and it seemed like the blandest of bland bluegrass-lite songs that you could possibly write.
posted by octothorpe at 1:59 PM on October 23, 2018
I'd never heard it until today when it came up on a Google Play playlist and it seemed like the blandest of bland bluegrass-lite songs that you could possibly write.
posted by octothorpe at 1:59 PM on October 23, 2018
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