Roger Miller

I'm not talking about songs that have a dated sound (there's more than I could ever list). I'm referring to songs with a specific date or year in the lyrics, that are mentioned as the present or future. Like Prince's "1999" (which will not be played as much now that it's date has come and gone). These are songs for which the present or future they refer to, has come and gone. 1999 was the future in 1982, 1999 has now passed.

What I am NOT looking for, are songs like Bowling for Soup's "1985" which are written after the date they are talking about. This song is looking back, or written from the point of view of after the date mentioned.

We also accept lyrics that mention prices that are now dated, such as 10 cent pay phone calls. Lyrics that mention a persons age at the time and that person is now past said age, and lyrics that mentioned events that were current at the time of the song but have now passed are also accepted.

Basically anything that definitively dates a song by any means other than the way it "sounds". Words/phrases/singing styles or instruments that were used commonly in a time period but are no longer used that much today are not accepted.

Dated References, Roger Miller

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Roger Miller's, "Kansas City Star"

The dated Lyrics:

I've got credit down at the grocery store and my barber tells me jokes.
And I'm the number one attraction of every super market parking lot.
I'm the king of Kansas City, No thanks, Omaha, thanks a lot.

Why They're dated:

In this song, Roger Miller is singing as if he's a TV personality in Kansas City, making him a local celebrity there. In these lines, he's citing some of the frills that come with his celebrity status, those being among the reasons why he's turning down a new job offer in Omaha. Everything in these lines might still make sense today, except the part about having credit down at the grocery story. Back when the song came out, grocery stores may have generally been cash only business for ordinary citizens, making his credit there a status symbol of his local celebrity status. But today most all grocery stores accept credit cards from whoever has them. So no longer would credit at a grocery store be anything to cite as a status symbol. Today's younger listeners may be mystified as to why the line about credit at the grocery store is in the song, and wonder how it is supposed to contribute to the song's meaning or theme.

Submitted by: Karen Smith

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