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.
Check out the index or search for other performers.
You play the guitar on the MTV...
We've got to install microwave ovens...
We've got to move these colour TV's
MTV no longer has music except as a theme song of "The Fake World", microwaves are now about two shoeboxes wideXtwo shoeboxes high, and since the digital switch, if you can even affourd it, you'd need a digital TV to recieve anything.
Submitted by: Ricky
I've seen Miss America in a girly magazine, I bet you saw that too
The "Scarecrow" album came out in 1985 and during the previous year the reigning Miss America Vanessa Williams was forced to surrender her crown when it was revealed that she had posed for Penthouse prior to the 1983 pageant. When the photos came out the scandal erupted. There's been no such scandal for the pageant since and Vanessa, who already made history by being the first black Miss America, went on to a successful music career.
Submitted by: Buckeye Scott
Landscape's, "Einstein a Go-Go"
White House?
Oh sir, I'm terribly sorry, I can't put you through to President Carter
Heard at the start of the song, an actual recording of someone getting through to a telephone operator at the White House. Although by the time the song was a hit in the UK in March 1981, Jimmy Carter had already been succeeded by Ronald Reagan, making the song already dated when it was climbing the charts.
Submitted by: Dave
Heading for the nineties
Living in the wild wild west
The wild wild west
Heading for the nineties living in the eighties
They're 1980s people who are looking forward from the 1980s to the 1990s.
Submitted by: Beth
Along the way he wondered if he'd left behind a clue,
A front page of the paper dated 1992.
When Ridgway recorded this song in 1986, the date of the paper was supposed to indicate that the fellow was a little off-kilter, like a time traveller or some such thing. Now, he is merely someone who yearns for the past.
Submitted by: Tom Prezelski
I bought you a brand new Mustang A 1965
We still have Mustangs today. This is not "dated" because you can't change the fact that he in fact did buy it brand new in 1965
Submitted by: LiLac22281
Pluto's the tenth planet to the sun
The song was featured in a 2004 episode of the show, when Pluto was still considered a planet. In 2005, Pluto was no longer considered a planet, and instead, a dwarf planet.
Submitted by: Rachel
Well, I called my congressman and he said, quote: "I'd like to help you, son, but you're too young to vote."
Before the twenty-sixth amendment was passed in 1971, the minimum legal voting age was 21 years old, not 18, and Eddie Cochran was 20 when he first recorded this song in 1958.
Submitted by: Alan of Seville
Return to sednder, address unknown
Previous posts have noted the dated nature of the phrase "no such zone" in the line following this one, as U. S. postal zones were replaced by zip codes in 1963 (the year after this song came out!). But this line too seems to be dated, as far as I know. I don't now of the U.S. Postal service returning anything to sender anymore. It used to be that one of the reasons for returning a letter to sender was for neglecting to put any postage stamps on it. But the last time I mailed a letter forgetting to put stamps on it (within the last few years) I never saw it again. Incidally I do remember how years ago letters were sometimes returned with a stamp (ink stamp, that is) applied to them with blanks to check the reason for the mail being returned. One possible reason that I saw so indicated was "ADDRESSEE unknown". I don't remember any such category as "ADDRESS unknown". That makes sense, for as long as an address were unknown, how would one be motivated to even try sending the letter?
Submitted by: Connie Brady
No.9's, "End of the Century"
Some people think the year 2G is so scary, let's wait and see
We did wait. And saw absolutely nothing happen.
Submitted by: Ian S.
There are more dated song lyrics available
Would you like to Submit Some Lyrics for a Song We're always looking
for more entries.
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