Not just a song that can be found in the archives, but one that almost everyone can hum, even today.

(Somebody asked what was meant by “today’s…” Throw whatever you want out, somebody tossed out “Love me tender” as being a tune from in the 1860s.)

  • @CanadaPlus
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    4 months ago

    One thing people might not realise, is that memorable old music can come and go. Until someone recorded a successful rendition in the 60’s, Cannon in D had been forgotten for centuries. Now it’s almost synonymous with wedding music, and seems completely timeless.

    It’s possible everyone will be crazy about 1919’s El sombrero de tres picos in 2450, and (with this all being indistinct distant history) will picture us in 2024 playing it on boombox at a 2050’s-style holo-orgy.

      • @CanadaPlus
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        164 months ago

        Busy. I’ll get back to you about it in 30 years or so. /s

        • @Lurker@lemmy.zip
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          64 months ago

          Will they be included with a Canadian residency or will it only be for CanadaPlus?

          • @CanadaPlus
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            4 months ago

            Hmm. Well, I haven’t gotten any invites to orgies. The only possible, logical reason is that it’s a plus-premium thing.

            On a serious note, if anyone’s an American who’s serious about relocating to Canada and not just memeing, I’d get moving on it now. We have a massive housing shortage, and things would get sticky politically if there was a big wave of people pushing prices up even more.

    • @Tikiporch@lemmy.world
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      54 months ago

      I think having a dance associated with the song is integral to the staying power of a song. The Twist, Hokey Pokey, Electric Slide, all great contenders.

      But time will prove that the champion is The Macarena, by Los Del Rio.

      • @gnu@lemmy.zip
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        34 months ago

        Nutbush City Limits might have a chance then, we’ll see whether Australian public schools are still teaching the dance in a couple of hundred years…

      • @CanadaPlus
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        14 months ago

        I guess, but I couldn’t hum the Cakewalk for you.

  • @rf_@lemmy.world
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    614 months ago

    7 nation army by the white stripes. It gets played after a goal is scored in football stadiums across the world.

  • Dr. Bob
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    464 months ago

    Happy Birthday has the kind of universal recognition you’d be looking for. Maybe in 300 years there’ll be a lyrical shift towards something more interesting. I know multiple versions of Greensleeves. The Cuckoo is the other song that I can think of with a long history. The wiki article doesn’t fully capture it. I’ll stick something in here later.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo_(song)

  • @Bitrot
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    364 months ago

    Belgian techno anthem Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic is one for the ages. Some say it has always been with us.

    • @MrFappy@lemmy.world
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      -44 months ago

      I hate that song, it makes me sad as fuck every time I hear it, and if I never heard that song again in my life it’d be a better one.

        • @MrFappy@lemmy.world
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          24 months ago

          Something about it just ruins my mood. I think it’s linked to how my parents put that song over old home videos and as a kid I would watch them and just ball uncontrollably at the loss of such simpler times (when you’re a baby and don’t have to worry about shit, you’re just cared for and loved).

  • @fubo@lemmy.world
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    224 months ago

    How many 1700s drinking songs does anyone know the tune of today? Well, there’s “To Anacreon in Heaven”, better known as “The Star Spangled Banner”.

    “Aura Lee” is from the 1860s, but the tune is better known today as Elvis’s “Love Me Tender”.

    • @Zeratul@lemmus.org
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      44 months ago

      I never knew twinkle twinkle little star and the alphabet song were put to the same melody. Thank you!

    • @pyre@lemmy.world
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      -54 months ago

      i don’t think so considering your the first and the only one who has even mentioned the song in the last 65 years.

      • @Tikiporch@lemmy.world
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        34 months ago

        Unfortunately, that’s entirely untrue. I don’t think you’ve put any effort into this exercise at all.

    • @Venator@lemmy.nz
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      24 months ago

      Probably helps to be featured or mentioned in other notable media, as greensleaves is mentioned in Shakespeare, and creep is part of the fight club soundtrack, so it has that going for it I guess 😅

  • @lenz@lemmy.ml
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    174 months ago

    Happy Birthday, Pop Goes the Weasel, Auld Lang Syne, Here Comes the Bride are obviously here to stay. Lots of Christmas music has potential as well: Jingle Bells, and POSSIBLY Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano, as well as All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey.

    But I also think Barbie Girl by Aqua has a decent chance of being practically universal. In that vein, maybe the Hampster Dance too, but idk. Dragostea Din Tei?

    I think the real answer though is that most of the popular songs are probably ones that are connected to specific uses outside of the song itself. Pop Goes the Weasel is used in like, every pop-goes-the-weasel type toy, and even in movies when something scary is about to pop out at you. Happy Birthday is literally sung at every birthday. (That reminds me of For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow as well.) Auld Lang Syne is a popular New Years song across the world at this point. Here Comes the Bride at every wedding, etc. Maybe National Anthems will also hold the test of time, depending on if the nation lasts long enough and doesn’t change its anthem.

    The point is, if it’s a practical and traditional tune it’s more likely to last, I think.

    Oh. I forgot Reveille which is the military wake-up call bugle song lmao

    • @pingveno@lemmy.ml
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      44 months ago

      Dragostea Din Tei

      I don’t think that one outlasts the next couple decades. Yeah, it’s fun and the lyrics are weird, but Romanian isn’t all that widely spoken, so the vast majority of the world population cannot sing it.

      • @cheers_queers@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        IDK, i was obsessed with that song as a teenager and learned to enunciate the whole song without knowing what it said. but, i have 99 Luftballons on my personal playlist so maybe i just like catchy foreign songs lol

        • @pingveno@lemmy.ml
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          34 months ago

          Oh, I totally get it, I loved it too. I just don’t think it will stick in quite the same way when people don’t have lyrics to attach to the song. Like, I can’t play it at karaoke night.

    • @AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      14 months ago

      I think more people would be familiar with “Call to Post,” than “Reveille.” Dunno. I guess it depends on how many scouts and military members there are vs horse racing fans.

  • @RBWells@lemmy.world
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    154 months ago

    Based on what I hear playing, my money is on Mr. Brightside.

    Gershwin’s Summertime is my real answer. It has been covered by so many artists already, it might keep going.