this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
256 points (96.7% liked)

Asklemmy

44005 readers
321 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] lenz@lemmy.ml 17 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

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 3 points 4 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 1 points 4 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.