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
    arrow-up
    82
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    edit-2
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    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.

    • Shialac
      arrow-up
      37
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Tell me more about these 2050’s Holo-Orgies

      • CanadaPlus
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        0
        ·
        3 months ago
        link
        fedilink

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

        • LurkerEnglish
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          0
          ·
          3 months ago
          link
          fedilink

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

          • CanadaPlus
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            0
            ·
            3 months ago
            edit-2
            3 months ago
            link
            fedilink

            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
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      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.

      • gnuEnglish
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        0
        ·
        3 months ago
        link
        fedilink

        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
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        0
        ·
        3 months ago
        link
        fedilink

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

        • Tikiporch
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          0
          ·
          3 months ago
          link
          fedilink

          I can, as well as my gran, so there’s that. Try and keep up.

  • rf_
    arrow-up
    62
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

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

    • CanadaPlus
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Yeah, choosing something that will end up in the background of a lot of archives and memories is probably as good a strategy as any.

    • ouRKaoS
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      I have a feeling that this will be one that everyone knows, but doesn’t know the title of, like Power House by Raymond Scott.

    • Venator
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      We will rock you by Queen another contender for similar reasons.

    • SpruceBringsteen
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Not even after goals. It’s like the wave, you can start it up at most sporting events with the help of four other people.

    • GeneralEmergency
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Sweet Caroline is getting that way for Football. Especially now that the English nicked it from us

  • Dr. BobEnglish
    arrow-up
    46
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    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)

    • blackbrook
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Happy Birthday owes it’s place to function. I don’t think anybody actually enjoys it as music.

      • taiyang
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        0
        ·
        3 months ago
        link
        fedilink

        My 2 year old begs to differ!

  • NaNEnglish
    arrow-up
    36
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

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

    • uid0gid0
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Get your booty on the floor tonight, make my day

    • Tiltinyall
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Good one, I kinda thought Salt-n-Pepa’s Push It had a little more staying power though.

  • Jordan117English
    arrow-up
    35
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    Here Comes the Sun. Simple melody, timeless lyrics, and it’s the most-streamed Beatles song out of an already strong and memorable catalog.

    • mindbleach
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Fittingly similar to the theme of “Sumer Is Icumen In, a British round from the late 1200s.

    • MrFappy
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      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.

  • xmunk
    arrow-up
    29
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    It’s

    PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME.

        • otacon239
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          3 months ago
          link
          fedilink

          PEANUT BUTTER JELLY WITH A BASEBALL BAT

          • JargonWagon
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            0
            ·
            3 months ago
            link
            fedilink

            WHERE HE AT?
            WHERE HE AT?
            WHERE HE AT?
            WHERE HE AT?
            NOW THERE HE GOES
            THERE HE GOES
            THERE HE GOES
            THERE HE GOES

    • yngmnwntr
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      I hate to break this to you, but its Chumbawamba, with an A not a second U. And it always has been.

    • NaNEnglish
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      Nah it got knocked down.

  • fubo
    arrow-up
    22
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    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”.

  • lolcatnipEnglish
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    Not sure about today’s, but I think the one from the 18th century is Ah! vous dirai-je, maman, better known in English as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or the alphabet song.

    • ZeratulEnglish
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

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

  • Tikiporch
    arrow-up
    19
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    You won’t like the answer, but I’ll tell you anyway.

    It’s The Macarena, by Los Del Rio.

    • pyre
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      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
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        0
        ·
        3 months ago
        link
        fedilink

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

  • feedum_sneedson
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    edit-2
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    Creep by Radiohead, imagine how much that would annoy Thom Yorke.

    • Venator
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      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
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    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

    • pingvenoEnglish
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      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_queersEnglish
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        0
        ·
        3 months ago
        edit-2
        3 months ago
        link
        fedilink

        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

        • pingvenoEnglish
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          0
          ·
          3 months ago
          link
          fedilink

          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
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      0
      ·
      3 months ago
      link
      fedilink

      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
    arrow-up
    15
    arrow-down
    0
    ·
    3 months ago
    link
    fedilink

    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.