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Out of Time - obsolete songs and lyrics


KevL

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Listened to Born In The USA album by Bruce Springsteen the other day and it struck me that the line "our Pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers" in Darlington County wouldn't be there if the song was written today (ok, it could, but very unlikely).

Similarly, Paul Simon's Kodachrome wouldn't flow out of any current writer's pen - again, there'd be nothing to stop it being written but it almost certainly wouldn't be.

Last one for now, I've just heard the Beastie Boys' classic Fight For Your Right and the line 'your Ma threw away your best porno mag' probably wouldn't mean much to today's frustrated teens and their unlimited online supply of grot...

Any other suggestions for lyrics or song themes that have been rendered obsolete or at least very outdated by events, the march of technology etc? Was thinking of factual reasons rather than just general change of fashions, song styles etc.

Edited by MB1
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"Armalite rifles...Police and IRA...Armalite rifles...use them every day"  Gang of Four

Holiday in the Sun by the Sex Pistols, with lyrics about going under or over the Berlin Wall

'1 2 3 4 what are we fighting for?  Hell I don't give a damn, we're going to Vietnam.

567 open up the pearly gates, well I ain't got time to wonder why, were all going to die'

by Country Joe and the Fish

Edited by BillyBass
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Here’s a song written in 1917 but released in 1924 by Ma Rainey. 
There was a more popular version released in 1935 by Lucille Bogan. 
 

I think even with today’s lyrics and modern radio editing it wouldn’t get much love as the premise is a guy “making love” to a woman with no regard to her. 
 

still it just shows that “us youngsters” didn’t invent the shock pop 😂🤣😋

 

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Thanks for the replies everyone. That sounds a bit racy @Bunion - I'll have to give it a listen.

I guess we could include loads of 'no longer socially/morally acceptable' songs and lyrics but I was thinking more of objects, names, places etc that have been (almost) consigned to history by technology, the general march of time etc (hope you get the drift, I maybe haven't explained it well).

Keep 'em coming, though.

 

Kev

 

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3 minutes ago, Bunion said:

Ahh then convoy by CW mcall

i think the days of CB radio and the lingo might be dead and gone 

Ideal, just the sort of thing I was getting at. Thanks - not that I didn't appreciate your previous post, I just didn't want the thread to become loads of 'dodgy/bad taste/it was alright in the 70s' type suggestions. 

 

Another one: Saturday's Kids The Jam with "Saturday's kids work in Tesco and Woolworth's".

There's another song that I heard recently with Woolworth's in the lyric but I can't think of it now...

 

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Alice Cooper - Generation Landslide

The over-indulgent machines were their children
There wasn't a way down on Earth here to cool them
'Cause they looked just like humans
At Kresge's and Woolworth's
But decadent brains were at work to destroy
Rats in batallions were ruling the street scene
Generation landslide

Closed the gap between 'em

Edited by PaulThePlug
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3 minutes ago, KevL said:

Ideal, just the sort of thing I was getting at. Thanks - not that I didn't appreciate your previous post, I just didn't want the thread to become loads of 'dodgy/bad taste/it was alright in the 70s' type suggestions. 

 

Another one: Saturday's Kids The Jam with "Saturday's kids work in Tesco and Woolworth's".

There's another song that I heard recently with Woolworth's in the lyric but I can't think of it now...

 

Warrior in Woolworths- X Ray Spex?

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