'Obsolete' songs?

[mgk920]

What well known songs ('Hot 100' hits, tracks from popular albums, etc) can you think of where the lyrics were perfectly understandable, poignant, etc, when they were released but, due to the passing of time, now bordering on or fully absurd due to advances in technology?  An example, Sylvia's Mother (1972) by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show - about a guy who's desperately trying to contact a love interest before she disappears for good and having to constantly feed money into a pay phone while trying to convince her mother to put her on the line (and at a rate of $0.40 in 1972 money for three minutes of talk time?  YOWSAH!  )  Today, with Facebook, text, etc....

Any other good ones?

Mike

[hotdogPi]

Party like it's 1999? 1999 was the future when the song was written. Now it's the past.

It's only one line in the song, but Santa Baby mentions "a '54 convertible". The song was written in 1953. It became obsolete when a car dated 1954 was not considered new anymore... and now it's not obsolete anymore, as a 1954 car is now considered a classic.

[Max Rockatansky]

Little Deuce Coupe....seriously how people even know that refers to the "Chevy II" part of Chevy Nova?  Not that I'm talking about even remotely new song, you just hear it played at 50s style diners, vintage TV shows and car shows...the only place it might be appropriate still.

[rawmustard]

There's a whole slew of songs which involves payphones in some way, but I'm still surprised the song "Payphone" by Maroon 5 was released in 2012, which as we know payphones had been in full decline.

[Rushmeister]

Little Deuce Coupe....seriously how people even know that refers to the "Chevy II" part of Chevy Nova?  Not that I'm talking about even remotely new song, you just hear it played at 50s style diners, vintage TV shows and car shows...the only place it might be appropriate still.

I always thought a "deuce coupe" was a '32 Ford coupe.  It had not occurred to me that others might see it differently.  (Now I wonder if there are alternate interpretations of the expression "taking a deuce".)

[rawmustard]

Little Deuce Coupe....seriously how people even know that refers to the "Chevy II" part of Chevy Nova?  Not that I'm talking about even remotely new song, you just hear it played at 50s style diners, vintage TV shows and car shows...the only place it might be appropriate still.

I always thought a "deuce coupe" was a '32 Ford coupe.  It had not occurred to me that others might see it differently.  (Now I wonder if there are alternate interpretations of the expression "taking a deuce".)

That is exactly what it is.

[Max Rockatansky]

Little Deuce Coupe....seriously how people even know that refers to the "Chevy II" part of Chevy Nova?  Not that I'm talking about even remotely new song, you just hear it played at 50s style diners, vintage TV shows and car shows...the only place it might be appropriate still.

I always thought a "deuce coupe" was a '32 Ford coupe.  It had not occurred to me that others might see it differently.  (Now I wonder if there are alternate interpretations of the expression "taking a deuce".)

No shit, I guess that makes sense too.  Grew up with a bunch of Chevy plant workers and a comptroller who always insisted it meant the Chevy II (deuce) Nova with a small block V8 the operative "you don't know what I got."  Coupe of course because nobody wanted a sedan with performance back then.

[roadman65]

Lennigrad by Billy Joel in his Storm Front Album is about a former Russian City.  Since the song was released Lenningrad is now renamed to St. Petersburg, its original name many decades prior, but not many young folks of today would not know that.

[PHLBOS]

One line from Wilson Pickett's Mustang Sally makes reference to a brand new 1965 model.

I bought you a brand new Mustang... a 1965.

[Max Rockatansky]

Lennigrad by Billy Joel in his Storm Front Album is about a former Russian City.  Since the song was released Lenningrad is now renamed to St. Petersburg, its original name many decades prior, but not many young folks of today would not know that.

Or who Lenin was, I'm starting to see kids wearing Lenie and Che Guvara shirts again.  I can't imagine they have any idea what they are wearing other than it's red.

[hbelkins]

"Winds of Change" by the Scorpions.

"Dialogue" by Chicago. Also "A Song For Richard and His Friends," which they continued to perform after Nixon resigned.

"Test For Echo" by Rush (makes reference to the O.J. Simpson trial)

[PHLBOS]

Lennigrad by Billy Joel in his Storm Front Album is about a former Russian City.  Since the song was released Lenningrad is now renamed to St. Petersburg, its original name many decades prior, but not many young folks of today would not know that.

The Rolling Stones' Sympathy For the Devil mentions St. Petersburg in retrospect (prior to the Russian Revolution) to the then-present Leningrad:

Stood around St. Petersburg, when I saw it was time for a change.

Johnny Rivers' Secret Agent Man makes reference to Bombay (present-day Mumbai):

... and then laying in a Bombay alley next day.

From the 70s (& even 80s) and back; there were several songs that make reference to pay phone calls costing only a dime.

Speaking of phone references; the Marvelettes Beechwood 4-5789 is a-now old-style phone number.

[roadman65]

Lou Reed's Take A Walk On The Wild Side could now be considered either racist or politically incorrect by now days standards with that classic line "And the colored girls sing doo dah doo dah doo doo...."

A lot has changed over the years and if you even referred to a black person as being colored a young white person may end up asking you what does that mean?  In fact when I was growing up only Archie Bunker of All In The Family was the only other person besides my parents who used that term, as black was already established in pop and social culture.

[andrewkbrown]

Oldies songs from the '50s-'60s with references to the girl sitting at home or near a telephone waiting for the boyfriend to call them.

[jp the roadgeek]

Queen's I'm In Love With my Car:  The line "Told my girl I had to forget her/Gotta buy me a new carburetor".  Most cars are fuel injected these days in lieu of carburetors.

Men At Work's Down Under also makes reference to Bombay "Dyin in a den in Bombay"

Jim Croce's "Operator" has him speaking on the line to an operator helping him place a long distance call, as does The Grateful Dead's song by the same name.  Also, Johnny Rivers (originally Chuck Berry) in "Memphis, Tennessee" calls information (does anyone under 60 still use directory assistance?) to find his little daughter in Memphis.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Media killed the radio star, which didn't happen. I don't know who sung that.

[7/8]

Media killed the radio star, which didn't happen. I don't know who sung that.

You're probably thinking of "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles

[slorydn1]

"Here's a quarter....call sooooomeone whoooo caaaarrrres."

[7/8]

How about "The Letter" by The Box Tops:
"My baby, just wrote me a letter"

Who writes letters nowadays with email available? The Canada Post strike doesn't help either 

[andrewkbrown]

How about "The Letter" by The Box Tops:
"My baby, just wrote me a letter"

Who writes letters nowadays with email available? The Canada Post strike doesn't help either 

The Beatles' "P.S. I Love You"
"As I write this letter..."

[wanderer2575]

"Convoy" by C.W. McCall.

"Breaker One-Nine, this here's the Rubber Duck..." -- show me a kid today who has any idea what that means.

[1995hoo]

"Supersonic Rocket Ship" by the Kinks is "obsolete" for now since neither supersonic passenger aircraft (Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144) is still flying, but hopefully the song will become "current" again in the future. Ray Davies said Concorde inspired the song. This is an example of technology going backwards rather than advancing.

[GaryV]

How about "The Letter" by The Box Tops:
"My baby, just wrote me a letter"

Who writes letters nowadays with email available?

And what's a "fast train" that he doesn't have time for?

[SidS1045]

"Hey, Western Union Man" by Jerry Butler and "Western Union" by the Five Americans both refer to telegrams, which are now obsolete, even in developing countries.

[1995hoo]

"All Summer Long" by the Beach Boys might not be "obsolete," but one of the lyrics definitely means something very different to today's listener than it did in the 1960s:

"T-shirts, cutoffs, and a pair of thongs ...."



Another that occurred to me after MASN aired a commercial involving Samuel L. Jackson:

Rupert Holmes's "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" is somewhat obsolete with its references to the singer reading the personal ads in the newspaper and then writing to the paper to take out his own personal ad. Nowadays that would all be on some dating website.

(That song occurred to me because I thought of the ad that ran during the NCAA Tournament with Jackson, Charles Barkley, and Spike Lee singing that song.)