# 365 Songs of the Century **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260 "2001-03-08T20:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/21 "2001-03-10T16:23:31Z")
Looking at the list, a more descriptive title would be “Songs That Are Burned Into the American Consciousness.” These are (with few exceptions) the songs that nearly every American recognizes. They are the songs that show up repeatedly in movie soundtracks, get covered by many groups, show up in commercials, get sung at gatherings, etc. It does not appear to be an attempt to compile a list of the “best” songs. ---
**Author:** ![RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RocknRoll_Killing_Machine)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/22 "2001-03-10T16:40:20Z")
TLC is on that list. Automatic failure. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/23 "2001-03-10T18:54:24Z")
> [@](#): > > The hundreds of voters came from all walks of life including local, state and federal > elected officials, the music industry, teachers, members of the media and students. Well, they must not have asked all that many students because the highest charting 1990s song was Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” at **#80!** Granted, it wasn’t the best decade of the century musically, but I have difficulty taking them seriously when they completely omit the Smashing Pumpkins. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/24 "2001-03-10T19:50:08Z")
> [@](#): > > The hundreds of voters came from all walks of life including local, state and federal > elected officials, the music industry, teachers, members of the media and students. > Participants were asked to keep in mind the historical significance of not only the song, > but also of the record and artist. I too I’m surprised then that Billy Ray Cyrus made the cut. It was significant though, but then several songs (‘Hazard’, which I’ve already mentioned, from the same year ('92), for one) that are, aren’t on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/25 "2001-03-11T02:09:14Z")
\ The RIAA is simply looking to sell its music to schools under the heading of “curriculum.” They sure aren’t going to give away the materials for this business. And we couldn’t teach kids classic folk songs in the public domain, could we? Nope, they have to learn all these licensed songs, and the RIAA recoups some of that money they lost from Napster. Explain to me why we need to teach Destiny’s Child (#363) in schools at all, please. Here’s the press release [http://www.nea.gov/endownews/news01/songs.html](http://www.nea.gov/endownews/news01/songs.html) Thank God for the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act so that America’s “musical heritage” is owned by the major labels in perpetuity. \ ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/26 "2001-03-11T11:36:50Z")
‘I Believe I Can Fly’. I didn’t see that the first time! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260/27 "2001-03-11T13:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slithy Tove \* > \*\*I’ve read that “You are My Sunshine” was made a hit when the mob controlled much of the juke-boxes in this country as a money-laundering front. \ …sorry, I’ll just have to libel this sappy song without it. \*\* “You Are My Sunshine”? SAPPY??? Ahem: > [@](#): > > You told me once dear > You really love me > And no one could come between > But now you’ve left me > To love another > You have shattered all of my dreams Funny how those last couple of verses don’t make it on all those sweetness ‘n’ light homepages, eh? 😛 \ [sub]Sorry…I’ve been listening to the “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack for a couple of weeks now… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/365-songs-of-the-century/57260.md?page=1)