Is it just me, or is “(What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding”, written by Nick Lowe and made popular by Elvis Costello, slowly but steadfastly headed for classic status? If so, I couldn’t be happier…definitely well-deserved.
Lowe told The A.V. Club that this song started out as a joke: “I wrote the song in 1973, and the hippie thing was going out, and everyone was starting to take harder drugs and rediscover drink. Alcohol was coming back, and everyone sort of slipped out of the hippie dream and into a more cynical and more unpleasant frame of mind. And this song was supposed to be an old hippie, laughed at by the new thinking, saying to these new smarty-pants types, ‘Look, you think you got it all going on. You can laugh at me, but all I’m saying is, ‘What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding?’’ And that was the idea of the song. But I think as I started writing it, something told me it was too good idea to make it into a joke. It was originally supposed to be a joke song, but something told me there was a little grain of wisdom in this thing, and not to mess it up.”
Any other examples of tunes with unexpected staying power?
“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass. A one-hit wonder, heavy-metal band puts out a totally different style (for them) tune and it still seems to be very popular. Not a bad record, at all; the producer definitely earned his pay.
I nominate “My Maria” by D W Stephenson. It has this cool easy groove that makes it a great radio song with a chorus you are going to try to sing, even if you can’t. It still gets radio play, makes a great summer cruising song, shows up in commercials and tv soundtracks occasionally.
Postmodern Jukebox just released a new cover of “Somebody That I Used To Know”. Gotye’s 2011 song seems to be a favorite with a lot of other singers so I think it’s going to stick around.
Not wishing to commandeer the thread, but another thread just reminded me it’s Billie Joe McAllister Day. “Ode to Billie Joe,” seems to get more popular by the year.
No laughter here. I’ve loved this song since I was 12. As a matter of fact, my neighbour and I were just discussing it a week or so ago. About a year ago I got the chords and lyrics with the intent of learning it but I couldn’t get it right.
I think the attraction comes because its a “story song” like a lot of the greats. It isn’t just a beat and a repetive lyric (although that can work too). You have to follow the song, so it holds your interest.
Good one!
“I Melt With You” by Modern English is not only my favorite song from the eighties, but it never seems to go away, either. I think it will be a classic for a long time.
“Drift Away,” recorded by Dobie Gray and others, also seems to have quite the legs.
Stand By Me - by Mr. Ben E. King. It still tears me up. Who wouldn’t want such loving devotion, no matter if the sky is falling?
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother - another one that tears me up still. It has personal connotations. Done by the Hollies, who I feel have been sadly overlooked by musical history.
