# Obsolete Song List **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555 "2001-07-15T06:12:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/1 "2001-07-15T06:12:29Z")
Ok, times change, but Oldies can’t. So a song recorded say 35 or 40 years ago may no longer ring true, not through any fault of it’s own, but because the world itself has changed. So some songs become obsolete. Obsolete Songs “Back In the USSR” The Beatles (No USSR) Possibly Obsolete… “Please Mr. Postman” – Various artists With cell phones and E-mail, who actually sends a letter to their SO in the mail? Maybe undergarments or something… “Twentieth Century Fox”- The Doors Well not quite obsolete now, but in say 2070, the song’s muse would be pretty old, wouldn’t she? “Satisfaction”- The Rolling Stones “ man on the Telly…tellin’ me I can’t be a man…cos’ I don’t smoke the same cigarettes as he” No Tobacco Ads any more Can any one else think of any songs that have become anacronistic? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/2 "2001-07-15T06:15:34Z")
Here’s an obvious one: We got to par-tay like it’s 1999!! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/3 "2001-07-15T07:01:13Z")
There was a Frank Sinatra song where he referred to his woman being the…sweetest? loveliest? something…“in all the 48”. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/4 "2001-07-15T07:56:50Z")
radio radio by elvis costello althouhg i think its still the perfect song about talk radio … he refers to something as inches on the reel to reel tape player ---
**Author:** ![BigStar303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@BigStar303](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigStar303)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/5 "2001-07-15T09:23:48Z")
Elvis Presley’s “Return to Sender”: And so I took it to the mailbox And sent it Special D While the Post Office still has alternatives for getting mail to people faster, I don’t think they call any of them Special Delivery any more. The example the OP quoted from The Stones’ “Satisfaction” brings up an interesting point. Only those who lived through the era could know this, but this was one of two lines from two different Stones songs that made reference to contemporaneous American television ad campaigns The Stones caught while on tour in the U.S. There was indeed a campaign for a certain brand of cigarette (don’t recall which) that basically implied that if you didn’t smoke their brand, you weren’t a man. The second reference is from “Get Off My Cloud”: When in flies a guy who’s all dressed up Just like a Union Jack And says I’ve won five pounds if I’ve got His kind of detergent pack One of the laundry soaps of the day actually did send some poor shlub around knocking on people’s doors. If they could fetch up a box of his brand from the basement and show him, he would pay them cash on the spot. (I think it was five dollars, not the equivalent of five pounds.) ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/6 "2001-07-15T09:32:04Z")
How about “I Can’t Drive 55” by Sammy Hagar? That one’s technically been obsolete since what, 1987? Maybe it’s time for a sequel: “I Can’t Drive 65\*” - Alternate version “I Can’t Drive 85” to be released in Montana and Nevada. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/7 "2001-07-15T09:34:47Z")
Speaking of Sammy Hagar, does the Voice of America radio service still operate? ( **VOA** was the title of the album containing “I Can’t Drive 55”.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/8 "2001-07-15T10:40:41Z")
Operator - Jim Croce Operator, you’ve been so much more than kind, you can keep the dime,… Dime for a call? They just raised it to 50 cents here. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/9 "2001-07-15T10:50:36Z")
Jackson Browne - “Lawyers In Love” I don’t think the USSR will be open soon for anything. As far as Prince’s 1999, Will Smith already tagged it in Will2K: “We’re gonna party like it’s 19- Hold up, it is” ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/10 "2001-07-15T12:06:46Z")
One of my favorite Bad Religion songs is “Atomic Garden.” But one of the lines refers to Mikhail Gorbachev – “At least he’s got a garden with a fertile plot and a Party that will never stop.” The Party’s not looking too good lately, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/11 "2001-07-15T13:46:05Z")
Sewalk, Still plenty of places the limit is still 55. And on the interstates in cities it can be even lower. LIE in NYC is 50, in eastern burbs it’s 55. [sub] of course, at rush hour it could be 280, you’re lucky to get 30…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/12 "2001-07-15T14:16:22Z")
Obviously, limits are lower in built-up areas, **lurker** , but Sammy was upset about the nationwide double-nickel, particularly about how it made road trips a drag. Even in NY, it _is_65 on the Throughway, at least west of Syracuse (the only part of it I’ve driven). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/13 "2001-07-15T14:46:02Z")
tlmtlm59, I thought I was going to get there first with the Jim Croce reference you used! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/14 "2001-07-15T15:06:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*tlmtlm59, I thought I was going to get there first with the Jim Croce reference you used! \*\* at least my insomnia is good for something! ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/15 "2001-07-15T15:10:36Z")
“I Love Rock n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. “Put another dollar in the jukebox, baby!” doesn’t quite cut it. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/16 "2001-07-15T15:15:00Z")
“Sun City”, the anti-Apartheid record Little Steven put together. Um, there’s nothing there to get mad about anymore. Plenty of _other_ things, but not Apartheid. Sadly, things like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” will probably be relevant until the end of time. I don’t see regional starvation ending anytime soon. “Russians” by Sting, though I suppose we should just postulate that ALL songs referring to the USSR are gone. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/17 "2001-07-15T16:18:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sewalk \* > \*\*Even in NY, it _is_65 on the Throughway, at least west of Syracuse (the only part of it I’ve driven). \*\* OK, if I go that far, I fly. I told TruePisces civilization ends at Van Cortlandt Park. Then she hit me. (her mom lives upstate) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/18 "2001-07-15T16:25:45Z")
Glenn Miller Orchestra, **Pennsylvania Six-Five Thousand** Well, it’s an instrumental, so it works pretty good, but when was the last time a phone number only had what-five digits? Hell, here in Western PA, we now have to dial the area-code, even if we’re just calling someone next door. ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/19 "2001-07-15T18:33:54Z")
Actually _Pennsylvania 6-5000_ is a seven digit phone number: PE6-5000, which makes it still valid for much of the rest of the country (area-wise, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![sliv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@sliv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sliv)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555/20 "2001-07-15T18:51:07Z")
There’s “80’s” by Killing Joke, but that was rendered obsolete a decade ago. The Flirts “Jukebox (Don’t put another dime in)”, though that may be a bit obscure. Pretty much any song that references a specific decade in the lyrics is going to be rendered obsolete. Escape Clubs “Wild Wild West”, for example. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsolete-song-list/72555.md?page=2)