# Rock/pop songs with now-dated references **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412 "2010-04-08T15:20:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/61 "2010-04-10T02:08:15Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Dead Kennedy’s California Uber Alles: That was the first thing that popped into my mind. I was in a local gaming store a year or two ago and the kids working had that tune playing. I had to ask if they had any idea who Jerry Brown even was. Nope, they didn’t. Still, I’ll never fault anyone for liking kick-ass music. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/62 "2010-04-10T03:29:20Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > AltaVista was _the_ search engine during the late 1990s but was already pretty much totally eclipsed by Google by that point. Does anyone still use it? I was actually surprised to find out it’s still around. Every time I listen to “I Drove All Night,” I think of how the line “Maybe I should have called you first, but I was dying to get to you” would now be “I called you from my car.” Similarly, any reference to answering machines would now have reference voice mail, since I know very few people that still have a physical machine. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/63 "2010-04-10T03:41:42Z")
“Long distance information, get me Memphis, Tennessee” – can you still dial Information? I haven’t done it for years. In _Wake Up, Little Susie_, Susie has a ten o’clock curfew. Is that still reasonable? Probably on a school night. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/64 "2010-04-10T03:51:13Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > In _Wake Up, Little Susie_, Susie has a ten o’clock curfew. Is that still reasonable? Probably on a school night. Of course, now, being out all night with somebody would \*make \*a reputation, rather than \*ruin \*it. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/65 "2010-04-10T05:31:00Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > _Ready for the '80s_ by the Village People > > _Russians_ by Sting > > _Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)_ by The Flirts > > _Pac-Man Fever_ by Buckner & Garcia > > _Centerfold_ by J. Geils Band > > _Video Killed the Radio Star_ by The Buggles I heart you! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/66 "2010-04-10T07:29:16Z")
Send to the store Let’s buy some more Let’s have a party tonight. What exactly did it mean to “_send_ to the store”? Did it mean you sent your kid, or your odd job man, to buy the things, or did it mean just to call them up have it delivered? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/67 "2010-04-10T08:57:59Z")
Does anyone do Tae Bo anymore? \* She checks out Mozart while she does Tae-Bo\* – Drops of Jupiter, Train ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/68 "2010-04-10T09:41:48Z")
Bad Religion’s “10 in 2010” isn’t looking so accurate right now. And a friend of mine told me a couple years ago that he felt really bad for Biggie, because he’ll now be forever rapping about old cars, pagers, etc. The funny thing was, he was absolutely serious. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/69 "2010-04-10T15:53:13Z")
_Sweet Home Alabama_: In Birmingham we loved the Gov’nor. We all did what we could do. Now Watergate does not bother me. Does your conscience bother you (now tell me true)? Well, if I had voted for George Wallace, my conscience would bother me even worse than if I had voted for Nixon. (As it was, I wasn’t able to vote until 1976, but would have voted for Humphrey in '68 and McGovern in '72 had I been legally able) I wonder how many young fans even have a clue who the Governor is. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/70 "2010-04-11T04:04:21Z")
“Can’t Stand Losing You,” The Police: I see you sent my letters back And my LP records and they’re all scratched We’ve covered the letter issue. To be modern, I think Sting would have to complain that his gal deleted his texts and infected his mp3s with a virus. “When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around,” The Police: Turn on my VCR, same one I’ve had for years James Brown on the TAMI Show Same tape I’ve had for years Bet it was a Betamax. This song also has the inexplicable line, “Plug in my MCI, to exercise my brain.” Does anybody know what the fuck an MCI is? I don’t. “Take Care of Yourself,” Level 42 1-9-9-0 here we go, may the next ten break the mold ---
**Author:** ![Revixit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Revixit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revixit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/71 "2010-04-11T04:13:28Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > ex: **I Love Rock & Roll** by Joan Jett: “I love rock & roll/put another _dime in the jukebox_ baby!” > > When’s the last time a song on the jukebox cost a dime? In fact, when’s the last time you saw a jukebox? Actually, I saw and heard a jukebox Friday but a song on a jukebox probably hasn’t cost a dime since the Sixties, when pay phone calls were a dime and stamps were a nickel. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/72 "2010-04-11T06:12:09Z")
I missed an obvious one in my earlier post: “20th Century Fox” by The Doors. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/73 "2010-04-11T10:28:05Z")
On the Pink Floyd “Animals” LP in “Pigs - three different ones” Pig No3, Mary, the “house proud Town Mouse” was the late British “Clean up TV” campaigner Mary Whitehouse. > **[Mary Whitehouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Whitehouse#Opposition)** > > Constance Mary Whitehouse CBE (née Hutcheson; 13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British teacher and conservative activist. She campaigned against social liberalism and the mainstream British media, both of which she accused of encouraging a more permissive society. She was the founder and first president of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, through which she led a longstanding campaign against the BBC. A hard-line social conservative, she was termed a reactionary by her so... - ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/74 "2010-04-11T14:49:57Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > _Sweet Home Alabama_: > > In Birmingham we loved the Gov’nor. > We all did what we could do. > Now Watergate does not bother me. > Does your conscience bother you (now tell me true)? > > Well, if I had voted for George Wallace, my conscience would bother me even worse than if I had voted for Nixon. (As it was, I wasn’t able to vote until 1976, but would have voted for Humphrey in '68 and McGovern in '72 had I been legally able) I wonder how many young fans even have a clue who the Governor is. I think you’ve badly misunderstood this song. The line is actually “In Birmingham **they** love the governor” – followed by “Boo, boo, boo!” The narrator of “Sweet Home Alabama” does not express any personal fondness for the governor, and it seems clear enough to me that he is actually opposed to the governor. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/75 "2010-04-11T14:55:15Z")
Rap songs are of course full of this stuff. I was listening to _Ready to Die_ yesterday, and I always love the line from “Juicy” - Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis When I was dead broke, man, I couldn’t picture this ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/76 "2010-04-11T15:02:12Z")
I think it unlikely we’ll see anybody back in the USSR these days. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/77 "2010-04-11T15:18:00Z")
“here’s my number and a dime… and you can call me anytime”… by Skyy… I remember when they did it on Soul Train… calls were already a quarter!!.. Multiple references by Steely Dan “My old school” does the Wolverine still run?? “big Daddy G” funny… i can’t believe that old bastard Liddy is still alive… ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/78 "2010-04-11T17:59:05Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I think you’ve badly misunderstood this song. The line is actually “In Birmingham **they** love the governor” – followed by “Boo, boo, boo!” The narrator of “Sweet Home Alabama” does not express any personal fondness for the governor, and it seems clear enough to me that he is actually opposed to the governor. Huh. I always thought they were boo-hooing over the fact that an assassination attempt on George Wallace crippled him, ending any likelihood of a presidential bid, but Wiki backs you up with cites. Looks like if Van Sant meant it the way I thought, he reconsidered, or more likely it was meant that way from the start. Well, I will say that they certainly left themselves open to miscontruction, and that the Watergate reference still is a dated reference. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/79 "2010-04-11T19:56:54Z")
It’s still an absolutely kickass song (turn it up!) but New Zealand singer Shona Laing’s [“Soviet Snow”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5JFjtCD1VM) is dated. Another great song of hers, [“(Glad I’m) Not A Kennedy”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKIZMDGltOY) may be a bit dated musically and her look, but damn, to me the lyrics are still potent and timely every time a Kennedy dies. I love that violin! There are different mixes of this with more violin. Kate Bush’s [“There Goes A Tenner”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI2mlTwYwKg) seems dated with the lines: “There’s a ten-shilling note. Remember them?” And then there’s her wackily bizarre [“Ken”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Opl8t-Wahc) about funky sex machine Ken Livingstone’s campaign for re-election as London Mayor, written and recorded for The Comic Strip. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412/80 "2010-04-11T20:40:54Z")
**Mind Your Own Business** - Hank Williams \* The woman on our party line’s a nosy thing She picks up the receiver when she knows it’s my ring\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-pop-songs-with-now-dated-references/535412.md?page=5)