# Songs that could plausibly have been released in completely different decades **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646 "2017-04-03T10:39:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/41 "2017-04-07T06:23:34Z")
[“Over the Hills and Far Away” by Gary Moore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IocRCDWB5k) sounds a lot more modern than 1987. Sounds more appropriate for a mid-2000’s symphonic metal band, perhaps from Finland or something. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/42 "2017-04-08T06:59:31Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Pulp’s “Common People” is very 80’s to me. (1995) Yes. The music and the video are so 80s it hurts, but the lyrics are totally 90s. They have some great songs that sound more 90s, the best way I can describe it is like seedy, edgy lounge music with an alternative spin. The first time I heard The Violent Femmes’ ‘‘Kiss Off’’ was in the 2000s. It was so angsty I was certain it was some obscure 90s band. It’s from _1983_. They’ve always struck me as ahead of their time. Walk the Moon’s ‘‘Shut Up and Dance’’ is straight out of the 80s. Released in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/43 "2017-04-08T13:45:34Z")
Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band’s “Cherchez La Femme” has a definite Big Band era feel, even with the disco instrumentation. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/44 "2017-04-08T15:34:43Z")
1964 Kinks **You Really Got Me** ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/45 "2017-04-08T18:53:34Z")
The first time I heard Paloma Faith’s Only Love Can Hurt Like this I had to look around to make sure I hadn’t slipped back into 1962. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/46 "2017-04-08T21:05:46Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Yes. The music and the video are so 80s it hurts, but the lyrics are totally 90s. I don’t know. To me, the song _Common People_ always sounded very firmly mid-90s to me. I don’t know if it’s the production, the instrumentation, or what, but it definitely sounds post-80s to my ears, speaking of the music alone. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/47 "2017-04-09T01:21:22Z")
The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” still sounds ahead of its time. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/48 "2017-04-09T02:01:04Z")
I think this may fall into the “deliberately retro” catagory but Jet’s [Are You Gonna Be My Girl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuK6n2Lkza0) sounds so mid 60’s that when I first heard it, I thought it was an overlooked gem. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/49 "2017-04-09T18:05:22Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” still sounds ahead of its time. Good pick. The lyrics have held up as well as the music, possibly because they’re John Lennon at his peak, paraphrasing Timothy Leary’s paraphrasing of the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. And it’s still a treat to hear Paul McCartney’s laughter transformed into “psychedelic seagulls from hell” with mid 60’s technology. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/50 "2017-04-09T21:33:54Z")
I honestly thought [Real Hero](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8) was some progressive rock or electronic song from the late 1970s or early 80s that I hadn’t heard before. ---
**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 10, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/51 "2017-04-10T01:31:38Z")
_In the Year 2525_ won’t get old until the year 2526. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/52 "2017-04-10T03:53:29Z")
Fleet Foxes _White Winter Hymnal_ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE) has a 50’s or early 60s vibe to me. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/53 "2017-04-10T05:28:28Z")
Until disconcertingly recently I honestly though [_If You Want My Love_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzew738f5TA) by Cheap Trick was a c.1970 Beatles number made just before the band broke up - I had no idea it was recorded in 1982 by a totally different group. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/54 "2017-04-10T05:41:34Z")
Beatles: “Honey Pie” and “Martha My Dear” sound like throwbacks to many decades previous, as well as (but less so) “Your Mother Should Know”. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/55 "2017-04-10T06:43:40Z")
I’d been listening to a lot of Warren Zevon’s music as single tracks that didn’t include the album or release date. The styles and themes of so many of them were so similar and had a (for want of a better term) well-weathered feel to them, that I thought they were all from a couple of his older albums. I recently checked his discography and discovered that - nope - they were scattered all across his career from the 70s to the 2000s. The guy had a sound and a story that worked, and he’d make regular trips back to them on every album. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/56 "2017-04-10T11:34:58Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > Fleet Foxes _White Winter Hymnal_ > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE) > > has a 50’s or early 60s vibe to me. It actually had me convinced that it was a traditional folk song until I looked it up to figure out what it meant. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/57 "2017-04-10T20:08:39Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > It actually had me convinced that it was a traditional folk song until I looked it up to figure out what it meant. I thought it had no meaning? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/58 "2017-04-10T22:47:07Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > I thought it had no meaning? That’s what I found out when I looked it up! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/59 "2017-04-11T06:26:40Z")
Steely Dan was always kind of timeless sounding to me. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646/60 "2017-04-11T14:27:13Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Steely Dan was always kind of timeless sounding to me. Can you come up with examples? I always thought they sounded of their time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-could-plausibly-have-been-released-in-completely-different-decades/783646.md?page=4)