# Songs which date themselves by mentioning the current year. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677 "2008-10-26T20:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/1 "2008-10-26T20:58:26Z")
I was listening to a couple of songs recently, “Modern Woman” by Billy Joel and “Heat of the Moment” by Asia, and noticed that both songs mention the year that is contemporary with their release. In “Modern Woman” it’s “And after 1986, what else could be new?” and In “Heat of the Moment” it’s “And now you find yourself in '82.” The placement of the year such as this can make a song sound hip and current, yet after the passage of time makes it horribly dated. Are there other examples of songs such as these which mention the current year, then become outdated? Note, I’m not asking for songs such as “December 1963” which were written well after the date mentioned and are intended to evoke more of a nostalgic mood. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/2 "2008-10-26T21:25:24Z")
How about songs that mention a future year? (E.g., Prince’s “1999”) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/3 "2008-10-26T21:33:07Z")
Even better are songs like “80’s Ladies”, which declare that decade to be the time of “now” and their maturity. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/4 "2008-10-26T21:34:02Z")
I’m sure if mankind is still alive in the year 2525… ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/5 "2008-10-26T21:36:11Z")
It doesn’t mention the number of the year exactly, but “Millennium” by Robbie Williams probably fits the spirit of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/6 "2008-10-26T21:37:39Z")
Obliquely: in “Nowadays” from **Chicago** there is the lyric “In fifty years or so/things will change, you know.” When the musical first came out (and flopped), it was about 50 years after the events portrayed (it’s based on real events). Now, it’s more. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/7 "2008-10-26T21:44:34Z")
The only thing I can think of is something by Public Enemy that mentions the year 1989 - “Fight the Power,” or maybe “Welome to the Terrordome.” I’m not sure. Joe ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/8 "2008-10-26T22:02:27Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > The only thing I can think of is something by Public Enemy that mentions the year 1989 - “Fight the Power,” or maybe “Welome to the Terrordome.” I’m not sure. > > Joe It’s “Fight the Power.” I came in to mention that. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/9 "2008-10-26T22:08:02Z")
Jackson Browne’s RUNNING ON EMPTY, but the dates mentioned are in the past (and incidentally match my age): “In '65, I was 17…” “In '69, I was 21…” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/10 "2008-10-26T22:25:44Z")
I wouldn’t really count “Running On Empty”. The date and his age are really more functions of the year he was born (1948) than of the year he recorded it (1977). He could sing it in concert tomorrow night and it would still make sense. He still was 17 in 1965 and 21 in 1969. That would never change as of the current year. I could give a pass to 1999. That would be in the spirit of what I’m looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/11 "2008-10-26T22:39:29Z")
Out of of my mind on Saturday night 1970 growin’ in sight Radio birdman up above Beautiful lady, needin’ my love. “1970”, Iggy and The Stooges Still a great song, though. Hey, little punk, forget all that junk And celebrate summer with me. Summer is heaven in '77. “Celebrate Summer”, T. Rex Still a shit song: hopelessly and rather pathetically outdated musically, considering that in Britain the Pistols were tearing everything up and Bowie, Bolan’s one-time glam rival, had wisely decamped to Berlin to write moody electronic instrumentals with Brian Eno. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/12 "2008-10-27T00:08:24Z")
Barenaked Ladies - Shoebox Near the end; “You’re so nineteen-ninety And it’s nineteen-ninety-four Leave this world behind me 'Cause you don’t want me anymore.” S^G ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/13 "2008-10-27T00:15:23Z")
The Clash: “No Elvis, Beatles, or Rolling Stones in **1977**!” How about songs that date themselves by mentioning the _century_? "She’s a **20th Century Fox** (Doors); “They got earphone heads, they got dirty necks, they’re so 20th century” (Stones, **Live With Me** ). Or conversely, songs that mention a future century that is no longer in the future, as in King Crimson’s **21st Century Schizoid Man**? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/14 "2008-10-27T00:20:16Z")
Tone Loc, **Funky Cold Medina**. _This is the 80s, and I’m down with the ladies._ (This following one of my favorite lyrics after learning that “Sheena was a man!”: _I don’t mess around with no Oscar Meyer Wiener: you must be sure that the girl is pure, before the Funky Cold Medina._) ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/15 "2008-10-27T00:52:01Z")
After the Goldrush by Neil Young (released in 1970) contains the line “look at mother nature on the run in the 1970s”. He’s updated it in live performances, and the current line is “… in the 21st century”. Hrm… also, I just thought of the opening to They Might Be Giants’ “Flood”. It does kind of date the whole damn cd when the first thing you hear is: Why is the world in love again? Why are we marching hand in hand? Why are the ocean levels rising up? It’s brand new record for 1990. They Might be Giants’ brand new album: Flood ---
**Author:** ![QuercusMax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8baadc/32.png) [@QuercusMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuercusMax)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/16 "2008-10-27T00:52:48Z")
I’m not quite sure how this one fits in, but _Bad Religion_ recorded 21st Century (Digital Boy) in 1994. At that point, I suppose it was talking about high-tech futuristic things, but based on the lyrics it still holds up just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/17 "2008-10-27T00:58:08Z")
Will Smith did a very stupid song that sampled “Rock the Casbah,” titled “Will 2K,” which came out right before the year 2000. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/18 "2008-10-27T01:11:05Z")
If we’re counting songs that mentioned a future year that had passed, there are a passel of songs referring to 1984 or 1985. These include Paul McCartney – “1985” Spirit – “1984” David Bowie – “1984” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/19 "2008-10-27T01:17:21Z")
“The Eighties are here; I know cause I’m looking right at 'em” -The Kinks, “Attitude” ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677/20 "2008-10-27T01:33:48Z")
The Ramones, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio” It’s the end, the end of the Seventies, It’s the end, the end of the century which came out on the album “End of the Century” (released two decades before the century ended) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-date-themselves-by-mentioning-the-current-year/469677.md?page=2)