# Songs with a suprisingly long life **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087 "2016-01-03T20:25:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/41 "2016-01-05T09:06:13Z")
“Seven Nation Army” was a decent hit by the White Stripes in 2003. Good song. Had it’s time in the charts. And then it went away. Until the global community of sport fans decided to embrace it. Right now it’s a chant heard around stadia from Yaoundé to Port Moresby. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/42 "2016-01-05T11:46:53Z")
“Sweet Home Alabama” will never die. At least not in my home town. It’s not a bad song – say what you like, those guys could play – but lord the sentiment is anachronistic. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > Is it possible that someone was thinking of “Indian Outlaw,” by Tim McGraw, which interpolates “Indian Reservation”? That song moved from “racist” into the category of “hilariously awful” once I read someone’s online spoof about it, which included the line, “I’m an ‘Indian outlaw’, got brains made of cole slaw”. I mean, there was a lot to work with in the song lyrics to start with, but that just sent me over the edge and into fits of giggles. Of course the damn song was on heavy rotation in Jacksonville, and I couldn’t escape it, so I’d be left snickering madly when it played, and couldn’t tell anyone why. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/43 "2016-01-05T11:57:13Z")
I feel like “A Little Less Conversation” deserves mention. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/44 "2016-01-05T12:08:48Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > “Seven Nation Army” was a decent hit by the White Stripes in 2003. Good song. Had it’s time in the charts. And then it went away. > > Until the global community of sport fans decided to embrace it. Right now it’s a chant heard around stadia from Yaoundé to Port Moresby. Excellent one! Yeah, it is hilarious to hear “DUN Dun Dun Dun Dun DUN DUN” chanted at games. I heard an NPR piece, I think where they say it started in Belgium of all places… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/45 "2016-01-05T15:39:23Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. > > I was 10 years-old when this song came out and even then I thought it was a dumb novelty song that would get a lot of air play that year and then hopefully die a quick death. > But here it is 35 years later and it still makes it into the holiday stations rotation every year. This is an example of a whole category of songs that fit the OP – songs so bad that they are forever referenced as the worst, cheesiest songs of all time. I’d have to put \*Billy, Don’t Be a Hero \*at the top of that pile. Pile of _what_ – you decide. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/46 "2016-01-05T16:24:17Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Booker T and the MG’s - [Green Onions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bpS-cOBK6Q) > Glenn Miller - [In the Mood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CI-0E_jses) > Jimi Hendrix cover - [All Along the Watchtower](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY) The more we can hear Green Onions, the better. Man, what a badass groove. The others are totally worthy of their long lives, too. Great songs. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/47 "2016-01-05T17:16:24Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I was thinking of the oldest songs that most Americans have heard. Some Christian hyms go way back. The Star-Spangled Banner, sure, but that’s cheating. > > Yankee Doodle - Colonial era > Auld Lang Syne - 1788 > Twinkle Little Star - 1806 > Oh Susanna - 1848 > Camptown Races - 1850 > I Wish I Was in Dixie - 1850s > The Battle Hymn of the Republic - 1861 > When Johnny Comes Marching Home - 1863 > > [Nursery rhymes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nursery_rhymes) tend to be pretty old. “Greensleeves,” sometime in the reign of Elizabeth I (not Henry VIII) ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/48 "2016-01-05T17:35:38Z")
Celebration (1980) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/49 "2016-01-05T17:49:18Z")
My understanding is that the tune that goes Dah dah dah dha dah, dha dha dha dha dha dha dha… (That kids sing “There’s a planet Mars, where the ladies smoke cigars…”) was Little Egypt’s theme song, and was written for her for the Worlds fair of… never mind I just looked it up: > **[Arabian riff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Streets_of_Cairo,_or_the_Poor_Little_Country_Maid)** > > "Arabian riff", also known as "The Streets of Cairo", "The Poor Little Country Maid", and "the snake charmer song", is a well-known melody, published in various forms in the nineteenth century. Alternate titles for children's songs using this melody include "The Girls in France" and "The Southern Part of France". This song is often associated with the hoochie coochie belly dance. > There is a clear resemblance between the riff and the French song Colin prend sa hotte (published by Christophe Balla... ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/50 "2016-01-06T06:57:43Z")
> [@Caricci](#): > > No, I’m thinking of the one from the early 70’s which has a fine message but is full of what some people would call micro-aggressions, such as the terms “Indian” and “red men” and fake Native American music such as one might find in a Western movie from the late 50’s that’s almost as bad as chanting “hi, how are ya”. > > It’s the one that goes “Cherokee pee-po-ohl! Cherokee Tri-ibe! So proud to li-ih-iv! So proud to die!” I don’t think you understand what a micro-aggression is. I’m not actually familiar with this song, but I’m playing it now, and it’s…a pop song about an actual historical atrocity. That pronunciation is just his accent. The music just pretty much sounds like 1960’s pop music to my ears. Maybe you want to go throw slime at Cher for “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves” now? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/51 "2016-01-09T18:21:47Z")
Don McLean’s American Pie. Too long and too obscure. Yet there are websites and even a Straight Dope column devoted to it. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/52 "2016-01-09T19:54:42Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > “Sweet Home Alabama” will never die. At least not in my home town. It’s not a bad song – say what you like, those guys could play – but lord the sentiment is anachronistic. ## Interesting…this song was playing on the jukebox between sets at my gig last night; our bassist (not born in the US) commented on the anthemic, albeit frightening, nature of the tune and its general interpretation - as opposed to its intent, saying it will live on long past anyone’s reasonable expectations. ## Given a second thought, the jock jams, the parodies and the novelty songs’ collective longevity isn’t really that surprising. The only one that’s coming to mind for me is [Eminence\_Front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminence_Front), the 2nd single (“Athena” was the first) off the very mediocre “It’s Hard”, from a band that was considered way past their prime. Great tune with a very cool riff, but its thought-provoking lyrics seem way out of step with the normal pablum. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/53 "2016-01-09T23:25:13Z")
If I never heard “Turn the Page” again, it would be too soon. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/54 "2016-01-09T23:42:41Z")
“Turn the Page” was one of those songs used by “classic rock” stations to disguise the fact that their playlist is basically four Led Zeppelin albums. It’s not a bad song, just very of its time, like so much of “classic rock.” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/55 "2016-01-10T00:06:42Z")
I don’t think Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” will ever die. (But I wish it would.) Same goes for Etta James’s “At Last” And Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is beginning to wear thin too. ---
**Author:** ![7happycreations](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/8e8cbc/32.png) [@7happycreations](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7happycreations)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/56 "2016-01-10T17:09:52Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh, I have one: > > **The Romantics: (That’s) What I Like About You.** > > A toss-off song by the band, the only one sung by their drummer, it was a fun, new-wave hit in the 80’s. But it has stayed around, used as the name for a TV series with a watered-down cover for the theme, and popped up in commercials. > > It’s kind of like the Louie, Louie of the 80’s - simple three-chord song that a lot of folks still know. I love the song; can’t think of a band I haven’t played it in. I just heard a new Japanese/English version the other day. Still sounds fresh, fun and it does not annoy me. Funny. I bet the writer has made a killing over the years. I was in a punk new wave band in Tampa that opened for them. They were very nice guys. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/57 "2016-01-10T18:32:33Z")
> [@7happycreations](#): > > I just heard a new Japanese/English version the other day. Still sounds fresh, fun and it does not annoy me. Funny. I bet the writer has made a killing over the years. > > I was in a punk new wave band in Tampa that opened for them. They were very nice guys. I recall this was one of those horror stories of people who sold their rights to a song, and got royally screwed for their lack of foresight. I can’t find that on Wiki though. ---
**Author:** ![Cardboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/58 "2016-01-23T00:19:39Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Oh, I have one: > > **The Romantics: (That’s) What I Like About You.** > > A toss-off song by the band, the only one sung by their drummer, it was a fun, new-wave hit in the 80’s. But it has stayed around, used as the name for a TV series with a watered-down cover for the theme, and popped up in commercials. > > It’s kind of like the Louie, Louie of the 80’s - simple three-chord song that a lot of folks still know. I love the song; can’t think of a band I haven’t played it in. The weird thing about What I Like About You is that it didn’t even chart that high (#49). Talking In Your Sleep peaked at #3 and that barely gets any radio play. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/59 "2016-01-25T01:14:34Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Frank Sinatra songs are still being played on the radio, despite young people swearing they’d rather jump out of a 10th floor window than listen to them. I have a 14yo daughter who has a record player and Frank’s _This is Sinatra!_, and she plays it regularly with her friends. So it must be your young people, because, musically, the kids around here consider anything fair game, regardless of when it was made. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087/60 "2016-01-25T03:59:01Z")
Henry Mancini has a theme song from a show no one ever saw that will out live all of us, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oysMt8iL9UE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oysMt8iL9UE) Same thing for a movie (that a lot of people saw) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPc7MRm4Y8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPc7MRm4Y8) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-suprisingly-long-life/742087.md?page=4)