# Songs written TODAY, that will be played in 50 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 22, 2024, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011 "2024-12-22T11:54:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011/1 "2024-12-22T11:54:47Z")
just to take a slightly different stab than the other thread … wich songs written today (let’s be generous: between 2015-2024) will be played or have turned into a classic in 2075? I show my age/ignorance by coming up pretty blank … possibly 1-2 Taylor Swift songs (which I know but cant name) … ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011/2 "2024-12-22T12:55:27Z")
I, too, am ignorant of most modern music. But, if I can use my own 70+ years of experience as a guide, I think there’s unlikely to be many songs that will be played in 50 years. It’s not that I don’t think that there’s no quality music with enduring characteristics, it’s that the model has changed. The popular songs that endure from the last 50 years are usually those that had close associations with events, relationships, activities, and people. The old models of listening to radio, sharing that LP you just bought at a party, watching MTV, breaking up after a slow dance at the prom, etc., are basically gone. When I broke up with Cheryl Simpson (who, BTW, totally didn’t deserve me), “If You Could Read My Mind” seemed to play on WLEE 1480 every couple hours as I drove around or listened to my GE 7-transistor radio. And it’s not just us Boomers. My parents were buying Vera Lynn albums just a couple years before they passed. WWII was a big part of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011/3 "2024-12-22T13:41:01Z")
My wife just (wisely…and beautifully) adds that music was very often “imposed” on us when we were young. With no Spotify, YT, or streaming, we listened to what the (live) DJs thought we should. We ended up listening to Captain Beefheart records at parties because the guy who brought the beer was a big fan. MTV played whatever made the biggest numbers. But you get the idea. I didn’t WANT to hear “Sweet Caroline” every time Lee drove me to football practice in the morning, but I had to. I think WLEE must have been on that payola list… ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011/4 "2024-12-22T14:25:25Z")
got another one artist from TODAY, that might make it past the 50 year line: … but I can’t recall his name - (i don’t make this up, i swear - it’s the redhead UK beardy “nice” guy - he has good couple of rather timeless songs) edit: **Ed Sheeran** … just before the edit-timeout!!! what else have we got? ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011/5 "2024-12-22T14:32:20Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > My wife just (wisely…and beautifully) adds that music was very often “imposed” on us when we were young. With no Spotify, YT, or streaming, we listened to what the (live) DJs thought we should. We ended up listening to Captain Beefheart records at parties because the guy who brought the beer was a big fan. MTV played whatever made the biggest numbers. But you get the idea. good reasoning … the fact that we nowadays are way more in commando of what we hear/see - def. plays into that … hadn’t occurred to me before … (i feel a bit less ignorant now ) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-written-today-that-will-be-played-in-50-years/1012011/6 "2024-12-22T18:39:37Z")
I don’t doubt that songs by Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake, etc. will be played 50 years from now. Will I be listening to them? Probably not (since I rarely listen to them now), but there are plenty of people who are in their formative music-listening years today.