# You're Marty McFly, ready to play 3 songs from the future at a 1955 prom. What do you play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256 "2011-11-17T19:29:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/21 "2011-11-17T22:24:51Z")
Let’s see, my band and I would open with “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” followed by “One of These Days”, and finish with “Space Truckin’”. That medley should do a number on the sock hoppers. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/22 "2011-11-17T22:32:45Z")
Lady Cab Driver - Prince Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana and just because I’m a jerk, and to prepare them for their future hell, I’d get a girl to do I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry I THINK the kids might get into it, the chaperones… well, “somebody get a rope” ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/23 "2011-11-17T23:12:32Z")
_Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger_ - Daft Punk (you could wear the Darth Vader from Vulcan costume) _Californication_ - Red Hot Chili Peppers _American Pie_ - Don McLean. You’d be a 1950s musical Nostradamus. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/24 "2011-11-17T23:36:10Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’d do early Beatles, like “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” etc. Just a tad into the future, so the audience should find it acceptable, but still groundbreaking. No, have an early Beatles, an early Stones, and an early Who! Start with _She Loves you_, then shake them up with _Satisfaction_, and finally blow their minds with _My Generation_. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/25 "2011-11-17T23:37:17Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > That might get you that result, but if you want to guarantee it, replace your third number with _Dead Babies_. Yeah, I thought of that, but then I heard Alice in my head saying, “Cadaver eyes upon me see…nothing,” and I was forced to obey. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/26 "2011-11-17T23:47:17Z")
I’d open with _Smoke on the Water_, sail into _My Generation_, and close with a perfect Hendrix-esque _Star Spangled Banner_ to appease the faulty. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/27 "2011-11-17T23:47:46Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > But, limited to just three, I think I’d just stick to Grrl songs: > > “Dreams”, Cranberries > “Just a Girl”, No Doubt > “Bitch”, Meredith Brooks. Strickland would be charging the stage to shut us down the instant we hit the first refrain, so perhaps change that word to “witch” in the lyrics. > > If we didn’t have to worry about Strickland et al shutting us down, I wouldn’t change “Bitch” and I’d replace the first two songs with these to see the reactions: > > \*\*\* Ponder Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back” might also get a similar reaction. It would really shake them up, that’s for sure. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/28 "2011-11-17T23:51:41Z")
“Tomorrow Never Knows”, The Beatles “Kiss”, Prince “Ether”, Gang Of Four Just to trip them out. ---
**Author:** ![BarefootOkieGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BarefootOkieGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarefootOkieGal)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/29 "2011-11-18T00:38:21Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Title says it all. Assume, since this is a fantasy and all, that your backing band (and you too!) has the chops to play whatever it is from 1956-now that you select. > > What do you play? How would the crowd react? Hell, how would the _chaperones_ react? 1. Red House (Jimi Hendrix) 2. Going Home (From the movie Woodstock - Ten Years After) 3. Mexican Rap (from the movie Double Take - I think it’s Delinquent Habits) The crowd would either sh_t or go blind. The chaperones would faint. Anyone who spoke Spanish (not likely in that crowd) would sh_t, go blind, AND faint. And I’d be the rock star of the century, bwah-ha-ha!!! (If I got out alive, that is…) ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/30 "2011-11-18T00:46:38Z")
Assuming I get to perform exactly as the real artist, I’ve always wanted to be David Bowie. Changes Golden Years Wild is the Wind ---
**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:** [November 18, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/31 "2011-11-18T01:29:02Z")
“Wanna Be Starting Something” by Michael Jackson “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem “TiK ToK” or maybe “Fuck Him He’s a DJ” by Kesha (whichever one I don’t pick will be the encore if nobody shoots me first. Any references to men would be changed to women so as not to do the gender bending thing.) Michael Jackson’s song may sound out of place, but nothing too offensive for the chaperones, and the kids would probably enjoy it. The last two would probably result in a public whipping, and nobody would know why the hell I was speaking instead of singing. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/32 "2011-11-18T01:30:38Z")
Billy Joel’s _We Didn’t Start The Fire_ would blow their fucking minds later. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/33 "2011-11-18T01:42:44Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > No, have an early Beatles, an early Stones, and an early Who! Start with _She Loves you_, then shake them up with _Satisfaction_, and finally blow their minds with _My Generation_. Taking this question semi-seriously, this is the best answer so far. You’d have to start with nothing later than early Beatles to bridge the gap, and I can’t think of any better ‘bridge-gapping’ band than them. But you couldn’t go too much farther ahead. You could only play songs that ‘got-up-and-go’ pretty quickly, Pink Floyd et al. wouldn’t have a chance. Anything from the early 80s would confuse them, and most any kind of Rock 'n Roll from the late 80s to the present would just sound like noise to them. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/34 "2011-11-18T01:53:38Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > No, have an early Beatles, an early Stones, and an early Who! Start with _She Loves you_, then shake them up with _Satisfaction_, and finally blow their minds with _My Generation_. I’m with you on #1 and #2, but how about _Born This Way_ for #3? It’s catchy, it’s upbeat, it’s oh my lord what is that singer saying? ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/35 "2011-11-18T02:03:45Z")
Speaking of born, how 'bout _Born To Be Wild_? ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/36 "2011-11-18T02:18:49Z")
Is my time machine idling outside the door so I can make a quick escape? Yes? Then… I’d get them comfortable with Benny Goodman’s\* Sing, Sing Sing\*, then mess with their feet with Brubeck/Desmond’s _Take Five_, and then put on _The Rodeo Song_ by Garry Lee & Showdown and run for the door… ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/37 "2011-11-18T02:46:37Z")
It’s a prom, right? So how about Meatloaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”? Maybe preceded by The Cars’ hit “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”, and to wind down those raging hormones, “Relax” by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 😉 Slow ballad: “Who’s Loving You” by the Jackson 5, and current hit “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/38 "2011-11-18T02:52:58Z")
Baba O’Riley, by The Who Tom Sawyer, by Rush And then something just for fun. Pick one: Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen Mmmbop, by Hansen It’s Raining Men, by The Weather Girls The Safety Dance, by Men Without Hats I Wanna Be Sedated, by The Ramones Walk The Dinosaur, by Was (Not Was) Mr. Blue Sky, by ELO ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/39 "2011-11-18T03:12:59Z")
This is me, so you know I’d go all viking metal on their 1950’s asses. I’d start with something by Enslaved, say, ‘Ethica Odini’. Then I’d move into Amon Amarth’s ‘Twilight of the Thunder God.’ And I’ve gotta give some love to Tyr. I’m thinking ‘Hold the Heathen Hammer High,’ but really, anything by a band of Faroese pagans would do. As to the reactions, I have no idea what would actually happen. Hell, chaperones in 2011 America probably wouldn’t know what to do. In 1955… I have no idea, but the aftermath would fun as hell to watch. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256/40 "2011-11-18T03:14:07Z")
“I Don’t Like Mondays” by the Boomtown Rats. Everyone would be dancing to the catchy tune until the chaperons catch on to the lyrics. “Willie the Pimp” by Frank Zappa “[You’re Breaking My Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02lXLiFsRtE)” by Nilsson. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-marty-mcfly-ready-to-play-3-songs-from-the-future-at-a-1955-prom-what-do-you-play/603256.md?page=3)