The most outdated songs

Spinner.com is the go-to place for lists like "Bad Songs by Good Bands" (e.g., R.E.M.'s "Stand") and "Worst Lyrics" ("Horse with No Name" gets an honor).

The site's latest list is an ambitious one: Most Outdated Songs.

Getting top honors is Morrissey with a song that came out only four years ago: "America is Not the World."

Morrissey's political diatribe includes the line "America ... Where the president is never black, female or gay/And until that day, you've got nothing to say to me."

Guess America can talk to Morrissey now.

But what would it say?

Also making the list:

 "Put another dime in the jukebox, baby" --Joan Jett's ‘I Love Rock ‘N' Roll' (1982)

You might be able to love rock ‘n' roll for a dime, but hearing it on a jukebox will likely cost you a dollar.

 

"I can't go away with you on a rock-climbing weekend/What if something's on TV and it's never shown again?" --Lemonheads' ‘The Outdoor Type' (1996)

Not only can Evan Dando TiVo ‘Xena' -- he can post footage of himself from his tent on YouTube before the weekend's up.

 

"You play your guitar on the MTV" --Dire Straits' ‘Money for Nothing' (1985)

Remember when people actually played music on TV and made money? Good times!

 

Sticking with the TV theme, I would like to add:

 "There's 57 channels and nothin' on." -- Bruce Springsteen's "57 Channels"

Now Bruce surely has at least 257 channels. And there's still nothing on. (Though "Flight of the Conchords" is really good.)

Check out the full list here

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Posted Feb 24 2009, 04:58 PM by Scott Mervis
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Comments

MisterHate wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Wed, Feb 25 2009 12:19 PM

I still got nothing to say to Mr. Morrissey. Blah.

LarryZ wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Wed, Feb 25 2009 12:44 PM

Is this the most outdated lyrics or the most outdates-sounding songs?

Well, lyrically, how about  Asia's "..and now you find yourself in '82..."  Dated as soon as the LP came out.  

Sound wise, anything by The Cars sounds horribly outdated and has aged miserably.

Rusty Spanner wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Wed, Feb 25 2009 2:18 PM

Viva Hate (I guess Morrissey had something else to say to some of us).

andybot wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Wed, Feb 25 2009 3:52 PM

I always think of No Doubt's "Spider Web" in this context. It dates itself to a very specific time period, after the proliferation of answering machines but before cell phones rid us of the excuse of not being home to answer the phone.

Scott Mervis wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Wed, Feb 25 2009 4:01 PM

Andybot! Is that really you?? Good to see you here.

Our classical critic just mentioned "I Can't Drive 55," which was outdated pretty quickly.

andybot wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Thu, Feb 26 2009 3:48 PM

I've come to infiltrate your corner of the universe, Mervis!

I actually missed many months of your posts here because I guess the feed address changed and I didn't realize it, so my reader wasn't getting your updates anymore. Whoops.

Also, when your classical critic is talking about Hagar, the world's really in an odd place.

Traco Bucco wrote re: The most outdated songs
on Sun, Mar 8 2009 2:12 PM

How about all of those songs referencing hitchhiking in the '60s and '70s?  Like "Sweet Hitch-Hiker," "Hitch A Ride," "Hitch Hike" and "Chevy Van."  I'm straining to think of anything noteworthy since Roger Waters' 1984 album "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking."  The fact that nobody sings about it any more supports the "outdated" label, I think.