Are songs timeless?

[Jim Colyer]

Writers like to think their songs are timeless, but is there such a thing? I went to Neil Sedaka's site. "Laughter In The Rain" was referred to as timeless. The song reminds me of driving through Chicago in November, 1974, when Neil broke out after a decade of the British dominating radio. Nothing timeless about that! Positive thinking is the theme which, in a human context, can be called timeless. Shakespearean themes are thought of as timeless although his language is obviously not. Dinosaurs ruled 160 million years and passed away. The sun will expend its energy, and the universe will die. Can 3 minute songs be eternal? The ones most closely approaching timelessness are Christmas songs because Christmas returns annually and because no new, good Christmas songs have appeared in the last 50 years. "Silent Night" and "White Christmas" become relevant each December.

[ol'skinflint]

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Originally Posted by Jim Colyer

Writers like to think their songs are timeless, but is there such a thing? I went to Neil Sedaka's site. "Laughter In The Rain" was referred to as timeless. The song reminds me of driving through Chicago in November, 1974, when Neil broke out after a decade of the British dominating radio. Nothing timeless about that! Positive thinking is the theme which, in a human context, can be called timeless. Shakespearean themes are thought of as timeless although his language is obviously not. Dinosaurs ruled 160 million years and passed away. The sun will expend its energy, and the universe will die. Can 3 minute songs be eternal? The ones most closely approaching timelessness are Christmas songs because Christmas returns annually and because no new, good Christmas songs have appeared in the last 50 years. "Silent Night" and "White Christmas" become relevant each December.

I guess different people would have different definitions of what a "timeless" song would be. To my mind, Christmas songs probably wouldn't fall into that category because I NEVER think about Christmas songs at any other time. I'd call a song timeless if the lyrics and/or emotions it evokes never get old or go out of style. In terms of contemporay songs, the Temptations' "My Girl" seems timeless. I hear it as often today as I did when it was released in 1966 (I think), and the lyrics seem just as eloquent now as they were then. Smokey Robinson says he wrote the song in 15 minutes, and he also says "when you're making history, you don't know it..."
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[Salsoul1975]

Sedaka's "Laughter In The Rain" timeless? IMO, not exactly, but a fine song nevertheless. I was actually pondering over the sentence regarding a decade's dominance of British music. Actually, 1964-66 was the period when British music dominated. It began to level off from 1967 onward. By 1974, virtually all British acts appearing on the American charts were holdovers from the previous decade (Stones, McCartney, et al.) If you look at the music charts by the mid-70s from the UK and the US, they were like night-and-day compared to only ten years earlier.

[markydefad]

as far a "timeless" songs go...I think you could go back to the THIRTIES/FORTIES for great and lasting tunes by the likes of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Rodgers & Hart...

Think:
"Someone To Watch Over Me" (Gershwin)
"Summertime" (Gershwin)
"The Man I Love" (Gershwin)
"Night & Day" (Porter)
"I've Got you Under My Skin" (Porter)
"Begin The Beguine" (Porter)
"Cheek To Cheek" (Berlin)
"Always" (Berlin)
"Over The Rainbow" (Arlen)
"Stormy Weather" (Arlen)
"The Way You Look Tonight' (Kern)
"Where Or When" (R&H)
"Falling In Love With Love' (R&H), etc......


Those songs are still sound great today...the earlier era stuff... Stephen Foster meets "O Dem Golden Slippers" ad nausem...only is covered in minstrel shows and, once upon a time, by the Salsoul Orchestra in their New Year's Medley!!!

Will the American Idols be covering "I Dream Of Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" on Stephen Foster week, I wonder???

[needlefingers]

Originally Posted by markydefad

Will the American Idols be covering 'I Dream Of Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" on Stephen Foster week, I wonder???

It's funny that you put Stephen Foster and American Idol together.

Stephen Foster is the original American Idol. In his time, he was much sought after and admired for his tunes. He was the celebrity of his day.

But he died penniless. An artist dying broke. Isn't that timeless too?

And while they may not sing his songs on American Idol, they are big in the Mummers Day Parade.