Soccer Dad: The "most" songs revisited

August 2, 2007

The "most" songs revisited

I've been giving thought to Elder of Ziyon's The Most 60's Song. Previously I posted on it over here.

What you also ought to be looking for is a song that transcends its role as music because it relates to something else, a fad, a trend, a news event etc.

Elder of Ziyon's suggestion about Convoy being the 70's song fits this pattern as it was a novelty song that celebrated the CB trend.

Keeping that in mind a choice for the 60's not previously discussed would be Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel. Mrs Robinson was written for "The Graduate," in some ways the emblematic 60's movie.

(I don't think that Jim Croce's Roller Derby Queen was popular enough to make the cut, though roller derby had a fan base.)

Fiery Spirited Zionist suggested Dylan's The Times they are A-changing. If I would pick a Dylan song, I'd still prefer Blowin in the Wind. Both are protest songs that capture the political foment of the time, but the latter was the most recorded song so its influence was greater.

(BTW, AZresident posted videos of a nice selection of 60's songs, including those that Elder of Ziyon discussed.)

In the 70's as Elder of Ziyon suggested Convoy could be the most 70's song. By the same token so could The Streak. (Except I suspect that more people embraced CB's than streaking. I hope.)

Much as I hate the song and hate what it represented, We are family was the theme song for the 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1976 when it came out the movie Rocky was a pop-cultural phenomenon, so its theme song Gonna Fly Now would also be a nominee for the most 70's song.

Finally how many sporting venues play Queen's "We will rock you?" That's another nominee for "most 70's song."

Leave comments or blog about it and let me know if you have further thoughts.

UPDATE: See the comments below. Elder of Ziyon, thanks!

Fiery Spirited Zionist: If I'd go with a Beatles song it would have to be something from the Ed Sullivan show. It would have to be something that connects to popular culture on a scale of more than a song.

Elie: Born to Run is an excellent choice from the 70's. The hype surrounding Springsteen was something incredible. I think he was even on the cover of both Time and Newsweek when Born to Run was released.

You could even argue that Born in the USA was emblematic of the 80's as the tour for that album was a really big event. Additionally, I think that President Reagan even embraced Springsteen somehow. (George Will, IIRC, also had a column in praise of Springsteen.) Norman Podhoretz, though, pointed out that the song wasn't exactly uncritical of the country.

JudeoPundit: Yes Kung Fu Fighting also captured a craze at the time. Good Choice. (I suppose it shows how silly some fads are.)

AZresident: Yes, I was going to add the BeeGees and, perhaps Staying Alive as representative of disco.

The more I think about it, Money for Nothing by Dire Straits would be a reasonable choice for an 80's song. At once the song both lampooned and celebrated MTV, the biggest innovation in broadcasting music.

UPDATE: See Ocean Guy's discussion.