# Songs that are “obsolete”



## landshark

This should be fun. What are some songs that are obsolete not because they’re old, out of style, and the fads of their day have pass us by, but because their lyrics refer to things that just are no longer in use?

For example, Foreigner’s 1979 album “Head Games” has a great sounding song called “Love on the Telephone” where singer Lou Gramm laments a breakup over the phone instead of in person.

Some of the lyrics:

Hello operator
You know that I’ve been waiting on this call
I said hey operator
You’re giving me a bad time
I’m gonna tear this phone right out the wall

Operator? Year we still have them I guess but their roles are a fraction of what they once were. And the phone mounted to the wall? It’s been a long time since anyone has seen that. This song is obsolete! It’s still a great sounding song, but I wonder what it would sound like today.

Another good example: The Beach Boys 1989 album “Still Cruisin’” in which the title song features these lyrics:

On the island
Wake up on the cape
We’ll punch up your favorite station
Toss in your favorite tape

Like just about everything else by The Beach Boys Still Crusin’ is a fun song to blast with the windows down on a sunny day. And I guess in 1989 “tossing in one’s favorite tape” made a lot of sense but it also dated an otherwise amazing sounding song!

What are some examples you can think of?


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## Jay78

Roll over Beethoven

I’ve got a rocking little record I want my disc jockey to play....

No more records, barely DJ’s and not like they used to be!


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## BigElectricKat

When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around by The Police

Turn on my *V.C.R*., same one I've had for years
*James Brown on the Tammy show*, 
Same tape I've had for years
I sit in my old car, same one I've had for years
Old battery's running down, it ran for years and years

Plug in my *M.C.I*, to exercise my brain
Make *records* on my own, can't go out in the rain
Pick up the telephone, I've listened here for years
No one to talk to me, I've listened here for years


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## Tad

"Brand New Key" by Melanie. Chorus starts 
Well, I got a brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key​
Any of you ever used a roller skate key? Me neither!


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## BigElectricKat

Used to use it to tighten up your wheels.


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## Tracyarts

"Don't Put Another Dime in the Jukebox" - The Flirts


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## landshark

Tracyarts said:


> "Don't Put Another Dime in the Jukebox" - The Flirts



Goodness that reminds me of another Foreigner classic, Juke Box Hero!


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## Dr. Feelgood

"In My Merry Oldsmobile"


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## Volt01

NO SONGS ARE EVER OBSOLETE!!!!!!!

(but chevy van by sammy johns tho)
(one piece at a time by johnny cash)


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## Volt01

happily_married said:


> Goodness that reminds me of another Foreigner classic, Juke Box Hero!


 Juke box hero is legendary.


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## landshark

Volt01 said:


> NO SONGS ARE EVER OBSOLETE!!!!!!!
> 
> (but chevy van by sammy johns tho)
> (one piece at a time by johnny cash)



One Piece at a Time is a classic! Awesome song!


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## Volt01

i could go on and on, tiffany, ac dc, def leppard, cher, etc


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## Volt01

AC/DC whole lotta rosie lol


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## Rojodi

"Here's a Quarter. [Call Someone Who Cares.]"
Travis Tritt


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## squeezablysoft

Payphone by Maroon 5 was basically obsolete even when it first came out.

"I'm at a payphone trying to call home / All of my change I spent on you"

Who was still spending change at a payphone to call up their ex, even in 2012?


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## Volt01

Tiffany, you and me , (The Jetsons movie) (love that one)


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## Rojodi

"Long Distance Operator" Johnny Rivers


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## nitewriter

Sugar,Sugar by the Archies


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## Volt01

stayin alive Bee Gees

Money for nothing Dire Straits

Ghost riders in the sky Johnny cash


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## CPProp

Brian And Michael - MatchStalk Men And MatchStalk Cats And Dogs





Salford is no longer anything like this and very few people wear clogs with segs so you can spark them


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## swamptoad

Don't Rock The Jukebox


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## Green Eyed Fairy

Loverboy- Loving Every Minute of It
"Turn that dial all way...."

Are there dials anymore?


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## swamptoad

Star 69 - REM

Can *69 even be used anymore?


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## Colonial Warrior

Hotline by The Silvers. Today it should be Website. Just try it.


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## Volt01

Rain on the scarecrow, and i do hope to god the government doesn't start anything like this again!


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## Volt01

swamptoad said:


> Star 69 - REM
> 
> Can *69 even be used anymore?


Summer of 69 lol


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## nitewriter

I've got tears in my ears lying in my bed crying my eyes out over you


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## BBW MeganLynn44DD

Destiny’s Child Bugaboo
Outdated Technology Referenced: Pagers; landlines; AOL; MCI phone poles; leaving voicemails


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## Salacious Caitlin

One oldie that's not outdated: Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. Just posted this on my fbook along with "Happy spring break, everybody!"


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## landshark

Salacious Caitlin said:


> One oldie that's not outdated: Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. Just posted this on my fbook along with "Happy spring break, everybody!"



that’s a good one but IMHO Blue Oyster Cult’s best track is Burnin’ for You.


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## Salacious Caitlin

happily_married said:


> that’s a good one but IMHO Blue Oyster Cult’s best track is Burnin’ for You.




I'm not opposed to that song (and I have no notion of oldies anyway since a lot of what I listen to was written pre-20th century) but Reaper is going through my head just now because of the coronavirus. It was featured in the miniseries of The Stand.


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## landshark

Salacious Caitlin said:


> I'm not opposed to that song (and I have no notion of oldies anyway since a lot of what I listen to was written pre-20th century) but Reaper is going through my head just now because of the coronavirus. It was featured in the miniseries of The Stand.



Ah, coronavirus! Who doesn’t love a good endemic?

what do you like that was written pre-20th century?


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## Salacious Caitlin

happily_married said:


> Ah, coronavirus! Who doesn’t love a good endemic?
> 
> what do you like that was written pre-20th century?



I listen to a lot of folk music. Irish, British, American. It's not uncommon for songs to go back to the Renaissance era. Now and then I listen to classical music as well.


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## squeezablysoft

BBW MeganLynn44DD said:


> Destiny’s Child Bugaboo
> Outdated Technology Referenced: Pagers; landlines; AOL; MCI phone poles; leaving voicemails



The 1990s, the musical!


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## BigElectricKat

Adam & The Ants - AntMusic
"Unplug the Jukebox and do us all a favor!"


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## Mainegal

Going back to the start of the thread-
And saying hi to friends-

i have 2 obsolete lyrics
1. P.O. Box 9847
2. I know that there’s a number I can dial for assistance, pant, pant, pant, pant


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## Sonic Purity

Note: I am consciously and intentionally necroposting, reviving a subjects of interest where i feel i have something meaningful to say that transcends the time frame of the earlier posts. I encourage anyone following up after my posts—especially newer members—to familiarize themselves with the older posts before posting.



happily_married said:


> And the phone mounted to the wall? It’s been a long time since anyone has seen that.



Mmmmm, i see it every day, here in my kitchen:


That’s a live phone, which you can call right now (if it’s still 2020 when you read this) at (626) 796-2711. (Yes, i realize the import of posting my phone number on a public website where posts are forever. This number has been public for decades. Keep reading.)

That’s not the only old-timey hardwired phone in active service in this house. There’s this one:



And this one:



And this one:



But you won’t actually ring through to any of those, because i installed a master switch near my bed which turns all the ringers in the house on and off at the same time, and it’s Off nearly all the time due to unsolicited telemarketer calls and other lowlife (sorry not sorry anyone in that profession reading this). Instead you will be routed to the 1995 Macintosh-based answering machine and voice modem, in the actual purpose-made original telephone alcove of this 1927 home:



Or if not that, maybe the fallback answering machine:


#livingmuseum

In the original spirit of this thread, there’s a zillion hardwired telephone-related songs, of which y’all have only covered a few. Here’s the most obvious one i’ve yet to see anyone post, performed by the original band:
Hanging on the Telephone — The Nerves


But what i _really_ want to post is this other obsolete technology no one at all has yet covered, until now:
Modem Song — Looper


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## Cogs

"Redneck" by Randy Newman is an absolutely devastating song about the evils of racism. Because the N-word is used frequently in the chorous; it is not longer played in the radio.


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## wrenchboy

Not a Kid Rock fan
Bawitaba(yes that is the name of a song)
A line goes, "the guys with 40s and the chicks with beepers" (including the Beep,beep,beep sound effect)


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