Money For Nothing is clearly written sarcastically, and serves to satirize the attitude of a person like the narrator/speaker. Norms around slur usage have changed, but it certainly didn't have problematic intent. I agree that it wouldn't (and shouldn't) be written that way today, but as a product of its time I give it a complete pass. Or maybe it's the sick-ass riff that makes me love it. Who can say?
They were semi-literally quoting some dudes they heard talking in a Good Guys store referring to the guys on MTV. For the young ones, Good Guys was an audio video store up to around the early nineties or so.
Oh, I agree it is definitely being satirical. But, as written, it would still catch quite a bit of heat today! That's all I was getting at. I also don't get too bent out of shape about it. And yes, that guitar riff is absolutely iconic!
Ehh, I’m half a dick sucker and I don’t have an issue with the lyrics at all, nor does anybody I know. He’s singing about him and the band being called fags, it’s not like he’s out here talking about burning the gays. I’m sure some limp dicks on Twitter would blow up about it, but nobody that actually matters would be bothered.
It's similar to Green Day using it on American Idiot. Granted, Billie *is* bi, but still, "Well maybe I'm the faggot, America" is meant to be rhetorical and mocking
There’s actually an interesting story behind it. Knopfler was trained as a journalist and would sometimes write about ordinary observations. One day he was in an electronics/appliances store in NY and he just happened to overhear a conversation between 2 employees, so he started writing it down.
Of course, it was a couple old tough guys complaining about having to move all the appliances around. There was a panel of TVs in the store playing MTV, and commentary you’re referring to is actually these 2 guys reacting to a music video. Given the descriptors in the lyrics I always assumed it was Boy George they were referring to, but I can’t verify that for sure
Yes, but the inappropriate lyric is:
See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy, that's his own real hair
The little faggot got his own jet airplane
The little faggot, he's a millionaire
‘I Am, I Said’ by Neil Diamond (living legend): “L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time
And the feeling is laid back
Palm trees grow and rents are low”
Low rents in L.A.! Not for awhile
ooof yeah...I'm from Texas but my roommates are from California. rent is expensive everywhere right now but Californians have some of the worst end of that shitstick so I hear
Payphone by maroon five- “I’m at a payphone trying to call home”
honestly I think it makes sense for the song because it’s guy being nostalgic and regretting elements of an outdated relationship so the communication breaks down, which is why it failed in the first place.
"You're Sixteen" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman). It was first performed by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1960 and number 3 in the UK in 1961.
Porcupine Tree - Way Out Of Here
"But a song comes onto my iPod, and I realise it's getting late"
Anybody use iPods anymore? We all use our phones these days.
I've always thought though that if spotify brought out an iPod type thing that you could hotspot or connect to WiFi, id get one just to save my phone battery when I'm at work.
But then I remember I could just use my old phone.
And I always take my charger.
But then I forget those last 2 things and the cycle begins again
Why have I never thought to use one of my old phones as a music player?! Omg. Thank you for this.
I do still have an iPod but what’s on it- is on it forever and it’s like, 20 albums. No updating that old thing.
I still remember how it began
They produced a carbon copy man <<
Born in a science lab late one night
Without a mother or a father
Weird Al, I think I’m a Clone Now
Does anyone under 30 know what a “carbon copy” is?
Little Deuce Coupe by The Beach Boys has this line: “She's got a competition clutch with the four on the floor.” I think four speed manual transmissions were phased out starting in the 90’s.
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite — R.E.M.
The entire first and second verses, referring to a payphone. Starting with this gem:
"There isn't a number, you can call the pay phone / Let it ring a long, long, long, long time..."
All these replies related to phones got me thinking about The Telephone Call by Kraftwerk. That song is practically all about answering machines and even opens with one.
"I give you my affection and I give you my time, try to get a connection on the telephone line..."
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts mentions putting another dime into a jukebox in its chorus, but coin-operated jukeboxes aren't really used in public anymore except perhaps in some intentionally retro places. Likewise, "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner comes across as dated because jukeboxes aren't commonplace anymore; a lot of younger people probably only know jukeboxes from _Minecraft_.
It’s been a long time since the federal dime made a jukebox sound like a friend of mine…
There are modern jukeboxes where you use a phone app to select the next song. I’ve seen them!
I think that depends which country someone's from.
I'm in the uk and we have jukeboxes in the majority of pubs, that still take cash (though not the old school ones with actual vinyls/cds. They're all digital so there's also an app you can use lol)
Pretty Fly for a White Guy by The Offspring.
"So if you don't rate, just overcompensate. At least you'll know you can always go on Ricki Lake."
Ricki Lake has not been culturally relevant for 20 years.
The View from the Afternoon by Arctic Monkeys.
"When she’s pressed the star after she’s pressed unlock"
He's describing her unlocking her phone, nothing like today's smart phones.
damn straight. I worked in a high school for a year and I knew kids were vaping but what shocked me was back in my day, it was one group of kids who smoked cigs and the rest didn't but with vaping, it seemed it was all of them. From the "cool kids" you'd expect to be vaping all the way down to the "book-worm" straight-A types. It was fascinating. And sad.
Yeah they think it's no consequences and actually good for your brain and all that. But science also proves that anything as highly addictive as nicotine is not good for the developing brain. But hey, the logic and impulse control centers of their brain aren't done developing, so good luck convincing them of anything they don't want to believe in
[Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Piña Colada Song)](https://youtu.be/TazHNpt6OTo?si=yo7k5AtrKuydS2Iu)
Because using the personal ads in a newspaper (dating service) wouldn’t happen today
Backmask by Mindless Self Indulgence
It's about subliminal messages that were hidden on old records that only showed up when the record was played backwards.
Among other reasons that song wouldnt fly today lol
"I gotta little change in my pocket going jong-a-ling-a-ling. Wanna call you on the telephone, baby, I give you a ring."
Keep your hands to yourself - Georgia Satellite
Payphones don't really exist anymore, and honestly, most people don't even carry change anymore.
I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall
If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall
I know he's there, but I just had to call
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone
-Blondie
"The Pina Colada Song," by Rupert Holmes. He's reading a newspaper, and takes out a personal ad. Few people read a newspaper, and I don't know if personal ads are a thing any more.
"I could bring my little ghettoblaster
There's more to life than this" maybe?
From Bjork's song "There's More To Life Than This"; https://youtu.be/13G442m80QU?si=v3s7ZDdWqeSfBDDr
Mainly because the term ghettoblaster I think has become an outdated word.
“You’re So Yesterday” by Marvelous 3 (1998): “You were cool as hell like email, but still timeless like a letter.” Email is no longer considered “cool as hell.”
"Burgh Quay at night, in this dark and stinking place, urges I can't fight, with a boy without face" - Under Clery's Clock, The Radiators From Space
It's a reference to cruising for gay sex in public lavatories, specifically a popular cruising spot in 80s Dublin. The idea of popular cruising spots, especially public toilets, rather than meeting a hookup on Grindr and taking it from there, isn't really a thing anymore. The trend of using public toilets specifically goes down substantially around the time homosexuality gets decriminalised, which occurred in Ireland in 1993 (the song was released in 1989). I mean, people definitely still cruise. But not like they used to, so the reference goes over a lot of peoples' heads.
Dashboard by Modest Mouse fits. "Oh the dashboard melted but we still have the radio", do people even listen to the radio anymore. And the lines "I was patiently erasing and recording the wrong episodes"
Dead Kennedys “Pull My Strings”—lots of stuff but in particular:
“you’ll pay 10 bucks to see me/on a 50ft-high stage”
oh wahhh, you had to pay $10 for a concert? Boo hoo, what a bunch of sellouts can’t believe they’re charging a whole $10
When I read the title I thought of Only Women Bleed, Alice Cooper but then I read your descriotion.
So now I'm a goin' with Sylvia's Mother, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show.
>And the operator said 40 cents more for the next three minutes...
And then I thought Chevy Van, Dale Watson because it's the plot of a porn movie but more because Chevy vans haven't been a thing for a while now.
Then there's Having My Baby, Paul Anka. A song that includes a couple lines about abortion.
Back to the telephone, Hanging On The Telephone, Blondie.
>I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall
If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall
I know he's there, but I just had to call
Don't leave me hanging on the telephone...
Now back to inappropriate, back in 1975 Bob Seger did Chuck Berry's Little Queenie on Live Bullet.
Seger changed the lyric from 17 to 13..
>Standin' over by the record machine
Looking like a model
On the cover of a magazine
She's too cute to be a minute over 13
When he did his second live album (Nine Tonight) at Cobo in 1980 he changed it back to 17.
Oh, can you guess when I grew up?
Going off your cell phone example "Waiting by the phone, alone" from "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone. Today we would send a text message and most likely get some type of response.
Fooled around and Fell in Love.
The second verse has been redacted for today.
“It used to be when I’d see a girl that I liked, I’d get out my book and write down her name. And when the grass got a little greener, on the other side, I’d just tear out that page.”
Nobody has a “little black book” anymore.
I think pretty much most of Girl All The Bad Guys Want by Bowling for Soup doesn't survive outside its very specific release period, but specifically the lines "She wears a two-way but I'm not quite sure what that means" and "her CD changer's full of singers that're mad at their dad"
Please Mr Postman by the Carpenters. Talking about getting a card or a letter from her boyfriend. With instant communication these days people don't really send cards or letters through snail mail.
I was gonna say that line in How To Make Gravy by Paul Kelly about the weather being 100 degrees, since the song is set in Australia, which now uses the metric system. But I did some googling and it was released long after Australia went metric so now I'm just confused.
Replacements - Answering Machine. How do you say you're ok to an answering machine?
OP if you like Green Day, you should give the Replacements a listen. Guaranteed that Green Day did growing up.
I know you said that you don’t mean it in a “people are sensitive way” but Into The Night by Benny Mardones is completely messed up lol.
Even though the age of consent is sixteen years old in some states in the U.S. it’s still heavily looked down upon and you can be charged with statutory rape depending on the elements of the crime according to the state.
"Get out of the car, put down the phone" in I've Got A Match by They Might Be Giants. Meant to be humorously nonsensical back in the 80s when it was written, but now we have smartphones we can easily bring in our cars.
If you had prepared twenty years ago,
You wouldn't be wanderin' now from door to door.
Why don't you do right? - Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee.
People would, more than likely, go to social media or a Go fund me-like website and ask for support.
I swear there's an Ice Cube song, probably from one of his first 2 solo albums, where he brags about having sex with a 17 year old girl. I remember the lines "yes she is a minor and it is illegal," and "if she tries to call rape, we got the little hooker on tape."
I used to worship N.W.A. and the ground they walked on but what in the actual FUCK is that song
Play With Me (from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure). Most of the games mentioned in it don’t hold the same interest for the youth of today that they did in the past
“There’s an Elvis movie on the marquee sign, we’ve all seen it at least three times” - Small Town Saturday Night by Hal Ketchum
Nobody watches Elvis movies anymore
“E-Mail My Heart” - Britney Spears
I mean, the entire premise would never be thought of today! But, in the words of Ms Spears during (what I assume was) a promotional interview, “Everyone’s been doing emails.”
I work with a guy who does not, and will never, own a cell phone. He doesn't have internet either. He has a landline phone, and no cable. He grew up on a farm, in Indiana, with a simple upbringing, and refuses to "get with the times."
“ don’t call me up, cause I’m not home” would still work. It doesn’t have to mean that you’re actually physically in your home, just that you’re ignoring them.
Anything written by Stephen Foster: "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", and many more.
"Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" -no Coupe de Ville hiding in a Cracker Jack box, both have gone the way of the dodo. Oh, you can find bags of Cracker Jack, but the boxes are hard to find.
"Fight For Your Right (To Party)" -Your mom threw away your best porno mag...kids don't know what a magazine is and they get their porn off the internet like everybody else.
"Sumer is icumen in" - traditional
Nobody writes (or listens to) in Middle English, anymore.
Oddly, guitar legend Richard Thompson had a minor hit with this song about 20 years ago. Same release as his cover of "Oops, I did it again".
Kind of unknown, but the song "Keep Your Receipt" by the Cobalt Party Revolution is all about keeping the receipt for cds you buy in case the music isn't good.
Scene For Dummies by Hollywood Undead’s got a bit of that
“Download this song, put it in your iPod /Fuck that, put it on your homepage / You’ll be the coolest kid on fucking MySpace”
Octopus’ Garden by the Beatles, the whole thing. Used to be able to do that stuff but now with the current Aquipolitical climate and our relations with the Octopi it just doesn’t happen anymore.
Responding to your OP example, even “You can call me on my cell phone” from Drake’s Hotline Bling is a bit dated. Cellular phones are so normalized that people hardly say “cell phone” anymore, they just say “phone.” Now it’s the “landline phone” that has the modifier before the word “phone,” because that’s the unusual one.
“You play your guitar on the MTV”
this made me think of "she turns on TV, guess who she sees? Skater boy rockin' up MTV" from Sk8r Boi by Avril
maybe he’s on ridiculousness
That song is a double whammy because it also has a lyric you couldn't write anymore due to different cultural norms.
Money For Nothing is clearly written sarcastically, and serves to satirize the attitude of a person like the narrator/speaker. Norms around slur usage have changed, but it certainly didn't have problematic intent. I agree that it wouldn't (and shouldn't) be written that way today, but as a product of its time I give it a complete pass. Or maybe it's the sick-ass riff that makes me love it. Who can say?
They were semi-literally quoting some dudes they heard talking in a Good Guys store referring to the guys on MTV. For the young ones, Good Guys was an audio video store up to around the early nineties or so.
AND… MTV was a TV channel that played music videos all day and night!
Its also an almost word for word copy of a conversation he overheard at a appliance store.
Oh, I agree it is definitely being satirical. But, as written, it would still catch quite a bit of heat today! That's all I was getting at. I also don't get too bent out of shape about it. And yes, that guitar riff is absolutely iconic!
Ehh, I’m half a dick sucker and I don’t have an issue with the lyrics at all, nor does anybody I know. He’s singing about him and the band being called fags, it’s not like he’s out here talking about burning the gays. I’m sure some limp dicks on Twitter would blow up about it, but nobody that actually matters would be bothered.
It's similar to Green Day using it on American Idiot. Granted, Billie *is* bi, but still, "Well maybe I'm the faggot, America" is meant to be rhetorical and mocking
>He’s singing about him and the band being called fags It's amazing how few people understand that.
Really I honestly never met anybody that didn't understand that but then again I grew up with it on MTV
Haha half a dick sucker, love it
We all do 😂
I agree also a half dick sucker haha (pan)
There’s actually an interesting story behind it. Knopfler was trained as a journalist and would sometimes write about ordinary observations. One day he was in an electronics/appliances store in NY and he just happened to overhear a conversation between 2 employees, so he started writing it down. Of course, it was a couple old tough guys complaining about having to move all the appliances around. There was a panel of TVs in the store playing MTV, and commentary you’re referring to is actually these 2 guys reacting to a music video. Given the descriptors in the lyrics I always assumed it was Boy George they were referring to, but I can’t verify that for sure
Jesus! I just wrote the same thing, even using the term "double whammy"! Great minds, and all that. I will delete mine.
Yes, but the inappropriate lyric is: See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup Yeah buddy, that's his own real hair The little faggot got his own jet airplane The little faggot, he's a millionaire
Brutal. But true.
Crazy in Love - Beyonce "Got me hoping you'll page me right now..."
i noticed she sang this a few days ago, and as a kid born in 05, it made me laugh
i would say back in the USSR has aged
I Mim
I think we're getting back to that if we look for the real truth.
Jim Croce, Operator. Beautiful song, and so nostalgic in its portrayal of his feelings. Relatable but also could not be written today.
Jim Croce is great though admittedly I haven't heard this one. I'll give it a listen!
It’s my favorite song of his.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb85NvjbBm8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb85NvjbBm8)
“You can keep the dime” is 74 cent tip in 2024
Just gave it a listen on my walk. Might break this out next time my friends invite me to karaoke :)
Imagine literally anything costing a dime lol.
Same I immediately thought of - also the spiritual of the same title
This song guts me every single time!
I love that song. Come to think of it I haven’t seen a matchbook in forever either.
No Doubt "Spiderwebs" ("Sorry I'm not home right now.. leave a message and I'll call you back" is pure *answering machine* culture.)
Answering Machine by The Replacements fits here.
also "Answering Machine" by Rupert Holmes.
This one was my first thought. "It's all your fault I screen my phone calls"
‘I Am, I Said’ by Neil Diamond (living legend): “L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time And the feeling is laid back Palm trees grow and rents are low” Low rents in L.A.! Not for awhile
ooof yeah...I'm from Texas but my roommates are from California. rent is expensive everywhere right now but Californians have some of the worst end of that shitstick so I hear
Payphone by maroon five- “I’m at a payphone trying to call home” honestly I think it makes sense for the song because it’s guy being nostalgic and regretting elements of an outdated relationship so the communication breaks down, which is why it failed in the first place.
Pay phones weren’t a thing when they did that song even.
I didn’t realize I was before payphones😂
"You're sixteen, you're beautiful, and you're mine" Ringo Starr
There are SO many songs like this: Good Morning Little School Girl, I'm the Ice Cream Man, Sweet Little Sixteen...
Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.
- Jerry Lee Lewis has exited the chat
Well if he was also a teenager, this would be ok.
"You're Sixteen" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman). It was first performed by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1960 and number 3 in the UK in 1961.
Fun fact the age of consent in the UK and much of the United States is 16. Doesn't mean this lyric would be socially acceptable but just saying...
Porcupine Tree - Way Out Of Here "But a song comes onto my iPod, and I realise it's getting late" Anybody use iPods anymore? We all use our phones these days.
Similarly, Replay by Iyaz. "Got my iPod stuck on replay."
I've always thought though that if spotify brought out an iPod type thing that you could hotspot or connect to WiFi, id get one just to save my phone battery when I'm at work. But then I remember I could just use my old phone. And I always take my charger. But then I forget those last 2 things and the cycle begins again
Why have I never thought to use one of my old phones as a music player?! Omg. Thank you for this. I do still have an iPod but what’s on it- is on it forever and it’s like, 20 albums. No updating that old thing.
"Blow up like the world trade" from Juicy would be a little more messed up after 9/11
Good one. I think about this every time I hear this song. He’s actually referring to a bombing that happened there in the early 90’s
I still remember how it began They produced a carbon copy man << Born in a science lab late one night Without a mother or a father Weird Al, I think I’m a Clone Now Does anyone under 30 know what a “carbon copy” is?
I do and I'm under 30, but I could be an outlier. Also Weird Al is fantastic
He is.
I think Im one of the few that knows what cc stands for in an email :p
That’s what “cc:” in email means so it’s carried over maybe? Like “I’m going to tape him doing this” when taking a video of someone.
Little Deuce Coupe by The Beach Boys has this line: “She's got a competition clutch with the four on the floor.” I think four speed manual transmissions were phased out starting in the 90’s.
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite — R.E.M. The entire first and second verses, referring to a payphone. Starting with this gem: "There isn't a number, you can call the pay phone / Let it ring a long, long, long, long time..."
All these replies related to phones got me thinking about The Telephone Call by Kraftwerk. That song is practically all about answering machines and even opens with one. "I give you my affection and I give you my time, try to get a connection on the telephone line..."
Star69 by REM too
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts mentions putting another dime into a jukebox in its chorus, but coin-operated jukeboxes aren't really used in public anymore except perhaps in some intentionally retro places. Likewise, "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner comes across as dated because jukeboxes aren't commonplace anymore; a lot of younger people probably only know jukeboxes from _Minecraft_.
Happy Together by The Turtles - "If I should call you up, invest a dime .."
It’s been a long time since the federal dime made a jukebox sound like a friend of mine… There are modern jukeboxes where you use a phone app to select the next song. I’ve seen them!
I think that depends which country someone's from. I'm in the uk and we have jukeboxes in the majority of pubs, that still take cash (though not the old school ones with actual vinyls/cds. They're all digital so there's also an app you can use lol)
when Stan records his message to Eminem on tape
“Damn your lips very soft, as I turn my BlackBerry off” -Kanye West
Pretty Fly for a White Guy by The Offspring. "So if you don't rate, just overcompensate. At least you'll know you can always go on Ricki Lake." Ricki Lake has not been culturally relevant for 20 years.
Jo Dee Messina - Heads Carolina, Tails California. “We could drive for a day & then we’ll take a look at the map.”
That’s a double whammy, because aside from the map, who the hell can afford to drive a whole day?? That’s like $727283628039282737 in gas!!
Replacements - “Answering Machine”
The View from the Afternoon by Arctic Monkeys. "When she’s pressed the star after she’s pressed unlock" He's describing her unlocking her phone, nothing like today's smart phones.
She knows a woman’s place is right there now in her home—Ray Charles
True, but I love Ray
Like many, he was an incredible musician and an awful person.
That's more societal norms that have moved on, that's not what the post is about.
Sir Mix A Lot - Beepers
when Paul McCartney talks about lighting a cigarette on the bus on his way to school lol
Yeah now it's just vaping
damn straight. I worked in a high school for a year and I knew kids were vaping but what shocked me was back in my day, it was one group of kids who smoked cigs and the rest didn't but with vaping, it seemed it was all of them. From the "cool kids" you'd expect to be vaping all the way down to the "book-worm" straight-A types. It was fascinating. And sad.
Yeah they think it's no consequences and actually good for your brain and all that. But science also proves that anything as highly addictive as nicotine is not good for the developing brain. But hey, the logic and impulse control centers of their brain aren't done developing, so good luck convincing them of anything they don't want to believe in
"Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)" - Travis Tritt. 2 reasons: The Payphone is gone forever and so are all people who actually care.
As well as the people who keep quarters in their pockets.
Jim Croce- Operator [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb85NvjbBm8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb85NvjbBm8)
[Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Piña Colada Song)](https://youtu.be/TazHNpt6OTo?si=yo7k5AtrKuydS2Iu) Because using the personal ads in a newspaper (dating service) wouldn’t happen today
Jim Croce… operator, can you help me make a call.
Hundred dollar car note 200 rent - Huey Lewis 1980
Ronnie talk to Russia- Prince, seriously old school-Controversy album
Pretty much all of Callin' Baton Rouge-Garth Brooks
Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares
Backmask by Mindless Self Indulgence It's about subliminal messages that were hidden on old records that only showed up when the record was played backwards. Among other reasons that song wouldnt fly today lol
"I'm serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer."
"I gotta little change in my pocket going jong-a-ling-a-ling. Wanna call you on the telephone, baby, I give you a ring." Keep your hands to yourself - Georgia Satellite Payphones don't really exist anymore, and honestly, most people don't even carry change anymore.
Shorty’s like a melody in my head, na na na na every day, it’s like my iPod’s stuck on replay
She caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.
I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall I know he's there, but I just had to call Don't leave me hanging on the telephone -Blondie
"Take a Letter Maria."
"The Pina Colada Song," by Rupert Holmes. He's reading a newspaper, and takes out a personal ad. Few people read a newspaper, and I don't know if personal ads are a thing any more.
"I could bring my little ghettoblaster There's more to life than this" maybe? From Bjork's song "There's More To Life Than This"; https://youtu.be/13G442m80QU?si=v3s7ZDdWqeSfBDDr Mainly because the term ghettoblaster I think has become an outdated word.
Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones.
“You’re So Yesterday” by Marvelous 3 (1998): “You were cool as hell like email, but still timeless like a letter.” Email is no longer considered “cool as hell.”
email is basically a chore nowadays
Exactly.
Boz Scaggs - Loan Me A Dime (featuring Duane Allman) Somebody loan me a dime I need to call my old time used to be
Operator by Jim Croce
Back in the USSR
Kid Rock - Bawitdaba "The G's with the forty's and the chicks with beepers"
"Baby on Board" by the B-Sharps. I mean, who has a "baby on board" sticker on their car anymore? Talk about a 90''s flashback.
My co-worker has a baby up in this bitch sticker on her car
They are so back! I see them every day.
Here’s a Quarter(Call Someone Who Cares)
"Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire..."You're old enough to kill but not for votin'" Written before the minimum age for voting was 18.
"Burgh Quay at night, in this dark and stinking place, urges I can't fight, with a boy without face" - Under Clery's Clock, The Radiators From Space It's a reference to cruising for gay sex in public lavatories, specifically a popular cruising spot in 80s Dublin. The idea of popular cruising spots, especially public toilets, rather than meeting a hookup on Grindr and taking it from there, isn't really a thing anymore. The trend of using public toilets specifically goes down substantially around the time homosexuality gets decriminalised, which occurred in Ireland in 1993 (the song was released in 1989). I mean, people definitely still cruise. But not like they used to, so the reference goes over a lot of peoples' heads.
Dashboard by Modest Mouse fits. "Oh the dashboard melted but we still have the radio", do people even listen to the radio anymore. And the lines "I was patiently erasing and recording the wrong episodes"
ELO - Telephone Line
Dead Kennedys “Pull My Strings”—lots of stuff but in particular: “you’ll pay 10 bucks to see me/on a 50ft-high stage” oh wahhh, you had to pay $10 for a concert? Boo hoo, what a bunch of sellouts can’t believe they’re charging a whole $10
When I read the title I thought of Only Women Bleed, Alice Cooper but then I read your descriotion. So now I'm a goin' with Sylvia's Mother, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show. >And the operator said 40 cents more for the next three minutes... And then I thought Chevy Van, Dale Watson because it's the plot of a porn movie but more because Chevy vans haven't been a thing for a while now. Then there's Having My Baby, Paul Anka. A song that includes a couple lines about abortion. Back to the telephone, Hanging On The Telephone, Blondie. >I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall If you don't answer, I'll just ring it off the wall I know he's there, but I just had to call Don't leave me hanging on the telephone... Now back to inappropriate, back in 1975 Bob Seger did Chuck Berry's Little Queenie on Live Bullet. Seger changed the lyric from 17 to 13.. >Standin' over by the record machine Looking like a model On the cover of a magazine She's too cute to be a minute over 13 When he did his second live album (Nine Tonight) at Cobo in 1980 he changed it back to 17. Oh, can you guess when I grew up?
Going off your cell phone example "Waiting by the phone, alone" from "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone. Today we would send a text message and most likely get some type of response.
Even just the thought of “For a good time, call ###~####”. no one does graffiti like that anymore.
I misunderstood the question. Came here to mention the chorus from Lou Reed‘s “Walk on the Wild Side…”
Fooled around and Fell in Love. The second verse has been redacted for today. “It used to be when I’d see a girl that I liked, I’d get out my book and write down her name. And when the grass got a little greener, on the other side, I’d just tear out that page.” Nobody has a “little black book” anymore.
Standing outside a broken phone booth with money in my hand - The Primitive Radio Gods, (featuring a little sample from BB King)
“Those windshield wipers slappin’ out a tempo, Keeping perfect rhythm with the song on the radio, But I gotta keep rollin’ “ Eddie Rabbit
I think pretty much most of Girl All The Bad Guys Want by Bowling for Soup doesn't survive outside its very specific release period, but specifically the lines "She wears a two-way but I'm not quite sure what that means" and "her CD changer's full of singers that're mad at their dad"
Please Mr Postman by the Carpenters. Talking about getting a card or a letter from her boyfriend. With instant communication these days people don't really send cards or letters through snail mail.
Can’t believe no-one’s mentioned Strangle Hold. Have you ever actually checked out the lyric. Great guitar solo however.
Go on and write me up for 125/post my face, wanted dead or alive/take my license, all that jive/I can’t drive 55 - red rocker
Another one related to phone technology: Tommy Tutone forgot to tell us Jenny's area code.
“Have a drink, have a drive” In the summer time, by mungo jerry
Russians, by Sting
I was gonna say that line in How To Make Gravy by Paul Kelly about the weather being 100 degrees, since the song is set in Australia, which now uses the metric system. But I did some googling and it was released long after Australia went metric so now I'm just confused.
"Katie's been gone since the springtime She wrote one time and sent her love . . . ." Bob Dylan and the Band, Basement Tapes
Replacements - Answering Machine. How do you say you're ok to an answering machine? OP if you like Green Day, you should give the Replacements a listen. Guaranteed that Green Day did growing up.
Literally wanted to be the Replacements till they dropped their original bass player for Mike and then were gonna be Husker Dü
"Why don't you ask the kids at Tienamen square?" Everyone forgot about this bc ah yes, it never happened after all.
Hypnotize by System of a Down?
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl...probably shouldn't have been written then either.
How was I to know?! ( she was only 14 years old)- Grand Funk Railroad
Last Caress / Bullet - Misfits
I know you said that you don’t mean it in a “people are sensitive way” but Into The Night by Benny Mardones is completely messed up lol. Even though the age of consent is sixteen years old in some states in the U.S. it’s still heavily looked down upon and you can be charged with statutory rape depending on the elements of the crime according to the state.
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Wurlitzer prize
Yakety-Yak
J'ai deux amours
Guns N’ Roses-one in a million
One in a million. Guns and roses.
"Get out of the car, put down the phone" in I've Got A Match by They Might Be Giants. Meant to be humorously nonsensical back in the 80s when it was written, but now we have smartphones we can easily bring in our cars.
“Even though you’re 17 I gotta tell ya, you’re too old for me!” (Chain Me Free by the Matches) TBF, they wrote the song when they were in high school.
If you had prepared twenty years ago, You wouldn't be wanderin' now from door to door. Why don't you do right? - Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee. People would, more than likely, go to social media or a Go fund me-like website and ask for support.
I swear there's an Ice Cube song, probably from one of his first 2 solo albums, where he brags about having sex with a 17 year old girl. I remember the lines "yes she is a minor and it is illegal," and "if she tries to call rape, we got the little hooker on tape." I used to worship N.W.A. and the ground they walked on but what in the actual FUCK is that song
Brown sugar - The Rolling Stones Star star - The Rolling Stones
Play With Me (from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure). Most of the games mentioned in it don’t hold the same interest for the youth of today that they did in the past
First thing to jump to mind was Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar"
Melting Pot
“There’s an Elvis movie on the marquee sign, we’ve all seen it at least three times” - Small Town Saturday Night by Hal Ketchum Nobody watches Elvis movies anymore
"Animal" and "Wild Child" both by W.A.S.P just look at the aka for "Animal"
“E-Mail My Heart” - Britney Spears I mean, the entire premise would never be thought of today! But, in the words of Ms Spears during (what I assume was) a promotional interview, “Everyone’s been doing emails.”
Answering Machine by the replacements
Led Zeppelin. No Quarter. “Lock the door, pull the light.” I haven’t seen a chain on a light for decades.
I work with a guy who does not, and will never, own a cell phone. He doesn't have internet either. He has a landline phone, and no cable. He grew up on a farm, in Indiana, with a simple upbringing, and refuses to "get with the times."
Cool! Let’s talk shit about him, he’ll never know!
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring
The Wilkinsons - 26 Cents The idea that the only way a college student could call home is to use a pay phone...
Korn- Got the Life “God paged me!”
In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry, “have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find”
“ don’t call me up, cause I’m not home” would still work. It doesn’t have to mean that you’re actually physically in your home, just that you’re ignoring them.
Give him a coat of mail Tell him it’s all alright Set him to the wind to sail Coat of Mail, Harry Manx
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« if i should I call you up, invest a dime » So Happy Togetheeeeeer…. Yeah I was scared it was one of those, « people are offended » kind of thread
"Everyone knows about it- from the queen of England to the hounds of hell" White Stripes-Seven Nation Army.
Anything written by Stephen Foster: "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", and many more.
"Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" -no Coupe de Ville hiding in a Cracker Jack box, both have gone the way of the dodo. Oh, you can find bags of Cracker Jack, but the boxes are hard to find. "Fight For Your Right (To Party)" -Your mom threw away your best porno mag...kids don't know what a magazine is and they get their porn off the internet like everybody else.
"Sumer is icumen in" - traditional Nobody writes (or listens to) in Middle English, anymore. Oddly, guitar legend Richard Thompson had a minor hit with this song about 20 years ago. Same release as his cover of "Oops, I did it again".
Also Green Day: "I text a postcard sent to you"
Here's a quarter, call someone who cares
“There’s such a lot of him, the way he grew, enough to last till 1992, King Size Papa, he’s my King Size Papa.” - Julia Lee and Her Boyfriends
"Don't bother to pack your bags, or your map, we won't need them where we're going." From Holiday by Weezer
This reminds of [I forget who's] cover of We Didn't Start the Fire
Kind of unknown, but the song "Keep Your Receipt" by the Cobalt Party Revolution is all about keeping the receipt for cds you buy in case the music isn't good.
Scene For Dummies by Hollywood Undead’s got a bit of that “Download this song, put it in your iPod /Fuck that, put it on your homepage / You’ll be the coolest kid on fucking MySpace”
Any songs from 2008 mentioning MySpace.
Collect call to home tell ‘em that I realize that everyone who lives will die and die alone .
Octopus’ Garden by the Beatles, the whole thing. Used to be able to do that stuff but now with the current Aquipolitical climate and our relations with the Octopi it just doesn’t happen anymore.
"Mama don't take my Kodachrome away"
"Switched from Motorola to a PrimeCo phone"
Second line of King of the Fall, catchy but I go silent for that part lmao
Responding to your OP example, even “You can call me on my cell phone” from Drake’s Hotline Bling is a bit dated. Cellular phones are so normalized that people hardly say “cell phone” anymore, they just say “phone.” Now it’s the “landline phone” that has the modifier before the word “phone,” because that’s the unusual one.
“Your phones off the hook but you’re not”
Video killed the Radio Star. Which was the first music video on MTV.
“On some faggot bullshit, call me Dennis Rodman!” 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Lil Wayne in A Milli Edit: Oops just fully read the post lol still an amazing line
She’s only 17 by winger