Summertime - lots of great versions
Take five - Brubeck
So what - Miles
The girl from ipanema - Gilberto
My favorite things - Coltrane
Speak low - Holiday
Thank you very muc! I’m not really into jazz, but even I know these songs. It just goes to show how timeless they are—and how well-known they are, even among people who don’t know the first thing about jazz.
Was thinking about this the other day for a modern song that has really stuck around. Not a power ballad or a big rock song by any stretch, but:
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Late edit: these, too:
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright’s version of Cohen’s original
Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
Aww, that’s such a classic. It seems to me that there aren’t many new, heart-felt love songs like this one anymore - not the over the top flashy ones, but rather those with a down-to-earth, relatable charm. But maybe I’m just out of the loop :)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ - Bob Dylan
Beatles songs like Yesterday seem to have held up pretty well.
Some beautiful and sad timelessness songs:
New Order - Ceremony https://youtu.be/kkASIx9Xk6s?is=5ySoad0UUJEiL-xp
Tim Buckley - Song to the siren https://youtu.be/b6a50loAOIk?is=nsOUnfCH626-X8oh
Tuxedomoon - In a matter of speaking https://youtu.be/l6H-ESkf2bU?is=UkuZZ4jE66yukBH0
I mean, John Cage’s 4’33” is the only piece that will outlive life.
Beethovens 5th Symphony
Not sure if it counts but Toto’s song Africa has an installation in Africa, powered by solar panels and batteries and it’s played on an endless loop.
I don’t care what song it is, if the place I worked at played one song on an endless loop, by the end of the day I would run screaming from the building. Think about it - you’d be hearing that song in your sleep.
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Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring by J.S. Bach
Brandenburg Concertos by J.S. Bach
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach
Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet in C Sharp Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven
Hallellujah Chorus from The Messiah by George Frideric Handel
Fanfare-Rondeau from the First Suite de Symphonies (the Masterpiece Theater Theme) by Jean-Joseph Mouret
Clarinet Concerto in A Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel
The Four Seasons by Antonio VivaldiA few centuries is not timeless, but it is an indication of long term endurance.
Mozart’s Requiem (especially the Miserere part).
I certainly won’t argue with that.
The nursery rhyme Ding Dong Bell is from at least 1580, probably earlier
Interesting, I just looked it up and played it. I remember a lot of the words but not the tune at all. I don’t think I ever heard it as a song.
Darude - Sandstorm
Sixteen Tons (1946), timeless lyrics.
As relevant today as ever
Let’s be real, there’s only ever gonne be one song that’s never gonna give us up, let us down or desert us.
To be truly timeless you need a few things. A band who knows how to name things. Bad ass drum solos. A couple of electric guitars. An accordion. A flute. Yodeling. Mouth noises. And no lyrics to get in the way.
I give you “Hocus Pocus” by Focus.
Oh damn, I was going to mention this. One of my favourites :-)











