Johnny Cash

I'm not talking about songs that have a dated sound (there's more than I could ever list). I'm referring to songs with a specific date or year in the lyrics, that are mentioned as the present or future. Like Prince's "1999" (which will not be played as much now that it's date has come and gone). These are songs for which the present or future they refer to, has come and gone. 1999 was the future in 1982, 1999 has now passed.

What I am NOT looking for, are songs like Bowling for Soup's "1985" which are written after the date they are talking about. This song is looking back, or written from the point of view of after the date mentioned.

We also accept lyrics that mention prices that are now dated, such as 10 cent pay phone calls. Lyrics that mention a persons age at the time and that person is now past said age, and lyrics that mentioned events that were current at the time of the song but have now passed are also accepted.

Basically anything that definitively dates a song by any means other than the way it "sounds". Words/phrases/singing styles or instruments that were used commonly in a time period but are no longer used that much today are not accepted.

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Johnny Cash's, "Folsom Prison Blues"

The dated Lyrics:

But that train keeps a-rollin',
On down to San Antone.

Why They're dated:

The train he's singing about is a passenger train, as evidenced by other references in the song, like 'I bet there's rich folks eating in a fancy dining car'. Now there are far fewer passenger trains in the U.S. than there used to be. And none pass anywhere near Folsom Prison en route to San Antonio.

Submitted by: Wendy Carpenter

Johnny Cash's, "Folsom Prison Blues"

The dated Lyrics:

I bet there's rich folks eatin',
In a fancy dining car,
They're probably drinkin' coffee,
And smokin' big cigars,

Why They're dated:

I suspect that the eating and coffee drinking are about the only things referred to in these lines that might still be very apt regarding U.S. dining cars today in the Amtrak era. I doubt that what dining cars are now left in the U.S. are all that fancy or all that much the haunts of the rich anymore. But the most certain change is with the last part, as Amtrak has made all dining cars smoke-free for some years now.

Submitted by: Wendy Carpenter

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