"Modern Standards"

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whuntva
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"Modern Standards"

Post by whuntva »

Looking through The Great American Songbook had me thinking about "pop standards".

The definition of "standard" is ever-changing, but the Songbook defines most of their picks as oft-covered songs from 1919-1959 (basically everything pre-Beatles). Most are American, but some aren't. So I was thinking of if those are still around. Are there any "modern standards"? I would try to apply my loosest definition to think of a song that's oft-covered and everyone knows. A song like "Georgia on my Mind" or "Over the Rainbow" which transcends any artist and just exists as a song; a monolith in the musical world. This would be something you'd sing with orchestral backing at a grand theater and people would know.

Two songs spring to mind immediately, "Imagine" and "Hallelujah". Everyone knows both of these, and they have been covered in a variety of ways. The latter has transcended Leonard Cohen so much even the original arrangement has been altered.

There are a few other good ones I can think of. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" could be the big turning point. The first post-Beatles standard. The Beatles themselves have several, but "Hey Jude" and "Yesterday" seem to be the most covered. Of course "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong would have to be there. "Rainbow Connection" is another one that gets this treatment. It's even independent of the Muppets now. "Seven Nation Army" and "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" are immortalized as sports anthems, so I guess those count also. Maybe "Wonderwall". Maybe "American Idiot" or "Good Riddance (Time of your Life)". "Spanish Sahara" could become one in about a decade, but it's still a little new for that.

What are some of your "modern standards"? They don't even have to be American. Just think of some songs that meet this definition of "standard" or soon might become standards.
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Mulholland
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Re: "Modern Standards"

Post by Mulholland »

The first one that came to mind was 'Always On My Mind', just because of the universality and the number of quite different covers that have come out.

For a while I thought 'Let It Go' might become a modern standard, but I wonder if that got overplayed.

I guess 'Hurt', 'I Will Always Love You', 'Your Song' and 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' are pretty much there by now.

As for more modern ones... I wouldn't be surprised if 'Video Games', 'The Scientist' or Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' end up as being modern standards. They're popular enough and can easily be co-opted by someone wanting to create a mood or, in the case of 'Beautiful', do something political.
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StevieFan13
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Re: "Modern Standards"

Post by StevieFan13 »

This New York Times article suggests some songs that could be added to the "Great American Songbook":
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/arts ... canon.html

Beyond the ones they mentioned (and I'm saying "modern" as about 1970 to the present, even though the '70s started almost 50 years ago), the first I can think of are:

Billy Joel - Piano Man
Radiohead - Creep
Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger
David Bowie - Life on Mars?
The La's - There She Goes
Alicia Keys - Fallin'
Vance Joy - Riptide
Guns N' Roses - November Rain
Elton John - Candle in the Wind
Jennifer Holiday - And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going
Diana Ross and Lionel Richie - Endless Love
Rihanna - Stay
Lady Gaga - Million Reasons (maybe)
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Queen - Somebody to Love and Bohemian Rhapsody
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Carole King - It's Too Late

Also, for one pre-70s example, Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come is pretty much a standard by now.
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bonnielaurel
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Re: "Modern Standards"

Post by bonnielaurel »

Songs that exist in many versions:

Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Girl from Ipanema
Jule Styne - People (Funny Girl)
Lennon & McCartney - Yesterday
Jerry Herman - Hello, Dolly
Cooleman & Fields - Big Spender (Sweet Charity)
François, Revaux & Anka - My Way
John Kander - Theme from "New York, New York"
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Don't Cry for Me, Argentina (Evita)
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Memory (Cats)
Francis Lai - Where Do I Begin? (Love Story)
Stephen Sondheim - Send In the Clowns (A Little Night Music)
Perren & Fekaris - I Will Survive
Ulvaeus & Anderson - I Know Him So Well (Chess)
Charles Strouse - Tomorrow (Annie)
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StevieFan13
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Re: "Modern Standards"

Post by StevieFan13 »

If we're talking songs from musicals (60-present this time, nothing mentioned before):
- Waving Through a Window and You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen
- If I Were a Rich Man and Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof
- Wig in a Box from Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- I Believe from The Book of Mormon
- Satisfied and Wait for It from Hamilton
- Ring of Keys and Telephone Wire from Fun Home
- Vanilla Ice Cream from She Loves Me
- Molasses to Rum from 1776
- Epiphany, A Little Priest, Joanna, and Not While I'm Around from Sweeney Todd
- Being Alive and The Ladies Who Lunch from Company
- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from The Phantom of the Opera
- Defying Gravity and For Good from Wicked
- Gimme, Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie
- The "I Love You" Song from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- When It's Time and 21 Guns from American Idiot (OK, that's kinda cheating)
- Heaven on Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar
- Finishing the Hat from Sunday in the Park with George

In a similar milieu, here are some songs from modern movies that I think have kind of become standards by now:
- Falling Slowly (Once)
- Part of Your World (The Little Mermaid)
- Audition (La La Land)
- City of Stars (La La Land)
- I'm Easy (Nashville)
- Purple Rain (Purple Rain)
- The Rainbow Connection (The Muppet Movie)
- Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)
- Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)
- A Whole New World (Aladdin)
- Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas)
- You've Got a Friend in Me (Toy Story)
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whuntva
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Re: "Modern Standards"

Post by whuntva »

StevieFan13 wrote:If we're talking songs from musicals (60-present this time, nothing mentioned before):
- Waving Through a Window and You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen
- If I Were a Rich Man and Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof
- Wig in a Box from Hedwig and the Angry Inch
- I Believe from The Book of Mormon
- Satisfied and Wait for It from Hamilton
- Ring of Keys and Telephone Wire from Fun Home
- Vanilla Ice Cream from She Loves Me
- Molasses to Rum from 1776
- Epiphany, A Little Priest, Joanna, and Not While I'm Around from Sweeney Todd
- Being Alive and The Ladies Who Lunch from Company
- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from The Phantom of the Opera
- Defying Gravity and For Good from Wicked
- Gimme, Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie
- The "I Love You" Song from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- When It's Time and 21 Guns from American Idiot (OK, that's kinda cheating)
- Heaven on Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar
- Finishing the Hat from Sunday in the Park with George

In a similar milieu, here are some songs from modern movies that I think have kind of become standards by now:
- Falling Slowly (Once)
- Part of Your World (The Little Mermaid)
- Audition (La La Land)
- City of Stars (La La Land)
- I'm Easy (Nashville)
- Purple Rain (Purple Rain)
- The Rainbow Connection (The Muppet Movie)
- Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)
- Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)
- A Whole New World (Aladdin)
- Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas)
- You've Got a Friend in Me (Toy Story)
I would also include "Seasons of Love" for Broadway and "Beauty and the Beast" for films.
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prosecutorgodot
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Re: "Modern Standards"

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Yesss of course, "You've Got a Friend in Me."

The big one off the top of my head is Gnarls Barkley -"Crazy." Maybe Robyn's "Dancing On My Own."

In my opinion, Journey has a bunch of anthemic songs that could be standards, including but not limited to "After All These Years" and "Like a Sunshower."
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