Slate, the online magazine of news, technology and culture, has this week come up with a most interesting list, The New American Songbook. This is a list of recordings from the past 25 years that a panel of diverse individuals believes would make up the American Songbook of the future.
Most music lovers are already familiar with what the American Songbook is. The term is used to refer to the standards, the compositions of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein and many others that have remained popular for almost a hundred years now. Remember, The Way You Look Tonight was composed in 1926. Those songs continue to be covered by current artists, are used in films and TV shows, are played on the radio and also earn a lot from downloads and streams.
The Slate list has responders voting for the hits that they believe will be covered by other artists, will still have airplay and online presence and will be heard in movies and TV shows these next 25 years. The choices are most interesting and although I do not agree with all of them, reading through the list to find out the topnotchers was lots of fun. Truth to tell, I honestly wondered why nobody thought of doing this before.
There is no question though that the Top 3 songs deserve to be there. These are Hey Ya!, a massive earworm with the most commercial hook ever by OutKast from 2003; Empire State Of Mind, the most passionate musical love letter ever written for New York City by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys; and of course, no way this one will not be on the list, Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyoncé.
And so, here are the Top 30 songs in the American Songbook of the future:
Hey Ya, by OutKast, 2003
Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys, 2009
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyoncé, 2008
Since You Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, 2004
Juicy by The Notorious B.I.G. 1994
Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey, 1994
Seven Nation Army by White Stripes, 2003
Waterfalls by TLC, 1994
Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen, 2012
Lose Yourself by Eminem, 2002
Hotline Bling by Drake, 2015
Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill, 1998
Smooth by Santana ft. Rob Thomas, 1999
My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion, 1997
Mr. Brightside by The Killers, 2003
We Found Love by Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys, 1999
Wonderwall by Oasis, 1995
Rolling In The Deep by Adele, 2010
In The Club by 50 Cent, 2003
Hurt by Nine Inch Nails, 1994
Crazy In Love by Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z
Somewhere Over The Rainbow/ What A Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwi’ole and his ukulele, 1993
Say My Name by Destiny’s Child, 1999
Wagon Wheel by the Old Crow Medicine Show, 2004
You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrisette, 1995
Get Lucky by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, 2013
Fuck And Run by Liz Phair, 1993
Let It Go by Idina Menzel, 2013.
I am sure that many of you, readers, would now be thinking of changing some songs or purging this list of those that do not agree with your taste. Like Let It Go should be in the Top 10 or why is Fuck And Run included? In the case of Adele, should it be Hello instead of Rolling In The Deep?
I will leave the gripes to you and to the readers of Slate. And then I will roll up my sleeves and then go to work putting together my own Filipino Songbook of the future. Do you think Hayaan Mo Sila by the Ex-Battallion should be on the list? Will this song still be on the radio or will there be new covers 25 years from now? What about Mundo by IV of Spades? Do you think the song will stand the test of time, better than the friendship among the members of its band did? This will be hard work but definitely lots of fun.