assertions in pop songs that were true at the point the song was written/recorded, but are no longer true

The Fall updated "US 80s-90s" when done live post-1989 to "US 90s 00000000s". I can't seem to find the version I'm thinking of, though.

I guess when they broke up, that was the day Chumbawamba got knocked down and they did not get up again.

Oh I have one: Sleeper "Best of luck Mr Gorski"

Which turned out to be an urban legend ie untrue.

Does that count?

Toby Keith said in “American ride” that the plasma screen tvs were getting bigger but I don’t think that’s true anymore and I haven’t heard tv screens described as “plasma” for quite some time

Frazier Chorus - Little Chef :((

Like the 'Wambas mentioned above, it was sad when Carter's Machine stopped

"Take that, Alexander Haig,"

Jello did California Uber Alles with Dillinger Escape Plan last weekend at an LA punk festival, with "updated" lyrics about Governer Schwarzeneggar. might be time to update them again?

Yeah, that was from the 2nd Jello/Melvins album in 2005…

https://i.discogs.com/s8tj2YHCmRlr7tn1lTRUsFxu8CgLdoIpkZQJT9k_bqs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:528/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI0NzEx/MS0xNTIwNDQ5NjU0/LTk2MjQuanBlZw.jpegaki onda - precious moments - bucolic bittersweet concrete

wrong thread, innit

Oh I have one: Sleeper "Best of luck Mr Gorski"

Which turned out to be an urban legend ie untrue.

Does that count?

― Mark G

god then we have to start talking about "jordan, minnesota"

i do _not_ want to talk about "jordan, minnesota"

I have a kind of reverse one. Green On Red, Two Lovers: "ain't no hate in the world, ain't no hole in the sky" - they're denying reality on purpose (because the only thing that's real is two lovers waiting to die), but in about 50 years time the ozone hole will actually be gone, which will be quite confusing for anyone still listening to that song in 2075.

California Uber Alles was mentioned above, but "now it is 1984" would be one that was not true at the point the song came out, then was true for a while, and then was not true again.

feel like there's a joke here about "Carter power will soon go away" and him surprising everyone by still being alive as of June 2024

“Johnny’s Gonna Die” by the Replacements was true at the time, but not anymore (because Johnny is dead.)

Sloan, 'Underwhelmed':
She was underwhelmed, if that's a word
I know it's not, 'cause I looked it up

Although the earliest usages of "underwhelmed" are attested to be between the '30s and '40s (and I cannot find the date of its addition to the major dictionaries), I strongly suspect that it was not an official entry in the dictionary in 1992, but rather was relegated to slangy use. However, it appears in every online dictionary I have checked. If Dude From Sloan were to look it up today, these lyrics would be false.

Not exactly a song comprised of "assertions", but a lot of people aged 64 in 2006 (even those who weren't Paul McCartney) were comporting themselves differently than those of that age in 1967.

how do people feel about artists updating the lyrics of these songs to keep up with the times?

Steve Kilbey occasionally adjusts the "I paid eighty dollars for this wedding ring" line in "Hotel Womb" for inflation "I paid eight thousand dollars..." etc.

artists updating lyrics, that feels like a whole other thread premise though (Morrissey, Bigmouth Strikes Again: "her walkman/ipod started to melt", Neil Young, After The Goldrush: "look at mother nature on the run in the 1970s/1980s/20th century/21st century")

stonking post emil.y, salute

According to OED, earliest citation is 1956.

He wrote..commending the action of one of the giant corporations for a..price reduction at a time when prices were rising. I was underwhelmed, and investigated.
T. K. Quinn, Giant Corporations viii. 61

First added to OED in 1986.

Overwhelmed goes back to the 14th century, so amazed it took 600 years for underwhelmed to appear.

Still waiting on whelmed though.

... to make a reappearance that is.

goldilocks on yelp

According to OED, earliest citation is 1956.

I can't find which dictionary I looked at that put it at the '30s/'40s, but Merriam Webster seems to have found a couple of written records of it from the 19th century!

First added to OED in 1986.

This is good intel - how did you find this out? I was getting pretty frustrated in my searches. There are some sites where you can search by year to find what was added into the dictionary then (so you can do social media posts about what was added in your birth year etc) but I couldn't find one that let you search by word.

Anyway, I'm going to say that 1986 is close enough to 1992 that he probably did look it up in a dictionary and not find it!

On their website https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=underwhelm

I accessed the full entry through my library. If you’re a member of a library, university or other institution you may be able to get access.

Oh yes, I can see it - thanks so much for that, it's very useful.

For about a decade, I've been accessing the OED with my library card. My library doesn't actually have a subscription, but I've discovered that my card number works if I select the Glasgow library system.

Keeping an eye on sites like these to test the veracity of "lemonade was a popular drink and it still is". It's still true currently, but how long will it last???

The assertion that I’m curious about is

“The sale of pills are at an all-time high (sic)” from the Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion”

I’m sure that was true in 1970, and it’s undoubtedly true today (thus not what the thread asks for). But has it been true every single year between 1970 and now? If so that’s a rare assertion that was supposed to apply to the moment but which is true in a self-perpetuating way.

lol i always thought that lyric said "sales appeals are at an all time high"

I don't know whether Nick Lowe seriously good-faith believed that actress Marie Prevost (not "Provost") had been eaten upon by her dog, or whether or not any of those Kenneth Anger "Hollywood Babylon" assertions were taken seriously in the late 70s when he wrote the song; but of course they weren't true then nor now.

Incidentally, poor hapless Marie was a native of Sarnia, Ontario, just like the entire maternal side of my family.

(

Similarly, when Player 1 and Bloody Bonez made “Crime Rate Sky High” in 1994, that was true, but since then—-

"You can't catch me / 'Cause the rabbit done died"

The onward march of science has wiped the smirk from Steven Tyler's face. Wikipedia notes, "Modern pregnancy tests continue to operate on the basis of testing for the presence of the hormone hCG in the blood or urine, but no longer require the use of a live animal."

"But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked"

From It's Alright, Ma. Not even Dylan imagined a world where the prez is above the law. Shit

"But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked
So therefore flashing is an official act"

Back in October 1983 the Union of the Snake was in theory still on the climb - the party almost had the second-highest tally of votes in that year's election. But they fragmented over the course of the subsequent parliament and entered a slow and inexorable decline. Meanwhile the Buffalo Gals went round the outside. And now that Starlink is a thing it's hard to image a satellite ever being lonely. So that's two strikes against Duran Duran.

On a more serious level I was going to mention "Magic Bus" by The Who. It talks about the bus fare being thruppence and sixpence for a trip of a mile circa 1965. But the Bank of England's inflation calculator suggests that 9p in pre-decimal money circa 1965 is roughly £1.60 in 2024, which isn't that far off the standard £1.75 London bus fare. In rural areas it's actually very low, which undermines the whole thrust of the song (that it would be cheaper to buy the bus than multiple tickets). I'd just like to thank the entire rest of the United Kingdom for generously agreeing to subsidise bus fares in London. Thank you.

Except they're £2 round here.

Also TfL is pretty much entirely funded through the fare box and is not in receipt of a central government subsidy. Arguably “London” makes a net contribution to the UK economy (and as such funds Mark’s £2 bus around Berkshire) but that is a vexed question without a definitive answer.

TBF none of this is covered in The Who’s Magic Bus either, they should have seen this all coming.

also pre-decimal money wd have been 9d not 9p

Right here, right now

There is no other place I want to be

Watching the world wake up from history

Sweden sends warships to the Baltic Sea, thus making Prefab Sprout's claim about the obsoleteness of warships in the Baltic at the start of 'Faron Young' itself obsolete.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/12/swedish-pm-war-peace-armed-forces-enter-baltic

At the beginning of "Celebrated Summer", Bob Mould sings "Somewhere in April time/They add another hour". Now it's March.

lol
This is such an ilx thread

'I'm 23 now, will I live to see 24?' wasn't even true at time of release

Not every rap song is autobiographical

i'm guessing Blackburn council have done something about at least some of those holes.

i'm guessing there are many more after 14 years of cuts.

Robert De Niro is no longer waiting for Bananarama, and is likely not speaking italian