From Måneskin’s cover bringing Beggin’ (originally performed by The Four Seasons in ‘67 and covered by Madcon in ‘07) back to a million playlists, to Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill hitting a new high after its feature in the penultimate season of Stranger Things, it’s almost an understatement to say that today’s media culture has a penchant for bringing old hits back to the top of all imaginable charts.
Fig1. Måneskin Performance
It’s everywhere: Netflix’s Wednesday revitalised The Cramps’ Goo Goo Muck: the resurgence of Murder on the Dancefloor saw Sophie Ellis-Bextor take the stage at the BAFTAs after being featured in hit film Saltburn. Are these comebacks of classic hits from years past solely due to social media and films, or is there a deeper nostalgia to it?
When streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music took to the scene and late millennials and early Gen-Z left behind their iPod Nanos and Vid-to-MP3 converter audio collections, the music listened to was current. Of course, this was before Instagram could play audio and Musical.ly and Dubsmash mostly offered “funny” audios and sped-up versions of popular songs. Needless to say, things have changed. Now we are subject to everyone’s nostalgia — as streaming services and social media continue to broaden their reach every day; film and TV soundtracks, and social media audios shared by friends (as well as complete strangers) often get stuck in our heads, or simply manage to work their way into our playlists. A video shared by someone in reference to their parents’ favourite song or a soundtrack from a film set in the 60s could easily become someone’s new Most Played song of the year.
This phenomenon goes beyond media exposure, whether it be social media, or the shows we choose to watch on Netflix — the reappearance of these songs represents a collective wistfulness for the songs that marked an era of our lives. It’s not necessary for us to have been alive for said eras either: the current generation’s love for ABBA and Kate Bush are among the many examples that proves that. No time period has ever been perfect, but as we live in a society that seems increasingly dystopian, especially for the younger generations, there is an incessant longing for songs that bring back carefree times.
It’s easy to reduce these moments to ear worms picked up through social media, but there’s more to this collective musical time-travel we’re all happily part of, and it’s likely to continue bringing past hits back into the spotlight.
Photo Credit:
Cover: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Murder on the Dancefloor, Music Video
Fig.1: WallpaperCave- aditya12345
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