Boelter pleads guilty in lawmaker attacks, agrees to two life sentences

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

I was at a restaurant recently when "Cats In The Cradle," a mid-'70s song by Harry Chapin, came on. It's the one about a dad too busy for his son, and ends with the son growing up to be too busy for his dad. Anyway, the thought hit me, "Do I really ever have to hear this song again?" It's a well-crafted tune, but please: can't we just retire it?!

And so a show is born. On this edition of All Songs Considered, "Hallelujah! The Songs We Should Retire."

Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson and I picked out some classic songs, and a few more recent tunes, to debate longevity and overstayed welcomes in modern music history. Should "American Pie" be put out to pasture? Has John Lennon's "Imagine" been imagined one too many times? Does Pharrell's "Happy" still make us happy, or should we, as Stephen Thompson suggests, cryogenically freeze it so we never have to hear it again in our lifetimes? — 

(P.S. — Do you have an idea for a song we should retire? Add your song and take 

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Official Video)

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole — 'Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World'

OFFICIAL Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole

Pharrell Williams - Happy (Official Music Video)

Meatloaf — 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light

Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird - 7/2/1977 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium (Official)

Eagles - Hotel California - Live Capital Center 1977

Led Zeppelin   Stairway to Heaven Live (HD)

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video)

Arts and Culture

Bob Boilen

Author

They are often beloved classics, or works of pure genius. And you never, ever need to hear them again. They are the songs that must be retired.

Hallelujah! The songs we should retire

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox