Your best song from each decade - 1930's to 2020's

[shadow]

Very difficult to do one song per decade so I've chosen songs which have associated memories.

1930's Judy Garland Over the Rainbow (1939)
1940s Gene Autry Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1949)
1950s Johnny Mathis The Twelfth of Never (1957)
1960s Animals House Of The Rising Sun (1964)
1970s Kate Bush Wuthering Heights (1978)
1980s Human League Don't you want me (1981)
1990s Pulp Disco 2000 (1995)
2000s Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay (is the the way to) Amarillo (2005)
2010s Ed Sheeran Supermarket Flowers (2017)
2020s I have absolutely no idea

[Anita Bensoussane]

This is tough!

It's great to see Judy Garland's Over the Rainbow on several people's lists and I love many of your choices, Su (Shadow) - The Twelfth of Never, House of the Rising Sun, Wuthering Heights, Don't You Want Me and Disco 2000. Of other songs that have been mentioned so far, I'm particularly fond of Common People, Fairytale of New York, Out of My Dreams, She's Leaving Home, Skin Deep, God Only Knows, Bye Bye Love, Good Vibrations, Baker Street and Frozen.


Here's my list:

1930s: Wild About You - Composed by Irving Berlin (about 1935 apparently, though I'm not sure when the song was first performed or recorded)

1940s: What is Life? - Kathleen Ferrier (1946)

1950s: All I Have To Do Is Dream - The Everly Brothers (1958)

1960s: Behind a Painted Smile - The Isley Brothers (1967)
(Nearly chose The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel, 1964)

1970s: Songbird - Fleetwood Mac (1977)
(Nearly chose Atomic - Blondie, 1979, or Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen, 1975)

1980s: Calling America - ELO (1986)

1990s: Don't Speak of My Heart - Gerry Rafferty (1992)
(Nearly chose Fields of Gold - Sting, 1993)

2000s: Stars Look Down - Composed by Elton John and Lee Hall for the musical Billy Elliot (2005)

2010s: If I Had My Time Again - Composed by Tim Minchin for the musical Groundhog Day (2016)

2020s (so far): Don't Shut Me Down - ABBA (2021)

[Boodi 2]

Very difficult to choose just one song for each decade, but I agree with most of the suggestions. However, I was surprised that nobody mentioned Vera Lynn for the 1940s (We'll Meet Again or The White Cliffs of Dover would be candidates). For the 1950s I am very fond of Tammy sung by Debbie Reynolds, while for the 1960s it has to be The Beatles, the only problem is which song as there are so many to choose from...!!! For the 1970s I like Don McClean's American Pie. I actually don't have any suggestions for the 1980s, 90's or 2000's, but for the 2010s I think Stromae is a class act (especially Papaoutai and Formidable)...much to my son's surprise (indeed shock)...he thinks I am too old to be listening to 'rap music!!!

[Barnard]

I totally agree about Tammy, Monique. It is a wonderful song which I bought as a single in the 1970s. The ‘b’ side was another good song from the 1950s, The Day That The Rains Came Down by Jane Morgan.
For my favourite 1950s song I had to choose from Judy Garland’s Danny Boy, Tammy, The Poor People of Paris by Winifred Atwell and Lay Down Your Arms by Ann Shelton.
All brilliant songs from which I chose Judy Garland.

[Boodi 2]

I am glad that somebody agrees with me about Tammy, which I find ever so innocent and yet romantic! "The Day the Rains Came" is a great song too, but I know it best in the original 1958 French version (Le jour où la pluie viendra) by Gilbert Becaud.

[Barnard]

I must admit that Jane Morgan’s version of The Days That The Rains Came Down is the only one I know. As for Tammy, I could easily have chosen it as my song for 1950s. I play it on youtube sometimes as I don’t have a turntable to play the disc.

[Boodi 2]

I have Tammy on a double CD of hits from the 1950s, but also listen to it on Youtube! Gilbert Becaud actually composed "Le jour où la pluie viendra/The Day the Rains Came" together with Pierre Delanoe, but it has been covered many times in various languages.

[IceMaiden]

1930s - Over The Rainbow
1940s - White Christmas
1950s - Que Sera Sera
1960s - Those Were The Days
1970s - Bright Eyes
1980s - I Know Him So Well
1990s - nothing
2000s - nothing
2020 - nothing

That was tough especially the 60s & 70s, really really struggled to choose just one for those as there's so many I could have picked! 90s onwards is easy as I don't like any of them (apart from Abba's new songs but I don't see them as being 2020s).

[Anita Bensoussane]

I love reading people's choices. My mum used to sing 'Que Sera, Sera' when I was little so I always associate that song with her, IceMaiden. 'Those Were the Days' and 'I Know Him So Well' are favourites of mine too.

[Barnard]

Does anybody know the song The Town I Loved So Well by the Dubliners with the vocals performed by Luke Kelly?
Sheer Magic and Brilliance.

[Courtenay]

Oh yes!! My mum had it on a cassette tape of the best of the Dubliners, which she used to play in the car when I was little. I loved nearly all the songs, but that one stood out the most because of the beautiful tune and the poignant lyrics. I couldn't make out every single one of the words very well as a 7-year-old Australian unused to Irish accents, but enough so that I could understand in general what the song was about, and the last two verses always made me want to cry. They still do, actually, now that I'm a bit older and know a lot more about the context of the song — "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Even for an outsider who has no connection with Ireland (Northern or the Republic) and who still hasn't been there, it's deeply moving to have seen that conflict end at last, so the last lines of that song have come true (and let's hope it always remains so): "I can only pray / For a bright, brand new day / In the town I loved so well."

[Barnard]

Just thinking of that wonderful song brings tears to my eyes, Courtenay, and when I actually listen to it I go to pieces.
There is a superlative 8 minute 10 second version on you tube by the Dubliners with Luke Kelly singing.
It’s well worth listening to.

[Boodi 2]

I know the song too, but oddly enough it never made much of an impression on me. I must listen to the Dubliners' version with Luke Kelly singing and see if it changes my mind. Thanks for the tip!