Mr. Brightside is 19 years old now!

So it is! It certainly doesn't feel that old!

I want to suggest 'Somebody That I Used To Know', but even then I'm not entirely confident on that one. I don't really hear it all that often anymore, considering how massive it was at the time.

 

Maybe 'Rather Be'? That's forever being used in adverts and stuff.

Hold My Hand from the Jet2 ads!

Thanks for the suggestions, some I agree with, some I don't and some I'm sat on the fence with.

 

'Rolling in the Deep' is a good shout, but I'd say the other Adele songs are too slow and boring to distinguish between. I'm aware of 'Someone Like You' but couldn't tell you how it goes, ditto with 'Easy on Me'

 

'I Gotta Feeling' is another good shout and one I considered. My only reservation is that I associate it with the bars I went to at the time which played it that I wouldn't be seen dead in now I'm older so my view is a bit more biased.

 

Not sure about 'Uptown Funk', very borderline I think.

 

'Happy' is also one I considered on the basis of my parents questioning whether it was the same person I listened to back in the day with Nerd etc. because it didn't sound like the sort of thing I'd like, which it isn't.

 

I do think 'Shape of You' is a difficult one to avoid, just conscious of people saying they'd never heard any Ed Sheeran songs. Disagree with 'Thinking Out Loud' and 'Perfect' though, the former was from a time I never knew any Ed Sheeran songs myself and I'm a bit hazy on the latter.

 

I don't know 'Shut Up And Dance', 'Wake Me Up' or 'Let It Go' myself so disagree with them.

 

'Pokerface' is possibly one, but I'd say very borderline.

 

I don't know 'Shallow', 'We Found Love', 'Work' or 'On the Floor' and I remember 'Despacito' being number one for ages but have forgotten how it goes so disagree with them.

 

'Call Me Maybe' is a good shout, I remember at the time someone played me it because they were amazed I'd never heard it at that point so maybe plenty of others were given the same torture.

 

'Valerie' is over 15 years old so doesn't count as is 'Shine'.

 

'Umbrella' is just over 15 years old and I see that 'Rule the World' is 15 years old today, so won't count tomorrow. It is the last Take That comeback song that people generally remember though.

 

Not convinced 'Get Lucky' is that well known, probably is amongst people like myself who listened to Daft Punk in the 90s but not the wider public.

 

I think people remember 'Gangnam Style' existing but not convinced the song itself is that well known.

 

'Sex on Fire' is a good shout and does feel like the last of the well know guitar records.

 

I don't know 'Just The Way You Are', 'What Does The Fox Say' or 'Hold My Hand'. I remember 'Somebody That I Used To Know' existing and seeing the video but the song never sunk in. So disagree with all these.

 

I also disagree with 'Rather Be' on the basis when I went to Radio 2 in the Park and Clean Bandit were on the line up my friends had never heard of them.

 

I think I've covered all the suggestions so far.

 

 

I'm amazed that you've managed to avoid hearing so many of these!

'Valerie' is over 15 years old so doesn't count as is 'Shine'.

 

Not quite - 'Valerie' was actually released in October 2007!

Not quite - 'Valerie' was actually released in October 2007!

I assume they were thinking about the original

Not quite - 'Valerie' was actually released in October 2007!

 

The Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse version was, but don’t forget was originally a hit for The Zutons a year earlier in 2006. I would agree though that the cover is far more popular than the original.

I'm amazed that you've managed to avoid hearing so many of these!

 

I might of heard them all but they just haven't sunk in. I do think part of the reason there's far less well known songs from the last 15 years is because it's a lot easier to avoid them now. We no longer have shows like Top of the Pops and at the same time there's lots of retro footage out there to amuse ourselves with. Likewise we can listen to retro radio stations, go to 80s nights when going out etc.

 

re Valerie, yes I was thinking of the original.

I'm not from the UK but my suggestions:

 

Viva la Vida - this is very very popular among all audiences in my country, especially with people who are learning to play guitar.

Shallow - the definitive movie hit of the last decade, just because it plays a significant role in a film that half of the population has seen (in my country)

Shape of You and Despacito - massive hits, but don't think the latter will remain as popular as the time goes by

Wake Me Up - a bit of borderline case before Avicii's death but became super massive after that (RIP)

Someone You Loved - bigger than any Ed Sheeran ballad in my country

Blinding Lights - 100% inescapable still today and it's been 2,5 years since the release.

 

The Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse version was, but don’t forget was originally a hit for The Zutons a year earlier in 2006. I would agree though that the cover is far more popular than the original.

 

I definitely wasn't referring to the Zutons version (which is easy to forget exists!)

 

This is quite an interesting topic btw, to look beyond the parameters of our encyclopedic music knowledge in such a way.

A couple of years ago I did a test with my parents (born 1967) when I picked the most well-known song from every Now album and asked if they knew it or not. They knew everything from the 1980s with ease. They also knew the 1990s but a few only after listening to them rather than just reading the title & artist name. They finally reached a blank at about the year 2000 (Now 46 I think) when they’d have been 33, and only the occasional one or two after that.

 

Having just turned 34 myself there’s at least one song in this thread that I haven’t heard at all (Easy On Me) and a few I only recently heard years after they were released (Perfect, Despacito, Someone You Loved) - this can seem absolutely baffling to those much more connected to recent music, but Random Music’s post is a good overview of how songs that can seem all conquering and unescapable do in fact escape quite a few when it isn’t part of their daily life. For me songs become much less recognisable in the last five years with the exception of Eurovision stuff and the occasional movie hit like Shallow or Greatest Showman songs.

 

I’d agree with Valerie (the Amy cover) and Shape of You, along with the 21-era Adele tracks. Probably Happy as well, I would have said Rather Be a few years ago but not sure anymore.

I also disagree with 'Rather Be' on the basis when I went to Radio 2 in the Park and Clean Bandit were on the line up my friends had never heard of them.

I think there’s a difference between not knowing the artist and not knowing the song. There’s plenty of 60s/70s/80s songs that I wouldn’t know going purely off title/artist but that I would immediately know upon hearing the song due to hearing on the radio/films/TV/adverts. For example, Rather Be was used in M&S adverts for quite a while and so people who don’t know the song, may know the tune.

Gangnam Style is the song that comes to mind most for me. Maybe Blurred Lines as well?

George Ezra’s biggest songs especially ‘Shotgun’ everyone will know

Someone needs to take the list of songs suggested in this thread and go out and survey 100 people!

Someone needs to take the list of songs suggested in this thread and go out and survey 100 people!

I would love to see this :lol:

Hold My Hand from the Jet2 ads!

That's my answer, and as someone who works for Jet2 I am the only one qualified to give it! :P

 

Plus, it's not just the ads, it's played when you board a Jet2 plane (as I recently found out), and of course the hold music when you're on a call.

Surprised nobody has mentioned:-

 

Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger

Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight

The Killers - Human

Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop The Feeling