Today, I want to know what you think is the most recent pop “standard.”
Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.
The world of popular music is obviously much different than it was, say, sixty/seventy years ago, when pop standards were, well, you know, the standards of popular music. A “standard” in terms of pop music means a song that has become a standard song that most pop vocalists would have in their repertoire.
So, generally speaking, most standards are older songs. Just to name a few examples, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” is a song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1940 for the musical Pal Joey that most pop vocalists have in their repertoire. As is “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” a song written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne for the musical Funny Girl. As you can see, most songs that we consider “standards” were written for either film or stage musicals, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. “Heart and Soul,” by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, was just released on its own and has definitely become a standard.
Now, obviously, popular music is VERY different than it was in the past, where whenever a new hit song came out, everyone would just run out and release THEIR version of the song, and the various versions would just battle it out (timing was so important, which I wrote about in a fascinating Music Legends Revealed about Frank Sinatra racing to release HIS version of “Strangers in the Night” ahead of Jack Jones’ version of the tune).
However, while the world of popular music is VASTLY different nowadays, there obviously still ARE “standards” being added to the Great American Song Book, and they HAVE been added to the list throughout the years (the Beatles alone have a number of songs that it would be fair to consider “standards”). Typically, though, the easiest way to become a standard is still to come from a musical, like it is clear that “Defying Gravity” from 2003’s Wicked has become a pop standard.
My question now, though, is what is the most RECENT addition to the “great American song book?” What is the most recent pop standard?
I considered “Shallow” from 2018’s A Star is Born, but I don’t think it has QUITE made it to “standard” level.
Remember, we’re not just talking a popular song, but rather, a song that your “typical” pop vocalist will have as part of their standard repertoire. You know, a song that most any pop vocalists could sing on cue.
And for that, I think I have to go with “Let it Go” from 2013’s Frozen, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
The song was a sensation at the time, but it has lasted as a song pretty much any pop vocalist can do off the top of their heads (even if they can’t hit some of the crazy high notes).
Oddly enough, it’s by the same original singer as “Defying Gravity,” Idina Menzel.
Hamilton was a HUGELY successful musical, but I don’t think any of its songs ever quite hit “standard” level. Again, this isn’t strictly a popularity contest, it’s just about what songs have been adopted by your typical pop vocalist as a song they “must” know.
“She Used to be Mine” from 2016’s Waitress: The Musical was another one I considered. It’s also very close, but I don’t think it’s QUITE there.
Okay, that’s my pick. How about you?
And feel free to suggest future Pop Culture Theme Time topics to me at brian@poprefs.com!
