Asklemmy

Darude - Sandstorm

While not what one would think of when they think of songs that survive hundreds of years from now, the only song I can think of that's not a folk song that's both archived and hummable (and actually has a tune, so that excludes pop songs)...... is the Pokémon theme song. Go up to anyone and say in tune that you wanna be the very best and someone's gonna ask "like no one ever was".

Imo Greensoeeves mostly endured because it can be perfectly whistled by everyone and still be played by professional musicians in a way that awes the audience.

This will probably not be th reason why current songs will stay arround. If society doesn't break down, I assume that every popular melody, be it from the US, China or Lebanon, will stay around and get reused every ~30 years to grab some quick money.

It's not new, but this tune will keep being reused for a billion years. It's got religious adaptations, too, providing incredible staying power. It will probably be used for many more years, as it's one of those "golden" tunes that people will never quite forget.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Mountain_Thyme

If you went to Mass, you have probably heard it. Here's a modern, secular cover of it:

https://youtu.be/LFw81n_nD1s

‘You are my Sunshine’

hot to go

Probably a Jazz song since the musicians often cover the same Songs over and over again and thats how they could stay very long? Dont know which one though. A Train? Misty?

Amen Brother by The Winstons, more specifically the drum break on it. It's by far the most used sample of any song ever, and once you know of it you'll hear it everywhere kind of like the Wilhelm Scream in movies.

I always forget there was a real historical figure and assume Greensleeves is Gull's little sister from those old Magic books.

Not sure how well they hold up, but like 25 years ago Arena and the Greensleeves trilogy seemed like the best books ever.

Yesterday

In the U.S., “Neck” by Cameo has become a college marching band standard. I wonder if that will help. Not that it would come from U.S. college sports but maybe a song like “Sweet Caroline” or “Seven Nation Army” that’s played at professional sporting events in multiple countries.

I don't know what it is but I hear it at sports stadiums. Duh duh duh duh- duh duh duh-duh It repeats

Edit: I've just found out it's called papas got a brand new pigbag.

One of my favorite little details of Blood and Wine, Witcher 3, is random people humming or singing small refrains of modern pop songs like the Beatles, implying these tunes are exactly what you're asking about.

This made me wonder what the oldest tune that would still be familiar to a lot of people today would be. Dies Irae is a good candidate. It's around 800 years old and is probably best known today from the 1980 version of The Shining, although I know it best from the Dr. Tongue stages in Zombies Ate My Neighbors.