3 Classic Rock Songs From the 20th Century That Predicted the Future

The following classic rock songs may have predicted the future, from subgenres to climate change to a musician’s own death. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether these legendary music-makers were oracles or not. 

“Coming Up” by Paul McCartney (1979)

Alright, this isn’t really a classic rock song. But it comes from one of the greatest classic rock songwriters of the 20th century, so I’m including it anyway.

This opening track from McCartney II is a fascinating little new wave tune with a technopop flair. Many songs from that album were very experimental. However, there’s something about “Coming Up” that had lightbulbs going off above modern-day listeners’ heads. Did Paul McCartney predict the 21st-century boom of hyperpop, way back in 1979, with this very song?

There are a few elements in this song that are very ahead of their time. And if you listen to songs by the likes of Charli XCX and Sophie, the similarities are pretty stark. The “scene” of hyperpop didn’t really exist until the 2010s, but it was heavily influenced by ball culture and 1990s electronic music associated with internet culture, like trance, Eurohouse, etc. Maybe McCartney secretly started it all. Or, maybe he was just insanely ahead of his time.

“Up From The Skies” by Jimi Hendrix (1968)

Most would hear this Jimi Hendrix psychedelic classic and assume it’s about aliens. That’s certainly the surface-level vibe. However, it’s clear that this song was meant to be about human beings’ negative impact on the earth’s environment. And one particular line seems to have predicted climate change.

“The smell of a world that has burned / Well, maybe, maybe it’s just a change of climate.”

However, it’s worth noting that climate change has been discussed in the scientific community for decades, including during the 1960s.

“Dream Brother” by Jeff Buckley (1994)

This entry on our list of rock songs that predicted the future still gets under my skin, especially as a Jeff Buckley fan. “Dream Brother” comes from Buckley’s only studio album, Grace. At the time, Buckley said the song was about a friend of his who was close to walking out on his pregnant girlfriend. Buckley, sadly, was abandoned by his famous father, Tim Buckley, as a child.

However, one line seems to predict the ultimate demise of Buckley: “Your eyes to the ground and the world spinning round forever / Asleep in the sand with the ocean washing over.”

Jeff Buckley died at only 30 years old from drowning in the Wolf River in Memphis, following a tragic accident in which he was swept underwater by the wake of a tugboat.

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