Filmmaker seeking public domain songs that could also be a prom theme?

April 22, 2017 11:52 AM

Filmmaker seeking meta-help. I need a song with public domain lyrics that could have conceivably been a U.S. prom theme in 1989. Possibly an early standard that was re-recorded as a Billboard Hit in the 50s-80s?

I've checked out PD song lists here, but haven't found anything quite right. Any ideas? (I'll of course clear with a copyright attorney before assuming something is PD.)

posted by skammer to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

The theme of my father's senior prom, which would have been some time in the early 1960's, was "Apple Blossom Time."

Turns out that the pop song "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time" is in the public domain.

I don't know about later recordings, but the most famous recording was a big hit for The Andrews Sisters during WWII, when couples separated by the war responded to its sentimental lyrics about longing for a future reunion. If the song was played at the prom, and the kids chose it themselves, it was probably a deliberate attempt to create an elegant, "grown up" atmosphere in contrast to an everyday sock hop. This was in a small town in Upstate New York.

Hope this was helpful, even if only to fuel process of elimination.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:45 PM on April 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

(Re-read your question more carefully and realized this isn't what you're asking for at all. Feel free to delete.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:46 PM on April 22, 2017

Puttin' on the Ritz? is that in public domain?
posted by calgirl at 12:55 PM on April 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

I found "Scarborough Fair" in that PD database, which peaked at 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 (oh, lookit that, exactly 49 years ago this week). The song itself is a bit lugubrious for a prom song (plus it is deployed hilariously in Lost in Translation), but it doesn't seem inconceivable for a prom theme.
posted by xueexueg at 1:23 PM on April 22, 2017

My experience as a suburban high schooler (and member of every dance planning committee, thank you very much) in the '80s was that the prom theme was a relatively current song - either one that was popular at the time, or no more than a year or so older. They also veered to the romantic/sentimental. (My senior prom theme was "Almost Paradise" from Footloose.) We absolutely would not have picked a song from the '50s through '70s, because that was our parents' music.

Unfortunately, none of these are public domain, but...

Looking at 1988 I'd say "Hold On to the Night," "Candle in the Wind," or "One Moment in Time."

From early '89, "Lost in Your Eyes," "Eternal Flame," or "Two Hearts."
posted by Sweetie Darling at 1:47 PM on April 22, 2017

Best answer: I'm Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody was a hit for David Lee Roth in 1988. Both songs are in the public domain, but would make a pretty terrible (though hilarious) prom theme.
posted by rikschell at 2:12 PM on April 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

My 1975 prom theme was "Do You Believe in Magic," which was ten years old at the time, so it's not unheard of to do an older song.

Leon Redbone did a version of "Shine on Harvest Moon" in 1976. It wasn't a top 40 hit though. It is in the public domain.
posted by FencingGal at 2:41 PM on April 22, 2017

Doubt that the lyrics are public domain but a case could be made for the music of Louise Tucker's Midnight Blue, a 'classical crossover' which I can imagine playing at a senior prom in the late 80s.
posted by Rash at 2:53 PM on April 22, 2017

not on the list, but I could have sword it was pd: fly me to the moon.
posted by she's not there at 6:50 PM on April 22, 2017

The Pet Shop Boys covered Always on My Mind as a dance anthem in 1988
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:19 PM on April 22, 2017

How about Lean on Me? It was originally released by Bill Withers in 1972 and then covered in 1986 by Club Nouveau.
posted by LynnDee at 8:19 AM on April 23, 2017

Best answer: La Bamba was a pretty big song by Los Lobos to tie in with the Ritchie Valens biopic of the same name in 1987. While most of the recorded versions are still copyrighted, the lyrics are a traditional folk song and should not be.

Another PD folk song with numerous popular covers is House of the Rising Sun, although I am not sure that would be a great prom theme.
posted by Yorrick at 9:12 AM on April 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Amazingly, Rockin' Robin (1958) is public domain. As to whether it fits as a prom theme is debatable.
posted by O9scar at 9:51 AM on April 23, 2017

Best answer: Linda Ronstadt did a trio of albums in the 80's of jazz standards, arranged by Nelson Riddle. Most of them are Great American Songbook stuff, and should be in the public domain as well as in the general consciousness during that period. They did chart, and won awards.
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posted by ApathyGirl at 11:00 AM on April 23, 2017

"Sea of Love" was originally recorded in the 1950s.
Robert Plant had a hit with a cover of it in the mid-80's.

It was covered quite a few times.

I was class of '89, and I could easily see this song having been a prom theme when I was in highschool.
posted by Cranialtorque at 12:18 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]