10 songs that accidentally predicted the future (2024)

Musicians aren’t meant to be some wise sages pointing the way forward for society. More often than not, they’re just looking to put together songs that will make people dance, and if it happens to have some pertinent lyrics behind it, then that might as well just be an added bonus for people willing to listen to the words. But when looking through these lyrics after the fact, acts like Jimi Hendrix were far ahead of the curve than people realised.

Instead of those absent-minded party songs, some tracks ended up having a clear vision of the world’s future. Whether it was relevant social issues or the oncoming political discourse, this was the sign that things were about to take a sharp turn, and nothing would be the same afterwards.

Whereas most tunes end up talking about events happening in their everyday lives, some of the lyrics don’t seem to resonate until years later. When looking at some of the artists on this list who didn’t get to see that future, hearing them sing lyrics like this feels all the more sobering for everyone else, knowing what was to come next.

Regardless of how they willed their lyrics into existence, each song still stands as both a warning for what their future might look like and a reminder about how we treat each other. It’s not an easy world out there, and if we’re living in the reality that these songs were talking about, we must ensure that we look after ourselves.

10 songs that predicted the future:

10. ‘A Deeper Understanding’ – Kate Bush

Most artists didn’t know that they were going to be living in the digital age. The era of analogue was bound to be the norm for those looking for the warm sound of vinyl, but by the time computers started taking over the 1980s, the entire music world was about to shift on a dime. Kate Bush already knew the power that cyberspace could wield, and ‘A Deeper Understanding’ was the kind of song that isn’t far off from what some people fall prey to today at the hands of their phones.

While Bush was known for making grand spectacles with her music, this song is almost clinically cold as she tells the story of a man who falls in love with his computer. As opposed to the kind of Blade Runner-esque charm of the song back in the day, this is the reality that many people end up finding themselves in if they aren’t careful.

Whereas most musicians treat the computer as a tool to make music, Bush knew all the way back in the late 1980s that having this much access at one’s fingertips could be just as dangerous if in the wrong hands. It’s one thing to use a computer for good, but if you let it consume you, any kind of human interaction starts to become optional.

9. ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ – The Buggles

The entire music world seemed to be blindsided by MTV when it debuted. The touring circuit was usually where a group earned most of their income, but if they suddenly made a three-minute video, they managed to hit every eyeball of teenagers everywhere. And when the channel started with The Buggles’ ode to television, it wasn’t just a catchy tune. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

While many songs from the early days of MTV haven’t held to the passage of time, ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ still sounds like the future of music. Outside of the glorious cheese of the video and the amazing backup singers shouting out the chorus, the song’s theme of radio getting killed off when the television comes in was much more prevalent than many people realised.

Acts like David Bowie transitioned to MTV with no problem, but for those who didn’t earn their stripes on their visuals, it was either the end of their time in the sun or the moment when everything got a lot more complicated. The Buggles always had a sci-fi edge to them in their short time together, but considering this was their biggest hit, it’s not out of the question to say they wrote the future.

8. ‘Coming Up’ – Paul McCartney

Most genres don’t come together in one fell swoop. Even though some may be bubbling up from the underground for years before they get famous, it normally takes people to lay the groundwork before things kick into high gear. Although Paul McCartney would probably have been content making silly love songs after The Beatles’ split, his need to get a little zany in his house led to him turning in the world’s first hyper-pop song.

That distinction probably raises a few questions, but the beginnings of people making off-the-wall music in their rooms all descend from this tune. McCartney already had a version of this track as a life cut out in the wild, but hearing him intentionally distort his voice and make everything sound unnatural is half the reason so many musicians have the freedom to take chances these days.

When you look at those who use hyperpop tropes like Charli XCX, their distortion of the traditional pop sound isn’t all that dissimilar to McCartney turning his own song into one of the most energetic tunes in his catalogue. He wasn’t thinking it at the time, but ‘Coming Up’ walked so a group like 100 Gecs could run.

7. ‘Sleep Now in the Fire’ – Rage Against the Machine

The whole appeal around Rage Against the Machine was about making something against the grain. Over half of their tracks, Zack de la Rocha almost sounded like he was warning his audience about the future that they might see if they don’t look at the big picture of what’s going on around them. And when election year 2000 came up, ‘Sleep Now in the Fire’ got attention for all the wrong reasons.

Despite the accompanying video being directed by divisive filmmaker Michael Moore, the foreshadowing has nothing to do with the song. Performing live on the steps of the New York Stock Exchange, one of the fans protesting made up a satirical banner imagining an alternate reality where someone like Donald Trump could become president.

Then again, it was almost like sticking the knife in the wound when Trump got elected, with many people claiming victory and blasting Rage Against the Machine to celebrate. If any of those people had bothered to listen to the lyrics, this was far from a victory. This was the moment that the American dream started to slowly turn into an American nightmare, and it was up to everyone else to figure out where to go next.

6. ‘Brainwashed’ – George Harrison

Not many people get to make their final statement when they know they are dying. As much as people loved hearing that John Lennon was happy during the final years of his life, he had no idea how short his time was when making his long-awaited comeback album Double Fantasy. In the case of George Harrison, he knew he wasn’t long for this world, and he was going to make sure that every line counted when making his final tune.

But at first glance, ‘Brainwashed’ just seems like a more pointed version of the kind of songs that he had been making with Jeff Lynne over the years. Once you start paying attention to the lyrics past the need to find communion with God, hearing Harrison say that the public is brainwashed by mobile phones is hauntingly prophetic, considering that line was probably said at the start of the new millennium.

The mobile phone still seemed like a huge bulky mass when Harrison probably saw them, but hearing a line like that is a lot more insightful when you realise that half of everyone’s daily lives have to do with them staring down the screen that they keep in their pocket. Considering how much Harrison loved living in the moment and appreciating the natural things in life, chances are he wouldn’t have liked the bleak future that awaited him.

5. ‘Walking in the Snow’ – Run the Jewels

Run the Jewels have been known as one of the most militant voices in hip-hop for years now. Not many can claim to have some of the best nuggets of social commentary, and yet still have a line in one of their songs telling their haters to run backwards through a field of dicks. That kind of lighthearted nature balances things out half the time, but ‘Walking in the Snow’ got attention because of just three words.

Killer Mike was never shy about talking about the troubles of a black man in America, but hearing him talk about wanting to make a change until he screams, “I can’t breathe”, shifted on a dime within a week of its release. He had intended to reference a completely different incident, but in the days that followed, the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer led to the song becoming an unintentional anthem, especially since Floyd’s final words were those same three words.

Then again, the fact that Mike had the foresight to make this kind of reference and have it happen within just a few days says more about the culture than anything else. Either Mike is Nostradamus beaming down words of wisdom before they even happen, or we haven’t come very far in checking racial discrimination.

4. ‘Dream Brother’ – Jeff Buckley

The entire premise of Jeff Buckley’s career reads like a Victorian tragedy. His entire catalogue was about gaining some type of love that’s being kept at bay, and before he could even become the legend that we know him as now, he would be gone in an instant after an accidental drowning in the Mississippi River. Buckley certainly didn’t know his time was short, but when listening to ‘Dream Brother’, it’s easy to picture the tune as his unofficial goodbye letter.

While the entire song is meant to be a kind of blues exorcism, a la Led Zeppelin, hearing Buckley talk about the water swallowing him whole is a lot more disturbing, considering the details of his drowning. Despite his friend saying that he heard Buckley in the water having fun, his demise came from him slowly getting pulled under the current, with his body not being discovered until a few days after the incident.

So when the song comes on these days, it doesn’t feel like a man crying his heart out in song. This is the tale of a fallen angel who’s trying to make his way back into heaven through the sheer power of his voice. Wherever Buckley is now, here’s hoping that the water doesn’t swallow him in the current ever again.

3. ‘Up From the Skies’ – Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix never felt like he was from this time or planet. Half the time, his guitar sounded like it was trying to communicate with other beings well beyond our Earthly minds, and on the rare occasion, his guitar solos did seem to bring about something otherworldly whenever he played. Hendrix wasn’t shy about being a fan of science fiction, either, but ‘Up From the Skies’ might be a bit too on the nose when looking at it today.

Kicking off Axis Bold As Love, Hendrix sings from the perspective of an alien being shown pictures of what Earth offers. Although there’s a lot that the alien observes, hearing him talk about the effects of climate change has become frighteningly literal as the years have gone on, with the water levels continuing to rise and ultimately becoming a problem too big for anyone to ignore anymore.

Unfortunately for us, this isn’t the kind of tourist attraction that the song’s alien thinks it is. This is the cold, hard truth that we have to live with every day, and if we care about our home on this Earth, we had better make some changes to our lives to make sure it’s sustainable for the next generation.

2. ‘Lazarus’ – David Bowie

Many artists wouldn’t have the guts to turn their final days into an art project. If anyone was told that their time on Earth was short, they would normally spend that time with family or try to do whatever they can to see the world for one last time before they walk to the other side. But music was part of David Bowie’s DNA, and on Blackstar, he gave us one final bow with one of the most harrowing tracks of his career.

While ‘Lazarus’ was made when Bowie knew he was dying, hearing his weary voice sing about looking up and seeing himself in heaven is enough to make anyone tear up. But the real prediction comes in the subsequent verses, when he talks about everyone knowing him, which came true when each news outlet on the planet started to talk about him when he passed away just two days after the album came out.

Most of Blackstar could have qualified for this list, but ‘Lazarus’ works best as a final goodbye. After years of daring to go bigger than anyone else had ever gone, Bowie was now ready to pack everything up, and even if he couldn’t give it all away, hearing those gentle saxophones was almost a reminder to the audience that everything would be okay.

1. ‘Fitter Happier’ – Radiohead

The concept of technology in the 1990s compared to now seems like night and day. We might have worried about the concept of the world ending in the year 2000 when every computer crashed, but now it’s a matter of if or when AI technology goes rogue and starts trying to control our every move. That was just relegated to the world of fiction in the age of irony, but Radiohead actually managed to write a song that seemed to welcome our future overlords.

Since most of OK Computer was centred around the distrust of technology, ‘Fitter Happier’ looked at the morbid ending that could come if we put all our faith in our computers. Recited by a computerised voice as an ominous piano plays in the background, most of the “lyrics” feel like an AI being fed information about what human beings are supposed to do, whether that be not kissing with saliva or crying when watching a good film.

It’s not like Radiohead didn’t believe that this would be the future, either, since their next album saw them coating themselves in synthetic waves on Kid A. In some respects, ‘Fitter Happier’ wasn’t even really a look at what the bad ending to technology would be. It was an inevitability, and all the rest of us could do was prepare.

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