What makes a classic a classic?
I was thinking along the lines of music, but I guess it could be almost anything that can be a classic. My first thought was which of our popular songs will still be around 200 plus years from now. I was holding a Vivaldi, a Salieri, and a Vaughan Brothers cd and I wondered if the Vaughan music would still be relevant that far into the future. But it also applies to almost anything else. What will the future generations thank us for giving them?
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Time… and timeless design
“Something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.” (Mark Twain, in relation to literature).
I think a key ingredient is popularity and some sort of deep inherent quality that helps it gain that popularity in the first place.
@cyanoticwasp got it on the nose.
Ironically the “Hillbillies from Outerspace” song just started, and I’m thinking that might make it.
I am encouraged by my kids love for 60’s and 70’s rock.
I would think that a classic is not only timeless, in that it appeals to generations far beyond its particular era, but it evokes the same feelings that listeners once with future generations.
A classic piece of literature is one that appeals to the core of the human experience.
It has to transcend the period in which it was created. For example, in the film “The Wizard of Oz”, there was originally a scene called “the Jitterbug”. If that scene had been left in, the whole film would seem dated and ridiculous today.
@Zen_Again Plus, it doesn’t really work with Dark Side Of The Moon.
I saw this dance clip, and I loved how the poster mixed in the old and new. In the comments, all the kids were amazed that people had been doing “hip-hop dance” back in the day. I thought, “Are they kidding? Half this stuff is Juba and has been around for literally eons.”
Classic. I’d love to be able to do this dance in any permutation.
The longer a piece is enjoyed the more it moves toward being a classic.
Classic design? A 50 year old M-B diesel. Timeless design (before the silly tailfins), built like a tank and still gets better fuel economy than most cars on the road.
A 40 year old Kitchen Aid mixer. Rugged, designed to the task and built to be repaired.
Shaker furniture from the early 19th century. Design that is beautiful in and of itself, not because of decoration. Over the years, regular waves of design philosophy have returned yo this concept.
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. As fresh and relevant as when they were written 280 years ago.
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