3 Classic Singles From 1968 That Still Have a Fresh Sound Decades Later

In the mood for some classic, well-aged singles from 1968? The following three songs are still unforgettable after all these years, and they each still sound unusually contemporary despite being more than half a century old.

“Hey Jude” by The Beatles

How could I leave this one off our list of classic singles from 1968 that still sound fresh? “Hey Jude” by The Beatles was easily the song of the year. It’s soothing, well-written, and then full-on rock opera-level anthemic by the song’s end. You can’t beat that gradual build and production that still sounds modern today.

“Hey Jude” by The Beatles was a chart-topping smash hit across the board. It peaked at No. 1 in the US, UK, Canada, most of Europe, and some Asian territories as well.

“Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones from ‘Beggars Banquet’

The Rolling Stones’ drum-heavy groove on “Sympathy For The Devil” sounds way newer than 1968, so this one was a shoo-in for a list of songs that still sound fresh decades after they first dropped. The gradually intensifying arrangement of this song is also something that wasn’t exactly common in rock songs back in 1968, at least not in the way The Stones did it.

The samba rock hit “Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones made it all the way to No. 1 on the UK Dance chart but surprisingly didn’t chart that well on the Hot 100. In the end, the song became one of the band’s most memorable hits anyway.

“Wild Tiger Woman” by The Move

This one’s a little bit of a deep cut, but “Wild Tiger Woman” by The Move remains a catchy, very psychedelic British rock song with some pretty modern energy. This hard rock single didn’t even chart that well in the band’s native UK, where it only made it to No. 53. Their previous hit that year, “Fire Brigade”, made it to No. 3 in the UK. But I went with “Wild Tiger Woman” for this list because of how contemporary elements of the song still sound after all these years. I’m still shocked that, despite The Move’s popularity in the UK, they never quite found significant success in the US.

(Photo by Larry Ellis/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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