Hey, Soul Sister

A while ago, while I was hitting the ukulele scene (because I am such a cool kid), I looked at the most popular searched for ukulele tabs. Among those tabs were:

Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (I love this song)

No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley

and Hey, Soul Sister - Train

Personally, I love these artists and these songs. Bob Marley was one of (if not the first) artist whose music I truly got to know. When I listened to Bob Marley, I didn't feel like I was just listening to a good melody. I felt like I understood his lyrics, and that made me feel good. As a four year old, I felt accomplished.

I didn't start listening to Train until I was 7 or 8. It was around the time that they released Drops of Jupiter. Before then, I had listened to U2, Uncle Kracker, White Snake, A-ha, Guns n' Roses, REO Speedwagon (you get my drift?). As you can probably tell from this, my parents were proud to live in the 80's, and they kept the music around to prove it.

As I grew older, I listened to many other artists and many other genres of music, but those old songs still frequent my 'most played list'.

What is it about artists (musical and non-musical) that make them timeless? Or with authors? Is it an ability to evolve and change their style, or is it a style that is so nonpareil that people love it regardless of the century they live in?