Ahh, you don’t believe
we’re on the eve
of destruction …

P.F. Sloan, 1964
Performed by Barry McGuire

Question: if I wanted to quote short snippets of popular songs, as posts in their own right, should I include a reference to the songwriter or lyricist?

For example:

Long time ago
Life had begun
Everyone went to the sun

This is from Everyone’s Gone to the Moon, 1965, by Jonathan King. I never actually registered who’d recorded it. The song was just part of the musical background of my early life, and these words have stuck with me. From my current perspective, of course, they’re quite poignant.

It feels like the words can stand on their own, because in my mind they’ve done that for all these decades, and anyone of my vintage would recognise them.

But I suspect a formal attribution is always required … ?