5 Flop Songs From The '60s That Have Earned Respect From Younger Generations

The rise of streaming and the infinite accessibility of almost all music ever released have changed the game, especially for countless songs released throughout the '60s. '70s and on. What was being pushed by labels then, released as singles, or generally adored by critics, which all acted as boundaries for what could be popular or revered, no longer holds as much weight. Today, with the right few coincidences, any song can vault into online popularity. Whether they were released before an artist's heyday, buried as B-sides of singles, or were formerly considered deep cuts on albums, in this list, we'll look back at some songs from the 1960s that didn't yet reach the peak of their success but have found massive appeal in recent years.

In this cycle, songs that would go on to become classics have been rediscovered and appreciated as they, perhaps, initially should have been. Still, these tracks have become fully known and appreciated as younger generations, and the internet as a whole, have uncovered and taken these songs to new heights.

First recorded in 1966 by Judy Collins, Leonard Cohen soon turned his poetry into songwriting with his first song, "Suzanne," released in 1967 to lead off his album "Songs of Leonard Cohen." This album is now thought of as a storied folk classic, as Cohen's gentle poetry backed by the graceful strings and acoustic guitars of producer John Simon is a definitive statement of what folk music could be in the late '60s. 

And "Suzanne," a song ripe with rich, poetic language — "And you want to travel with her / And you want to travel blind / And you know you can trust her / For she's touched your perfect body with her mind" — and a mix of love and religion, despite its quality, never charted until after Cohen's death in 2016. It's certainly felt a revival since. Now, "Suzanne" is definitely Cohen's most popular song, surpassing even the storied "Hallelujah," and has been streamed more than 170 million times on Spotify alone. As youth continue to dive into the world of classic '60s music, folk in particular, Cohen has become an essential place to start, and his music has now found the continued success its quality always indicated.

Among the most dramatic of uncovered song stories, "Pretty Little Baby" was all but forgotten until recent years, including by the artist herself, who told People she "didn't even remember" the track upon initial re-listen in 2025. Though Francis was known for releasing popular love songs in the early 1960s, with this track being originally released in 1962, this song never got off the ground until very recently. 

The sweet, bouncy tune of classic '60s imagery — "Meet me at the car hop, or at the pop shop / Meet me in the moonlight, or in the daylight / Pretty little baby, I'm so in love with you" — has since, unexpectedly, blown up online, with most listens and posts being from much younger audiences. Its sound holds over 1.3 million posts on TikTok, and the song itself has been streamed over 150 million times on Spotify. There's something in its innocent sweetness that has drawn a complete revival of this tune, and though it may have been built for '60s popular music, the catchy chorus and bright vocals have connected supremely with audiences today.

"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" may now be an inescapable classic, but it wasn't an instant hit for Bob Dylan. Recorded and released in 1963 as the B-side for "Blowin' In The Wind," the song was also included on his breakout album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." This cynical breakup song wasn't best known as Dylan's, at least not immediately, a story told often, as Dylan's songs were often covered to success. It was released most notably by Peter, Paul, and Mary in 1963, where it became a top 10 hit. For Dylan, though his album was received well and started his historic career, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" wasn't a hit. 

It was, simply, better liked with prettier vocals, which chart success seemed to indicate better fitted the song in fans' ears. But Dylan's original version holds the authentic sentiment and tone of the track, and his guitar and harmonica work on top of the beautiful songwriting have been further respected with time. Today, the song is among Dylan's most popular, and has been streamed nearly 200 million times on Spotify. This success is certainly helped by Dylan's reemergence in pop culture, especially among young people (thanks to the 2024 film "A Complete Unknown"), but it seems this classic tune has finally found its audience in full.

When placed against the other tracks on this list, "Norwegian Wood" is hardly a flop, but from the Beatles' high standards, especially during their '60s heyday, this song wasn't the flagship of the album it appeared on, "Rubber Soul," and has since found greater success in pop culture than when it was originally released. The catchy, folky tune with an underlying dark, tongue-and-cheek meaning was originally buried on the album, though it was soon after released as a single and found moderate success.

Its success then was short-lived, but "Norwegian Wood" has since become a staple of the Beatles' songwriting heights. Its innovative use of an Indian sitar by George Harrison, as well as the timelessness of the tune, written and sung by John Lennon, has turned the track from a respectable part of their stacked discography to a defining Beatles song. Its likeness titled a bestselling novel by Haruki Murakami, further amplifying the song's legacy, and "Norwegian Wood" has been streamed nearly 275 million times on Spotify, the second-most on "Rubber Soul," showcasing the song's power across generations.

Nick Drake wasn't lauded with much success before his tragic death in 1974, as his hazy, transformative folk sound seemed a bit too abstract for fans of the time. His first album, 1969's "Five Leaves Left," is perhaps the least storied of his three albums — most notably remembered now, 1972's "Pink Moon" — but it's found its audience in the many years since its release.

The opening track of this album is "River Man," a hazy and meditative, peaceful song that embodies a contemplative, wandering energy across its four-minute runtime, its chorus singing: "Gonna see the river man / Gonna tell him all I can / About the plan / For lilac time". Though it isn't Drake's most popular now-uncovered song, "River Man" is among his most-streamed songs, with new fans enjoying it to the tune of over 40 million streams on Spotify. Its streaming numbers aren't as high as some other revivals on this list, but it's still an incredible number considering the initial reception and fade into obscurity that followed Drake's music in the '60s and early '70s.