ometimes a song lyric hits so close to home it feels like it was written just yesterday. But every now and then, a musician writes something so specific and forward-thinking that it feels less like art and more like a prophecy. From foreseeing new technologies to predicting cultural shifts, some artists have penned lyrics that turned out to be eerily accurate. Here are ten times musicians seemed to predict the future.

1. David Bowie - "Five Years" (1972)

The Lyrics: "News had just come over / We had five years left to cry in / News guy wept and told us / Earth was really dying"

The Prediction: On his iconic album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Bowie opens with a track about the world learning it has only five years left due to an impending environmental catastrophe. While the five-year timeline was part of a fictional narrative, the song’s theme of a dying Earth and the public's reaction to the news resonates deeply today. Released in 1972, the song predates the widespread, mainstream panic about climate change. The image of a news anchor breaking down while delivering the grim forecast feels especially relevant in an era of increasingly dire climate reports.

2. Prince - "1999" (1982)

The Lyrics: "They say two thousand zero zero / Party over, oops, out of time / So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999"

The Prediction: Released in 1982, Prince’s anthem captured the essence of end-of-the-millennium anxiety nearly two decades early. He wasn't just throwing out a random date; he was tapping into the specific cultural phenomenon of "Y2K" before it even had a name. The song’s core idea—that if the world might end, you might as well have one last huge party—perfectly encapsulated the mood as the year 2000 approached. It became the unofficial soundtrack for New Year's Eve 1999, proving Prince had his finger on the pulse of a future cultural moment.

3. The Buggles - "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979)

The Lyrics: "They took the credit for your second symphony / Rewritten by machine and new technology / And now I understand the problems you can see"

The Prediction: This song is famous for being the first music video ever played on MTV, but its lyrics are even more prescient. The track laments how video technology is overshadowing audio-only media, a direct prediction of the rise of MTV and the visual-first nature of the music industry that followed. The line "rewritten by machine and new technology" also feels like a nod to the rise of synthesizers and electronic music production that would come to define the 1980s and beyond, including today's AI-assisted music creation.

4. R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" (1987)

The Lyrics: "A tournament of lies, offer up a prayer / The feed is lit, the surfers watch the spectrum of a dying star"

The Prediction: While the song is a rapid-fire stream of consciousness, a few lines stand out with modern clarity. The phrase "tournament of lies" feels like a perfect description of the chaotic and often misleading nature of modern political discourse and social media. The image of "surfers" watching a "feed" that is "lit" is an uncanny prediction of how we consume information online. In 1987, "surfers" weren't yet a common term for internet users, and a "feed" wasn't something you scrolled through on a phone, yet R.E.M. painted a picture of our digital reality.

5. Gil Scott-Heron - "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (1971)

The Lyrics: "The revolution will not be televised / The revolution will be live"

The Prediction: Gil Scott-Heron's powerful spoken-word track argued that real social and political change wouldn't be a neatly packaged product broadcast by mainstream media. Instead, it would happen in the streets, among the people. Decades later, this prediction proved true with the rise of citizen journalism and social media. Movements like the Arab Spring and Black Lives Matter were organized and documented not by traditional news channels, but by individuals on the ground using platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The revolution wasn't televised; it was live-streamed.

6. Frank Zappa - "Plastic People" (1967)

The Lyrics: "I see the plastic people / Go to the supermarket, in a special car / They take a special trip to their favorite bar / To see the plastic people"

The Prediction: Zappa was a sharp social critic, and this song takes aim at conformity and consumerism. While "plastic people" can be interpreted in many ways, it's hard not to connect it to our modern obsession with cosmetic surgery and the curated, artificial perfection often displayed on social media. The idea of people becoming "plastic" in their quest to fit a certain mold feels more literal today than it ever could have in the 1960s.

7. Deltron 3030 - "Virus" (2000)

The Lyrics: "The virus is sentient, it's a new strain / Wipin' out your hard drive, snatchin' your domain / It's a new plague, spreadin' like a wildfire"

The Prediction: On their self-titled concept album, the hip-hop supergroup Deltron 3030 envisioned a dystopian future where technology has run amok. The track "Virus" describes a computer virus that is not just a piece of code but an intelligent entity capable of causing widespread chaos. Released in 2000, the song's depiction of sophisticated cyber-attacks that can take down infrastructure and steal information was years ahead of its time. It anticipated the era of state-sponsored hacking, ransomware, and the constant threat of digital warfare.

8. The Fugees - "Zealots" (1996)

The Lyrics: "We used to bite routines / Now MC's is biting routines / And cloning, can't be original"

The Prediction: On their classic album The Score, The Fugees lamented a perceived lack of originality in hip-hop. Lauryn Hill's line about "cloning" and the inability to be original perfectly predicted the culture of viral trends and copycat content that defines the TikTok era. Today, artists, influencers, and creators often face criticism for "biting" or directly copying viral formats, dances, and sounds to gain traction. What was a critique of the music industry in 1996 has become a descriptor for modern internet culture.

9. Kraftwerk - "Computer Love" (1981)

The Lyrics: "I call this number / For a data date / I don't know what to do / I need a rendezvous"

The Prediction: The German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk wrote a song about feeling lonely and turning to a computer for a connection. The concept of a "data date" and using technology to find companionship was purely science fiction in 1981. Today, it's the reality for millions of people using dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. The song captures the specific blend of isolation and technological hope that drives modern online dating.

10. Kendrick Lamar - "FEAR." (2017)

The Lyrics: "I'm talkin' fear, fear of losin' creativity / I'm talkin' fear, fear of missin' out on you and me"

The Prediction: While the concept of "fear of missing out" existed before this song, Kendrick Lamar crystallized it in this powerful track from the album DAMN. By labeling it directly as "fear of missin' out," he gave voice to a defining anxiety of the social media age. The lyric speaks to the pressure to be constantly connected, creative, and present, a feeling amplified by seeing everyone else's curated lives online. It’s a modern psychological condition, perfectly named and explored in a song.