I guess it depends on what you mean by songs. Cross-societal comparisons lend the historian different traditions. One example is the tradition of oral histories among the native Gaelic population in Ireland. These songs, as part of a sub-section of epic poetry and the oral history tradition, would be recited across generations. Often of a political lauding the achievements of one tribe or chieftain, these lifetime of these songs were limited by those who both knew and wanted to maintain those particular songs among the oral tradition.

An separate example is liturgical music. These hymns would have had more of a "staying power" in the regional populations. These, obviously, serve a specific function and are maintained based on the security of the institution itself. Different regions had different styles of chants which would maintain the popularity of one (or a set of) hymn(s).

Refining your question may be more useful.