Should an artist be able to reclaim a song?

I was listening to Christmas music on a local radio station and Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time.” It’s a dreadful song. Not because of the lyrics or Paul’s voice–its the music. It’s dreadfully dated like a green shag rug. So here is the question: When an artist records a song that is good, but dreadfully dated should they be able to rerecord the song and erase the old version for good? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be rid of many of those bad disco tunes with something a bit more timeless?

In case you can’t recall what “Wonderful Christmas Time” sounds like here it is: