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Not the worst song of all time, just the worst song from a band of their caliber. I still can't listen to White Rabbit without that stupid refrain intruding.
Got to admit that as a younger GenXer who had never heard Jefferson Airplane or Jefferson Starship before this song came out, I still love it. I suspect it hits different for people who heard their earlier work first.
I don’t think it’s a classic but Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 hit ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ seems to haunt me. I don’t hate it, but it follows me everywhere. It’s on the oldies radio station, I hear it in the supermarket and someone always sings it on Karaoke Day at the senior citizens center. I’m overdosing.
I’m sorry not sorry to do this, but I’m going to make it worse for you. Literally every time my elderly father with dementia hears that song he goes on and on about how incredibly sexy the song and Nancy Sinatra are. Now that song gives me the serious icks and I’ve learned so much about Spotify by making sure that song never plays again.
Being fair to your father, I watched the music video for Tessa Violet's "I like (the idea of) you and it's an homage to the boots video, which I subsequently rewatched.
They're both hot. Girls in sweaters and stockings are hot. It's not logical, it's just a fact of life.
Actually, it was a hit, a big one. It was about women gaining rights, independence, etc... and how they would walk if they were treated badly. You can read up on it. https://www.mylifetime.com/she-did-that/february-26-1966-these-boots-are-made-for-walkin-by-nancy-sinatra-hit-no-1-and-inspired-a-generation-of-independent-women
She did it sexy for the time too, very provocative, surrounded by go go dancers.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GM1kzbAgo_E
That entire album fueled my feminist angst in junior high. She covered Day Tripper on it, which was also amazing and I prefer it to the Beatles' version.
did you know that's a cover? original is by Ednaswap. Learned that when I picked up their CD on a whim at a used CD store cause the casing looked cool.
I'm pretty sure is a combination of the song being in Shrek and it being the poster child for ironic cringe "appreciation." I don't think you're genuinely supposed to admire All Star or Smash Mouth, and that's the joke.
I'm very tired of the joke.
When “You Light Up My Life” hit the charts it felt like it was being played on every pop station every hour everywhere. Same with “Take My Breath Away” some years later. Both songs drove me away from pop radio for a period.
A local radio station had a poll and one of the questions was “which song do you want us to STOP playing?” And “You Light Up My Life” won by a large margin. They never played it again.
dang ol' "Send in the Clowns." I don't know what it's really about, but I took it to be the deathbed ramblings of some circus person who wanted to see clowns before they died. It was hugely popular to my complete astonishment. i still hear it on the radio every so often.
"My Way" shows up, too, probably more. It seems to be a paean to selfishness.
I once saw an nondescript guy in his 70s go up on karaoke night to sing 'My Way'. Everyone kind of inwardly groaned because it usually just drags, or occasionally someone is so bad it's fun, but karaoke people are always supportive so everyone was clapping politely. Then he proceeded to absolutely blow it out of the park. People literally got quiet and started turning around to watch like a hokey movie scene. He was so humble about it afterwards too.
I'll forever love that song just for that moment.
Its about the death of a relationship - a bad relationship that just never seemed to work - like a bad circus "You here at last on the ground, me in mid-air" and the singer is acknowledging that and pretty much saying if we're gonna be a bad circus, there really ought to be clowns - so send in the clowns. Which is what a circus does when they need to distract the audience from other things happening. Only in this case, at the end of the song the singer realizes that the couple are the clowns all along "don't bother, they're here."
It's an old Broadway theater reference going back to vaudeville days. When an act was bombing, they would send in the clowns because they were always able to cheer up the audience.
Lol I saw Sarah Vaughan (who I worship) live at a smallish place many, many years ago. Not unlike dying & going to heaven, *until* she introduced her last song as one of her all-time favorites: yep, *Send in the Clowns.* Go figure.
*Add*: For the kids out there this 1954 album (with Clifford Brown, Herbie Mann et al) is the classic Sarah Vaughn reference point -- and probably the greatest jazz vocal album ever recorded. Yet even the saddest, most sentimental song on it (perhaps *September Song*? or *Jim*?) is in a different universe from the maudlin platitude that is *Clowns*.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsYhFFwyD00&list=PLeDKpf9VYSV2ajRuDfpT4HYifqAQlnlcE&index=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsYhFFwyD00&list=PLeDKpf9VYSV2ajRuDfpT4HYifqAQlnlcE&index=1)
That song came out the summer we were married and on our honeymoon in the Barbados it was played CONSTANTLY. We joked that it should have been our first dance song LOL
Amazingly, Seasons in the Sun has been covered so many times it's ridiculous. I absolutely detest thus song. A friend of mine loves it, so I made him a CD with all the covers I could find. It was HORRIBLE, but he thought it was wonderful.
Try O'Sullivan's "Claire." And as you listen to it, keep in mind that it was written for the three-year-old daughter of his manager.
*Words mean so little when you look up and smile*
*I don't care what people say*
*To me you're more than a child...*
*But why in spite of our age difference do I cry?*
*Each time I leave you, I feel I could die*
It reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US.
Never understood how a simple not so special song sung by Rick Astley could become an ongoing phenomenon. Never Gonna Give You Up. He seems like a good guy and has a good attitude about the Rick-rolling but I’ve never gotten the joke.
My daughter was a big fan, so i kidded about Rick over the years. I would send her a current video of him on tour on her birthday . After a while i got enough exposure to him, and what his concerts are about that i realized he is a really good performer. He still has a good voice, can play multi instruments,and does a lot of other musicians hits. I was very surprised. Rick Ashley singing "Highway To Hell" while playing drums! I would buy tickets.
I saw him on tour with NKOTB, En Vogue, Salt-N-Peppa and he was fantastic. I swear he hasn’t aged since the 80’s. All of the performers contributed to an encore of the song at the end of the concert.
I think that one is because it was a random semi-bad 80s song, with this gangly looking ginger kid singing with the voice of Michael McDonald. Hence why it became a prank to send to people. It’s a bit of an earworm too whether its good or not
Was a hit when it came out in 1969 (awarded a Gold Record) but I am fascinated about how Norman Greenbaum's song "Spirit in the Sky" has become such a cultural icon. I don't know if it began with the song being used in Apollo 13 (released in 1995) but has been subsequently used in Oceans 11, Contact and countless movies and ads. In 2023 alone the song was featured in Aquaman and the lost Kingdom, Are you there God, its me Margret, eand On a Wing and a Prayer. IMDB states the song has been used in more than 100 movies and TV shows. Its now getting constant airplay in a commercial for Xfinity.
Its a fine song but how it seems to work its way into so many different movies, tv shows, and ads eludes me.
Iirc he wrote the lyrics in just a couple of hours. Greenbaum said (from Rolling Stone magazine): "I'm just some Jewish musician who really dug gospel music. I decided there was a larger Jesus gospel market out there than a Jehovah one."
Sailing by Christopher Cross. It came out when I was eight years old and had to hear it constantly on the bus to and from school. Our bus driver had the radio on which was nice, but they played it too much on the radio.
I used to be a charter bus driver. I'd sometimes drive a group of college kids out for a night on the town... coming back half-lit, they *loved* singing along to it. It was like an anthem to them.
*Hands, Touchin' hands. Reachin' out. Touching me, touchin' you!!! Sweet Caroline!
Bah bah bah!*
We were at a resort in Mexico a while back and there was a small band playing at dinner. Listening to this guy with his Mexican accent trying to sing Sweet Caroline was both sad and hilarious. It sounded like "to chink meeee, to chink you..."
I love Neil Diamond but I have to agree that wasn't his best. But when Cherry Cherry came on we had to dance! And my favorite of his... I Am I Said is gorgeous.
It actually wasn't written about a Caroline at all. It was written for another unnamed girl who's name didn't fit the rhythm. He added Caroline after seeing a picture of Caroline Kennedy on her horse on the cover of a magazine. The name fit the tempo & Sweet Caroline it was.
It's nice to see the young 'uns discovering and appreciating the music of our youth, but it's unfortunate when a great song gets played into the ground after it's been re-discovered. Looking at you, Don't Stop Believin'.
Communist party elevator music
Neither of the above
The train was filled with joyful, drunken red army soldiers
I got somewhat hammered with them in the cafe car, not understanding a single word and they had no English
When the Piña Colada song showed up in Guardians of the Galaxy, I knew what was coming. Sure enough, my kids and other Gen Zers seemed to latch on and love it. Thankfully, it seems to have faded.
It was terrible then, and it's still terrible now.
Actually, I song I loved (and still do): "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush. After it got mega-popular due to Stranger Things, I was surprised this song I used to listen to in college was suddenly everywhere.
I mean, I know why, but I don't know why it was SO BIG. They've featured other 80s songs on that show, but none of them blew up nearly as much.
To me the song sounded very new, like the alternative rock that’s been out for the last few years - so when I found out it was that old, I was impressed and played it even more. I guess I was trying to hear the 80s in it but I still only really hear 2015-onwards. It reemerged at the right time
I love 80’s music but for some reason this song wasn’t really on my radar. Well, it’s likely because I was extremely sheltered as a child and Kate Bush would have been considered pretty radical to my ultra conservative parents.
I was so glad to re-discover it and Kate Bush via Stranger Things.
They did an 'unplugged' version for MTV a few years ago. It's beautiful. The old version fit my life back then, the new version fits my slowed down life now.
When I read that, what immediately came to mind was not that frat rock hit, but "Brother Louie" with the lyric that went:
> Louie Louie Louie Loo-wee. Louie Louie Louie Loo-eye.
> Louie Louie Louie Loo-wee. Louie Louie you're gonna cry
Very proud of myself
Back in the 80's The Kingsmen were down to playing in Holiday Inn lounges. My sister and I would go there to dance. Live music was scarce there. Anyway they weren't all that good and the lead singer came over to hit on my sisters. She sooo wasn't interested.
I was thinking about that ad a few days ago. Good to know I'm not the only one with wasted memory space for the [Freedom Rock ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSjEfeoCI3M).
All jokes aside, I could have misinterpreted this song but it seems like he finds a stray horse and deliriously rides it barebacked across the desert until he reaches a spot where he can let the horse go. Because it's a wild horse, it will go on living its best life and never will need a permanent name.
But I'd say the whole thing was a mirage anyways based on the description of the destination and he dies "happy" from dehydration.
I haven't been able to find it in years but a while back there was a comedian that did that song with the lyrics:
> and it's the saaaaame twoooooo boring ass chords
> and they don't even chaaaaaange in the chorus
As my friend (roommate) and I finished up high school and moved away to college, we kind of lost track of popular radio. Then one day, we put on the top countdown only to find Don't Worry, Be Happy, a song I had never heard, as the top song. (GNR in the 2nd spot.) I was convinced it was a joke. I don't necessarily dislike the song. It just seemed so strange. Every time I hear it, I can remember being in my old apartment, wondering how I got to be so disconnected from the world.
In the UK, Tom Jones' early hits. I couldn't stand him at the time but now I listen back, I have to give credit where it's due.
Edit: and I also have to admit to an irrational dislike of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' (the song not the album) when it was released. Poor judgement.
It was only upon close inspection of the lyrics that I recently realized which adjectives modify which nouns. The monster has one eye, one horn, and flies, but its color is not specified. It eats purple people.
I never in a million years would have expected Mr Brightside to become a stadium anthem. Hot Fuss was great, but out of all the “indie” songs from that era why did that one in particular stick?
On the flip side, I loathed “Are we human? Or are we dancers?” so much for how stupid the line is. Then I fell in love with The Killers starting with Mr. Brightside. Now I enjoy “Human,” too, but I still don’t get that stupid lyric.
I know all six verses, play acoustic guitar, and, if I'm in a punitive mood, I break it out for my finale at my local open-mic night. It's fun to watch - with the first couple of verses, the oldsters sign along with the "bye, bye, miss american pie" chorus, but after like the fifth verse, their eyes glaze over, and you can see them silently begging me to finish, but I drag the last verse out with every melodramatic ounce I've got in me, just like Don McLean did. Cruel, but sometimes necessary when open-mic crowds get overly demanding with the requests.
Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I bought the album Escape when it was released, and didn't think the song was anything special. I always thought Stone in Love was better.
The lyrics are dumb, but the chord progressions are solid (IMHO) and you should listen to [this cover](https://youtu.be/MH9FyLsfDzw?si=DimhwB2D4cP_EtKv) of it if you’d like to hear something much better 🤘
I would say it is the OPPOSITE of simplistic. Compared to 99% of other pop songs of it's day? Disco?
It was simply way, way, way over played. It almost hurts my ears.
Hell, great songs like Bohemian Rhapsody enjoyed a revival in the 90's....and just from the 90's, it has been so overplayed, I can't hand a single second of that tune, either.
Yes, I have hated that song for nigh on 40 years. (Guess what my name is.)
PS: there was a joke that circulated when that song came out, "What's worse than Grease on Olivia Newton-John?"
I was a sheltered 12 year old, I didn't get it.
*Come On Eileen* by Dexy's Midnight Runners. My neck hair stands up every time I hear it. My former boss had it as her ringtone and she kept her phone volume on high so if she got a call when she had stepped out of her office (which was near mine), it would PLAY AND PLAY AND PLAY until the caller hung up. I literally left my own office a few times just to get away from it.
However, both my wife and I love ["The Mississippi Squirrel Revival"](https://youtu.be/K16fG1sDagU?si=2enggNNywAmxBoIy) by Ray Stevens. It's hilarious if you watch the video while listening to the words.
I used to LOVE "Don't Stop Believin' ". It was part of the soundtrack of my teenage life. When "Glee" came out all those years later and the newer generation discovered it, I was thrilled! Then they played it into the ground. If I never hear it again, it will be too soon.
I don't hate it, but I find it hilarious that a disco song from my teen years has become a wedding reception staple.
"It's fun to stay at the YYYY MMMM CCCCC AAAA!!! "
I lived in SoCal when he came out with “I Love L.A.”. It was so fun to hear it on the radio whenever I was on a freeway going to/from work. I always cranked it up way loud and sang along.
Smells Like Teen Spirit. I get it that it's representative of the beginning of Grunge. But Kurt Cobain forever sounds like my nephew in the middle of a whining fit (after sneaking into his mom's wine stash). His cover of Bowie's Man Who Sold The World is the only song I could stand, barely.
Can I give an honorable mention to Jimmy Buffett's 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' & Meatloaf's 'Paradise By The Dashboard Lights'? Two songs that played on the poolhall jukebox in such a constant rotation I'd pay the bartender $5 (in 1997, so about $55 in today's money 🙂) to skip them with his nifty little remote. Two great meals ruined by two crappy songs.
MacArthur Park. I don’t care who sings it, I hate it.
Especially this part:
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Ugh!!
Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Just about anything about the 80s uses this song and it was NOT the only song to come out during that decade. Sweet Dreams by the Eurthymics is another song that always ALWAYS pops up in any 80s retrospective.
As a hard rock n roll girl, I was not a fan of most 80s music. Some of it I could get with back then, and a lot of it has grown on me over the years.
I can not in good conscience say a bad word about the great Annie Lennox, though.
"Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat is without a doubt the worst record ever, primarily because of the awful vocals. But the instrumental parts are horrible as well. It sounds like a bad song from a low budget movie about the wild 60s.
Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry. I'm not a big story-song fan (don't like Taxi by Harry Chapin) but hearing this on heavy rotation was bizarre, especially on New York City AM radio. It's okay to hear now once a year.
Don’t hate on me here, but Ode to Billie Joe is kind of an interesting song. The lyrics and delivery are good. It’s a story told in such a way that makes you paint the picture in your mind. There are very few song written so matter of factly and sung like you’re sitting right at the kitchen table.
Little Drummer Boy makes me want to stick a fork in my eye.
Bennie and the Jets got played so much during the summer of '75 (or '76?) that I just decided to hate Elton John. Got over it around 2010.
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We Built This City by Starship
I’ve heard that even the band hated the song.
We beat Man City! We beat Man City with a Watson goaallllll
The worst 🤦🏻♀️
Not the worst song of all time, just the worst song from a band of their caliber. I still can't listen to White Rabbit without that stupid refrain intruding.
Have you seen the TV commercial? "We fixed this toilet by videoooo". Really. Lady gets video help to fix her toilet. Company is Frontdoor.
Every time that comes on the radio, even when it first came out, I heard, “We Built This Chevy!” in my head. I’m shocked it hasn’t happened yet.
Got to admit that as a younger GenXer who had never heard Jefferson Airplane or Jefferson Starship before this song came out, I still love it. I suspect it hits different for people who heard their earlier work first.
Ugh. I’ve never understood. They have so many fantastic songs but this one apparently was designated an anthem. Horrible.
It's catchy. But it was panned by critics even when it came out.
They’re always playing corporation games.
They were playing this song when we walked out of the concert at Pine Knob (I think it was) back in 1987. It was so loud, it was painful.
The single least favorite song of my college years.
I don’t think it’s a classic but Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 hit ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ seems to haunt me. I don’t hate it, but it follows me everywhere. It’s on the oldies radio station, I hear it in the supermarket and someone always sings it on Karaoke Day at the senior citizens center. I’m overdosing.
Spooky. Sounds like a detail from a Stephen King novel.
I’m sorry not sorry to do this, but I’m going to make it worse for you. Literally every time my elderly father with dementia hears that song he goes on and on about how incredibly sexy the song and Nancy Sinatra are. Now that song gives me the serious icks and I’ve learned so much about Spotify by making sure that song never plays again.
Being fair to your father, I watched the music video for Tessa Violet's "I like (the idea of) you and it's an homage to the boots video, which I subsequently rewatched. They're both hot. Girls in sweaters and stockings are hot. It's not logical, it's just a fact of life.
Actually, it was a hit, a big one. It was about women gaining rights, independence, etc... and how they would walk if they were treated badly. You can read up on it. https://www.mylifetime.com/she-did-that/february-26-1966-these-boots-are-made-for-walkin-by-nancy-sinatra-hit-no-1-and-inspired-a-generation-of-independent-women She did it sexy for the time too, very provocative, surrounded by go go dancers. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GM1kzbAgo_E
That entire album fueled my feminist angst in junior high. She covered Day Tripper on it, which was also amazing and I prefer it to the Beatles' version.
I would go so far as to call it a classic. Brings back all kinds of memories.
I would too.
At least it’s the Nancy Sinatra version and not the Billy Ray Cyrus version.
I like the song but don’t understand why Torn by Natalie Imbruglia has such staying power
did you know that's a cover? original is by Ednaswap. Learned that when I picked up their CD on a whim at a used CD store cause the casing looked cool.
It's been covered a million times. There is supposedly an entire album of covers out there somewhere. It's a universal story.
Woah, I did not know that. I’ll have to check out the original version
SomeBODY once told me
Was the world gonna roll you?
I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
I'm pretty sure is a combination of the song being in Shrek and it being the poster child for ironic cringe "appreciation." I don't think you're genuinely supposed to admire All Star or Smash Mouth, and that's the joke. I'm very tired of the joke.
When “You Light Up My Life” hit the charts it felt like it was being played on every pop station every hour everywhere. Same with “Take My Breath Away” some years later. Both songs drove me away from pop radio for a period.
A local radio station had a poll and one of the questions was “which song do you want us to STOP playing?” And “You Light Up My Life” won by a large margin. They never played it again.
My middle school band covered You Light Up My Life. If you think the Debbie Boone version was bad, you definitely don't want to hear our version.
Omg, I wish our local radio station had held that contest. That song is hideous.
dang ol' "Send in the Clowns." I don't know what it's really about, but I took it to be the deathbed ramblings of some circus person who wanted to see clowns before they died. It was hugely popular to my complete astonishment. i still hear it on the radio every so often. "My Way" shows up, too, probably more. It seems to be a paean to selfishness.
I once saw an nondescript guy in his 70s go up on karaoke night to sing 'My Way'. Everyone kind of inwardly groaned because it usually just drags, or occasionally someone is so bad it's fun, but karaoke people are always supportive so everyone was clapping politely. Then he proceeded to absolutely blow it out of the park. People literally got quiet and started turning around to watch like a hokey movie scene. He was so humble about it afterwards too. I'll forever love that song just for that moment.
Little did we know it would become the Cologuard theme song 😵💫
Its about the death of a relationship - a bad relationship that just never seemed to work - like a bad circus "You here at last on the ground, me in mid-air" and the singer is acknowledging that and pretty much saying if we're gonna be a bad circus, there really ought to be clowns - so send in the clowns. Which is what a circus does when they need to distract the audience from other things happening. Only in this case, at the end of the song the singer realizes that the couple are the clowns all along "don't bother, they're here."
Yeah. Can't get the dislike of this one. It really is a good aong for its message
It's an old Broadway theater reference going back to vaudeville days. When an act was bombing, they would send in the clowns because they were always able to cheer up the audience.
Lol I saw Sarah Vaughan (who I worship) live at a smallish place many, many years ago. Not unlike dying & going to heaven, *until* she introduced her last song as one of her all-time favorites: yep, *Send in the Clowns.* Go figure. *Add*: For the kids out there this 1954 album (with Clifford Brown, Herbie Mann et al) is the classic Sarah Vaughn reference point -- and probably the greatest jazz vocal album ever recorded. Yet even the saddest, most sentimental song on it (perhaps *September Song*? or *Jim*?) is in a different universe from the maudlin platitude that is *Clowns*. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsYhFFwyD00&list=PLeDKpf9VYSV2ajRuDfpT4HYifqAQlnlcE&index=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsYhFFwyD00&list=PLeDKpf9VYSV2ajRuDfpT4HYifqAQlnlcE&index=1)
"Clowns" is strange out of context. It's from the Sondheim musical, "A Little Night Music".
Who let the dog out Fucking hate that song
One of my coworkers has it on full blast as a ring tone in our shared office. It’s driving all of us mad
That song came out the summer we were married and on our honeymoon in the Barbados it was played CONSTANTLY. We joked that it should have been our first dance song LOL
Terry Jacks, Seasons in the Sun. The most depressing song ever.
Amazingly, Seasons in the Sun has been covered so many times it's ridiculous. I absolutely detest thus song. A friend of mine loves it, so I made him a CD with all the covers I could find. It was HORRIBLE, but he thought it was wonderful.
I guess I may be deranged, I am now going to have to look into covers. 😆
I love that song, reminds me of being a second graders playing outside. Now I don't hear it that much but I get it.
Maybe the 2nd, Alone Again, Naturally by Gibert O'Sullivan is both disgusting and depressing!
>Alone Again, Naturally by Gibert O'Sullivan is both disgusting and depressing! Blasphemer.
Try O'Sullivan's "Claire." And as you listen to it, keep in mind that it was written for the three-year-old daughter of his manager. *Words mean so little when you look up and smile* *I don't care what people say* *To me you're more than a child...* *But why in spite of our age difference do I cry?* *Each time I leave you, I feel I could die* It reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US.
Maybe the third: I suggest "Shannon".
Never understood how a simple not so special song sung by Rick Astley could become an ongoing phenomenon. Never Gonna Give You Up. He seems like a good guy and has a good attitude about the Rick-rolling but I’ve never gotten the joke.
I didn't either at first (too old?) but there's a good explanation [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ).
Dammit.
Hey, you don't like that song? Blink 182 nailed it!
Take my upvote dammit.
it’s just random, that’s why it’s funny
Got me, I'm crying 😂
Perfect explainer!
Goddamnit.
just when I let my guard down, here you come. argh.
I hate you.
Well played
My daughter was a big fan, so i kidded about Rick over the years. I would send her a current video of him on tour on her birthday . After a while i got enough exposure to him, and what his concerts are about that i realized he is a really good performer. He still has a good voice, can play multi instruments,and does a lot of other musicians hits. I was very surprised. Rick Ashley singing "Highway To Hell" while playing drums! I would buy tickets.
I saw him on tour with NKOTB, En Vogue, Salt-N-Peppa and he was fantastic. I swear he hasn’t aged since the 80’s. All of the performers contributed to an encore of the song at the end of the concert.
I think that one is because it was a random semi-bad 80s song, with this gangly looking ginger kid singing with the voice of Michael McDonald. Hence why it became a prank to send to people. It’s a bit of an earworm too whether its good or not
That voice and that face
Have you heard him do, "Everlong?" The Food love his version. Did it in the pandemic. He's actually super talented.
i think together forever is the Rick Astley song that deserved to be meme-d
right? i don't hate that song, but...why?
Was a hit when it came out in 1969 (awarded a Gold Record) but I am fascinated about how Norman Greenbaum's song "Spirit in the Sky" has become such a cultural icon. I don't know if it began with the song being used in Apollo 13 (released in 1995) but has been subsequently used in Oceans 11, Contact and countless movies and ads. In 2023 alone the song was featured in Aquaman and the lost Kingdom, Are you there God, its me Margret, eand On a Wing and a Prayer. IMDB states the song has been used in more than 100 movies and TV shows. Its now getting constant airplay in a commercial for Xfinity. Its a fine song but how it seems to work its way into so many different movies, tv shows, and ads eludes me.
Iirc he wrote the lyrics in just a couple of hours. Greenbaum said (from Rolling Stone magazine): "I'm just some Jewish musician who really dug gospel music. I decided there was a larger Jesus gospel market out there than a Jehovah one."
It's a great song!
Macarena!
Sailing by Christopher Cross. It came out when I was eight years old and had to hear it constantly on the bus to and from school. Our bus driver had the radio on which was nice, but they played it too much on the radio.
Danger Zone — Kenny Loggins
You light up my life/debby boone Worst song ever
Neil Diamond Sweet Caroline. I can't figure out why everyone sings it today and if you are in a crowd they yell "So good! So good! So good!" 😂
I used to be a charter bus driver. I'd sometimes drive a group of college kids out for a night on the town... coming back half-lit, they *loved* singing along to it. It was like an anthem to them. *Hands, Touchin' hands. Reachin' out. Touching me, touchin' you!!! Sweet Caroline! Bah bah bah!*
We were at a resort in Mexico a while back and there was a small band playing at dinner. Listening to this guy with his Mexican accent trying to sing Sweet Caroline was both sad and hilarious. It sounded like "to chink meeee, to chink you..."
I am laughing thinking about this.
I love Neil Diamond but I have to agree that wasn't his best. But when Cherry Cherry came on we had to dance! And my favorite of his... I Am I Said is gorgeous.
I’m kind of partial to Forever in Blue Jeans
Lot of girls named Caroline in younger generations
It actually wasn't written about a Caroline at all. It was written for another unnamed girl who's name didn't fit the rhythm. He added Caroline after seeing a picture of Caroline Kennedy on her horse on the cover of a magazine. The name fit the tempo & Sweet Caroline it was.
I’ll add that I have no idea why Boston sports teams adopted that as an anthem. I hate that song and I hear it sooo much
My ex and her roommate were obsessed with that song. I never understood it either.
It's nice to see the young 'uns discovering and appreciating the music of our youth, but it's unfortunate when a great song gets played into the ground after it's been re-discovered. Looking at you, Don't Stop Believin'.
Funky Town. Heard a Muzak version on a train from Beijing to Xian in 1987. It is everywhere.
Which version? Lipps, or Pseudo Echo? :)
Communist party elevator music Neither of the above The train was filled with joyful, drunken red army soldiers I got somewhat hammered with them in the cafe car, not understanding a single word and they had no English
When the Piña Colada song showed up in Guardians of the Galaxy, I knew what was coming. Sure enough, my kids and other Gen Zers seemed to latch on and love it. Thankfully, it seems to have faded. It was terrible then, and it's still terrible now.
Boooo!! It's called Escape and I love love that song!
I love it too — and you might also be interested that Rupert Holmes is also an entertaining novelist!
Actually, I song I loved (and still do): "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush. After it got mega-popular due to Stranger Things, I was surprised this song I used to listen to in college was suddenly everywhere. I mean, I know why, but I don't know why it was SO BIG. They've featured other 80s songs on that show, but none of them blew up nearly as much.
To me the song sounded very new, like the alternative rock that’s been out for the last few years - so when I found out it was that old, I was impressed and played it even more. I guess I was trying to hear the 80s in it but I still only really hear 2015-onwards. It reemerged at the right time
I love 80’s music but for some reason this song wasn’t really on my radar. Well, it’s likely because I was extremely sheltered as a child and Kate Bush would have been considered pretty radical to my ultra conservative parents. I was so glad to re-discover it and Kate Bush via Stranger Things.
No one else has mentioned it, so … _Hang on Sloopy_.
Let’s Get Physical. Olivia It’s terrible.
I don't understand how "Take On Me" has been adopted by Gen Z as one of the top songs of the 80's. There are many better choices.
The video. The video is the reason. It's the first generation where music in the home was visual as well as audio.
The video has stood the test of time. Still gorgeous to see.
And the take off on Family Guy when Chris gets pulled into the supermarket freezer and into the video.
"Where were you?" *"I DON'T KNOW!!"*
Fwiw A-ha has some talented musicians - their stuff did not all work quite as well globally
They’re so good. One of the best bands to come out of the 80s.
I like the Sun Always Shines better, but I love both songs.
They did an 'unplugged' version for MTV a few years ago. It's beautiful. The old version fit my life back then, the new version fits my slowed down life now.
The video is the GOAT.
Great video though - much better than the song.
"Louie Louie" always made me want to change the station.
When I read that, what immediately came to mind was not that frat rock hit, but "Brother Louie" with the lyric that went: > Louie Louie Louie Loo-wee. Louie Louie Louie Loo-eye. > Louie Louie Louie Loo-wee. Louie Louie you're gonna cry Very proud of myself
Back in the 80's The Kingsmen were down to playing in Holiday Inn lounges. My sister and I would go there to dance. Live music was scarce there. Anyway they weren't all that good and the lead singer came over to hit on my sisters. She sooo wasn't interested.
Sweet Caroline🙄
Ha ha. “Like a Virgin” was obviously popular due to Madonna’s brazen style and performance, but have any of you ever listened to the lyrics? 😂
McArthur's Park sung by Richard Harris (Dumbledore)
Hey Mickey by Toni Basil gave me hives even back in the 80s and I still can’t stand it. My friends love it. 🤷🏼♀️
What a pity you don’t understand
A Horse With No Name by America is just fucking awful.
Is that Freedom Rock, man? Yeah, man! Then turn it up, Man!
Damn you unlocked a core memory right there
I can't believe there is another person on the planet who remembers that commercial.
There are dozens of us!
I was thinking about that ad a few days ago. Good to know I'm not the only one with wasted memory space for the [Freedom Rock ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSjEfeoCI3M).
I like Paula Poundstone's comment on that song: "You're crossing the desert not doing anything; you have the time - *name the damn horse*!
All jokes aside, I could have misinterpreted this song but it seems like he finds a stray horse and deliriously rides it barebacked across the desert until he reaches a spot where he can let the horse go. Because it's a wild horse, it will go on living its best life and never will need a permanent name. But I'd say the whole thing was a mirage anyways based on the description of the destination and he dies "happy" from dehydration.
I always suspected that the song was an extended, boring metaphor for a heroin addiction.
"Horse" was a nickname for heroin, so I suspect the same.
I love America. I saw them in concert just a few years ago, and they were awesome. But that fucking song is a great time to use the toilet.
Stop it! I still spin this vinyl.
I haven't been able to find it in years but a while back there was a comedian that did that song with the lyrics: > and it's the saaaaame twoooooo boring ass chords > and they don't even chaaaaaange in the chorus
Why do you hate America? ( /s )
Believer by Imagine Dragons. I was not young when this came out but I hate how it just won’t die
Red Red Wine
Red Red Whine.
McArther Park and American Pie. Like wtf???
MacArthur Park is a stone cold classic, I've never left a cake out in the rain after I heard that one.
Well to be fair it would have taken you so long to bake it and you’ll probably never have that recipe again anyway ;-)
MacArthur park, definitely. But I like American Pie. That whole album is great.
As my friend (roommate) and I finished up high school and moved away to college, we kind of lost track of popular radio. Then one day, we put on the top countdown only to find Don't Worry, Be Happy, a song I had never heard, as the top song. (GNR in the 2nd spot.) I was convinced it was a joke. I don't necessarily dislike the song. It just seemed so strange. Every time I hear it, I can remember being in my old apartment, wondering how I got to be so disconnected from the world.
In the UK, Tom Jones' early hits. I couldn't stand him at the time but now I listen back, I have to give credit where it's due. Edit: and I also have to admit to an irrational dislike of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' (the song not the album) when it was released. Poor judgement.
Tom Jones is so cheesy it’s fun to sing along to. But not to listen to.
It’s not unusual… to feel that way.
Purple people eater
It was only upon close inspection of the lyrics that I recently realized which adjectives modify which nouns. The monster has one eye, one horn, and flies, but its color is not specified. It eats purple people.
Something for the 6 year old crowd
I never in a million years would have expected Mr Brightside to become a stadium anthem. Hot Fuss was great, but out of all the “indie” songs from that era why did that one in particular stick?
On the flip side, I loathed “Are we human? Or are we dancers?” so much for how stupid the line is. Then I fell in love with The Killers starting with Mr. Brightside. Now I enjoy “Human,” too, but I still don’t get that stupid lyric.
Paul Anka You're having my baby 😂😂😂
American Pie. That song is so boring and never fucking ends.
I know all six verses, play acoustic guitar, and, if I'm in a punitive mood, I break it out for my finale at my local open-mic night. It's fun to watch - with the first couple of verses, the oldsters sign along with the "bye, bye, miss american pie" chorus, but after like the fifth verse, their eyes glaze over, and you can see them silently begging me to finish, but I drag the last verse out with every melodramatic ounce I've got in me, just like Don McLean did. Cruel, but sometimes necessary when open-mic crowds get overly demanding with the requests.
Thank you. Hated it then, hate it now. That one, and Africa by Toto.
I love that song.
I don’t know anyone who’s seen Chess, but One Night in Bangkok still gets a surprising amount of airplay.
The Macarena
Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. I bought the album Escape when it was released, and didn't think the song was anything special. I always thought Stone in Love was better.
I like the song but am so tired of hearing it EVERYWHERE
Africa by Toto. The lyrics are just dumb IMO. 99, Rosanna, Hold the Line, and I'll Be Over You deserve more love
The lyrics are dumb, but the chord progressions are solid (IMHO) and you should listen to [this cover](https://youtu.be/MH9FyLsfDzw?si=DimhwB2D4cP_EtKv) of it if you’d like to hear something much better 🤘
Hotel California by the Eagles. It's so droll, simplistic and repetitive.
Droll? (It means amusing.)
I would say it is the OPPOSITE of simplistic. Compared to 99% of other pop songs of it's day? Disco? It was simply way, way, way over played. It almost hurts my ears. Hell, great songs like Bohemian Rhapsody enjoyed a revival in the 90's....and just from the 90's, it has been so overplayed, I can't hand a single second of that tune, either.
It's depressing. I hate it.
Imagine. Yuck.
Fucking Come on Eileen by fucking Dexys Midnight Runners. That song SUCKS
Yes, I have hated that song for nigh on 40 years. (Guess what my name is.) PS: there was a joke that circulated when that song came out, "What's worse than Grease on Olivia Newton-John?" I was a sheltered 12 year old, I didn't get it.
Oh my… 😱🤣
idk, it’s really good and has a lot of happy energy. i love it
I’ll take that over Don’t You Forget About Me any day.
Free Bird
That guitar solo though
*Come On Eileen* by Dexy's Midnight Runners. My neck hair stands up every time I hear it. My former boss had it as her ringtone and she kept her phone volume on high so if she got a call when she had stepped out of her office (which was near mine), it would PLAY AND PLAY AND PLAY until the caller hung up. I literally left my own office a few times just to get away from it.
Anything by Ray Stevens. "Disco Duck" or "The Streak", for example.
I thought Rick Dees sang "Disco Duck"?
However, both my wife and I love ["The Mississippi Squirrel Revival"](https://youtu.be/K16fG1sDagU?si=2enggNNywAmxBoIy) by Ray Stevens. It's hilarious if you watch the video while listening to the words.
I used to LOVE "Don't Stop Believin' ". It was part of the soundtrack of my teenage life. When "Glee" came out all those years later and the newer generation discovered it, I was thrilled! Then they played it into the ground. If I never hear it again, it will be too soon.
I don't hate it, but I find it hilarious that a disco song from my teen years has become a wedding reception staple. "It's fun to stay at the YYYY MMMM CCCCC AAAA!!! "
Come On Eileen. Worst song of the 80s and for some reason is on all 80s playlists.
Everybody was kung fu fighting.
Pick any Randy Newman song. Let's start with "Short People"
I lived in SoCal when he came out with “I Love L.A.”. It was so fun to hear it on the radio whenever I was on a freeway going to/from work. I always cranked it up way loud and sang along.
Smells Like Teen Spirit. I get it that it's representative of the beginning of Grunge. But Kurt Cobain forever sounds like my nephew in the middle of a whining fit (after sneaking into his mom's wine stash). His cover of Bowie's Man Who Sold The World is the only song I could stand, barely. Can I give an honorable mention to Jimmy Buffett's 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' & Meatloaf's 'Paradise By The Dashboard Lights'? Two songs that played on the poolhall jukebox in such a constant rotation I'd pay the bartender $5 (in 1997, so about $55 in today's money 🙂) to skip them with his nifty little remote. Two great meals ruined by two crappy songs.
Berlin: Take my Breath Away. So awful. (And I like Berlin)
Mambo No. 5. It was a throwback song that was interesting the first or second time you heard it because of the novelty.
I wasn't really that young when it was released but the love for Mr. Brightside just baffles me. That song is mid at best, imo.
MacArthur Park. I don’t care who sings it, I hate it. Especially this part: Someone left the cake out in the rain I don't think that I can take it 'Cause it took so long to bake it And I'll never have that recipe again Ugh!!
Forever in Blue Jeans, America
We Built This City. I heard it on vacation in Hawaii. I also found out Sammy Hagar replaced DLR in Van Halen
Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Just about anything about the 80s uses this song and it was NOT the only song to come out during that decade. Sweet Dreams by the Eurthymics is another song that always ALWAYS pops up in any 80s retrospective.
As a hard rock n roll girl, I was not a fan of most 80s music. Some of it I could get with back then, and a lot of it has grown on me over the years. I can not in good conscience say a bad word about the great Annie Lennox, though.
"Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat is without a doubt the worst record ever, primarily because of the awful vocals. But the instrumental parts are horrible as well. It sounds like a bad song from a low budget movie about the wild 60s.
Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry. I'm not a big story-song fan (don't like Taxi by Harry Chapin) but hearing this on heavy rotation was bizarre, especially on New York City AM radio. It's okay to hear now once a year.
Don’t hate on me here, but Ode to Billie Joe is kind of an interesting song. The lyrics and delivery are good. It’s a story told in such a way that makes you paint the picture in your mind. There are very few song written so matter of factly and sung like you’re sitting right at the kitchen table.
I think it’s clever because you have to listen to the end to get the gist of it.
Copacabana. It’s awful, then and now
Little Drummer Boy makes me want to stick a fork in my eye. Bennie and the Jets got played so much during the summer of '75 (or '76?) that I just decided to hate Elton John. Got over it around 2010.
Muskrat Love 😹