Music What is the worst song by a well-respected musician or band?

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The discussion centers around identifying songs by well-known musicians that are considered poor or disappointing. Participants highlight tracks perceived as album fillers or lacking quality, such as "I'm So Glad" by Cream and "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam. Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" is criticized for being overly simplistic and lacking depth. Other songs mentioned include REM's "Everybody Hurts," which is deemed devoid of redeeming qualities, and Chris De Burgh's "Lady in Red," along with Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You," both labeled as lacking substance. The conversation also touches on Metallica's "St. Anger," which is noted to sound better live than on the album. Overall, the thread reflects a shared sentiment of disappointment in certain popular songs from respected artists, emphasizing a disconnect between commercial success and artistic merit.
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Please link to execrable songs by musicians that should have known better. Some "songs" like "I'm so glad" by Cream appear to be album-fillers instead of serious music.

Clapton has gold records on his wall, but this stinker causes me to change the channel or hit "next" on the CD player every time.

 
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Not the worst, but bad: Last Kiss, Pearl Jam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0B-hJ_gotc

 
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Yep! That's bad. It wasn't any good the first time out, when the cheerleaders used to sing it on bus trips.
 
turbo said:
Please link to execrable songs by musicians that should have known better. Some "songs" like "I'm so glad" by Cream appear to be album-fillers instead of serious music.

Clapton has gold records on his wall, but this stinker causes me to change the channel or hit "next" on the CD player every time.



Anything on St. Anger by Metallica. Though I must admit, the songs sound marginally better live than they do on the album.
 
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REM's "Everybody Hurts" has no redeeming value no matter what anyone says.

Michael Stipe channeling Art Garfunkel? What the heck for?

I don't care what anyone says, I'M CORRECT!
 
Wow. I always thought I was the only one who thought that 'Wonderful Tonight' was a truly dreadful song. Other songs that spring to mind as ones that were hugely popular but which I always loathed with a passion are 'Lady in Red' by Chris De Burgh and 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder. I don't hate them because they are romantic songs, I hate them because they are chewing gum for the brain, utterly devoid of any quality that I can discern.
 
Ken Natton said:
Wow. I always thought I was the only one who thought that 'Wonderful Tonight' was a truly dreadful song.

And then he slowed it down for his "unplugged" release; just what we needed, longer dreadfulness.
 
Chi Meson said:
And then he slowed it down for his "unplugged" release; just what we needed, longer dreadfulness.
Exactly what Heart did on their "Road Home" CD. Slow their songs down like Vanilla Fudge and drag them out forever. That CD was a waste of money and time.
 
  • #10
Chi Meson said:
REM's "Everybody Hurts" has no redeeming value no matter what anyone says.

Michael Stipe channeling Art Garfunkel? What the heck for?

I don't care what anyone says, I'M CORRECT!
In the liner notes of the album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, Buck writes that "the reason the lyrics are so atypically straightforward is because it was aimed at teenagers", and "I've never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the idea that high school is a portal to hell seems pretty realistic to me." Incidentally, the song was used in the 1992 film of the same name that preceded the show.

In 2005, Buck told the BBC: "If you're consciously writing for someone who hasn't been to college, or is pretty young, it might be nice to be very direct. In that regard, it's tended to work for people of a lot of ages."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_Hurts

I love this song because it takes my mind back to slow dancing at parties in grade school and high school. Slow dances were a socially acceptable way to get a lot of body contact with girls, and often lead to making out. If it had only existed at the time, "Everybody Hurts" would have precipitated many makeout sessions for me. Maybe even more than "Something" by the Beatles.
 
  • #11
While "Wonderful Tonight" is bad...truly bad...it's hard to come up with one worse than Styx's "Plexiglas Toilet".
 
  • #12
turbo said:


Love it!

lisab said:
Not the worst, but bad: Last Kiss, Pearl Jam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0B-hJ_gotc



Like it

Ken Natton said:
Lady in Red' by Chris De Burgh and 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder. I don't hate them because they are romantic songs, I hate them because they are chewing gum for the brain, utterly devoid of any quality that I can discern.

Love it, like it. But I like pretty much everything. :smile:

Okay, the worst tune... hmmmm... anything from the 90s?
 
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  • #14
zoobyshoe said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_Hurts

I love this song because it takes my mind back to slow dancing at parties in grade school and high school. Slow dances were a socially acceptable way to get a lot of body contact with girls, and often lead to making out. If it had only existed at the time, "Everybody Hurts" would have precipitated many makeout sessions for me. Maybe even more than "Something" by the Beatles.

Argh! Typical logic. I'm not listening! I'm not listening! nanananananannananananana...
 
  • #15
I'm okay with most Beatles stuff, but I don't know what this is supposed to be:

 
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  • #16
cepheid said:
I'm okay with most Beatles stuff, but I don't know what this is supposed to be:

The long and whining road? :biggrin:
 
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  • #17
If we're talking about respected bands, then these top my list (at least they immediately come to mind).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ
(ok, that may more be a reaction to the video than the song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWLpiPlJAA8
(Prior to this his stuff was fantastic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmKeIlJq4gM
(This song always makes me want to vomit)

And if we're talking about someone not respected, just about everything by Britney Spears, N'Sync, etc.
 
  • #18
I wasn't too impressed about Aram Cara on Enya's album 'Sumiregusa'.

But that's not on youtube and this version is much better.

 
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  • #19
Vanadium 50 said:
it's hard to come up with one worse than Styx's "Plexiglas Toilet".

A real bummer of a song.
 
  • #20
George Jones said:
A real bummer of a song.
The butt of many jokes.
 
  • #21
Evo said:
The long and whining road? :biggrin:

Haha yeah, sounds about right! :biggrin:
 
  • #22
Pink Floyd: Seamus
 
  • #23
Pythagorean said:
Pink Floyd: Seamus
You haven't drank enough beer. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #24
daveb said:
If we're talking about respected bands, then these top my list (at least they immediately come to mind).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ
(ok, that may more be a reaction to the video than the song)
Holy Moly I have never agreed so heartily with anything ever before in my life. I was trying to recall that very video I saw (partially) fifteen years or so ago, but my brain revolted against me and I had a seizure as soon as I recalled it was Bowie and Jagger. Your identification has served as some sort of balm, ironically, and though I will not watch it again, I know that I am not insane!

Peace!
 
  • #25
Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

The last song of his that charted - for good reason some say.
 
  • #26
"Lady Madona" by the beatles.

Who is Gordon Lightfoot?

From the wikipaedia:
"The page "Gordon Lightfoot." does not exist. You can ask for it to be created, but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered.
For search help, please visit Help:Searching."
 
  • #28
daveb said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmKeIlJq4gM
(This song always makes me want to vomit)
I'm pretty sure you mistyped that url...
 
  • #29
Pythagorean said:
Pink Floyd: Seamus
That is the only decent song they ever made.
 
  • #30
http://acousticguitarbuyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/No-Stairway-To-Heaven-Metal-Sign.jpeg
 
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  • #31
Um...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdRONeM4CSo

@daveb, I am sure that was a time when coke was all the rage. Dancing in the street, lol...
 
  • #32
51st Anniversary by Jimi Hendrix should never have been released.

I never heard any of Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door, so I figure that must be really terrible.

ELP's Brain Salad Surgery was horrible.

Alice Cooper's Muscle of Love sucked utterly.

I can't pick out specific tunes because I only listened to them once, for obvious reasons.
 
  • #33
lol, great thread!
 
  • #34
Pythagorean said:
Pink Floyd: Seamus

Sorry, I have to disagree.

Pink Floyd
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_MvZxpE7YU
 
  • #35
MacLaddy said:
Sorry, I have to disagree.

Pink Floyd
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

I always kind of liked that one. What can I say? It's different. It's sort of like the Mothers of Invention doing Return of the Son of Monster Magnet. I liked that too.
 
  • #36
daveb said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ

Still a better love story than Twilight.
 

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