# A song part that either brings down or ruins a song you'd otherwise like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 10, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722 "2020-12-10T04:13:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/61 "2020-12-14T14:36:28Z")
“Fuck You” by Cee Lo Green is infectious, lowbrow singalong fun until it is utterly ruined for me by the “I tried to tell my mama” part where he slips into baby voice replete with blubbering squeals. “Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is a song I came to know and like from its use in a Comcast commercial, because I am lame. Upon hearing the full song for the first time, I took an immediate dislike to the spoken interlude. “Jade” “Alexander” “Do you remember that day you fell out of my window?” “I sure do, you came jumping out after me” “Well, you fell on the concrete, nearly broke your ass, and you were bleedin’ all over the place…” “Stuck Like Glue” by Sugarland is a pleasant enough pop/country song until near the end when the singer takes on some sort of staccato affectation that sounds vaguely like a Caribbean accent. It is like she had a stroke about two-thirds of the way through the song. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/62 "2020-12-14T14:45:24Z")
I know what you mean (about the middle of Echoes by Floyd), but it really builds up the tension and the way the tension is released is one of my favourite pieces of music. The same thing happens on Supertramp’s first album which came out around the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/63 "2020-12-14T15:19:59Z")
Irma Thomas, [“Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPT4UizFUEY) (1964) Just discovered this song. It’s gorgeous. But the the backup singers repeating the word “anyone” are stepping all over it! (I assume this part – and, really, the whole song – was influenced by the Flamingos’ classic [“I Only Have Eyes for You”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_urvud-Oi0) [1959].) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wPT4UizFUEY/maxresdefault.jpg "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPT4UizFUEY) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/64 "2020-12-14T16:49:46Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Gack! Why would you do that??? Calm down and thank Og that discourse has no auto-play. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/65 "2020-12-15T13:54:54Z")
In the song “Don’t Bring Me Down” by ELO, it brings me down when they yell “BRUCE!” for no apparent reason. Is that just a thing to yell? Did Bruce screw something up? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/66 "2020-12-15T20:23:10Z")
> [@Borborygmi](#): > > “Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is a song I came to know and like from its use in a Comcast commercial, because I am lame. Upon hearing the full song for the first time, I took an immediate dislike to the spoken interlude. “Jade” “Alexander” “Do you remember that day you fell out of my window?” “I sure do, you came jumping out after me” “Well, you fell on the concrete, nearly broke your ass, and you were bleedin’ all over the place…” No kidding! It’s so stupid. Thankfully, we have Sound Studio. The whole pointless interlude is removed on our version. (and we got it from an NFL commercial. I guess commercials are good for something after all.) Big Audio Dynamite’s E=MCsquared has far too much sampling from some lame ass British gangster movie. A little goes a long way - a lot goes too far. I have to get on the ball and see if I can find some software to remove it. or petition John Lydon to release a version without it. Because we are in the Christmas seasons, I mention my wife hates any version of Sleighride where they whinny at the end, ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/67 "2020-12-15T20:42:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Big Audio Dynamite’s E=MCsquared has far too much sampling from some lame ass British gangster movie. A little goes a long way - a lot goes too far. I have to get on the ball and see if I can find some software to remove it. or petition John Lydon to release a version without it. Meh, I thought the sampling went ok with the song (as well as the _Third Stone_… sample) John Lydon? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/68 "2020-12-15T20:56:41Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > In the song “Don’t Bring Me Down” by ELO, it brings me down when they yell “BRUCE!” for no apparent reason. > > Is that just a thing to yell? Did Bruce screw something up? IIRC, it was originally something unintelligible (or just something else). Fans heard ‘bruce’ and would sing the song that way, eventually Jeff started using ‘bruce’ as well and it made it’s way into a recording. ETA: Per wiki (and other sources saying the same): "A common mondegreen in the song is the perception that, following the title line, Lynne shouts “Bruce!” In the liner notes of the ELO compilation Flashback and elsewhere, Lynne has explained that he is singing a made-up word, “Grooss”, which some have suggested sounds like the German expression “Gruß,” meaning “greetings.”[5] Lynne has explained that originally he did not realize the meaning of the syllable, and he just used it as a temporary placekeeper to fill a gap in the lyrics, but upon learning the German meaning he decided to leave it in.[5] After the song’s release, so many people had misinterpreted the word as “Bruce” that Lynne actually began to sing the word as “Bruce” for fun at live shows.[6][7][5] ELO engineer Reinhold Mack remembers the genesis of the term differently, stating that Lynne was actually singing “Bruce” as a joke in advance of an Australian tour “referring to how many Australian guys are called Bruce” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/69 "2020-12-15T21:12:38Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > John Lydon? Well, that’s embarrasing, I trusted my memory. I should know better… Mick Jones. Confused the two bands, PIL and BAD. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/70 "2020-12-16T01:20:15Z")
Porcupine Tree’s And Swallows Dance Above the Sun, from their 1st album. Awesome grooving rhythm section, enigmatic lyrics. Ruined by some found vocals, including a lame dick joke towards the end. Thank Og for Audacity so I can edit crap like that out. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/71 "2020-12-16T02:09:36Z")
The Conga Line part in Zep’s _Fool In The Rain_. Sorry, Whistles are for Umpires, not a rock band. I think I did a thread about this long ago, but used naughty words in the title. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/72 "2020-12-16T03:19:47Z")
I would like to think that Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap might be a good song if they, like, ended it, instead of that endless repetition of the chorus that goes on fucking forever with essentially no changes. The other song that strikes me as oh, come on, just end it already, enough with the relentless refrain, is Queen’s Another One Rides the Bus. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/73 "2020-12-16T15:04:40Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The other song that strikes me as oh, come on, just end it already, enough with the relentless refrain, is Queen’s Another One Rides the Bus. Yeah. It was bad enough that they plagiarized Weird Al. ---
**Author:** ![lesh17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@lesh17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesh17)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/74 "2020-12-16T15:35:51Z")
Is your name not Bruce then? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/75 "2020-12-16T15:52:40Z")
A few little things: Sympathy for the Devil, and the “woot woots” in the background. That’s all I hear now. Tha actual lyrics to Brown Sugar. It was a much better song before I understood what they were singing about. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/76 "2020-12-16T16:42:42Z")
I don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned yet… the little “Hello CD listeners” crap that Tom Petty stuck onto the end of “Running Down A Dream”. It just completely ruins an otherwise enjoyable song and album. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/77 "2020-12-16T17:38:55Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > the little “Hello CD listeners” crap that Tom Petty stuck onto the end of “Running Down A Dream”. It just completely ruins an otherwise enjoyable song and album. I don’t consider that a part of the song, but it should have been its own separate track. It wasn’t on the cassette version of the album (of course). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/78 "2020-12-16T17:42:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t consider that a part of the song, but it should have been its own separate track. It wasn’t on the cassette version of the album (of course). I have a later CD edition of “Full Moon Fever” I bought around the mid 90s that hasn’t got the “Hello CD listeners” bit. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/79 "2020-12-16T17:58:38Z")
hopefully quick derail - > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It wasn’t on the cassette version of the album (of course). That would be surpirising, in that, in my experience, cassette versions have had the bonus track or two that the albums didn’t, as was the case with the Police album “Synchronicity”, Big Black’s “Headache”, among tons others. Quite curious if you can name me even one exception to this. And from [**wiki** :](https://www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/cassette-tapes-are-making-a-comeback) > [@](#): > > Long before CDs, cassettes offered a more convenient way to listen to music. And they (sometimes) gave us bonus tracks as well. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722/80 "2020-12-16T19:15:53Z")
The whole point of the “Hello CD listeners” interlude is that it is an equivalent time filler to getting up and turning over the record (or cassette, unless you had an auto-reverse deck). So it makes perfect sense for it not to be on the cassette version. But it should not have been tacked on to the end of “Running down a dream”, it should have just been a separate track (as @Thudlow_Boink pointed out.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-song-part-that-either-brings-down-or-ruins-a-song-youd-otherwise-like/927722.md?page=5)