# Are there songs the artists regret making? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363 "2009-02-11T14:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/21 "2009-02-11T17:43:57Z")
> [@Autumn\_Almanac](#): > > I think members of Radiohead have talked about regretting how much of a hit “Creep” was. It sort of became their signature song and pigeonholed them as just another self-pitying grunge band even though their subsequent albums departed from that sound. I got the impression they’ve made peace with it in recent years, but they certainly grew to hate the song after it was a hit. ---
**Author:** ![warmark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/58f4c7/32.png) [@warmark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmark)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/22 "2009-02-11T17:56:01Z")
I was working concert security in college and a country band, Little Texas, I think (I don’t do country), was playing. I was in charge of watching the dressing room, and they apparently had a big hit song around that time (1994-95). As the band was coming down to the dressing room after closing the show with their hit, one of them said, “God damn. Who wrote that piece of shit? I swear, I hate that song more each time we play it.” I think that would count as an artist regretting making a song. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/23 "2009-02-11T18:20:18Z")
I heard the singer from Warrant say he regrets writing “Cherry Pie”, he felt it defined the bands sound in the public’s mind in a unflattering way. ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/24 "2009-02-11T18:37:42Z")
> [@Wash](#): > > I seem to recall Michael Stipe professing his dislike for “Shiny Happy People”. As he should! ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/25 "2009-02-11T18:38:47Z")
I should read the other posts first! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/26 "2009-02-11T18:45:28Z")
> [@Wash](#): > > I seem to recall Michael Stipe professing his dislike for “Shiny Happy People”. [From this article:](http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/michael%20stipe%20on%20shiny%20happy%20people) > [@](#): > > "I wouldn’t say I’m embarrassed by the song but it is what it is, has limited appeal for me. > > “I never bad-mouth. I try never to say anything bad about the songs that I don’t particularly like. Because there might be someone out there who hears that to whom that song means everything, to whom that song represents something in their life which is essential and I don’t want to take that from them.” The quote appears to be several years old, however; don’t know if Stipe’s feelings have changed since. But it doesn’t seem as if “regret” is an appropriate description. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/27 "2009-02-11T18:47:57Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Bobby McFerrin is quite vocal that he eventually regrets recording “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Before that song, he already had a long successful career, and was a well-respected jazz artist. After the song, the general public considered him to be a singer of a simple-minded, one-hit wonder pop song. Along similar lines, both Warren Zevon and Randy Newman expressed regret about their most successful records (“Werewolves of London” and “Short People” respectively) because they made the general public think all they did were “Purple People Eater”-type novelty songs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/28 "2009-02-11T18:51:04Z")
[Greg Kihn](http://www.kfox.com/pages/earlyshow.html) of the Greg Kihn Band is the morning DJ on a local radio station. He still does the occasional concert. One morning he was bemoaning the long high note in one of his most popular songs. I’m not sure if he regretted the song altogether, or just regretted that singing high notes was getting harder and harder as the years went by. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/29 "2009-02-11T19:00:07Z")
> [@ArrMatey](#): > > Rupert Holmes has been quoted, when talking about **The Escape** , as saying that he regrets that song just due to so many people buying him pina coladas, a drink that he despises. 🙂 I also heard that he can not be hired to perform just that song. He will only play it if he is hired to play an entire set list of his music. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/30 "2009-02-11T19:10:07Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > [Greg Kihn](http://www.kfox.com/pages/earlyshow.html) of the Greg Kihn Band is the morning DJ on a local radio station. He still does the occasional concert. One morning he was bemoaning the long high note in one of his most popular songs. I’m not sure if he regretted the song altogether, or just regretted that singing high notes was getting harder and harder as the years went by. I’ve heard Billy Joel say the same thing. It’s not that he regrets writing the songs, but he would have written them differently had he taken into account that in 20 years he wouln’t be able to hit those notes any more. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/31 "2009-02-11T19:56:17Z")
There’s a “history of rock” documentatry type show on a radio station here (it’s actually really cool because you hear great music but the show is set up with lots of info like a well researched article). Anyway, one segment talked about some one hit wonders and had a factoid about Paul Young (not the Mike + the Mchanics guy, the _No Parlez_ guy from the 1980s). In the 1970s, he was in a band called Streetband that was trying to find a voice as a new wave group, but as a _joke_ they recorded a goofy tune called “Toast”. In some interview he said he regretted ever releasing it. It was not at all representative of the sound of the band, but because it was a one-hit wonder that’s what everyone came to hear. He said their gigs turned to shit because totally the wrong crowd started coming and were disappointed. So their one “hit” effectively killed the band. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/32 "2009-02-11T19:57:44Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Along similar lines, both Warren Zevon and Randy Newman expressed regret about their most successful records (“Werewolves of London” and “Short People” respectively) because they made the general public think all they did were “Purple People Eater”-type novelty songs. Just like most people these days know Todd Rundgren for “Bang On The Drum All Day” and “Hello It’s Me”. He got his revenge on the latter song by re-recording it on his Bossa Nova cover album “With A Twist” as a creepy stalker. “Bang On The Drum” he sold outright to a marketing company that has managed to place it in movies, commercials and sports venues. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/33 "2009-02-11T20:10:28Z")
Springsteen has said he regrets the way that Born in the USA is arranged, in that by making it sound upbeat and anthemic, he pretty much invited the widespread misinterpretation of the song. It’s probably as solid a concert staple as he’s had for the last 15 years – but always a completely different arrangement, that brings out the darkness in the song. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/34 "2009-02-11T20:15:11Z")
The legendary Vanilla Ice grew to hate “Ice Ice Baby” so much that he destroyed MTV’s tape of it during some MTV interview show, and then proceeded to destroy some other stuff on the set as well. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/35 "2009-02-11T20:54:14Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Just like most people these days know Todd Rundgren for “Bang On The Drum All Day” and “Hello It’s Me”. He got his revenge on the latter song by re-recording it on his Bossa Nova cover album “With A Twist” as a creepy stalker. “Bang On The Drum” he sold outright to a marketing company that has managed to place it in movies, commercials and sports venues. I’ve also read that Rundgren also hated “I Saw The Light” (“a string of meaningless cliches,” I think he called it). ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/36 "2009-02-11T20:54:54Z")
In a somewhat different er… style, I heard Tchaikovsky grew to hate one of his Symphonies (I think it was one of them in C-something, I don’t recall though) because everyone always wanted him to play it. He got to the point (or so i’m told) that he referred to the song as “it”. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/37 "2009-02-11T21:14:41Z")
Great White won’t play _Desert Moon_ anymore. But it’s not really because of the song but the events surrounding it’s last performance. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/38 "2009-02-11T21:26:27Z")
I’m not sure that David Bowie is all that keen on the “Laughing Gnome”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/39 "2009-02-11T21:45:53Z")
I don’t know if they actually regretted it, but Aqua has expressed dissatisfaction at being the “[Barbie band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEzh10_xoqw)”, at least outside of Western Europe. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363/40 "2009-02-11T21:50:50Z")
The Cure added a sticker on the CD “Staring at the Sea” decrying the use of “Killing an Arab” as an Pro-Iraq war anthem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-songs-the-artists-regret-making/485363.md?page=3)