# Bad songs on good albums **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423 "2005-10-22T14:36:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/21 "2005-10-22T23:32:54Z")
I also find “Within You, Withou You” one of the better songs on the album. I didn’t like it at first, but it’s really grown on me. ---
**Author:** ![spiralscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@spiralscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spiralscratch)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/22 "2005-10-22T23:34:18Z")
All this R.E.M. talk, and no one has mentioned how “Shiny Happy People” mars the otherwise near-perfect _Out Of Time_? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/23 "2005-10-22T23:52:18Z")
I could do without the last song (Les Boys or something like that) on Dire Straits’ classic Making Movies. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/24 "2005-10-22T23:59:50Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Right. Blows away Sgt. Pepper, Lucy in the Sky, Lovely Rita, Fixing a Hole, Good Morning Good Morning, Getting Better, With a Little Help from my Friends, When I’m 64. Beatles fan, are you? Heaven forbid you forget Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite! Twas genius. Lucy in the Sky gets a low mark on my list because of its “popularity” as a “drug song”. Lennon said in several interviews what the song is about, but people still say, "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS! LSD! Dont you get it? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/25 "2005-10-23T00:03:27Z")
add :rolleyes: to end of post ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/26 "2005-10-23T00:13:48Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > I could do without the last song (Les Boys or something like that) on Dire Straits’ classic Making Movies. I’m sorry I didn’t think of that. You did get the title right. It’s a dumb song about a silly topic that doesn’t belong on an album full of great, romantic modern rock love songs. It’s more than a bad song on a good album- it actively takes some of the shine off the record whenever I think about it. At least it’s the last song and easy to skip. ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/27 "2005-10-23T06:50:37Z")
“Little Miss Strange” on Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland.” Pure hippie drivel. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/28 "2005-10-23T10:28:21Z")
“My Wife” on **Who’s Next** : an almost perfect album of beautifully crafted bleak, bitter, introspective and bitingly angry songs - Behind Blue Eyes, Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Song Is Over, Getting In Tune - and then that stupid ugly dog turd of a song curled on it: “Gonna buy a tank or an aeroplane/When she catches up with me there’ll be no time to explain” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/29 "2005-10-23T11:02:25Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > “My Wife” on **Who’s Next** : an almost perfect album of beautifully crafted bleak, bitter, introspective and bitingly angry songs - Behind Blue Eyes, Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Song Is Over, Getting In Tune - and then that stupid ugly dog turd of a song curled on it: “Gonna buy a tank or an aeroplane/When she catches up with me there’ll be no time to explain” I love that song! “All I did was have a bit too much to drink…” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/30 "2005-10-23T13:51:10Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I love that song! “All I did was have a bit too much to drink…” It’s not even the silliest (I won’t say worst) song on _Who’s Next_. “Going Mobile” is. _Keep me movin’ Over fifty! Keep me groovin’ Just a hippie gypsy._ Where’s yer bleak, bitter introspection there, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/31 "2005-10-23T14:11:19Z")
I disagree on all the songs on who’s next: it IS the perfect album, although it’s not my favorite. Oddly enough, maybe if some of the songs were better, as in some of my top 100 Song of All Time, some of the other stuff would be a “bad song on a good album” by comparison 😕 > [@AHunter3](#): > > Pink Floyd’s Meddle finishes off Side A with “Seamus”. Conceivably, possibly cute the first time you hear the dog whining and howling in doggie off-key to the blues, but who on earth would want that to come up every time they cue up the damn album? Ehhh, it’s not that bad. At least compared to the hidden track on Second Coming by the Stone Roses. And I play it when I play Meddle with no urge to skip over. However, it is worse than all the other songs. However… > [@](#): > > While I’m ragging on the Floyd, Obscured by Clouds finishes up with “Absolutely Curtains”, which starts off nice but after awhile yields to an interminable bleating by what sounds like a drunken tone-deaf choir singing in Old Middle Martian. I totally agree with you on that one, and you put it much funnier than I would! I turn the album off after Stay. As for my controversial opinion, I think that A Saucerful of Secrets mars the album of the same name. The album would be vastly improved by removing that track and sticking in a couple of the standout singles from that era. Okay, ideally, I’d also take out the two twee Wright tracks, but they are not the worst tracks on the album! :eek: And now for something completely different…because I’m listening to it right now, Sloan’s **Navy Blues** is marred by Chester the Molester. While not a bad song, the repetition of the song’s title gets to be really annoying. Without that phrase, it would be as perfect a power pop album as anything by Fountains of Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/32 "2005-10-23T18:42:08Z")
> [@spiralscratch](#): > > All this R.E.M. talk, and no one has mentioned how “Shiny Happy People” mars the otherwise near-perfect _Out Of Time_? I think you mean “ **Low** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Pensandfeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Pensandfeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pensandfeathers)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/33 "2005-10-23T19:02:12Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > The Beatles also had “Within You Without You” on _Sgt. Pepper_. > > I’ve always considered _Green_ by REM to be a perfect album, with the exception of “Turn You Inside Out”, which sucks. I’ve always considered “The Wrong Child” the worst song on that album. And I do believe I’m the only rabid REM fan that doesn’t like “Nightswimming” off of _Automatic for the People_. That said, I don’t think it ruined the album. “Ignoreland” doesn’t fit the mood (sound wise) of the rest of the album, so I’m a bit off put by that song. ---
**Author:** ![Pensandfeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Pensandfeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pensandfeathers)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/34 "2005-10-23T19:04:15Z")
> [@threeorange](#): > > I think you mean “ **Low** ”. Agreed. I have a sentimental attachment to “Shiny Happy People,” as it was my favorite song when I was seven-years-old. Admittingly, it is the song that got me into REM. I will not be ashamed!!! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/35 "2005-10-23T20:46:48Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > It’s not even the silliest (I won’t say worst) song on _Who’s Next_. " Yeah, well, that’s only the _second_ stupidest song on the album. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Is\_Schwa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8baadc/32.png) [@What\_Is\_Schwa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Is_Schwa)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/36 "2005-10-23T21:24:26Z")
I used to fall asleep listening to the Edward Scissorhand soundtrack… perhaps Danny Elfman’s best score. However, the last track is the most out of context Tom Jones song that would wake me every night until I wised up and just burned a copy WITHOUT the last song. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/37 "2005-10-24T03:11:33Z")
> [@Pensandfeathers](#): > > I’ve always considered “The Wrong Child” the worst song on that album. I happen to think that’s a gorgeous song, musically and lyrically. I even once made a copy for my aunt, a physical therapist who works with children with disabilities. To each his own! ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/38 "2005-10-24T06:06:07Z")
Cream - Disraeli Gears - Mother’s Lament. That is all, goodnight. ---
**Author:** ![spiralscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@spiralscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spiralscratch)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/39 "2005-10-24T07:29:41Z")
> [@threeorange](#): > > I think you mean “ **Low** ”. Oooooh, no way. “Low” might not be the best track on that album, but it is a good song and fits the general mood of the album. “Shiny Happy People” is an out-of-place piece of fluff. It doesn’t fit the album at all. I might have been more willing to accept it if it shown up on, say, _Monster_. Every time I skip that track, I think, “this is where they should have put ‘Fretless’ instead of relegating it to b-side status.” ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423/40 "2005-10-24T09:27:42Z")
That awful song about Montgomery Clift marrs the otherwise perfect _London Calling_ . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-songs-on-good-albums/327423.md?page=3)