# Explain why you think Dave Matthews sucks. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818 "2004-12-14T18:19:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 14, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/21 "2004-12-14T20:46:42Z")
I remember some years back an interview he did in which he was peeved because he felt the only reason they were popular was because of the line “Mom it’s my Birth-Day” and he hated that. He said his band was more than a one-hit wonder and deserved respect. He was sounding a little arrogant at that point. I never cared for his singing voice (the high-high-low-low “eep opp” sound). And his band sounded kind of like they were just ‘jamming’ all the time, you know, no real song being played, just kind of meandering band music. And like others have said, it’s very frat-boyish. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/22 "2004-12-14T20:49:52Z")
I have nothing against him or his band; they’re all talented musicians and I respect what they do quite a bit, and they don’t neatly fit into any genre. I did _say_ I hated DMB in high school, because I hated everyone who liked him — as mentioned before, the white baseball cap, Birkenstock, A&F wearing lacrosse players. It seemed to me that a lot of people who otherwise liked truly awful music (e.g. Nickelback) would use their love of DMB as proof that they were really “into music.” But that was high school, and I’m more mature now. I actually enjoy a few DMB songs and I think Under the Table and Dreaming is a solid album. Plus he was on the Rock For Change Tour, which definitely improves my opinion of him, particularly since my guess is half of his fan base voted for Bush, or would have if they were old enough. As for the reason I don’t listen to them often and would never see them in concert… it’s just too mellow for me, and when it comes to concerts, I _hate_ 20 minute jam sessions at the end of songs. It just ruins the energy of the whole show. I don’t like to sit on the lawn at the ampitheater and _watch_ a concert. I’d rather be on the floor of a club that holds 1,000 people rocking out. (This also explains why I hate going to concerts in NYC… they’re too jaded to rock out.) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/23 "2004-12-14T20:54:50Z")
It’s not that I hate Dave Matthews. I only know what his name is because so often I read comments about how much he sucks. I’ve never heard a note of his music. I don’t know anyone who has any of his albums. I don’t know what station I’d have to listen to, to hear any of his music. Apparently, he isn’t making too big of an impact. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/24 "2004-12-14T21:06:35Z")
I don’t hate Dave Matthews, but I do think his work is mediocre and overplayed. It didn’t help that the music of the DMB was the dominant form of culture at my alma mater, but it’s not like I went in liking their stuff. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/25 "2004-12-14T21:34:51Z")
I hate Dave Matthews because I hate his music so much that I know it must come from a tainted little soul. Mayber it’s not that bad, but I can’t deal with the drone. His music sounds like when you are stuck in the office after everyone has gone home and realize that the buzz of computers and air-conditioning and plumbing is all adding up to one horrible pulsing endless mind-numbing drone. It really does provoke a kind of violent revulsion in me. I want to smack the guy and tell him to stop.fucking.droning.on.and.on. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/26 "2004-12-14T21:52:35Z")
I agree that it’s because Dave isn’t “edgy” enough. But simply being brash, hard rocking, and bad attitudy isn’t exactly what I mean by that. There are plenty of bands that sound a lot like DMB and they are all much better, because they have catchy and creative music. Being inventive in song-writing is an edge unto itself, which Dave doesn’t have. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/27 "2004-12-14T22:04:48Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > non-American or non-Planet Earth? No, really. Dave Matthews is quite unknown outside North America. I’ve only heard of him by chance. I haven’t heard music of his music, but the few singles I have heard sounded quite anonymous, except for that annoying voice. A fan would probably find something to appreciate, but it sounded like Top 40 filler at first listen. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/28 "2004-12-14T22:15:00Z")
I don’t _hate_ him, but I do find his music incredibly tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/29 "2004-12-14T22:30:52Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > I don’t hate Dave Matthews, but I do think his work is mediocre and overplayed. It didn’t help that the music of the DMB was the dominant form of culture at my alma mater, but it’s not like I went in liking their stuff. Are you a fellow UVA alum? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/30 "2004-12-14T22:33:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Maybe because his audience is (or was) mostly Ambercrombie & Fitch wearing upper-middle class college preppies with baseball hats. The liner notes of my copy of _Under the Table…_ fold out into a merchandise order form complete with corduroy baseball hats. Tacky stuff and a tacky gesture. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/31 "2004-12-14T22:36:21Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Are you a fellow UVA alum? 🙂 Bingo. You’re about my age (24/25), right? We were probably there at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/32 "2004-12-14T23:03:03Z")
I don’t really care that his audiences consist in a large part of the Abercrombie and rope necklace frat-boy crowd. I mean, some of those people irritate me, but it doesn’t mean the music they like is necessarily bad. I know some of them like Frank Zappa, whom I love, and when I walk by the frat houses around here I always hear some guy blasting the Beatles, and I feel happy because I love the Beatles. Music doesn’t become bad because of the people who listen to it. And I was good friends with my roommate last year, yet he liked Dave Matthews. But whenever I was subjected to that stuff, it really got on my nerves. I haven’t analyzed it musically enough to completely understand why, but it’s just so… _gelatinous_. And plus, his voice is sort of like that other whiny annoying guy, the one in Coldplay, so the only way I can tell Coldplay and the DMB apart is that the latter is much more tuneless. Not atonal or anything like that, just tuneless. The only good thing about it is that it’s SO tuneless that it never leaves a lasting impression on me – like, I can’t get his songs stuck in my head and be pissed all day about it. So it’s good the irritation only lasts a little while. But I dunno, maybe it’s that it’s too mellow? I don’t really like any relaxing music, because I listen to music to be stimulated. If I want to relax, I listen to silence, or I let my body relax and let my mind listen to something stimulating. I guess I just feel that the DMB never really build up enough _momentum_ to get interesting, so it’s just annoying noise to me. I feel the same way about the Grateful Dead. It’s not an anti-jamming thing, because I like lots of music with extended improvisation: Hendrix, the Jefferson Airplane, Zappa, Herbie Hancock, Ravi Shankar, Les Claypool, etc. I just think the DMB do it in an aesthetically displeasing way. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/33 "2004-12-14T23:40:43Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Bingo. You’re about my age (24/25), right? We were probably there at the same time. Bingo. I keep trying to reply to this thread, but the flashbacks overwhelm me. Nobody - NOBODY - knows the pain of being around Dave-heads like a UVA grad. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/34 "2004-12-14T23:56:01Z")
I don’t really dislike his music, though the ululating voice-crack he does is annoying. And my dislike for him is irrational and unfair, and I’ll admit that. See, I just can’t stand him because he reminds me of every smarmy, smug, fratboy, class-clown-who-really-tormented-you-in-high-school type I’ve ever known. ---
**Author:** ![EmeraldGrue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@EmeraldGrue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmeraldGrue)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/35 "2004-12-15T00:02:59Z")
I don’t like him because he sounds like a Muzak version of Jack Johnson. Personal taste. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/36 "2004-12-15T00:14:30Z")
I don’t really have anything against him and I certainly don’t think he sucks, but what little I’ve seen and heard of him just didn’t grab me. Bland and boring is how I would describe what I’ve heard of him. I think he’s talented, but not in a way that resonates with me. ---
**Author:** ![velveeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/13edae/32.png) [@velveeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velveeta)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/37 "2004-12-15T00:46:26Z")
I saw him play in the basement of a frat house at a certain college in Virginia. He was boring back then too. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/38 "2004-12-15T00:57:30Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Bingo. I keep trying to reply to this thread, but the flashbacks overwhelm me. Nobody - NOBODY - knows the pain of being around Dave-heads like a UVA grad. :mad: True that. My sister is starting there next year, and I’m very curious to see how popular he still is there. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/39 "2004-12-15T02:13:32Z")
I honestly don’t recall any Dave Matthews music. I’m sure I’ve heard it, I just can’t recall any tunes by him that I know were buy him. So with me, it’s not the music at all. No… my, um… not so much _dislike_ but _lack of respect_ for him comes from a different source. I have a friend who is a charter pilot (actually, that applies to several people I know). One bad-weather day in Chicago he was asked to speak to a customer about a possbile charter flight. He refused. The customer apparently got verbally ugly. Then more verbally ugly. Then into the “you’ll never work in this town again” ugly. Keep in mind the customer was asking to charter a small plane because all the airlines were grounded due to weather. Apparently, Mr. Mathews (for such the customer was) couldn’t make the connect between “bad weather” and “no, I’m not flying you anywhere”. Well, the story is not mine to tell in detail, although I’ve long thought the parting shot of “Well, yes, I’m sure Buddy Holly said that, too, just before he got on the airplane” was a great one-liner. So no, I can’t say I hate him, but if all that was true then the man is lacking in good sense and a verbal bully to the hired help, which is not cool in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818/40 "2004-12-15T02:31:12Z")
I really didn’t like Dave Matthews in high school, then I met these two guys who weren’t the stereotypical Dave Matthews fans and decided to listen to some tracks. The only ones that have stuck on my playlist are Ants Marching, Crash Into Me, Where Are You Going and What Would You Say. I don’t think I would listen to a whole album. But having my playlist on shuffle and having one of those songs come up is pretty good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-why-you-think-dave-matthews-sucks/279818.md?page=3)