# Iconic bad song of the decade **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560 "2010-07-13T17:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/141 "2010-07-17T08:16:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Once you got the joke–haha, pop song played in a lounge style–it just loses its replay value. In my opinion, of course. Maybe it’s because the gap between pop and lounge is not so wide ? On the other hand, Pantera’s “Fucking Hostile” covered in (smart and snarky) [lounge](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYCtGJqEZK8)… ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/142 "2010-07-17T08:20:12Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > Maybe what’s needed is a Worst Ten Of the Decade > > Mojo Risin by the Doors Do you mean [LA Woman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVnEGcMsFs)? I’m not an expert on their music, although I do like it, but I’m not aware of any song with that name. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/143 "2010-07-17T08:55:46Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > What’s crazy is that Lady Gaga has a _fantastic_ voice, although I’m not a huge fan of her style of music. A friend of mine linked me to a video of her singing on the Ellen show…let me see if I can find it. Oh, [here you go](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRILEQhJqoo). She doesn’t need lots of effects. > > Huh, [I just found another video where she talks about how much she hates autotune](http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/24119554). It’s pretty bad when someone who [sings like this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs4jeV9HN5w) actually compete with you, when you [sound like this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM51qOpwcIM). Also, she uses autotune all the flipping time. It’s pretty much how those vocoder style effects are made now. She’s just going with the flow. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/144 "2010-07-17T09:58:54Z")
The tricky part is to choose a song that is also iconic. My vote for any 80’s song is one that follows the overall trend of awkward production and making the versus really lame. I hate that! The song writers had learned by then that it’s the chorus that sells and that the verses should only be a build up to it. “Lady in Red” is a prime example of this. Make the verses interesting too, you cowards! ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/145 "2010-07-17T16:24:56Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Do you mean [LA Woman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVnEGcMsFs)? I’m not an expert on their music, although I do like it, but I’m not aware of any song with that name. That’s It. I don’t care for the Doors though, so that’s the song i’m thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/146 "2010-07-17T16:47:36Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > 1970’s: “Muskrat Love” by the Captain & Tennille I heard this song last night shopping in a supermarket (why do they pipe bad 70’s music into supermarkets?) I’d heard the song before, unfortunately, but I never realized there was a long interlude featuring what I assume are muskrat noises. I just stood there in the bread aisle staring at the ceiling in wonder. For that last decade, I nominate _Party Like a Rockstar._ ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/147 "2010-07-17T17:40:46Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > “Hey Ya” can’t be the worst song of a decade if it can be sung like this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYcfHoWm2s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYcfHoWm2s) :rolleyes: Yeah, nothing improves hip hop like white guys with acoustic guitars. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Alan\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Bird)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/148 "2010-07-17T18:19:41Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I heard this song last night shopping in a supermarket (why do they pipe bad 70’s music into supermarkets?) I’d heard the song before, unfortunately, but I never realized there was a long interlude featuring what I assume are muskrat noises. I just stood there in the bread aisle staring at the ceiling in wonder.\* The visual of you standing staring in wonder made me smile. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/149 "2010-07-17T18:31:31Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > :rolleyes: Yeah, nothing improves hip hop like white guys with acoustic guitars. Hey, don’t roll your eyes like that! I didn’t like Gin + Juice till I heard the acoustic white guy version of it, either. I think I’ll look for it on Amazon right now And to further the hijack, a few weeks ago I heard an interview with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an A-A band that plays old timey music from the small but vibrant Carolina A-A string band tradition. I was liking their music when they introduced a cover of theirs, a cover of a modern rap song which they they covered semi-old-timey but semi-hip hop. I was dreading this because I usually don’t go for stuff like that, but dang if I didn’t like the Carolina Chocolate Drops more when they inserted hip hop into traditional Carolina String Band music. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/150 "2010-07-17T18:48:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Hey, don’t roll your eyes like that! I didn’t like Gin + Juice till I heard the acoustic white guy version of it, either. I think I’ll look for it on Amazon right now FWIW, I actually quite like the various acoustic versions of “Hey Ya!” but to say “I guess this innovative, clever, and extremely danceable hip hop song can’t be _that_ bad because it can be transformed into acoustic white guy music” still makes me :rolleyes:. I was amused by the acoustic version of “Gin + Juice” the first time I heard it, but the original is, unsurprisingly, vastly superior. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/151 "2010-07-17T18:51:16Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > FWIW, I actually quite like the various acoustic versions of “Hey Ya!” but to say “I guess this innovative, clever, and extremely danceable hip hop song can’t be _that_ bad because it can be transformed into acoustic white guy music” still makes me :rolleyes:. I think it can reveal hidden strengths or depths to a song if it can withstand a massive genre shift and still be listenable or even good. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/152 "2010-07-17T18:56:26Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I think it can reveal hidden strengths or depths to a song if it can withstand a massive genre shift and still be listenable or even good. Okay, that’s a good point. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/153 "2010-07-17T20:44:27Z")
> [@](#): > > FWIW, I actually quite like the various acoustic versions of “Hey Ya!” but to say “I guess this innovative, clever, and extremely danceable hip hop song can’t be that bad because it can be transformed into acoustic white guy music” still makes me . It can’t be that bad (and it really wasn’t) if it translates to other styles this well. That’s my point. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/154 "2010-07-20T17:19:00Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > You’re calling for cites and qualifications in an _opinion_ thread. Rolleyes are perfectly non-douchebagish in this context. > > I dislike Morrison’s voice. I cannot stand the song. The organ is especially grating. The song is iconic. Therefore, it gets my vote as the “iconic” “bad song” of the 1960s. YMMV. I never asked for a cite. Maybe you confused me with someone else. I only asked that you provide both sides of your opinions (a like and a dislike) so we could see where you were coming from. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/155 "2010-07-20T18:29:44Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > It can’t be that bad (and it really wasn’t) if it translates to other styles this well. That’s my point. I think, in the right hands, pretty much any genre of pop song can be transformed to any other genre of pop, especially if a good melody is involved. And I personally don’t think a lot of the genre hopping mentioned here is particularly “good.” I should add that if there are a lot of artists mining the same material, then there is something to be said for the strength of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/156 "2010-07-20T18:55:45Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > \*My Humps \*is not the worst song of any decade. It is the worst song in the history of humankind. And if there were other intelligent beings who made music before humankind I can’t imagine they could have possibly come up with anything worse either. Didn’t Alanis Morrisette do a slow soulful parody of _My Humps?_ That was hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Mint\_Julep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@Mint\_Julep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mint_Julep)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/157 "2010-07-20T18:57:51Z")
So ashamed. I like alot of these! I can still understand the annoyance factor of most though. And may I nominate **69 Boyz-Tootsie Roll** for the 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/158 "2010-07-21T19:07:56Z")
An update: Last Sunday, the oldies station I listen to played “Seasons in the Sun” and “Afternoon Delight” within 10 minutes of each other. Maybe it was the brandy and weed I was imbibing, but the badness of “Seasons in the Sun” lies not so much in the lyrics, which are passable, if a bit trite, but the inability of the singer to project even the slightest emotion into a song which deals with one of most primal events of life. As for “Afternoon Delight,” I could take only about 30 seconds, even with the intoxicants, before I put on my Deep Purple greatest hits compilation (“Smoke on the Water” is a great song!). I agree with those posters who said there were a lot of shitty songs done in the '70’s. I still maintain “Muskrat Love” is the smelliest of the shit. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/159 "2010-07-21T19:16:38Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Didn’t Alanis Morrisette do a slow soulful parody of _My Humps?_ That was hysterical. I know a lot of people like that parody, but the extreme whine of her voice honestly made it worse than the original for me, and that’s saying something! ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/160 "2010-07-21T19:48:43Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > As for “Afternoon Delight,” I could take only about 30 seconds, even with the intoxicants, before I put on my Deep Purple greatest hits compilation (“Smoke on the Water” is a great song!). I’ve gotta say, the “Afternoon Delight” episode of _Arrested Development_ has made that song a lot more bearable for me… > [@](#): > > \*\*Maeby: \*\*My mom signed me out of school early, so then she wouldn’t have to pick me up later, so then she wouldn’t be late for the Christmas party. > \*\*Michael: \*\*That’s about the worst thing I’ve ever heard. > \*\*Maeby: \*\*I had to drive because she had a little bit of a buzz on. > \*\*Michael: \*\*No, that’s it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560.md?page=7)