# Songs to take oversized mallets to **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 19, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183 "2020-02-19T17:30:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/101 "2022-02-10T19:19:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Has anyone said “We Built This City” by Starship yet? That songs gets a lot of hate- and oddly, a lot of love. I am indifferent to it, myself, but yeah, many people have strong feelings about it. My choice of course is _MacArthur Park._ But I don’t hate many hit songs- I don’t like those which are too repetitive, and yeah, I am really not a fan of gangster rap. (although I am a fan of old school rap). _Close to You_ by the Carpenters will have me reaching for the button, but I at least understand why some people like it. (To me, the song is creepy) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/102 "2022-02-10T19:57:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > My choice of course is _MacArthur Park._ MacArthur Park may be a worse song but it came out before I was born, so I was essentially unaware of its existence until I read about how bad a song it was. The WORST genuinely popular song I have ever heard is “In The Year 2525” but, again, it came out before I was alive and is rarely heard anymore. For one to TRULY despise a song, it must be drilled into their brains through overplaying. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/103 "2022-02-10T21:24:33Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The WORST genuinely popular song I have ever heard is “In The Year 2525” but, again, it came out before I was alive and is rarely heard anymore. > > For one to TRULY despise a song, it must be drilled into their brains through overplaying. Yeah, no bueno. That is true. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/104 "2022-02-10T21:43:34Z")
Also a song gets a few extra points if Weird Al did a terrific parody of it, and “Jurassic Park” is hysterical. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2022, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/105 "2022-02-11T02:57:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Absolutely, positively my least favourite song of all time. Kindered Spirits. Can we add _'Long Cool Woman In a … "_ whatever color that dress was? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/106 "2022-02-11T15:55:02Z")
Meh, that song is decent. But if it’s been overplayed for you… … for instance, “Hotel California” is a decent song. There’s nothing wrong with it, technically. But when I was on basic training in 1989, guys were playing it nonstop. Nonstop. I have no idea why an old-ass Eagles song was popular with a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds in 1989, but it was, and holy shit I cannot stand that fucking song now. Conversely, “Ice Ice Baby” is a dreadful song. Trust me; it’s actually worse than you remember. (Go ahead and listen to it; it is not only irritating, but shockingly amateurish.) But I didn’t hear it all that much at the time and can’t remember the last time I heard it, so I hate it less than “Hotel California,” a song that by any objective measure is written and performed with ten zillion times more skill. “Barbie Girl,” wow, that’s a bad one too. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/107 "2022-02-11T17:05:28Z")
When I was a kid we had a cassette tape with 2525 on it, which I listened to wearing headphones. I don’t know if it was a bad tape or what, but that song had vocals on one side, and all the music on the other side, something you might not notice with speakers. It was weird and very distracting. Nowadays any song by Adele has me quickly switching stations. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/108 "2022-03-06T18:42:56Z")
The original artists, Badfinger, dealt with the chorus not too badly, but manoman - Harry Nilsson, _didn’t_. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G-ZDKirjQgM/hqdefault.jpg "Harry Nilsson Without You 1972 HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ZDKirjQgM) ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/109 "2022-04-09T19:35:23Z")
Have I mentioned yet how badly Christopher Cross needs to be destroyed? How did he get away with that voice? Wasn’t it illegally awful and all wussy-like? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lxlpfsp2-yY/hqdefault.jpg "Christopher Cross - All Right") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxlpfsp2-yY) ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/110 "2022-04-09T20:37:53Z")
Had to LOL at an essay I read years ago involving a Mondegreen of his in the cut Never Be the Same. I thought he was singing “Ali Bhutto” [PM of Pakistan in the 70’s] in the chorus [actual: “Live alone”], and the essay writer did too, wondering why these kinds of songwriters never put any edgy political lyrics into their wimpy warblings. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/111 "2022-04-09T20:47:53Z")
For my money, this is the most annoying song ever recorded. The verses are a Woody Guthrie ripoff, and the falsetto on the chorus speaks for itself (but not in a pleasing way). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/__7OrOxoQxI/hqdefault.jpg "Andy Pratt - Avenging Annie") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__7OrOxoQxI) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/112 "2022-04-09T20:50:27Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > How did he get away with that voice? Wasn’t it illegally awful and all wussy-like? I don’t see anything wrong with the voice or most of the music. Sometimes you just need smooth and this song delivers - as opposed to some other of his songs which are too uninspired for even me to hear more than once a year such as Sailing. The only bad part about the song is the wussy-like, as you’d say, attempt at a guitar solo, which loses points for being a failed attempt at rocking out rather than making no attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/113 "2022-04-09T22:52:40Z")
Well, I guess _your_hair is not slicked back and your top is not down low. See you on A1A. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/114 "2022-04-09T23:45:27Z")
Not related to Tony nor Phil, Joe Esposito is to blame for the ham-fisted “You’re the Best”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/p44G0U4sLCE/maxresdefault.jpg "You're The Best") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p44G0U4sLCE) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/115 "2022-04-11T15:45:04Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > For my money, this is the most annoying song ever recorded. The verses are a Woody Guthrie ripoff, and the falsetto on the chorus speaks for itself (but not in a pleasing way). Sorry, I’m a fan of the pop goodness found there. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/116 "2022-04-23T04:08:14Z")
I just can’t _conceive_ of how anyone, here, could’ve put up with this syrupy-voiced bonbon back in the 80s. Unfathomable. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4N1iwQxiHrs/maxresdefault.jpg "The Outfield - Your Love (Official HD Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N1iwQxiHrs) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/117 "2022-04-23T15:42:08Z")
Oh, I still love that song! In fact the whole album was good. 😋 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/118 "2022-04-23T15:53:42Z")
Ceilings. Ceilings above. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/119 "2022-05-09T15:27:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The WORST genuinely popular song I have ever heard is “In The Year 2525” but, again, it came out before I was alive and is rarely heard anymore. > > For one to TRULY despise a song, it must be drilled into their brains through overplaying. I worked on the dish crew at a scout camp the summer that _2525_ came out. They housed the four of us in a remote cabin, and one of the older guys had brought his record player along. But he’d only brought two records… _In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida_ (which we fell asleep to every night), and the single of _2525_. Which we got SO sick of, but being out in the woods, we were even more sick of silence. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183/120 "2022-05-20T19:33:19Z")
That is a fantastic song. It was also the lead song of my very favorite mix tape ever, that a high school friend in 1992 gave me that included stuff like that, Joe Jackson, REM, Pavement, the Pixies, the Smiths, Teenage Fanclub, Stone Roses, Jane’s Addiction, Redd Kross, the Clash, Beatles, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, etc., and introduced me to a number of those bands. I lost that tape in Slovenia. ☹ I still have the track listing somewhere – I need to make an Apple music playlist with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-to-take-oversized-mallets-to/848183.md?page=7)