Songs which should never be played in a movie,TV show or commercial ever again

Cafe Society
1

Yes. They are great songs that really capture the spirit of the moment. So great that every other freakin movie, TV show or commercial has used them to the point where they have become cliche.

My vote for some of the biggest offenders:

Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap (The OC, The Last Kiss, CSI: Miami, SNL parody)

Fix You - Coldplay (World Trade Center trailer, exorbitant number of trailers indicating “emotionally powerful shit going on here”)

Ready Steady Go - Paul Oakenfold (Alias, Collateral, Volvo commercials)

Clocks - Coldplay (ER, various commercials and movies)

How to Save A Life - The Fray (pretty sure I’ve heard it in a lot of trailers for romantic comedies and TV shows like Scrubs or Grays Anatomy)

Breath Me - Sia (Six Feet Under, a multitude of “very special episode” trailers)

Mad World - Michael Andres (Donny Darko, Geers of War trailer, “some REALLY serious shit goes down this episode” trailers)

Superman - Five for Fighting (I don’t know. I just don’t want to hear it again.)

Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood (T2, countless movies indicating that a motorcycle driving leather jacket wearing douchebag is, in fact, bad to the bone)

Sweet Home Alabama - Leonard Skynyrd (I get it…you’re from the South)

2

“Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley or Leonard Cohen or whomever.

Yeah, I said it. But every single show has used it at some point or another. STOP!!

3

Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death. It started with the Matrix, then appeared in several other trailers. Now it gets used in a whole bunch of fan videos on Youtube. It’s a fine song, but its use shows a lack of imagination.

4

“Oh, Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. It’s an amazingly great piece. QUIT CHEAPENING IT BY THROWING IT INTO EVERY DAMNED MOVIE!

5

Feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you, etc. I don’t know what it is and I don’t care. It’s been in like nineteen commercials now, hasn’t it? Is it even a song or just a really long shampoo jingle?

6

Natasha Bedingfield, “Unwritten.” Pity, it was a pretty good song before it became oversaturated.

7

My first thought was “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger. The oversaturation in Chevy commercials in the late 90’s has absolutely ruined a great rock song. Hope Bobby got compensated well for that!

Same goes for the John Mellencamp song “This is Our Country”, which is basically a rip off of any of his songs from the Scarecrow album. It might have been a perfectly acceptable song, but playing it in every. single. GM/Chevy commercial over the last 12 months has destroyed any good will it might have brought.

What is that Christmas song…“Carol of the Bells” or something?? That one should be banished also, every retailer makes up their own product-shilling lyrics for it beginning in late October…it is evil.

8

“What I Like About You” by the Romantics. I last ranted against the use of this song about a year ago (here), and of course since that time yet another ad campaign started using it. I think it’s now been in at least a dozen ad campaigns since the song first was shown on MTV in the early 80’s.

9

Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.” I swear to God, that song has been used in every film trailer ever. I think some mad scientist traveled back in time just to insert it in the trailers for films that came out before it.

10

Intellectually, I can understand how that might be so, but it’s at automatic-retch status now. A shame.

11

“Ave Satani,” the theme from The Omen – truly awesome, but overexposed. Should only be used henceforth for comic effect and sparingly then.

12

How about that music from Requiem for a Dream?

13

Ding Fries are done! Ding Fries are done! It’s impossible for me to hear that song without hearing those lyrics.

For me, it’s Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild - usually in movie trailers to indicate that something wild and wacky will happen in the film.

John Horner’s score from Aliens really needs to be retired from action movie trailers. It fit the source film perfectly, but all hearing it now does is make me think, “I’d rather watch Aliens again than see the piece of crap you’re trying to sell me”

14

Lust for Life. Just stop it already. Considering what the song is actually about, I have never seen an appropriate use of it.

15

I don’t know the name of the song or the artist, but that “Ohhh Yeah” song (“oh yeah” sung over and over in a deep, deep voice). I think I heard it first in the movie “The Secret of My Success”, and then it started showing up in any commercial plugging some decadently rich/sweet item (chocolate, etc.)

16

Not as bad now as back in the 90’s, but My Girl was constantly played in various media - hell, they even made a movie on it.

I so, so, so, so, so agree about Bad to the Bone. And the bizarre thing was, when this song was big I hated it then for all the future times I would have to hear that friggin’ thing, 'cause I knew they were coming.

17

Europe, “The Final Countdown”-This should never again be used for anything non-GOB-related.

Scorpions, “Rock You Like a Hurricane”-Enough. Just…Enough.

18

“Salisbury Hill” Peter Gabriel (used in every movie trailer to denote the part of the movie when the city folk go out into the country)

“Everybody Hurts” R.E.M. (used to show that some character is, you know, hurting)

19

That would be “Oh Yeah” by Yello.

20

I first heard it in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” circa what–1986?

Oh yeah, this one should probably go away soon for all of our sake’s…