# Songs you like that are widely reviled by others **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 10, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825 "2022-03-10T14:16:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/141 "2022-03-17T19:52:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What are some of their favorite titles? [Here](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/arts/music/25brockweb.html) is the list. Not behind a paywall for me, and I’m not a Times subscriber. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/142 "2022-03-17T20:11:23Z")
[“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=brandy+you%27re+a+fine+girl) by Looking Glass Peak early 70s schmaltz. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/143 "2022-03-17T20:15:25Z")
I like to sing that one like Selma. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/myAyyQBKA20/hqdefault.jpg "Selma sings Brandy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myAyyQBKA20) I like to sing it like me too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/144 "2022-03-17T20:22:17Z")
Note that after the line “In Birmingham we love the governor,” the chorus sings, “Boo boo boo.” They are booing him. The Wikipedia article confirms this – Birmingham was the center of civil right activism in the 60s (and is not the capital). The line is meant ironically, but that isn’t often picked up on. > **[Sweet Home Alabama | Controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#Controversy)** > > "Sweet Home Alabama" was written in answer to two songs by Neil Young, "Southern Man" and "Alabama", because the songs "took the entire South to task for the bloody history of slavery and its aftermath." "We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two," said Ronnie Van Zant at the time. The lyrics to "Sweet Home Alabama" include the following lines: Here is what was said: > n 1975, Van Zant said: “The lyrics about the governor of Alabama were misunderstood. The general public didn’t notice the words ‘Boo! Boo! Boo!’ after that particular line, and the media picked up only on the reference to the people loving the governor.”[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#cite_note-BallinggerL-10) “The line ‘We all did what we could do’ is sort of ambiguous,” Al Kooper notes. “‘We tried to get Wallace out of there’ is how I always thought of it.”[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#cite_note-BallinggerL-10) Towards the end of the song, Van Zant adds “where the governor’s true” to the chorus’s “where the skies are so blue,” a line rendered ironic by the previous booing of the governor. Journalist Al Swenson argues that the song is more complex than it is sometimes given credit for, suggesting that it only looks like an endorsement of Wallace.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#cite_note-BallinggerL-10) “Wallace and I have very little in common,” Van Zant himself said, “I don’t like what he says about colored people.”[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#cite_note-BallinggerL-10) Note, too, that Lynyrd Skynyrd also recorded a first-class anti-gun song, “Saturday Night Special.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/145 "2022-03-17T20:31:23Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The line is meant ironically, but that isn’t often picked up on. Since you’re quoting Wikipedia: [Ed King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_King), the song’s co-writer, contradicted his former bandmates in a 2009 post on his website. He claimed the tune was originally intended as the unabashed defense of Alabama, even Gov. Wallace, that almost all of the song seems to be: > I can understand where the “boo boo boo” would be misunderstood. It’s not US going “boo” … it’s what the Southern man hears the Northern man say every time the Southern man’d say “In Birmingham we love the gov’nor”. Get it? “We all did what WE could do!” to get Wallace elected. It’s not a popular opinion but Wallace stood for the average white guy in the South. “Watergate doesn’t bother me” because that stuff happens in politics…but someone’s conscience ought to bother them for what happened to Wallace. [Arthur Bremer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bremer) may or may not have been a yankee but he sure destroyed whatever chance Wallace had to be president. And hardly anyone in America noticed. I still like the plaque that hangs here in my office that says I’m an honorary member of the Alabama State Militia…signed personally by George C. Sure, the man had his flaws. But he spoke for the common man of the South. And, whoa, I’m gonna get in trouble over this whole dang post!"[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#cite_note-12) > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Note, too, that Lynyrd Skynyrd also recorded a first-class anti-gun song, “Saturday Night Special.” They also did God and Guns God and guns Keep us strong That’s what this country Was founded on Well we might as well give up and run If we let them take our God and guns ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/146 "2022-03-17T21:12:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Note that after the line “In Birmingham we love the governor,” the chorus sings, “Boo boo boo.” My ear hears it as “hoo hoo hoo.” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/147 "2022-03-17T21:26:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I don’t think LS is specifically trying to have it both ways, but the nature of rock lyrics makes it ambiguous which side they are on. If it’s that ambiguous, then folks shouldn’t claim with certainty what the song is about. I would tend to be skeptical about anything that contradicts Van Zant, though. He was the main lyricist and (arguably) the band’s leader, and he stated contemporarily on the record that the song was _not_ racist. Ed King chose not to contradict him until 30 years after he died, so it seems King is probably fudging history to stay relevant with the only type of fans who care to hear a song about Alabama in the 21st century. It’s not the same band or fans as in 1974. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > So at least some people think it’s pro-racist asshole. So what? _Born In The USA_ is _clearly_ not supposed to be a feel-good patriotic anthem, but people overwhelmingly use it like that. Springsteen is authoritative on that matter, but I guess it helps that he’s alive to push back on bullshit (unlike Van Zant). And here’s Van Zant specifically on the record about what he believes: > [@](#): > > “Wallace and I have very little in common,” Van Zant himself said, “I don’t like what he says about colored people.” ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/148 "2022-03-17T21:30:52Z")
I remember the song when it was knew, and it didn’t seem ambiguous to me at all. I always thought they “loved the governor.” ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/149 "2022-03-17T21:31:39Z")
To keep with the little detour here … I offer John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses --” oft (maybe only occasionally) used as a RW campaign rally/theme song … in stark contradiction to its true meaning: > **[Behind The Song: John Mellencamp, “Pink Houses”](https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-john-mellencamp-pink-houses/)** > > Written by John Mellencamp The most trivial encounters can lead to great songwriting observations. Years ago, ‘80s rock icon John Mellencamp was driving along Interstate 65, weaving his way through Indianapolis, when he spotted a black man holding a... ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/150 "2022-03-17T23:11:23Z")
I would like it noted that I really did try to stop the threadjack. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/151 "2022-03-17T23:11:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > They also did God and Guns > > God and guns > Keep us strong > That’s what this country > Was founded on > Well we might as well give up and run > If we let them take our God and guns And you don’t see that’s meant ironically? Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/152 "2022-03-17T23:20:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Since you’re quoting Wikipedia: > > [Ed King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_King), the song’s co-writer, contradicted his former bandmates in a 2009 post on his website. He claimed the tune was originally intended as the unabashed defense of Alabama, even Gov. Wallace, that almost all of the song seems to be: > > > I can understand where the “boo boo boo” would be misunderstood. It’s not US going “boo” … it’s what the Southern man hears the Northern man say every time the Southern man’d say “In Birmingham we love the gov’nor”. Get it? “We all did what WE could do!” to get Wallace elected. It’s not a popular opinion but Wallace stood for the average white guy in the South. “Watergate doesn’t bother me” because that stuff happens in politics…but someone’s conscience ought to bother them for what happened to Wallace. [Arthur Bremer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bremer) may or may not have been a yankee but he sure destroyed whatever chance Wallace had to be president. And hardly anyone in America noticed. I still like the plaque that hangs here in my office that says I’m an honorary member of the Alabama State Militia…signed personally by George C. Sure, the man had his flaws. But he spoke for the common man of the South. And, whoa, I’m gonna get in trouble over this whole dang post!"[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_Alabama#cite_note-12) I note that King waited until Van Zant had been dead for over 30 years to make that statement, so Van Zant was unavailable to contradict him. Why didn’t he say Van Zant was wrong when he was alive? And Van Zant wrote the lyrics, not King. Maybe King interpreted it that way, but the lyricist has the final say in what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/153 "2022-03-17T23:33:01Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > [“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=brandy+you%27re+a+fine+girl) by Looking Glass No revulsion here. They had another song that wasn’t a big hit, but which I really liked, [Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XTpWhfXEXc) > Just seventeen, everything that you’ve seen > It’s all there in her eyes > So many years of her poor mama’s tears > And her daddy’s sweet lies > > There’s nobody home > Mary-Anne’s alone > Almost fully grown > And worrying the whys ---
**Author:** ![mglambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mglambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mglambo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/154 "2022-03-18T14:25:07Z")
Is Rocky Mountain High by John Denver reviled?.if so that’s my pick. I live in the Rocky Mountains and was sort of born in the summer of my (20th) year, going home to a place I’d never been before. So I’m biased as far as the lyrics, but I think it’s a good tune. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/155 "2022-03-18T18:25:26Z")
Agreed. I also like his “Calypso,” which some people think is cheesy. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/156 "2022-03-18T18:55:54Z")
John Denver had a lovely voice. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/157 "2022-03-19T15:17:12Z")
I just went through this entire thread and, other than “Classical Gas” and “A Day in the Life” being widely reviled (WTF???), I’m ok with the song choices. Having said that, they are also guilty pleasures and I won’t turn them off (mostly) if they pop up in my streaming channels. “Sometimes When We Touch” hmmm, well superficially people hear a too earnest singer emoting over-the-top lyrics and that’s why they roll their eyes and hate the song. But, if you really look at the narrative there’s a lot going on with someone who’s very conflicted. Not your average “love you till I die” song. And the melody, by famous Tin-Pan Alley songwriter Barry Mann, is gorgeous. It invites studying as to what that ineffable quality is that makes a perfect tune. Read about the song’s making here: [https://www.songfacts.com/facts/dan-hill/sometimes-when-we-touch](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/dan-hill/sometimes-when-we-touch) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/158 "2022-03-19T16:35:25Z")
> [@K364](#): > > “Sometimes When We Touch” hmmm, well superficially people hear a too earnest singer emoting over-the-top lyrics and that’s why they roll their eyes and hate the song. But, if you really look at the narrative there’s a lot going on with someone who’s very conflicted. Not your average “love you till I die” song. So I looked up the lyrics to the song. The singer is very conflicted. I know the type, since I have a bit of the tendency myself- the “sensitive overthinker” who gets so conflicted and anxiety-ridden over every decision, they make “pros vs. cons” lists over what to have for dinner 😆 I was going to say a Dan Hill song I do like that is probably reviled in many circles is “Another Auld Lang Syne”, but I checked and that’s actually by Dan Fogelberg, another sensitive Dan. I always liked the line “just for a moment I was back in school and felt that old familiar pain”. I know that feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/159 "2022-03-19T19:07:18Z")
“Are” ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825/160 "2022-03-19T19:18:23Z")
About half these songs are “Songs pouty boys at parties say ‘they suck’ to show how deep and conflicted they are” Seriously? ‘One Night in Bangkok’?? We get it. You hate musicals. You’re so deep and all the girls say they can ‘fix you’. Grow up. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rgc_LRjlbTU/maxresdefault.jpg "Murray Head - One Night In Bangkok "From CHESS"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgc_LRjlbTU) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-like-that-are-widely-reviled-by-others/960825.md?page=9)