# The most cringeworthy moment in pop music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258 "2016-10-11T17:48:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/21 "2016-10-11T23:58:46Z")
Ashlee Simpson imitating Milli Vanilli has got to be the worst thing that’s ever happened to anyone. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RrLAgi_mBY) ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/22 "2016-10-12T00:56:31Z")
Since we’re counting videos, I will -once again- trout out Clarence Clemons and Jackson Browne’s **You’re a Friend of Mine**. [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=087mi1e46us) It features the two of them shaking their hips, doing the bro’s hand clasp, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes as they belt out the lyrics inches from each other’s face. The video is just a whole mess of :eek: ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/23 "2016-10-12T01:22:59Z")
[The video for “Muskrat Love” (God help us all).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgCk3bnvO5Y) The “mating sounds” solo at 2:10 is arguably the lowest point of Western civilization. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/24 "2016-10-12T01:32:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > All things considered, I don’t think anything generates more cringes than [Jagger & Bowie Dancing in the Street](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ). > > If you have 2:57 to spare, please watch the entire video now. > mmm Not as bad as this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NoGofvVhKTo/maxresdefault.jpg "Mick Jagger - Let's Work - Official") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoGofvVhKTo) ---
**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:** [October 12, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/25 "2016-10-12T01:34:54Z")
John Lennon’s _So This Is Christmas_ could have been just awesome if it was just John singing with kids. But I just cringe the moment Yoko’s voice comes cackling through. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/26 "2016-10-12T01:44:04Z")
[quote=“nearwildheaven, post:24, topic:768258”] Not as bad as this. [/QUOTE] What the hell did I just see? I was happy to have this hole in my pop culture IQ. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/27 "2016-10-12T02:09:19Z")
Bonnie Tyler fantasizing about pre-pubescent boarding school boys in the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” video has got to be near the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/28 "2016-10-12T02:38:26Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > No hate for the totally natural and unforced giggle in **Big Yellow Taxi**? > > TCMF-2L I don’t think it’s unnatural and unforced, but I DO think it’s edited in. No cites, just my opinion after listening to it many times in headphones. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/29 "2016-10-12T08:49:48Z")
Hmm…cringe worthy… I nominate the following tunes: “Blaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhffff” - Billy Joel allegedly puking during the outro of ‘My Life’ “Father, I want to kill you. Mother, I want to fuck you.” Jim Morrison of The Doors in live version of ‘The End’. “You make a dead man cum” -Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones in ‘Start Me Up’ as the music fades out at the end. “I was alone. I was all by myself. No one was looking…” -Tré Cool of Green Day during the hidden track after ‘F.O.D’ at the end of the _Dookie_ album. Nirvana’s ‘Rape Me’ is cringe worthy through the whole song. Does rap music count? “Put yer lips on my dick, and suck my asshole, too.” -2 Live Crew in ‘Me So Horny’ “…show all my girls he suck the piss out my pussy” -'Lil Kim in ‘Suck My Dick’ …among many others [quote=“nearwildheaven, post:24, topic:768258”] > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > All things considered, I don’t think anything generates more cringes than [Jagger & Bowie Dancing in the Street](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ). > > If you have 2:57 to spare, please watch the entire video now. > mmm Not as bad as this. [/QUOTE] Nevermind. This is probably the winner. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/30 "2016-10-12T09:25:07Z")
> [@gigi](#): > Hilarious. I didn’t know this song at all and, wow, did that “ooo” make me laugh. I expected some sort of soft romantic wailing and… I have no idea what that sound was, actually. > [@pulykamell](#): > > What the hell did I just see? I was happy to have this hole in my pop culture IQ. I was about ten when this song came out and I was already well aware of who **Jagger** was. I remember the critics were… not kind. My contribution is this: > [@](#): > > \*[Journey - Separate Ways](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA) > > Band members pretending to play invisible instruments on a deserted industrial dock? OK, this music video is off to a bad start. > > But what makes it special is what happens starting at 1:07. > > Check out the guy with a mustache on the right, flailing around half-heartedly like an arrhythmic boy who’s just realized that he has arms, so awkwardly that he has to move his foot at one point to keep his balance and then, at 1:13… WTF is that you ask? Sheer bliss, I say. > > And he’s their… drummer? Wow. \* ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/31 "2016-10-12T12:07:18Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > All things considered, I don’t think anything generates more cringes than [Jagger & Bowie Dancing in the Street](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ). > > If you have 2:57 to spare, please watch the entire video now. > mmm Fwiw, the guy who engineered this track, i.e. worked the mixing board to support the Producer in the studio, is a friend and former bandmate. He said Mick and Bowie were consummate pros and looking to bang the song out quickly to support the cause. Knowing that, I can’t slam them. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/32 "2016-10-12T13:29:03Z")
[quote=“nearwildheaven, post:24, topic:768258”] Not as bad as this. [/QUOTE] For once, a brilliant line in a YouTube comments page: When did Margaret Thatcher start writing songs for the Stones? ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/33 "2016-10-12T13:39:37Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > [It’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_li_d_YviZ4) better without the music. From what I read, Bowie thought this video was hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/34 "2016-10-12T13:59:34Z")
> [@dada2fish](#): > > From what I read, Bowie thought this video was hysterical. I saw it for the first time a few months ago and indeed, it’s one the funniest things I’ve seen on Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/35 "2016-10-12T14:58:19Z")
[Rick Wakeman - Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spBiRO_qzPo). It inspired [Spinal Tap’s Stonehenge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STHKFlO-zBw). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/36 "2016-10-12T15:03:23Z")
Robert Plant singing about “Gollum, the evil one” stealing his girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/37 "2016-10-12T15:13:22Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I saw it for the first time a few months ago and indeed, it’s one the funniest things I’ve seen on Youtube. Mario Wienerroither is a genius! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/38 "2016-10-12T15:46:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Robert Plant singing about “Gollum, the evil one” stealing his girlfriend. Oh lord yes! I shoot videos of the kids of the _School of Rock_, and every school location has done a _Led Zeppelin_ show, and they all do _Ramble On_, and I cringe every time. Maybe if Page and Plant had read _Lord of the Rings_ a second time, when they _weren’t_ baked… ---
**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:** [October 12, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/39 "2016-10-12T16:26:37Z")
OK, it’s clearly “Gollum **and** the evil one” but, not being a Tolkien fan (or Zep either), I have no idea why any of it matters. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/40 "2016-10-12T18:33:00Z")
[The Wind Beneath My Wings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jorJh8DTMVM) by Bette Midler. It’s already cringe-worthy schmaltz to begin with, but at approximately 3:49 in this video is the part where the Divine Miss M. (who is generally a FANTASTIC singer) hits a weirdly off-note when she sings “Fly, Flyyyyyyyyy…FLYYYYYY Away…” It’s nails on a chalkboard magnified to the 10000th degree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258.md?page=3)