# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/41 "2016-10-12T18:40:18Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > No hate for the totally natural and unforced giggle in **Big Yellow Taxi**? > > TCMF-2L That was my pick in a previous music-bashing thread. My new one…“But Paul, I’m a lover, not a fighter.” from the Michael Jackson / Paul McCartney ‘The Girl is Mine’. The heart of rock n’ roll shrank three sizes that day. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/42 "2016-10-12T19:10:30Z")
Elton John and Kiki Dee on video singing _Don’t Go Breakin’ My [del]Balls[/del] Heart_. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/43 "2016-10-12T19:33:40Z")
David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing Little Drummer Boy. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/44 "2016-10-12T19:39:15Z")
Can’t link from work but… In the video category: Van Halen, the epitome of cool in the late 70s, early 80s, trying to dance in unison (wearing orange tuxedos no less) in the “Hot for Teacher” video. Got it bad, indeed. In the lyrics category: New Radicals “You Get What You Give” is nearly awesome, until it gets to the spot in the middle where the singer decides to screech instead of sing the line “Give it to me now” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/45 "2016-10-12T20:34:24Z")
Two: Joan Baez’ _Diamonds and Rust_, where she misuses “light-year” as a measure of time (“a couple of light-years ago…”), and Bobby Goldsboro’s _Honey_, where he rhymes “what the heck” with “hugged my neck”. Actually, the entire song is cringeworthy. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/46 "2016-10-12T20:38:53Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > [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). For whatever reason, that reminded me of “Float On” – “Cancer, and my name is Larry”. That line is a cringeworthy honorable mention. > **[blatantly bad 70s songs: float on (the floaters)](https://wrekehavoc.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/blatantly-bad-70s-songs-float-on-the-floaters/)** > > bet you thought i was going to talk about modest mouse. psyche! one-hit wonders the floaters enjoyed the sweet smell of success with float on, a song that came to singer james mitchell in a dream. … ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/47 "2016-10-12T22:52:40Z")
There’s always Phil Collins highlighting the plight of undocumented migrants: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_61hzuGGJX0/hqdefault.jpg "Genesis - Illegal Alien (1983)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_61hzuGGJX0) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/48 "2016-10-12T23:01:31Z")
I’ve always thought [Kid Rock’s ‘Cowboy’](https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tjksmbz4ak32i5tzghz6jm4fg4a?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics) sounds like it was written by a group of high school sophomores during shop class. This, just from the chorus: > [@](#): > > Cowboy, baby > (With the top let down and the sunshine shinin’) > Cowboy, baby > (West Coast Chillin’ while the boone’s whinin’) I want to be a cowboy, baby > (Ride at night 'cause I sleep all day) cowboy, baby > (I can smell a pig from a mile away) Romeo H.S. shop class, circa 1987: "Hey guys, what’s a good rhyme for ‘day?’ " “How ‘bout ‘away?’ " "Yeah! ‘I can smell a PIG from a mile away!’ " "Badass! I hate fuckin’ cops!” ---
**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, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/49 "2016-10-12T23:31:21Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > [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. How about Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, AKA the Columbine funeral theme? ---
**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, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/50 "2016-10-12T23:35:57Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > For whatever reason, that reminded me of “Float On” – “Cancer, and my name is Larry”. That line is a cringeworthy honorable mention. > > [blatantly bad 70s songs: float on (the floaters) | wrekehavoc.com](https://wrekehavoc.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/blatantly-bad-70s-songs-float-on-the-floaters/) When I heard of “Float On” by Modest Mouse, I feared that it was a remake of that tune. It wasn’t. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CTAud5O7Qqk/maxresdefault.jpg "Modest Mouse - Float On (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTAud5O7Qqk) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/51 "2016-10-13T00:28:26Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > All of Minnie Riperton’s high-pitched screeches on “Loving You” were painful. Oh golly. Did you ride the same seventh-grade schoolbus as me in Atlantic County back in the late '70s? The driver Mrs. Whatshername played that song **all** the time, and I would just sit there paralyzed waiting for the hammer to fall: > [@](#): > > \*…doo da doo-oo doo doo-ooh… > > … > … > > … **AAH** -aah-ah ah-ah-aaaah! \* [retrospective shudder] ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/52 "2016-10-13T04:35:06Z")
David Lee Roth with, presumably, a corn cobb up…well, you get the idea. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-VZ2mrpBZs) ---
**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 13, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/53 "2016-10-13T17:39:59Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How about Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, AKA the Columbine funeral theme? Indeed the song is dreck that got a nightmarish amount of overplay, but at least Celine doesn’t hit any flat notes when she’s trying to emote. Another less-than-stellar moment(s) in pop music history: the song “Venus” – first by the Shocking Blue, then covered by Bananarama. Both versions are annoying, earwormy bubblegum garbage. But incredibly, BOTH versions became international number one hits! (As if once wasn’t bad enough…) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/54 "2016-10-13T17:59:44Z")
> [@Enlightening\_Meditation](#): > > Hmm…cringe worthy… I nominate the following tunes: > \ > “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. I have to protest this one. It made me laugh just about every time I allowed it to come on. > [@gigi](#): > > For whatever reason, that reminded me of “Float On” – “Cancer, and my name is Larry”. That line is a cringeworthy honorable mention. Now this one, I can support. Although this song (and that line, in particular) is a source of great humor in our household and is often applied to other random situations for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/55 "2016-10-13T18:48:38Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > My contribution is this: > Journey - Separate Ways > > 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. What am I missing at 1:13? They all look ridiculous but I don’t see anything at 1:13 except him moving his foot. C’mon, I want to experience sheer bliss, too. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/56 "2016-10-13T19:24:00Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > What am I missing at 1:13? They all look ridiculous but I don’t see anything at 1:13 except him moving his foot. C’mon, I want to experience sheer bliss, too. Presumably he’s referring to that awkward [hand jive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrQTh_Cq7U)move. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/57 "2016-10-13T19:35:01Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] For whatever reason, that reminded me of “Float On” – “Cancer, and my name is Larry”. That line is a cringeworthy honorable mention. [https://wrekehavoc.wordpress.com/200](https://wrekehavoc.wordpress.com/200)…-the-floaters/ [/QUOTE] [quote=“nearwildheaven, post:50, topic:768258”] When I heard of “Float On” by Modest Mouse, I feared that it was a remake of that tune. It wasn’t. [/QUOTE] You might like[this episode of “One Hit Wonderland”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6y329rggtw) where Todd in the Shadows bashes the song (the one by The Floaters) hard. This song was popular in late 1977 which is around the same time I started listening to music on my own but, oddly, I have no memory of hearing it then. Also, once it fell out of the Top 10, radio stations must’ve destroyed all their copies of the record because I’ve never heard it played anywhere (not even on an oldies station). The only reason I know of it now is because of “One Hit Wonderland”. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/58 "2016-10-13T19:44:02Z")
I’d like to nominate almost anything involving my previous neighbour Simon Fat Fuck Le Bon. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/59 "2016-10-13T21:39:46Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > You might like[this episode of “One Hit Wonderland”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6y329rggtw) where Todd in the Shadows bashes the song (the one by The Floaters) hard. > > This song was popular in late 1977 which is around the same time I started listening to music on my own but, oddly, I have no memory of hearing it then. Also, once it fell out of the Top 10, radio stations must’ve destroyed all their copies of the record because I’ve never heard it played anywhere (not even on an oldies station). The only reason I know of it now is because of “One Hit Wonderland”. It is available to download on amazon. Don’t ask me how I know that :o Yes, my iPod contains such things as “Honey” and “Wildfire” and “Do That To Me One More Time” – I do love a sappy/schmaltzy/skeevy 70s song. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258/60 "2016-10-13T22:47:16Z")
This is a bit more obscure, but Rush did a song called “Virtuality” back in the mid-90s that includes the following lines: “Net boy, net girl Send your impulse 'round the world Put your message in a modem And throw it in the Cyber Sea.” I cringe every time I hear that song now. Neil was fairly internet-savvy even back then, but you’d never know it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-cringeworthy-moment-in-pop-music/768258.md?page=4)