# There exists no song worse than "Sweet Soul Sister" by Train **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090 "2010-03-28T06:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/21 "2010-03-28T19:41:27Z")
I’d never heard of Train and I listen to very little contemporary pop these days, so I just tracked it down and listened to it. For a pop song, it’s not that bad. It’s got a nice up beat, it’s got a catchy ukelele hook. It moves you along. Not a bad song for the road on a sunny summer morning. I can see how it would work on a soundtrack or in a commercial. Lyrics? The beat and the sound took me past it and I didn’t hear most of them anyway. C’mon, it’s a pop song. There are much worse. > [@jjimm](#): > > It’s devoid of any genuine emotion or sentiment, This one isn’t nearly as soulless and corporate as the vast majority of pop. > [@](#): > > and appears to be cashing in on that one guy with a ukuklele who is a carbon copy of Jack Johnson who himself partly rode on the coat tails of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. What does this even mean? At some point you gotta judge a performance on its own terms. I’m not sure I’ll ever listen to this song again on purpose, but it’s hardly even in the ballpark of worst. song. ever. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/22 "2010-03-29T03:10:42Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’ve managed to avoid hearing this song so far, but I’m skeptical that it’s worse than “Drops Of Jupiter.” The thought of there being a worse Train song than that is unsettling. Train is a big black hole of suck, and DoJ was their crowning glory. I am intrigued to learn of a song that might rival this. But I don’t want to waste minutes of my precious life finding out. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/23 "2010-03-29T03:36:19Z")
Eh, it’s ok. It’s background music. I am not looking to it for inspiration, I just want to hear some boppy music in the back of my head while I drive 30 minutes to school in the morning and mentally go over what I want to do today, and I don’t have a working CD player and it’s not important enough to look into finding obscure music that might be mentally leveled to whatever radio crap I might be listening to at the time. So yeah, I guess stuff like that stays on the radio because of people like me. You’re welcome. 🙂 Anyway, I heard Creed on the radio, man. When you’ve looked into that abyss, this song and any other simple dance-y tune is more than literally music to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/24 "2010-03-29T05:02:15Z")
I agree with you regarding your white-hot hatred of Train (though I reserve my most hate-filled hatred for Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Nickleback, Creed, and the Jonas Brothers), but I simply can’t get on board with your sentiment that “Sweet Soul Sister” is the single worst song ever recorded? Why? Because we live in a world that birthed someone that produced this assault on the ears: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCt0YQPn7g](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCt0YQPn7g) . ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/25 "2010-03-29T05:20:06Z")
_MacArthur Park_ for the win. ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/26 "2010-03-29T05:40:46Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > I agree with you regarding your white-hot hatred of Train (though I reserve my most hate-filled hatred for Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Nickleback, Creed, and the Jonas Brothers), but I simply can’t get on board with your sentiment that “Sweet Soul Sister” is the single worst song ever recorded? Why? Because we live in a world that birthed someone that produced this assault on the ears: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCt0YQPn7g](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCt0YQPn7g) . Hey! That song was overplayed but it’s still enjoyable. 16 years after I tricked my mom and dad into buying me that album, I can still sing along to it. And that album had some great blues/hard rock moments on it, I don’t care what anyone says or how many P!nk albums she’s produced or who challenges me I will fight that to the death!!!11111eleventy. [See](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAC6qQc6Hgw)? NO, I’ve never had that argument before, why do you ask? Besides, everyone knows that [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2psIiVw9Zog) is the most intolerable song on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/27 "2010-03-29T09:50:13Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > This one isn’t nearly as soulless and corporate as the vast majority of pop. Look, I acknowledge it’s all subjective, but to me, while it may be pop in a broad sense, it’s a certain _kind_ of pop that presents itself as an acoustic rock ballad. Lady Gaga is pop. You don’t expect emotion in stuff from her or Girls Aloud or Goldfrapp or whatever. Whereas this is group with its roots in rock - a Led Zep cover band, according to Wikipedia - not synthesized bleeps, yet manages cynical lyrics and a vocal performance displaying all the soul of Britney Spears. > [@](#): > > What does this even mean? At some point you gotta judge a performance on its own terms. I mean that, while all things are appreciable on their own merit, you can also acknowledge when they’re clearly heavily influenced by something else. Personally I quite like Jack Johnson, and the Hawaiian sound he has came just at the right time in the popular imagination - but in my opinion that Jason Mraz dude is a pretender, with an almost-clinical duplication of JJ’s sound. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/28 "2010-03-29T10:33:57Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’ve managed to avoid hearing this song so far, but I’m skeptical that it’s worse than “Drops Of Jupiter.” The thought of there being a worse Train song than that is unsettling. And to think: that was their most successful song. Hell, that thing won a Grammy, didn’t it?! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/29 "2010-03-29T11:58:56Z")
Nothing to add; just enjoying the thread. I don’t know what to do with Train - every snarky/dismissive jab in this thread is true, but damn Pat Monahan can sing; just great vocal chops. I find myself hearing his voice and getting drawn in and before I know it, I am yelling along to Calling All Angels… …don’t tell anyone. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Random\_Design](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Random\_Design](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_Design)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/30 "2010-03-29T12:09:35Z")
I feel your pain. It does suck quite horribly. But… …there are far worse ☹ too many, far worse. Right now the radio is playing a hip-hoperized version of “Forever young”. And that’s not even one of them. ☹ no I lie, it is, this is fucking horrible… ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/31 "2010-03-29T12:11:24Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Look, I acknowledge it’s all subjective, but to me, while it may be pop in a broad sense, it’s a certain _kind_ of pop that presents itself as an acoustic rock ballad. Lady Gaga is pop. You don’t expect emotion in stuff from her or Girls Aloud or Goldfrapp or whatever. Whereas this is group with its roots in rock - a Led Zep cover band, according to Wikipedia - not synthesized bleeps, yet manages cynical lyrics and a vocal performance displaying all the soul of Britney Spears. Yes, you put it better than I could have. I don’t expect to listen to Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus, or Justin Timberlake (is he even still around?) and get musical talent, meaningful lyrics, or whatever. But Train gives the illusion of being a legitimate band, but rather than risk doing anything “Scary,” they instead play it way too safe and sold out ahead of time! > [@Random\_Design](#): > > Right now the radio is playing a hip-hoperized version of “Forever young”. And that’s not even one of them. ☹ no I lie, it is, this is fucking horrible… To be fair, that is all nostalgia talking. That song wasn’t exactly that good when it was first made. I’m not saying the current version is better or even as good, but again, it doesn’t really matter since the original is only good for either camp value, or because you grew up with it in your teens or early 20’s. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/32 "2010-03-29T12:22:41Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCt0YQPn7g](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCt0YQPn7g) . Why on earth does she wear that _hat_? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/33 "2010-03-29T12:31:56Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > There’s a new radio station in Cleveland that is all locally owned and operated. They play “rock and blues” and their target audience is 35-45 year olds. > > I like the idea of the station, and I want to support it, but they are making it incredibly hard for me to keep the dial tuned to them for very long. They seem to have about two dozen songs that they play over and over again. Why do radio stations even bother to keep doing this? As another poster noted, they got away with it in the bad old days when there weren’t other choices. Almost any time you have a severely limited playlist, there are going to be a few songs that a given listener doesn’t like, and when they are played over and over and over again that listener will be pissed off. I can’t see how you can avoid having a lot of variety in radio programming today, unless you want to fail. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/34 "2010-03-29T12:42:55Z")
There’s a (IMHO) surprising amount of crap in Top 40 rotation at the moment, and readers with long memories may recall that I’m one of those people who doesn’t actually care about Music for the most part. There’s some song in which a whiny emo kid sings about leaving his door open just to cry (I see it’s called _Fireflies_, by some band called Owl City), the aforementioned Hey, Soul Sister song, _Little Lion Man_ by Mumford & Sons (only getting any attention because of the refrain “I really fucked it up this time”, IMHO) and a few others whose names I don’t know (because DJs don’t back-announce any more) but are still crap all the same… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/35 "2010-03-29T13:00:13Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Train can suck my horse cock, lick my salty balls, and kiss my hairy ass till they choke on all three and rot in Hell for their sins against humanity. So you could say that it was “knee deep in the hoopla”? (Also, nothing is worse that craptastic Kid Rock song that was about “Sweet Home Alabama”.) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/36 "2010-03-29T13:18:38Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > I don’t see the sweetness… I just thought it was about a geeky white guy courting a black woman. Not a very good song at that, either. > > And the line about gangstas and thugs makes me laugh and cringe for it… I don’t like mentions of those in my rap, much less would I want them mentioned in light sunny Sunday morning music. Ya know, it never occured to me that this was about a white dude courting a black woman! It does clarify the gangsta / thug line, though it actually makes me cringe even more than I already did. I definitely never thought of Mister Mister as the go to band for the er, soulful black woman:dubious: But, as I pointed out in another thread about awful music, this abomination contains the lyric “. . .I’m so obsessed, my heart is bound to beat right out my _untrimmed chest_” W… T … F ??? ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/37 "2010-03-29T13:18:51Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Sorry not nearly bad enough. No song today is ever going to be as bad as music from the old days. AKA my youth. > > And here is why. > > Today, music is a choice. You don’t ever have to listen to a song you don’t want to hear. Everyone has a personal music device and you program it. Or there are 500 internet radio stations. > > Back when I was kid and I had to walk uphill to school in four feet of snow (can we abbreviate that? Someone get on an abbreviation for that.) There were like 6 radio stations. One was classical music, 3 were country and only two played pop or rock. Having an 8 trac in the car was a big deal. And other people decided what was played on the radio. Apparently they put it to a vote and what ever was the most popular was played 3 or 4 times an hour. And they could stay there for weeks or even months. You don’t know what a bad song is till you have to listen to every 15 minutes for 10 weeks. One of these days, I’m going to find the person that light up Debbie Boon’s life and I am going to do to them such things, that they will be the terror of the earth. It sounds like a disease, but at least I can remember it: Wuhtosis\* – ibd \*Walk uphill to school in snow – in both directions. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/38 "2010-03-29T13:52:29Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Ya know, it never occured to me that this was about a white dude courting a black woman! It does clarify the gangsta / thug line, though it actually makes me cringe even more than I already did. I definitely never thought of Mister Mister as the go to band for the er, soulful black woman:dubious: > > But, as I pointed out in another thread about awful music, this abomination contains the lyric > > “. . .I’m so obsessed, my heart is bound to beat right out my _untrimmed chest_” > > W… T … F ??? He’s so crazy about her he’s been neglecting his manscaping. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/39 "2010-03-29T14:28:44Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > you can also acknowledge when they’re clearly heavily influenced by something else. You say that as if “clearly heavily influenced by something else” is a fault. It isn’t. Most music is clearly heavily influenced by something else, even most good music. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090/40 "2010-03-29T14:30:07Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Sorry not nearly bad enough. No song today is ever going to be as bad as music from the old days. AKA my youth. > > And here is why. > > Today, music is a choice. You don’t ever have to listen to a song you don’t want to hear. Everyone has a personal music device and you program it. Or there are 500 internet radio stations. > > Back when I was kid and I had to walk uphill to school in four feet of snow (can we abbreviate that? Someone get on an abbreviation for that.) There were like 6 radio stations. One was classical music, 3 were country and only two played pop or rock. Having an 8 trac in the car was a big deal. And other people decided what was played on the radio. Apparently they put it to a vote and what ever was the most popular was played 3 or 4 times an hour. And they could stay there for weeks or even months. You don’t know what a bad song is till you have to listen to every 15 minutes for 10 weeks. One of these days, I’m going to find the person that light up Debbie Boon’s life and I am going to do to them such things, that they will be the terror of the earth. I agree with your sentiment here. I particularly remember suffering through the Debbie Boone era. What bothered me even more though was all the great music they destroyed for me by overplay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-exists-no-song-worse-than-sweet-soul-sister-by-train/534090.md?page=3)