# What are the worst songs from the 90s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305 "2010-04-25T16:18:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/61 "2010-04-27T03:26:47Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I guess that ties in with something I’ve been wondering throughout this whole thread - would we have liked many of these “worst songs” anyway? If it’s not of a genre we’d usually listen to, is it any surprise that we didn’t like it? Like with people saying ‘My Heart Will Go On’, is a Celine Dion ballad from a romance movie the sort of thing that you would have liked, regardless of how good it actually was? > > For example I could have put a nu-metal or modern country song as my choice but I chose a Steps song because I was heavily into teen pop back then, but even I knew ‘5,6,7,8’ was bad. I think the true measure of a Worst Song Ever is if, theoretically, it would be right up your alley but everything is just so bad that even though it’s of your favourite genre you can’t stomach it. > > I hope that makes sense. I think I understand what you’re going for here, but I don’t agree that a bad song from a genre I like is any worse than a bad song from a genre I don’t like. If anything the hypothetical worst song from my least favorite genre would seem like it would have to be a more unpleasant listening experience for me than the worst song from my favorite genre. I can think of bad songs by artists I generally like, and these can sometimes seem worse to me than a bad song by an artist I don’t care for since my expectations were higher. But this is even more subjective than judging a song as good or bad usually is. It’s my own disappointment making things seem worse than they really are. If a song from a genre or artist I normally don’t care for anyway stands out as being particularly loathsome then there must be something more going on than just my not liking that kind of music in general. I mean, most '90s European electronic club music sounds basically the same to me. I wouldn’t seek it out to listen to, but when I hear it my typical reaction isn’t rage – it’s boredom. But within seconds that “Shut Up (And Sleep With Me)” song had me hoping that the people responsible had all died horrific deaths since the '90s. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/62 "2010-04-27T03:36:51Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > You’ve hit that at least one other time in a thread. What don’t you like about it? I think it is a great, great song - one of the better 1-hit wonder singles, ever. YMMV and all - I wouldn’t try to convert you and am not looking for you to convert me. Just curious… Repetitive and\*\*\* incredibly \*\*\*whiny. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/63 "2010-04-27T03:49:53Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I think I understand what you’re going for here, but I don’t agree that a bad song from a genre I like is any worse than a bad song from a genre I don’t like. If anything the hypothetical worst song from my least favorite genre would seem like it would have to be a more unpleasant listening experience for me than the worst song from my favorite genre. I can think of bad songs by artists I generally like, and these can sometimes seem worse to me than a bad song by an artist I don’t care for since my expectations were higher. But this is even more subjective than judging a song as good or bad usually is. It’s my own disappointment making things seem worse than they really are. > > If a song from a genre or artist I normally don’t care for anyway stands out as being particularly loathsome then there must be something more going on than just my not liking that kind of music in general. I mean, most '90s European electronic club music sounds basically the same to me. I wouldn’t seek it out to listen to, but when I hear it my typical reaction isn’t rage – it’s boredom. But within seconds that “Shut Up (And Sleep With Me)” song had me hoping that the people responsible had all died horrific deaths since the '90s. I agree with what you’re saying here too, I guess I was just thinking of a different way to judge a “worst song” - for me personally, as you said, songs in genres I don’t like generally sound the same to me, but within a genre I pay attention to, a song that is horrifically bad can really grab my attention and seem like a worthier candidate for “worst song ever” due to my disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/64 "2010-04-27T03:53:26Z")
[_Lucas with the lid off_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY5zaDZq0sc) I had forgotten how much I wanted to hang myself back when this was popular. Unfortunately I just reminded myself. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/65 "2010-04-27T04:02:16Z")
Grunge. All of it. And I’ll throw in “alternative rock”, whatever that was supposed to be. I remember the day that our college radio station changed from your normal eclectic mix of, well, everything that college students listen to, to “Your Alternative Rock Station”. When I want to listen to rock I want to listen to rock, not an alternative to rock. Based on their playlists they considered the alternative to rock to be “whiny suckitude”. There’s really only so many times you can expect people to listen to something like “Man In The Box”; I think about zero per lifetime is adequate. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/66 "2010-04-27T08:10:16Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > [_Lucas with the lid off_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY5zaDZq0sc) > > I had forgotten how much I wanted to hang myself back when this was popular. Unfortunately I just reminded myself. I wasn’t familiar with this actually. The music video was neat. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/67 "2010-04-27T08:25:46Z")
The video was made by [Michel Gondry](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michel+gondry+music+video&aq=f) - one can only wonder why he chose to lend his incredible talent to such a mediocre artist as Lucas. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/68 "2010-04-27T10:17:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > From a US perspective, the Verve are a one-hit wonder. If they had any other other hits, I certainly have never heard of them. Ah, OK. The Drugs Don’t Work, Lucky Man and Sonnet were all relatively big hits in the UK at the time. Last year they had another hit with [Love is Noise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdTzmIgRuQ0). ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/69 "2010-04-27T10:56:30Z")
Ugly Kid Joe’s cover of [Cats in the Cradle](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B32yjbCSVpU) ---
**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:** [April 27, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/70 "2010-04-27T11:23:21Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > My suggestion has already been posted: Eiffel 65: Blue. You can virtually expand it to any popular music coming from continental music in the 90s, though. Except for Daft Punk, naturally. They’re thoroughly excellent, and I have very fond memories of cruising around town in my car when I was a teenager listening to _Da Funk_, _Revolution 909_, and _Around The World_. There was a lot of bad music during the '90s, as with any decade. I actually quite like a lot of the songs listed here, though… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/71 "2010-04-27T12:23:12Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Repetitive and\*\*\* incredibly \*\*\*whiny. Can’t argue the point - I guess I would say they were snotty with style, but YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Elvis\_Chimney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/50afbb/32.png) [@Elvis\_Chimney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvis_Chimney)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/72 "2010-04-27T12:29:33Z")
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something - not just the worst song of the 90s, but in my opinion, the worst song ever recorded. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/73 "2010-04-27T12:46:03Z")
> [@Elvis\_Chimney](#): > > Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something - not just the worst song of the 90s, but in my opinion, the worst song ever recorded. Oh dear God this song is terrible. Like, really, really awful. The most half-assed, lazy, boring, middle-of-the-road song I’ve ever heard. If you’re gonna be shit, at least have the decency to be entertainingly shit. I can look at ‘Cotton Eyed Joe’ or ‘The Hampsterdance Song’ and laugh at how bad they are - but ‘Breakfast At Tiffanys’ just makes me want to die. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/74 "2010-04-27T13:09:54Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Really? That’s a playful summertime tune, one of the better tunes of the 90s. Have you no fun in your soul? 😉 Len should count if for no other reason than that the lead singer spends half the video groping his sister and the other half looking like a supreme douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/75 "2010-04-27T13:13:36Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Len should count if for no other reason than that the lead singer spends half the video groping his sister and the other half looking like a supreme douchebag. That is HILARIOUS! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/76 "2010-04-27T13:17:38Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > That is HILARIOUS! Thank you! Are you kidding? Senior year Calculus is a blur, but I REMEMBER that the lead singers of Len (a band I don’t even like) are brother and sister. What the fuck is wrong with me? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/77 "2010-04-27T13:20:17Z")
I’m a little amazed that other than the “grunge” post, not a single song I like has been mentioned in here. I was sure some stuff I liked would be dumped on, but no. Anyway my contribution to the bonfire is _Good_, by Better than Ezra. Just a generic, irritating song with an annoying vocal hook in the chorus. I’m not sure it’s going to work in text, but it went “It was gooo-oood, livin’ with you-wha-awww…” ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/78 "2010-04-27T13:28:53Z")
Come on, Marley - you’re supposed to post a video link or at least an audio clip! ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/79 "2010-04-27T13:28:57Z")
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Deep Blue Something ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305/80 "2010-04-27T13:31:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m a little amazed that other than the “grunge” post, not a single song I like has been mentioned in here. I was sure some stuff I liked would be dumped on, but no. Anyway my contribution to the bonfire is _Good_, by Better than Ezra. Just a generic, irritating song with an annoying vocal hook in the chorus. I’m not sure it’s going to work in text, but it went “It was gooo-oood, livin’ with you-wha-awww…” I actually dig that song, but can’t deny its generic nature. While the songs are normally in different keys, I used to start playing Good, then shift to Green Day’s When I Come Around, then to Glycerine by Bush and Closing Time by Semisonic - some of the chords are different, but they have the same basic structure and it was easy to blur them together… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-worst-songs-from-the-90s/537305.md?page=5)