# What beloved classic rock/pop song do you hate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602 "2013-05-29T02:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![PSico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@PSico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSico)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/161 "2013-05-30T20:34:39Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Even as a guilty pleasure, I just can’t imagine anyone liking it. Are you saying that nobody could possibly like it, or are you just commenting on your limited imagination? :dubious: [We Built This City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1985_(U.S.)) was #1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1985 in the U.S, and it was #1 in Australia and Canada. It was nominated for a Grammy. Can you imagine that? I’m not saying that any of this means that the song is good, but it’s obvious that more than one person thought that it was good. And, speaking of what someone can or can’t imagine … > [@divemaster](#): > > I like most of the songs mentioned in this thread. Quite a bit. (Not **Imagine** , of course). It’s great that you present an opinion that runs counter to some of the sweeping dismissals in this thread but why “of course”? Is it because the RIAA ranked _Imagine_ number 30 on the list of the 365 Songs of the Century bearing the most historical significance? Or that the song earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”? Perhaps you said “of course” because Rolling Stone ranked it number 3 in their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”? [Link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine_(song)). You don’t have to like something just because millions of other people do, but I see that it’s common in this forum to dump on popular success. Yes, it’s a very popular thing to do. Anyway, I don’t hate any song that is “universally loved by the public and critics alike”. There are many songs that I don’t enjoy listening to but I’m a long way from hating them. A few years ago, I got fed up with Bohemian Rhapsody but it’s too interesting a song to hate. I guess I just haven’t developed the type of discriminating taste that enables some of you to hate all ELO songs with vocals, any Beach Boys song, all Bee Gees, anything by The Carpenters, any Steely Dan, 100% of all Eagles songs, and all Rolling Stones songs. I can’t imagine how fellow performers and music critics fell for all that crap. 😉 ---
**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:** [May 30, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/162 "2013-05-30T21:03:23Z")
Truthfully, I’m sure many of us can tolerate the songs other people are dumping on here. I know I still listen to the classic rock station, even though it’s like chewing old gum. I thought about starting another thread, “What beloved classic pop/rock song do you still like even though it’s been played to death”, but then I said nah… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/163 "2013-05-30T21:21:06Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > The reason you can’t remember the tune to We Built This City (other than the inane 1-line-repeated-over-and-over-again-chorus) is that it really doesn’t have a tune. The “verses” in the song are like a really bad American Idol audition. > > Wow, so I mention “We Built This City” a couple people say that it’s an automatically hated song not worth mentioning, and then at least 3 people show up saying they like it, love it, looking forward to hearing it again live soon? Wow… just wow ☹ I was just trying to point out that it was a beloved song at the time, and it’s definitely old enough to be a classic. I think some were saying it’s neither. Also, it’s a free concert. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/164 "2013-05-30T22:53:32Z")
Ya gotta remember that Milli Vanilli won a Grammy for an album they didn’t even sing on. Said album was permanently deleted (i.e. made out of print) by the record label, so if you want a copy, you have to buy a secondhand one that’s at least 22 years old. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/165 "2013-05-31T02:16:23Z")
> [@](#): > > I doubt that anyone actually considers it beloved, but I can feel my anal sphincter clamp down whenever I hear What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes. > > It actually starts out pleasantly enough; the real horror commences around the 1:27 mark. > mmm Wait until you’ve been subjected to the thumpa-thumpa DANCE MIX! of that song at 2 in the morning, courtesy of some (thankfully ex-) neighbors of mine. Dear Og, make it stop. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/166 "2013-05-31T02:55:00Z")
My turn. Oh boy. > [@BlankSlate](#): > > _ **imagine** _ that if McCartney was there, he would have told Lennon it was shit and to write something else. It sounds like middle-school poetry. “Insipid” is the word that applies. Lyrically and musically. > [@scabpicker](#): > > _**(Layla)**_ I came in to mention this, although I dislike the acoustic version just as much, but for different reasons. The reason I hate the original version of Layla is for the solos at the end. I play slide, it’s Duane Allman and Eric Clapton playing at the same time, it should be a treat. Since they duel at different octaves, Duane sits up above the 12th fret playing this shrill, noodling, piercing sustaining solo that just goes on forever. I’ve never liked it. > The acoustic version? It’s just a lame, slow, easy listening cover of a song I’ve learned to dislike in the first place. It lacks the drama of the original, which sells the first half until those solos start up. All of this is exactly correct. And I’m a person who _worships_ Duane Allman. My entries: **“I’ve Seen All Good People”** Can’t stand it. Awkwardly non-musical music. and **“Suite Judy Blue Eyes”** I’ve hated this anthem for 44 years now. Insipid (there’s that word again) dreck sung by what sounds like castrati dolphins. And seriously…apologies to those who like any of these songs. Different strokes and all that. No accounting for taste. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/167 "2013-05-31T03:44:22Z")
> [@PSico](#): > > -snip- > You don’t have to like something just because millions of other people do, but I see that it’s common in this forum to dump on popular success. Yes, it’s a very popular thing to do. > > Anyway, I don’t hate any song that is “universally loved by the public and critics alike”. There are many songs that I don’t enjoy listening to but I’m a long way from hating them. A few years ago, I got fed up with Bohemian Rhapsody but it’s too interesting a song to hate. > > I guess I just haven’t developed the type of discriminating taste that enables some of you to hate all ELO songs with vocals, any Beach Boys song, all Bee Gees, anything by The Carpenters, any Steely Dan, 100% of all Eagles songs, and all Rolling Stones songs. > > I can’t imagine how fellow performers and music critics fell for all that crap. 😉 Yep. I can’t listen to Classic Rock anymore because it’s played-out for me, but all this sniggering at Led Zep, Beatles, Stones, etc. like they were no better than boy bands is a bit much. The song I personally cannot stomach is “China Girl” by David Bowie. That song was huge back in the day and I hated it like Ahab hated Moby Dick. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/168 "2013-05-31T04:20:58Z")
I’m so inspired by this thread that I’m ordering Best of the Doobie Brothers, with Michael McDonald, from Amazon (#5 in R&B “blue eyed soul” category) :D. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/169 "2013-05-31T06:05:02Z")
I like a lot of crappy music that I honestly know is just pop-tripe but I still love it. But “We Built This City” is just a bridge too far to me. I guess I do have a limited imagination… haha. Well thanks for sharing anyway. I know it was a popular song and a classic and I just can’t figure out why. But I do understand that people liked it in the time (and still do). Just hard to imagine why. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/170 "2013-05-31T06:49:16Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Back when listening to the radio was the thing, I had a rule in my car known as the Bob Seger Rule: > > “Anytime a Bob Seger song comes on the radio, the station must be switched immediately.” In our car, it’s anything by the Eagles, or any Eagle. Once in a while, Joe Walsh will get a pass, but that’s rare. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/171 "2013-05-31T08:44:32Z")
> [@bink](#): > > In our car, it’s anything by the Eagles, or any Eagle. Once in a while, Joe Walsh will get a pass, but that’s rare. Even I’ll give Joe a pass, he’s such a good guitarist he can almost get me to listen to the Eagles. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/172 "2013-05-31T12:07:22Z")
> [@bink](#): > > In our car, it’s anything by the Eagles, or any Eagle. Once in a while, Joe Walsh will get a pass, but that’s rare. [The Dude] I hate the fucking Eagles, man! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/173 "2013-05-31T13:04:31Z")
Not sure if this qualifies because I’m not sure “Tonight’s the Night” was beloved by anyone. The unsubtle lyrics completely squick me out on their own (lack of) merit, but it didn’t help that Rod Stewart, king of the too-tight leopard skin pants, crooned it. “C’mon angel my hearts on fire Don’t deny your man’s desire You’d be a fool to stop this tide Spread your wings and let me come inside” Well, blech. ---
**Author:** ![timid1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@timid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timid1)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/174 "2013-05-31T13:47:47Z")
Two pop songs that make me stabby. Thank God there isn’t a radio station that I can get that has the possibility of playing these. Ring My Bell…Anita Ward Kung Foo Fighting…Carl Douglas I hate these songs so much that I can still name the one hit wonders ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/175 "2013-05-31T13:55:57Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > I will always hate “I Will Always Love You”. This is mine. The Dolly Parton version is amazing; the Whitney Houston version is unlistenable to me. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/176 "2013-05-31T14:11:56Z")
There are so many. I’ll start with any Steely Dan. Except Rikki, because I dated a Rikki in high school. Even then the song is almost unbearable. Since nobody else mentioned it, I’ll say _YMCA_ by the Village People. A nice peppy tune but it is overplayed and it’s just strange hearing little kids at my pool singing “They have everything that you need to enjoy, You can hang out with all the boys …” ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/177 "2013-05-31T17:16:12Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > If we must, we must. Perhaps first a stab at common ground…what are your feelings about _Bridge Over Troubled Water_? I’ll fight ya both with one hand tied behind my back. Dear god, do I hate that song. Also hate everything the Beach Boys ever recorded. I do not get all of this acclaim that is heaped on Pet Sounds. It’s the fucking _Beach Boys_, people. All of their songs sound the same, and they all sound like this sugary beachy pop. Ugh. And James Taylor. All of it. Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park”. Everything I’ve ever heard of the Iggles that _isnt_ “Hotel California”. Therre’s lots of other stuff, but that’s all I can think of for now. Also, I too like many of the songs mentioned here; along with Hotel California, I like “Imagine” just fine. I could start a whole other thread about songs that I **used** to hate, but have come around into being quite fond of… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/178 "2013-05-31T18:55:35Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Boys of Summer by [that guy from] the Eagles. > > In fact almost any later “softer” songs by established groups and artists. Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, etc… Bleah > > Season In the Sun (kill me now, let me die alone!) Thought of another “softer” song that drives me bonkers. Pat Benatar’s Love Is A Battlefield. How that hot, hard rockin cutie who did Heartbreaker, covered I Need a Lover, and intrigued with My Clone Sleeps Alone would do this dreck… Yeach. And yet, LIAB is the Benatar song that gets all the airplay here. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/179 "2013-05-31T19:50:50Z")
> [@Hookit](#): > > There is a big difference between celebrating “your party **with** you” as opposed to celebrating “your party **for** you.” Did I get that wrong too? I could swear they say “for,” and I find that offputting. Thanks folks for catching my misattribution. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602/180 "2013-05-31T19:50:54Z")
Put me in Coach (Centerfield) by John Fogerty. One of the worst songs i’ve ever heard. A song with no redeeming value. Poorly written, an atrocious melody and vapid lyrics. It boggles the mind that this turd was even on the charts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beloved-classic-rock-pop-song-do-you-hate/659602.md?page=10)