# What is the most annoying popular song of all-time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045 "2020-08-14T02:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/21 "2020-08-14T14:08:44Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I THINK what the question is here, is, “What is the most annoying popular song of all time, besides, [‘We Built This City’, by Starship.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1b8AhIsSYQ&feature=youtu.be&list=RDK1b8AhIsSYQ&t=4)” > > The answer to that, of course, is, [“Break My Stride” by Matthew “Porn Stash” Wilder.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy46iOwWQiE) > > EDIT: MBH ninja’d me, but I hope this helps jog his memory of bad 80’s synth. No, you’re thinking of “Romeo In Black Jeans”, by Sean Penn’s less-talented brother. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/22 "2020-08-14T14:15:18Z")
That was popular? I assume you mean Chris Penn, and I had no idea he ever put out a song. Sounds like a really bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/23 "2020-08-14T14:16:09Z")
Jack and Diane by John Couger Lizard Strauss Monkeywrench Mellencamp. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/24 "2020-08-14T14:18:11Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Always sounded a little stalkerish to me. For adults, that’s true, even being charitable. But even though I don’t especially like the song, one of my friends says it was “his” and his girlfriend’s song in high school because as a child there are more impediments to getting alone time with someone. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/25 "2020-08-14T14:18:15Z")
I secretly liked _mmbop._ _Wannabe_ too. There, I said it. _No Myth_ (Romeo in black jeans) was **Michael** Penn. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/26 "2020-08-14T14:22:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “All for One (All for Love),” “Ten Million Bicycles,” and “Don’t Give Up on Us, Baby” also have to be among the Top 10 worst songs ever recorded. I was once on vacation in Sardinia. Having a lovely meal in a lovely restaurant. The food was local and delicious, the service superb, the setting a quirky old building. There was one problem. Their CD player had an issue, and no-one noticed. It played “All for one (all for love)” on repeat for an hour. I shall make no further comment. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/27 "2020-08-14T14:28:18Z")
Uptown Funk. Terrible song, I don’t know why it was popular. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/28 "2020-08-14T14:57:58Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > That was popular? I assume you mean Chris Penn, and I had no idea he ever put out a song. Sounds like a really bad idea. In what Isles of the Blest have you been dwelling, that you’ve never heard [this horrible dreck?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxkJHX7ukKE) And can I come live there, too? I hear it on Mood Music’s rotation at least once a day, at work. ::shudder:: As **BlankSlate** noted, the song is actually called “No Myth”, and the singer is Michael Penn. Whom I understood to be a brother of the actor, but I might have been misinformed. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/29 "2020-08-14T15:06:23Z")
Unpopular opinion: Anything by U2 or the Stones. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/30 "2020-08-14T15:33:00Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > [What’s Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc) by Four Non Blondes The cover version is pretty good though: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/32FB-gYr49Y/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgXShCMA8=&rs=AOn4CLC5zaPIKwgmEc1_eH6nktmvBvFziQ "He Man - What's Going On - High Quality (Four Non Blondes)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32FB-gYr49Y) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/31 "2020-08-14T15:46:04Z")
Most annoying? 1-8-7-7-Kars-4-Kids. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/32 "2020-08-14T15:57:53Z")
Damn you. Now it’s stuck in my head, and there’s reasons to hate it beyond just the stupid jingle. Make it go away!!! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/33 "2020-08-14T16:19:56Z")
This far down, and no one has mentioned “Escape” (“The Pina Colada Song”)?!? 😲🤮 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/34 "2020-08-14T16:29:37Z")
Some real stinkers have been mentioned, as well as some songs I really like, but anyway you all got it wrong, maybe because most of you were fortunate enough to never have been exposed to it. I present to you the worst pop song of all time: [Opus - Live Is Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATX-lV0VFk) Nerve grating primitive melody and rhythm? - Check Inane pandering lyrics? - Check Horrible Austrian accent? - Check Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah? - Check Excuse me, I have to wash my ears with bleach… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/35 "2020-08-14T17:09:37Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > [How can I get you alone] sounded a little stalkerish to me. I thought it should be used in a bank commercial. “How can I get you a loan?” ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/36 "2020-08-14T17:11:01Z")
That is truly inspired. Who says you can’t polish a turd? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/37 "2020-08-14T17:40:26Z")
Life is Life is not a great song. At all. But I don’t hate it. I feel about it the way I do about “Hooked On A Feeling”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/38 "2020-08-14T17:42:51Z")
You mean “Oooga-chugga! Oooga-chugga!”? 🤨 ---
**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:** [August 14, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/39 "2020-08-14T17:58:22Z")
It’s no Crazy Frog, but for usually-reasonably-respected songs that I have an irrational hatred for that rub me the wrong way, I think Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” fits the bill for me. ---
**Author:** ![Acerbic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acerbic/32/3695_2.png) [@Acerbic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acerbic)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/40 "2020-08-14T17:59:52Z")
I love a lot of the songs mentioned here. “Jump Around” by House of Pain is on my walking mix, “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns and Roses is always welcome on my daily commute, and even “What’s Up” by 4 Non-Blondes is a great song. I was annoyed with “What’s Up” in in 1993 because it was overplayed but after I didn’t hear it for a decade I warmed up to it again in the 2000s. Even “We Built this City” isn’t annoying. It’s vapid and milquetoast but I can’t say I find it particularly annoying. Perhaps I’m too easily entertained? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045.md?page=3)