# 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:** 8
**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 25, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/141 "2020-08-25T03:05:41Z")
Everybody’s heard, about the bird… ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/142 "2020-08-25T03:26:58Z")
There is a sizeable segment of the Hoosier population that would lynch me for what I’m about to say. The song is their anthem, to be reverentially played at least twice a day on every classic rock radio station for the last forty years. However, the song is a whiny, conceited piece of dreck that, along with _Free Bird_, should be banished from the airwaves until the twelfth of never. The song is _Turn the Page_. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/143 "2020-08-25T04:17:16Z")
Which version: Bob Seger’s, or Metallica’s, or better yet, both? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/144 "2020-08-25T13:30:46Z")
Well, Hetfield first huffed and puffed his way through the song back in '98, so Seger’s version has tortured discerning ears for the longer time. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/145 "2020-08-25T15:51:58Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Now that said, I don’t think anyone’s brought up another very very bad song I’ve been thinking of. It probably wasn’t popular enough, though it’s now being used in a bloody commercial! The Blue’s Brothers’ [Rubber Biscuit](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=rubber+biscuit). It makes me kill people. I just heard that commercial. Had totally forgotten that doofy song and then there it was. I can’t believe my friends and I sang along with it every time. We thought the patter was comedy gold 🤦‍♀️ _“A cool water sandwich and a Sunday go to meetin’ bun”_ ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/146 "2020-08-25T18:00:58Z")
You’re all wrong. The most annoying song ever is Come on Eileen by the Dexis Midnight Runners. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/147 "2020-08-25T18:29:34Z")
The Final Countdown - utterly horrid, and the only saving grace is that it spawned some …interesting… cover versions. Check out the keyboard sound and the lead singer’s stagecraft [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FjeMDvCdrtc/hqdefault.jpg "worst cover ever! \*the final count down\*") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjeMDvCdrtc) ---
**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 25, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/148 "2020-08-25T18:40:01Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > The Final Countdown - utterly horrid, and the only saving grace is that it spawned some …interesting… cover versions. Check out the keyboard sound and the lead singer’s stagecraft An interesting adaptation was the appropriation of the famous keyboard fanfare riff by Germany’s indie band Tocotronic for their 1999 song “Let There Be Rock”, whose title of course is also a rock historical reference. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8BX70FI7hfI/hqdefault.jpg "Tocotronic – Let There Be Rock") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BX70FI7hfI) ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/149 "2020-08-25T18:46:23Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > There is a sizeable segment of the Hoosier population that would lynch me for what I’m about to say. The song is their anthem, to be reverentially played at least twice a day on every classic rock radio station for the last forty years. However, the song is a whiny, conceited piece of dreck that, along with _Free Bird_ , should be banished from the airwaves until the twelfth of never. The song is _Turn the Page_ . I finally just watched/listened to that song because of so many references to it got me curious. Turns out I’ve already heard it ( and heard it and heard it and heard it ) but never knew it was called ‘Turn the Page’ or that it was a Bob Seger tune. Blechhh! Every time I hear that saxophone introduction I always think it’s going to be a jazz song and then my brain kicks in again and says “Oh. Oh no. _THAT_ song again”. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/150 "2020-08-25T22:40:51Z")
I watched the video for Metallica’s “Turn the Page” once. Never again. That video made me hate the song forever. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/151 "2020-08-29T23:08:25Z")
None of you are even close. Popular? The most annoying song of all time was number one for five weeks. Punchable? It could turn Gandhi into a nose-breaker. Annoying? Listen it to it. Listen to it again. Listen to it as every radio station in America played it incessantly as it was, may I remind you, **number one for five weeks**. It sold **nine million**. But you’ll have to find it on your own because I won’t link to it. I will even put its name into a spoiler. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. [**“The Ballad of the Green Berets”**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad_of_the_Green_Berets) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/152 "2020-08-30T00:06:57Z")
^ **FIEND!!** you are. ---
**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 30, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/153 "2020-08-30T00:12:47Z")
Hey! I loved that song when I was in fifth and sixth grade! 😠 ---
**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 30, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/154 "2020-08-30T00:18:16Z")
I dunno. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard “Flying Purple People Eater, “The Car Went Beep Beep Beep”, “99 Bottles of Beer (On The Wall)” or “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt”. All of which are pretty annoying. That’s not what I had in mind, but whatever you want to add. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/155 "2020-08-30T00:28:35Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > “The Car Went Beep Beep Beep”, That, sir, is properly known by cognoscenti as “Beep Beep,” by The Playmates. Possibly the most wonderful ditty of the 50s. A perfect example of accelerando. It is the ur-song for Sedan Rock. Pistols at dawn. ---
**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 30, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/156 "2020-08-30T00:39:02Z")
Unfortunately for me, growing up my parents refused to buy “101 Somewhat Annoying Songs To Ruin Car Trips”, and my entire knowledge of that song is limited to a commercial seeming played non-stop when I was five. It’s truly sad how many of these long forgotten commercials I remember verbatim. The album also included songs for the cognoscenti such as “Monster Mash”, “Please Don’t Tickle My Knee (The Leg Bome is Connected, Dagnabbit)” and “The Woody Woodpecker Polka”. This album was best enjoyed with a bowl of pasta-like Zoodles. (Gave you ever had a hippopotamus for lunch?). My parents wouldn’t buy those either. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/157 "2020-08-30T00:58:57Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > “My Boy Lollipop” Millie Small, 1964 I first read this as “My Boy’s Lollipop is Small.” While I was trying to imagine what exactly that meant, my eyes correctly resolved the text. I’m disappointed that there’s no song about a boy’s small lollipop. Though I struggle to be certain what particular body part “lollipop” is a euphemism for. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/158 "2020-08-30T01:11:27Z")
Not exactly the same thing, but here’s yet another plug for [**Golden Throats**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHnkmp9fCPE&list=PL1jAP6Rqmo2PU_aN4PUk9-YUffbRm14LG). If you can tolerate all 14 songs in a row, you’re a better man than I, Gunga Din. I don’t know if you should be hammered or high or stone sober while listening to this. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/159 "2020-08-30T02:30:54Z")
to me Sailing was so slight, played a ton and won an award (sigh) ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045/160 "2020-08-30T02:41:01Z")
Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out? So relieved I don’t have to hear that on the local radio anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-annoying-popular-song-of-all-time/918045.md?page=9)