# What is the whiniest song ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342 "2001-03-24T20:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/21 "2001-03-25T19:16:29Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by ThisYearsGirl_ > What about that “Eve of Destruction” by Barry somebody? He gets pretty whiney in it. Barry McGwire, I think. Has anyone mentioned _You Oughta Know,_ by Alanis Morissette yet? That’s a great “I Hate You” song to listen to when you’re depressed. (And then I listen to “You Learn,” and start to feel better.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/22 "2001-03-25T19:51:40Z")
Man, you’ve gotta listen to _Running on Empty_ again. The songs are mostly not from the viewpoint of the rock star, but rather the roadies, the fans, the whole process of packing up a big show and being on the road, etc. Yeah, there might be a hint of self-pity in there somewhere, but it’s nice to see him recognize that the life of a roadie kinda sucks. BTW, I’ve done a bit of that work. I never went on the road, but I’ve been on the teardown crew for a number of bands, and I was a spotlight operator for Heart, Van Halen, and a few other bands. And I can tell you that it DOES suck, in a lot of ways. Roll into town at noon, start setting up the show. Finish at 7, double as security or a gopher or a lighting tech during the show itself, then start tearing down at 11 or 12 and finish at 6 AM. Get back on the bus, and sleep in a hard seat for five hours before doing it again. Hey! I dunno about the whiniest song, but I think I just wrote the whiniest message in this forum. Do I get a prize? ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/23 "2001-03-25T20:10:24Z")
There was a song a few years ago that I only ever encountered in an ad for a pop collection. The lyrics went something like: Love me, love me, say that you love me… Granted that I never heard the rest of the song, but that line strikes me as entirely too needy. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/24 "2001-03-25T20:50:56Z")
**Suo Na** Your song is ‘Lovefool’ by the Cardigans * * * had to post on this thread, because I think the whiniest song ever just came into the UK charts: “Mr Writer” by the Stereophonics ---
**Author:** ![VanLandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/eb9ed0/32.png) [@VanLandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanLandry)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/25 "2001-03-25T22:27:09Z")
Thank god they’re not around any more but anything by White Lion was a big ol’ whine-fest. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/26 "2001-03-26T02:18:23Z")
Every Rose Has It’s Thorn, by the most whiny fucking band, Poison. Good lord, can Brett Michaels whine. Oh, no one likes my music anymore, oooh oooh. Oh just shut up. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/27 "2001-03-26T03:00:04Z")
hijack alert! Joe\_Cool… Kurt Cobain may have not enjoyed the fame he had…he was quoted as saying he was just as happy being a garage band as he was a multi-seller but that doesn’t make him whiny. He killed himself because he was depressed…undiagnosed stomach pain,a troubled marriage and an addiction to heroin(caused in part because it helped his pain) he couldn’t get under control. Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one Joe. Hijack off ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/28 "2001-03-26T04:36:49Z")
My vote goes to _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_(?) that came out a couple of years ago. I don’t know who did it, hopefully a flash-in-th-pan band. Girl ditches guy, he wants to stay together because they “both kinda liked” the same movie. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/29 "2001-03-26T05:34:02Z")
**blessedwolf** : I didn’t get that from _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ (which I love). She was saying they have nothing in common, and he suggested the movie as a starting point, because if she overlooked that, she could have overlooked more important things too. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/30 "2001-03-26T07:20:06Z")
Breakfast at Tiffany’s was done by Deep Blue Something. Whiny songs? Geez…most songs by No Doubt. I could like Gwen Stefani if she didn’t put that annoying wheezy whine into everything. Second vote for biggest whiner: Sheryl Crow. Given that I like some of her stuff, it doesn’t change the fact that she whines. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/31 "2001-03-26T08:23:46Z")
hmmm… this thread seems to be going in two directions at once. Most nominations seem to take the title at face value, i.e. whininess as annoying unjustified self-pity that make you want slap the singer a couple of times and say “shutupshutupshutup!”. as far as that goes, I don’t think anyone’s gonna be able to touch Janis Ian’s stinkfest. However, title aside, the OP seems more about the kind of song that works well when you’re in a self-pitying mood and just want to wallow in it. For that, try a couple of songs by Elvis Costello, IMHO the unrivalled master of refined bitterness: [Baby plays around](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/SongUnid/FC53E5E2C2032CE3482568B000055AD4) It’s not open to discussion anymore She’s out again tonight and I’m alone once more She’s all I have worth waiting for But baby plays around and [Still too soon to know](http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/songUnid/570B4C540AFB2892482568B00006D395) Do you love him Or is it still too soon to know? When I think back a couple of days Before I found you in his spell Was there a warning? What can I say Should I look away It’s still too soon to know ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/32 "2001-03-26T09:09:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dodge\_this \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by YWalker \* > > \*\*It’s gotta be “At 17” by Janice Ian. > > > > Aaarrrgh! \*\* > > I second that ‘Aaaaargh!’ > > \*\* Bah. This is one of my faves, both for the music and the text. What is wrong with the desciption of the real life of a 17 year old, and not the Britney Spears type? And there is nothing whining about her singing. ---
**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 26, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/33 "2001-03-26T15:31:12Z")
I’ve always had a low-key loathing for Andrew Gold’s “Lonely Boy”, a deeply tragic tale about how a young person’s life was ruined when his parents had another child _and couldn’t give him their undivided attention anymore!_ Sibling rivalry as Gothic tragedy. And I was lucky enough to mostly miss out on Henry Gross’ “Shannon” when it was a hit, but it still pops up on “Best Of A Rotten Decade” CD promotions on TV. If there is a God, Henry and all copies of his masterpiece will be sealed in a giant bottle and set drifting out to sea. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/34 "2001-03-26T16:07:54Z")
I’ve got to go with that stupid-ass “Freshmen” song from the Verve Pipe. God, I dumped her, she killed herself and NOW I’M SO DEPRESSED!!! But it wasn’t my fault! I was young! Well, being a freshmen doesn’t keep you from being a whiny jerk. Christ, now my mood is shot. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/35 "2001-03-26T16:54:09Z")
“Sylvia’s Mother” by Dr. Hook. It’s whiny and it’s a very bad song. (“Pleeeeze Mrs. Avery, I just want to talk to her…”) Gag me! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/36 "2001-03-26T17:09:44Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\*However… I will NEVER forgive wussies like Jackson Browne, who write whiny songs about how sad and lonely it is being a rock star!..I DID feel sorry for the poor kids in the audience who worked at McDOnald’s for minimum wage, to make the money to go to his concert, and listen to him bellyache about how rough a millionaire’s life is. \*\* > > I agree with you on this. Poor Kurt Cobain…couldn’t handle being famous and successful and rich. Waah. \*\* I’ve heard this argument before, and I still don’t buy it. Surely, in many ways, Jackson Browne and Kurt Cobain have (had) advantages and opportunities most of us will never know. That doesn’t mean they aren’t human, with feelings and foibles just like the rest of us. The next time you find yourself whining about something, as we all do, think of what someone a few steps down the economic ladder would think of _your_ dispostion. As far as my nomination for this category, nothing is more whiny, and I’m going back a ways for this, than _ **I Want to Know What Love Is** _ by Foreigner. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/37 "2001-03-26T17:11:28Z")
_I Wanna Know_ – Alannis Morrisette ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/38 "2001-03-26T17:22:12Z")
**Dragon Phoenix** wrote referring to Janice Ian’s song “At Seventeen”: > [@](#): > > What is wrong with the desciption of the real life of a 17 year old, and not the Britney Spears type? Apparently little Britney thinks hers _is_ a real life – ever listen to her song “Lucky?” I’ll serve that one up as a self-pitying whiny-\*ss song. Makes my hand itch to slap her a couple times … ---
**Author:** ![DaveX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@DaveX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveX)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/39 "2001-03-26T18:00:33Z")
And I agree with xtnjohnson, it took too long to get to Morissey, the king (or queen as it were) of moronic morosity. That being said however, the absolute worst offender of the last 20 years has got to be Paula Cole and her insipid “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?”… ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342/40 "2001-03-26T18:54:14Z")
In the vein of “poor-me-I’m-a-rock-star”, it’s gotta be “Turn the Page”. The “is that a woman or a man” line grates on me every time. Try as I might, I can’t feel sorry for you. But “Lucky” by Britney is up there, as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-whiniest-song-ever/59342.md?page=3)