# What's the worst song ever that reached #1? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170 "2020-04-06T04:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/201 "2020-04-09T14:10:37Z")
Man, I like nearly half the songs mentioned in this thread. “MacArthur Park” – Sir Richard Harris, you heathens, though Maynard did a good job too – is my favorite song of all time. “Convoy” is a fun novelty tune. Meco’s “Star Wars” is fine for what it is. And “Candyman” is a good song made great by Sammy Davis, Jr., come on! “Honey” is horrible, though. I hate all those tear-jerkers from that era, especially “Seasons in the Sun”. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/202 "2020-04-09T16:47:47Z")
> [@Little\_Brother\_1](#): > > I will risk bringing opprobrium upon my head for belatedly appreciating Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe”. It was despised in 1967 because of its nominal Southern-fried corniness, but I think that was partly because it was an AM radio hit that was played to death-- Bob Dylan even wrote a parody, “The Clothesline Saga”, because he was sick of hearing it on the radio so often. “Ode to Billie Joe” came our before I was born, so to me it’s just a song; I wasn’t alive when it was being overplayed. So to me it’s a perfectly good song. It’s simple and repetitive, the kind of song you kinda wish was a minute shorter, but it’s a good tune and is well sung. This is an aside, but Bobbie Gentry’s popularity as an artist was interesting in that she became famous with music she personally wrote - an unusual thing for a female artist at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/203 "2020-04-09T21:50:12Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > This was from the musical HAIR. It makes since in its hippy context. The song sometimes pops into my head when someone says, “Good Morning” to me. I then sing it back to myself, "Good Morning Starshine, the Earth says, “F U”. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/204 "2020-04-09T22:28:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Ode to Billie Joe” came our before I was born, so to me it’s just a song; I wasn’t alive when it was being overplayed. So to me it’s a perfectly good song. It’s simple and repetitive, the kind of song you kinda wish was a minute shorter, but it’s a good tune and is well sung. > > This is an aside, but Bobbie Gentry’s popularity as an artist was interesting in that she became famous with music she personally wrote - an unusual thing for a female artist at that time. Good point about the release date. I was born in the UK in the 70s - by the time I heard it was just a song, nothing of the zeitgeist about it, no chance to get sick of it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/205 "2020-04-10T00:04:29Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Ode to Billie Joe” came our before I was born, so to me it’s just a song; I wasn’t alive when it was being overplayed. So to me it’s a perfectly good song. It’s simple and repetitive, the kind of song you kinda wish was a minute shorter, but it’s a good tune and is well sung. I quite like _Ode to Billie Joe_. It came out when I was 15. I find both the music and the story quite haunting. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/206 "2020-04-10T00:42:53Z")
**Oakminster** , who doesn’t seem to post here any longer, always started a _Ode To Billie Joe_-themed thread on June 3 of every year. If memory serves, he is a Mississippian himself, and familiar with the Tallahatchie River area. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/207 "2020-04-10T00:57:50Z")
Here’s one I had (thankfully) forgotten about: [I Love (Little Baby Ducks)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vONC3sdhiwM), by Tom T. Hall. It really makes you want to go find some little baby ducks and kill them. And eat their parents. And I checked. It did go to number one. ---
**Author:** ![Kryten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Kryten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kryten)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/208 "2020-04-10T02:28:01Z")
The absolutely worst song that actually made it to number 1 on the Billboard pop charts in 1958 is The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/209 "2020-04-10T02:49:30Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > **Oakminster** , who doesn’t seem to post here any longer, always started a _Ode To Billie Joe_-themed thread on June 3 of every year. If memory serves, he is a Mississippian himself, and familiar with the Tallahatchie River area. S/he posted earlier today. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/210 "2020-04-10T02:51:59Z")
_I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am_ by Herman’s Hermits was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GisCRxREDkY/hqdefault.jpg "Herman's Hermits "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" on The Ed Sullivan Show") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GisCRxREDkY) ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/211 "2020-04-10T05:02:10Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > OK non-Boomer, Baby Boomers are generally considered to be in 1946 and after. The oldest Baby Boomers would have been 2 in 1948 and too young for kindergarten. But unlike these lazy Milennials, Boomers were hard-working youngsters raised by the Greatest Generation and I’m sure most would have achieved scholastic success by the advanced age of 2. If not, what were they doing with all their time? ---
**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:** [April 10, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/212 "2020-04-10T14:31:30Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Here’s one I had (thankfully) forgotten about: > > [I Love (Little Baby Ducks)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vONC3sdhiwM), by Tom T. Hall. > > It really makes you want to go find some little baby ducks and kill them. And eat their parents. > > And I checked. It did go to number one. The memory of that abomination is made only slightly less painful by substituting Heathen Dan’s parody version, [“I Like”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=noKR9GVgVXg). \*I like smokin’ me some grass Gettin’ cut with glass Sniffin’ my cocaine and pain … I like chancres on my tongue Sniffin’ monkey dung Scumbags of all sorts and warts And I like you, too\* ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/213 "2020-04-10T15:51:11Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I was lying in bed in my teens, listening to the radio late at night, and this came on. I immediately adored it and never stopped. Something slightly sinister and other-worldly in the deceptively gentle harmony, something with just a faint hint of menace, while also resigned. It’s at once bleak and sweltering…and that’s just the music. Add the lyrical intrigue and it’s a masterpiece. OK, I just listened to “Ode to Billie Joe” for the first time in my life, having never even heard of it before. There must be something I’m not getting. Is there some significance to the preacher having seen a girl who looks like her with Billie Joe? Is the insinuation that she killed him? Because, absent that, it’s a boring song about chores and a mundane dinner table conversation. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/214 "2020-04-10T18:05:20Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Good point about the release date. I was born in the UK in the 70s - by the time I heard it was just a song, nothing of the zeitgeist about it, no chance to get sick of it. To my mind, the true test of a terrible song as opposed to an overplayed song is - would someone who’s never heard this song before hate it? I found “In The Year 2525” an utterly detestable song, for instance, the moment I first heard it. It, too, came out before I was born, and it’s not like my parents ever played it at home, so I can’t have gotten tired of it being overplayed. How it hit #1 (for SIX STRAIGHT WEEKS might I add) in a year that featured the Beatles, the Supremes, and the Rolling Stones I just cannot understand. In fact, 1969’s list of USA #1s might be one of the most remarkable collections of talent you will ever find in a yearly list; it features The Beatles (twice) the Stones (twice) the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Elvis, Sly & The Family Stone, The Temptations, Peter Paul and Mary, and The Fifth Dimension, and hell even Henry MAncini for something a little different. Well, it had The Archies, too, but I like “Sugar Sugar.” And then there is… Zager And Fucking Evans, with that awful, awful song about people with no eyes or teeth. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/215 "2020-04-10T18:39:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The memory of that abomination is made only slightly less painful by substituting Heathen Dan’s parody version, [“I Like”](http://youtube.com/watch?v=noKR9GVgVXg). > > \*I like smokin’ me some grass > Gettin’ cut with glass > Sniffin’ my cocaine > and pain > … > > I like chancres on my tongue > Sniffin’ monkey dung > Scumbags of all sorts > and warts > > And I like you, too\* Mine was I love eatin’ baby ducks My mannequin that fucks Rapin’ In the rain And pain. And I’ll fuck you too. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/216 "2020-04-10T18:50:10Z")
Anyone mention “Pac-Man Fever”? Seriously, wtf was that? Ripping lyrics: “Got a pocket full of quarters and I’m heading to the arcade”. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/217 "2020-04-10T19:30:43Z")
And I did not see “Run, Joey, Run”. I think this may be the dumbest and worst recorded song ever. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/218 "2020-04-10T19:54:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Ummmm, for example? I reread the thread and do not see a one. I like “We Built This City” but I almost can’t defend it. “Despacito” is not only good, it’s very good. I like the 60’s sound of “Last Kiss”. “Don’t you Want Me” is 80s Magic. “What’s up” is 90s Magic. That’s just from the posts that were before mine. ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/219 "2020-04-10T22:47:06Z")
I’d like to nominate _Desiderata_ by Les Crane, an insipid poem set to insipid music. It did spawn [Deteriorata](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFLvhKv-Lbo) however. A rare spoof / cover that is greater than the original. Interesting side note: Melissa Manchester sang Deteriorata before the rest of her career really took off. So another questionably good thing to come out of the original dreck. Edit: it hit number 1 in New Zealand. Does that count? ---
**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:** [April 10, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/220 "2020-04-10T22:53:00Z")
> [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](#): > > OK, I just listened to “Ode to Billie Joe” for the first time in my life, having never even heard of it before. There must be something I’m not getting. Is there some significance to the preacher having seen a girl who looks like her with Billie Joe? Is the insinuation that she killed him? Because, absent that, it’s a boring song about chores and a mundane dinner table conversation. The subtext is that the narrator is in love, or infatuated, with Billie Joe. They’re at the beginning of a courtship - what my father’s generation would call "sparkin’ ". Perhaps when the preacher saw them on the Tallahatchie Bridge, they had just shared their first kiss. In any case, Billie Joe meant something to the narrator, and she’s shocked and devastated by his death (“Child, what happened to your appetite? I’ve been cooking all morning, and you haven’t touched a single bite.”) Which is completely oblivious to her family, though, as they casually discuss Billie Joe’s suicide. The greatest tragedy of her young life is to her family, as you noted, a topic for a mundane dinner table conversation. Bobbie Gentry said the song was about “basic indifference, the casualness of people in moments of tragedy” and called it “a study in unconscious cruelty”. Since this song was released, people have argued about what Billie Joe and the narrator threw off the bridge. It only just occurred to me today that, given the last verse of the song (“As for me, I spend a lot of my time picking flowers up on Choctaw Ridge/And dropping them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge”), she and Billie Joe might have been tossing flowers off the bridge when they were spotted by that nice young preacher Brother Taylor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170.md?page=12)