# Worst abuse of a song **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2000, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646 "2000-06-07T06:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/21 "2000-06-07T22:52:02Z")
I always groan and roll my eyes whenever a commercial for a luxury car (or some other High Society status symbol) plays the _Spring_ concerto from Vivaldi’s _The Four Seasons_, or the Pachabel _Canon_, or Mozart’s _Eine Kleine Nachtmusik_. Those three pieces were **not** originally written to be snobbish! ---
**Author:** ![Argeable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Argeable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argeable)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2000, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/22 "2000-06-07T23:08:00Z")
[“Tigger Movie” …“Semi-Charmed Life” \*\* [/QUOTE] Just what I was thinking…it just doesn’t work. As Jenkins (3eyeBe lead singer) says: ‘I don’t get you guys. This is one hell of a depressing song, but you think it’s all great and happy, like the gullible audience you are, well, that’s why we love you.’ ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/23 "2000-06-08T02:19:25Z")
OP: The Wind Cries Mary (or whatever that Hendrix song is called) as Muzak. Hijack: William Shatner’s renditions of Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Mr. Bojangles. Just unbelievably bad! ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/24 "2000-06-08T03:10:42Z")
Remember those Dean’s Milk-whatevers…Chugs? I can’t believe they mangled Roger Miller’s _Chug-a-lug_ like that. Geez, it’s a fun song about underage kids drinking moonshine! And they just distorted it to sell milk. And those whatever-they-were called tasted horrible, too. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/25 "2000-06-08T04:05:45Z")
Just adding more nonsensical clutter: - Regan (The Vile) was clueless about the intent of _Born in the USA_. This was the same elected veggie that depende on Nancy to defend the Beach Boys. - Clinton (The Putz) was no less clueless on \*Don’t stop thinkin’ 'bout tomorrow[/i}, especially since it’s a musical reference to divorce. The irony stuns. - Madonna and _American Pie_; she took a perfect, quirky, minor little rock anthem and warped it into a big, boring MADONNA thing. Is no one else _tired_ of this media whore? Minor digression: a _splendid_ and little-known use of rock in cinema is _Hit The Road, Jack_ in _The Dream Team_. Good cast, witty writing, and the 4 asylum inmates boogeying down the highway to the “the song” is just fine. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/26 "2000-06-08T05:35:25Z")
Look what they did “Look What They Did To My Song, Ma!” by Ray Charles (no relation). Quaker or someone turned it into a jingle, “Look what they did to oatmeal, ma!” Even a Madison Avenue type couldn’t miss the irony there. They’re just too cynical to care. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/27 "2000-06-08T06:11:25Z")
The use of Baba O’Riley in that SUV commercial where a bunch of idiots tear up perfectly nice scenery playing polo. Ugghh. ---
**Author:** ![PowerpuffKue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@PowerpuffKue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PowerpuffKue)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/28 "2000-06-08T07:13:14Z")
1. Any song on a Gap Commercial (“Dress You Up (In My Love)”, “Mellow Yellow”, and some West Side Story Songs). 2. Limp Bizkit’s “Faith,” that used to be such a good song too(The George Micheal version of course). Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/29 "2000-06-08T13:51:58Z")
I have to nominate Puff Daddy rapping over Led Zep’s “Kashmir” on the Godzilla soundtrack. The horror, the horror. And using James Brown songs in theatrical trailers to promote mindless, white, suburban, teen movies. What an insult to The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. ---
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/30 "2000-06-08T16:25:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Last time I was in the US I heard a TV commercial using Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” to sell shoes or some goddamned thing. That’s just plain wrong. “We dance like hypnotized chickens.”\*\* OMG!!! You have no idea the aggravation you have saved me!!! I heard the commercial, fell in love with the song (again???) and couldn’t find it! Why? Because I was thinking (remember, this isn’t the pit, don’t flame me for this) Rolling Stones and looking for the song under Stones, not Iggy. Of course, I was able to find it immediately thereafter and just now enjoyed listening to it, sans commercial. THANK YOU! Yes, it sucks when they mis-appropriate a song, using it for something completely beyond the original meaning, but for me it can be cool. Mainly because I might hear a song that I used to love but that somehow fell by the wayside and then I hear it, find it online and can get all nostalgic, dance around like an idiot to it again, or just sit at my desk and enjoy the beat. Whatever. Did that make sense? I do have a tendency to ramble. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/31 "2000-06-08T17:45:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \***Add my vote to the list against Madonna’s slaughter of a perfectly good song. > Oh, can I add one more? Puff Daddy’s remake(?) of "Every Breath You Take.’ Nice sentiment, but not what Sting had in mind when he wrote it.** Unfortunately, I believe Sting worked with Punk Daddy on that song. I was really disappointed to hear that. But, Sting has always been into musical experimentation. My vote for crappiest cover song goes to whoever did the lame Beck-sounding version of “Boyz-n-The-Hood” (yes, the one from Eazy-E) that is currently playing on alternative rock stations. Bleccch. ---
**Author:** ![Pizzle\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Pizzle\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pizzle_Boy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/32 "2000-06-08T18:00:10Z")
B\_Line12: I like the Sheryl Crow remake :o What about Puff Daddy bastardizing “Every Breath You Take”. Makes me wanna barf. ::WHAP:: take that Puffy! ---
**Author:** ![Pizzle\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Pizzle\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pizzle_Boy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/33 "2000-06-08T18:01:48Z")
oops. The puff daddy thing was stale :o ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/34 "2000-06-08T19:33:49Z")
An old punk anthem, “If The Kids Are United”, is currently being used in Britain to advertise McDonald’s. I really do think this is a sign the world is coming to an end. Here’s a funny one: Guinness are using The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey”, which isn’t so funny in itself, except for that the point in which the actor lifts the glass of Guinness to his lips coincides with the lyric “eating up the scum is the hardest thing for me to do …” ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/35 "2000-06-09T00:41:01Z")
Duran Duran’s remake of David Bowie’s Fame and the Bye-Bye Mr. Telemarketing guy missappropriation of Bye-Bye Miss American Pie. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2000, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/36 "2000-06-09T14:58:38Z")
Adding to the hijack - Hootie & the Blowfish’s remake of Led Zeppelin’s “Hey Hey What can I do?”. totally ruined the song for me. I don’t even like the original anymore. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/37 "2000-06-10T12:40:15Z")
Demond Dekkars - The Isrealites is now used to advertise Vitalite margerine, isn’t this a song about self sacrifice ? Surely some irony there Remakes I hate Boyzone - Father and son. Boyzone - cannot remember the title but the first words are, “No matter what they say”. I remember it was originally done by Meat Loaf and the meaning of the song has been taken completely out of context. Maybe there’s room here for a best/worst cover version ever thread ? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/38 "2000-06-10T13:03:45Z")
Don’t know if an Australian loon by the name of Rolf Harris ever hit the US but he did a version of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ with a kind of Reggae beat imposed by way of one of those thin wooden boards that you can get to go ‘woop, woop. woop’. The board has considerably more ability than does Rolf’s larynx. Gravity increases about 50 fold for the 5 minute duration. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/39 "2000-06-10T16:25:37Z")
Rolf Harris doesn’t count **London Calling**. His _Stairway_ version was recorded for the Australian TV programme _The Money or the Gun_. The host of this was Andrew Denton who really hates _Stairway_. Every week he had a different band come in and murder the song for sport. The fact that the Brits subsequently bought the thing is down to them. picmr ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Phosgene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Al\_Phosgene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Phosgene)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646/40 "2000-06-10T18:48:43Z")
Frank Zappa sang the Bonanza Theme for his stage act. Funny as hell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-abuse-of-a-song/21646.md?page=3)