The Ten Worst Songs of All Time
>>> Casual Misanthropy
By staff writer JD Rebello
July 3, 2005
Music, like other art forms is supposed to be subjective. People are entitled to varying ideas of what constitutes good music and what constitutes bad music. You might like Kanye West. I might like Green Day. Neither of us is wrong. But Kanye West blows. Anyway, given that negativity is the driving force of my column (you call it bitching, I call it, well bitching, but I have a big wang and you don't), I've decided to list the ten worst pieces of shit songs in the history of man, and by "history of man," I mean since 1983, when I was born, and all was good.
Just so we're clear, I have a very forgiving taste in music (the first song I ever burned to a CD was Aqua's "Barbie Girl," and I'm not ashamed), so for these ten songs to make this list, well, they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Before we begin, let me establish some quick criteria. I've neglected a majority of the music from the 1980's, because far be it from me to beat a dead horse. I've also left out a majority of music from the early 1990's—not for any philosophical or logistical reasons, but because the early 90's were the golden era of music. Don't bother arguing, I shan't be swayed.
"Can you think of a more musically cancerous duo than Brandy and Monica? Bono and a turd? Jesus and a toilet? Tough call."
And away we go:
10. "I Disappear" by Metallica. Makes the list for two reasons: one, it highlighted the soundtrack to Mission: Impossible 2, a movie so utterly devoid of anything resembling entertainment, I actually left it with tuberculosis. And two, it came out just around the time Lars and Co. were shitting themselves about Napster. Did you notice it was only shit bands like Metallica and Smash Mouth who made a stink about Napster? Listen, assholes, you can't put out 12 screechingly awful ballads and expect folks to plunk down $17 on them. I'd go further into my Napster rant, but that's so five years ago. I might as well bitch about the Brian Setzer Orchestra.
Worst lyrics:
Do you bury me when I'm gone
Do you teach me while I'm here
...Just as soon as I belong, then it's time I disappear.
On the plus side, I illegally downloaded this song. In your face, Metallica.
9. "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith. I swear to all that is holy, this song is the anthem for the Antichrist. I hated hated hated hated this song. Hated it. Not that I've got beef with the Fresh Prince. (How did Bad Boys 2 not win an Oscar? Oh, right. It sucked dick.)
Worst lyrics:
Unh, unh, unh, unh
Hoo cah cah
Hah hah, hah hah
Bicka bicka bow bow bow,
Bicka bow bow bump bump.
I dunno either. I think it's from an old Lennon song.
8. "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock. Shhh. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm pretty sure the Kid Rock era is officially over. What was this guy anyway? Was he country? Was he a rapper? Why was he doing songs with Sheryl Crow? How did Pamela Anderson fall for him? How did Carson Daly host TRL all those years with his head lodged up Kid's colon? It's inexplicable to me. You know those people who think the Holocaust was made up? That's how I feel about the Kid Rock era. I just can't imagine that anything this atrocious ever took place.
Worst lyrics:
Wild mustangs and porno flicks
All my homies in the county in cell block six.
Is cell block six where they keep the bunny rapists?
7. "No Such Thing" by John Mayer. Can you believe how stupid girls are? Some schmuck gets a dumb haircut and does a Dave Matthews impersonation and suddenly his ovaries are exploding. I remember hearing a ton of hype about this guy before ever hearing a single song (not a good sign), and when I finally heard this tripe, I was in awe. It's fast-paced emo, with a rock beat and gay lyrics. I guess the best adjective to describe it is, "Fallopian."
Worst lyrics:
Faded white hats
Grabbing credits
Maybe transfers
They read all the books but they can't find the answers.
Deep. Impossibly trite and inane, but deep.
6. "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston. She believes that children are our future. Give me a fucking break. And since I have nothing else to say, remember that movie The Bodyguard? Well, last summer I wrote about the ten worst movies of all time, and I still can't believe I neglected that movie. You have Kevin Costner and this crack whore in an action movie with a romantic subplot, and there's about as much chemistry as a porno between Billy Graham and a wrench.
Worst lyrics:
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity.
Nope, but the crack pipe can. Hey, how come nobody says "diva" anymore? Did VH1 officially stomp that term to a bloody death? I must know these things.
5. "My All" by Mariah Carey. The very worst Mariah song, even worse than those songs she did with Da Brat and Jay-Z. I'm going to show some restraint and not make fun of "Glitter" or her nervous breakdown, or her weird descent from rural princess to urban faux-whore....but she's a goddamn whore fake psycho bitch who made a terrible movie. (Dammit. I thought I could do it.)
Worst lyrics:
I can see you clearly
Vividly emblazoned in my mind.
Can they please get Mike Tyson to remix this song? Imagine Iron Mike sweating his way through "vividly emblazoned." How can something be vividly emblazoned anyway? Someone get me some weed.
4. "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle. Christ, if there's a more effeminate song in music history, I haven't heard it. A vagina could play the harmonica and have more balls than this. Anyway, Bob Carlisle's only apparent aspiration was to write a song that would become a headache-inducing staple of daddy-daughter dances. Way to set the bar high, Bob.
Worst lyrics:
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and
I thank god for all the joy in my life.
Dude, he's molesting his daughter. Does anybody else see this? Read between the lines, people.
3. "The Boy is Mine" by Brandy and Monica. God, I hated this song. And the video was even worse, particularly since MTV decided to play it roughly 145,234 times a day during the summer of '98. Can you think of a more musically cancerous duo than Brandy and Monica? Bono and a turd? Jesus and a toilet? Tough call.
Worst lyrics:
Must you do the things you do
Keep on acting like a fool
You need to know it’s me not you
And if you didn’t know it girl it’s true.
Hey, she rhymed "do" with "you." Why do people think black chicks are uneducated? Ooooh. Sorry, that was uncalled for. I really like black chicks, I own Gary Sheffield's rookie card.
2. "Perfect" by Simple Plan. Hey, I liked Blink 182 as much as the next 16-year-old boy with big ears and a hankering for boobies. But, were they really worth the ensemble of rip-offs that ensued, including, but not exclusive to Sum 41 and Bowling for Soup? But Simple Plan, I mean, yikes. At least "I'd Do Anything" and "Addicted" were catchy, but now they're trying to do a ballad about their father? We've come a long way since "Adam's Song" and that's not a good thing.
Worst lyrics:
Please don’t turn your back
I can’t believe it’s hard
Just to talk to you
But you don’t understand.
And remember, this song is about his dad. His dad. If I wrote this about my dad, he'd chase me around with a pitchfork. And I'd deserve it.
1. "Let me Clear my Throat", by DJ Kool. Ok. Just give me a second. Every time I'm at a bar and this song comes on, everyone goes apeshit like House of Pain just showed up, tossed back a few Milwaukee's Bests, and wants to perform live for four minutes. I just don't get the fascination. The rapping is horrible, and the rapper sounds like he has an Ebola monkey trapped in his trachea. And I'm supposed to dance to this? Listen, white boys from suburban Rhode Island who drive Oldsmobiles don't groove to just anything.
Worst lyrics:
*Cough, cough*
Honestly, stop playing this at bars.








54 Comments
Can we follow this up with a "The Ten Worst PIC Collumns of All Time"? I nominate this one. (semi-joking)
Seriously, dude, who are you, as a U2 and Green Day fan, to judge music? Can you imagine U2 unplugged? I liked Green Day before they started to suck *cough Boulevard of Broken Dreams cough*. "Ahah, ahah, ahah, ahhhah." Seriously, are you sure Avril Lavigne didn't help them right that one?
And as a guitarist, I'm stunned to see you put any John Mayer song on your list. The guy has guitar skills that neither of us could touch. And his songwriting abilities are second to none. He had nothing to do with the hype that preceded him, and "No Such Thing" contained things that VERY FEW songs today do...like a message and purpose.
I do applaud you for the majority of your other selections, and at least the article was entertaining. And I agree - the early '90s were the Golden Age of music. Better luck next time.
Yea I totally agree the golden early nineties gave us so much, like Rhythm of the Night, and that "like the deserts miss the rain" song. My urine is also golden.
John Mayer needs to die. Every Green Day song ever written needs to be added to this list. Whiney voiced faux punk bands should have never been. Stop the madness.
I actually agree with you for once justin. The green day of now/simple plan/good charlotte bands honestly suck- nobody seems to see that.
Though I have to defend john mayer... dave matthews fake or not. He can actually sing & play the guitar well.
The only one I don't agree with is the Metallica choice, only because I love most of their other songs. Yeah, they bitched about Napster, but someone had to. Some people, such as yourself obviously, don't like listening to music that you have to listen to many times before you understand what it really means, such as "I disappear".
Good job on the rest of them though. I was waiting for someone to bash Kid Rock...
Probably your greatest column ever. I couldn't agree more with your number 1, DJ Kool. I want to pull my hair out every time that comes on and I see the whitest of the white go apeshit over the worst of rap.
Also, being from Montreal, I'm ashamed that Simple Plan is from here. Next time I see them at Super Sex I'm beating them to death with an 80 pound stripper.
Maybe Rhode Islanders from the burbs dont groove to anything but the trash that comes out of oakland beach does.
I rarely find a flaw in your columns, but the lack of "Mike Jones" references in this week's article is appalling.
i'm appalled by the lack of hilary duff references. yes, she has boobs...but can she sing? fuck no.
great stuff, and especially trying to decide what a "logistical reason" to leave something from the 90's out means. :-)
made me laugh.
The worst song ever is Hollaback girl followed by any Ciara song. Their songs are so fucking annoying.
YITBOS
justin you are absolutely hilarious. but you already knew that. casual misanthropy saves me from boredom when i'm stuck in the library for 6 hours writing papers; it also entertains me at 4 am when i am wasted and the last person to go to bed. i wish people like you wrote for my school newspaper because that shit is painfully dry, and not in the british humor sense. anyway, gotta love the whitney/mariah comments in the worst 10 songs of all time, except i wish you'd expanded the list. regardless that was delightful.
just because your jealous of john mayer doesnt mean you have to accuse him of having ovaries. Allthough he has lost respect in my eyes ever since he did a song with Kanye West. those two should have never mixed. that song should be on here. its the worst ive ever heard.
butterfly kisses is the cutest song in the history of the world
This could be your funniest column to date. I remember laughing at a few of the older ones harder, but I had to stop to catch my breath after the Mike Tyson reference.
And to whoever thinks otherwise, it really doesn't matter whether Hilary Duff can sing well or not, being who she is, is enough.
Hey, you forgot "Ignition" by R. Kelly. Lyrics, "Give me a toot toot, give me a beep beep" Wow, now thats insightful!
This list is awful. You reek of effort to creat "laughs" that never are there. You picked shit everyone would think of and threw it on here. Uncreative fuck. Hope you have a day job that doesn't include written word.
That was fantastic, and you are a remarkably talented writer for a 23 year old.
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN METALLICA IS A SHIT BAND!!!!
what the hell do you mean Metallica is a shit band!!! Yeah they made a bad call with teh whole downloading thing but that doesn;t mean that they are no longer the greatest metal band of all time! You need to get your head out of your ass and learn to appreciate good music when you hear it.
Thank god someone finally put Metallica in there place. Love the list....as number one I would have had "<b>anything by the Counting Crows</b>".
How about Ice Cube's deep, moving, lyrically-diverse "You can do it". While I generally used to respect Cube, could he have put any LESS time/effort into this "song". Terrible.
can't believe "my sharona" and "come out and play" weren't on the list, but otherwise, it was rather strong.
<b>"Butterfly Kisses and The Greatest Love of All"</b> are not among the worst songs ever, they are among the best. They are sentimental and men (real men), who don't need to prove it understand that. For those who don't , well <b>I am sorry that you can't get laid, but that;s not my fault.</b> Perhaps if you save up $1,000,000's you can go to nevada and get the cure. Till then stop trying to swim in the big pool, <b>it's for men only.</b>
The worst song in history has to be <b>Barbra Streisand's "The Island".</b> If I want to her Sexually explict lyrics, I wil listen to 2LiveCrew, they do it better because they are honest about it.
Horrible List. I could think of a hundred songs worse than any of these. You either lack soul or lost your ex to a guy that made a CD comprised of these songs... <i>but that would be assuming you ever had a gf in the first place</i>. By the way, Kanye West is a <b>VERY</b> talented artist.
since when did a couple angry musings and a bit of lowest-common-denomenator jokes start to pass for humor or wit? seriously, put the keyboard down... step away... and go back to doing what you do best, watching other people do something well and wishing you could too...
Well, I haven't been working on my top 10 worst webpages of all time, but I know one webpage that just made the list. Congrats to this shitty compilation, you are now part of the club. You said "Barbie Girl" was good, and then proceed to trash Metallica. I weep for you and everyone you are associated with. Good luck with your future as a janitor. (Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's honest work.)
yeah tell me which album of this has 12 metallica ballads. they had 2 out of 13 on reload....2 out of 14 on load....none on the most recent one no matter what you may think of it. 2 on the black album.....so I don't quite get where you're coming from. why make a hissy fit because someone doesnt like their music getting off for free? i still download music (and buy a whole lot as well) but they made an attempt...so what? get over it
Yo man, FUCK YOU. You are a huge fag. Let me clear my throat and say you are going to be the one needing to clear his throat after i debase your tonsils with my baby sauce. Also, based on your photo, you are officially the worst looking man in America. Thank you
<b>This shit is B-A-N-A-N-A-S...</b>
Yeah, you skipped past that one.
Nice. I disagree with some of the choices, but I like the humor behind it. It's interesting that topics come full circle on Gorillamask links too. Mine was back in March, but the post is still up in the archives...
http://www.theinnermonologue.com/2005/03/100-worst-songs.html
Good job on your list. I like that other people have the same hatred for bad music.
This is the worst of the worst top 10, either u don't know good music, or u just don't have any rhythym. Your just mad because these people are famous and makin money and ur sittin on ur ass makin fun of them. And let me clear my throat is a classic song, hmmm everyone dancing but u, mayb u just can't dance. Get a life and get a new car instead of an oldsmobile, and get outta ur parents basement, ass.
You, sir, are an idiot. I hate new metallica as much as the next guy, but hell I haven't heard any of those 12 ballads Metallica put out. Since you're so hardcore and you download illegal music (BADASS!!!!!!), why don't u send me those 12 ballads, I want to hear them. My email is fuckyou@cunt.com. Thanks!
What is this? Can any college kid with a computer bash bands that have overly paid their dues?
Metallica has paid their dues so much they are broke, and your going to bash 1 song in their huge catalog of music? That's weak. That's like bashing the Beatles during their "evolutions" (Mod to St. Pepper ring a bell?). T make a list like this requires music knowledge, the ONLY readers that are leaving positive comments are the ones that are laughing at your humor, which is very weak as well.
Another song that should not be on the list is "Bawitdaba", do you realize that the "Devil w/o a cause" album didn't sell for shit for about 10 months before that song came out? (I bet you didn't). AMERICA made the album "Diamond" after that song came out (That's 10,000,000 copies junior). The song may be old, but it does not qualify for this list. It was Kid Rock's "Smells like teen spirit" (I bet you don't know who sings that?!)
Stick to writing about things you know about like: trying to pick up chicks, banging your cock against chicks on the dancefloor to "Let me clear my throat", and your life and times while living in your parents attic.
By the way, you suck
Hey-before ya critque music, maybe you oughtta know something about it first.
"The Greatest Love of All" was a remake of a George Benson song. Not a Whitney Houston original.
Dolt.
Metallica a "shit band" you are really fukin dumb. Alot of people consider them the best band of all time. And you think those lyrics are stupid, why just because you cant understand them. Think next time you decide to make stupid ass comments like shit band. OK little guy.
This guys a frekin GEEK!
How could he forget that stupid Chumbawumba drinking song.
I'd take Whitney or Mariah over that f'n song any day.
Hahahaha, the thing about House of Pain made me laugh until my stomach hurt. Seriously, don't pay attention to the great deal of fuckwads posting here. That was hi-goddamn-larious. Though I think "Your Body is a Wonderland" would have been a more appropriate song to bash John Mayer for. I could never take him seriously after sitting through that one, modicum of talent on guitar or not.
OK, to start I am a huge Metallica fan. I have seen them in concert many times and met James at a baseball game in Cleveland after a concert. That being said, any Metallica song with a record scratch in it is pretty much the definition of crap. It's like my dad trying to be hip...not workin, pal. While I;m here: James...dude...I thought you were one of the best metal singers before you decided you need more legitimacy, or whatever you were shooting for in the last 3 or 4 records. Stick with what you do best.
You're not getting paid for this, are ya? Seriously, RELAX. :)
Kayne West blows? Seriously, I think you need to start opening up your closed mind and SHUT your open mouth.
Yea, and get that life we all crave for you!
Go Cubs!
(ps. I think I'm gay.)
jesus, it's suppsoed to be a FUNNY article, not an official guide to music.
you guys need to start sucking metallica's dick and stop hating on justin.
once upon a time i didn't agree with someone elses opinion. i didn't bitch about it either. yay.
Listen up justin just because they dont play the songs from your chess clubs at bars you dont have to get all pissed off....that DJ Kool song is all about the beat so maybe you should learn something and stop listening to your U2 crap...they were good but lately they suck .. so maybe you should redo this list
the worst fucking song in the world is my humps it is soooo repetitive and it has no point
Butterfly Kisses gave me brain cancer.
I hope im not the only one seeing the irony in all these comments...
PLEASE!!!
Well maybe u r right about some things but Simple Plan - Perfect?????
Come on it's one of the great songs i've ever heard!!!
and sure maybe if i wrote a song about my dad he'll do the same bus still some dads deserve it!!
anywaz every1 has his own opinion...
i love how ppl get worked up.....
three words: Mombo Number Five
Hey dan GET BIRD FLU
METALILICA SUCKS
Who do you think you are, Bob Blassie? At least he had the sense to stop 20 years ago.
I can't believe you didn't include "Don't Worry, Be Happy," by George Benson. I don't share your homophobia or phallus worship, but Benson is one of the few men in the world who can make you seem like Priapus. And the song itself is nothing but a bumper sticker set to something that's allegedly music, done in a gratuitous cariacture of a Jamaican accent.
I cant believe im saying this... but your song reviews are worse than your movie reviews... whitney houston... whitney houston is a musical GENIUS. and john mayer may not be your taste in music but he is the only one right now who can play blues proper.
one small thing i do agree with though is that the early ninetees were the golden age in music. Nirvana and Rage against the machine, pearl jam, revolutionized rock and brought alternative into the main stream. I hate the term "Grundge" though. I reallly do.
but that small agreement does not deminish how much I despise you child
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