Stupidest song you ever heard.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 01:01 AM

Spoken like a true grinch, anonymous GUEST.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:22 PM

Any Christmas carol

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Tangledwood
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 05:31 PM

"Actually as a result of changes in the English language over many generations it is what "Fa la la la la la la la la" became - and we *all* know what that means (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) "


Although there are definite similarities in the story it isn't generally recognised that they are the same song. Your example is believed to have originated in Wales - "Ffa Lla Lla Lla Lla Lla Lla Lla Lla boyo" which of course gives it a subtle difference in meaning. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Willie-O
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 01:40 PM

If you look up Bobbie Gentry's story, you'll find that she was far from "some red-neck ignoranus(dumb-ass)". She did grow up poor in Mississippi, but moved to California at 13 and majored in philosophy at UCLA. Ode To Billie Joe was made into a movie in the 70's--don't you want to know (this is what the kids call a "spoiler", but a little late):   "In the movie, the mystery of the title character's suicide is revealed as a part of the conflict between his love for Bobbie Lee Hartley and his emerging homosexuality."

Ode To Billy Joe was certainly her biggest success, but she did have a number of charted songs, mostly covers, in a career that lasted till she retired from performing in 1978. She is also quoted in Wiki as saying (about her 1970 song and album "Fancy"): " 'Fancy' is my strongest statement for women's lib, if you really listen to it. I agree wholeheartedly with that movement and all the serious issues that they stand for — equality, equal pay, day care centers, and abortion rights."

So to sum up, she was from Mississippi and sure had big hair, but don't underestimate her.   

W-O

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:25 PM

"Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" regardless of who sings it.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:14 PM

Yes, and it's all based on someone's primitive idea of how he can supposedly reap the most profits by attracting the most listeners.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Tootler
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:51 AM

Quote - Little Hawk

You know what the real problem is? Commercial mass marketing, that's what. It is mass marketing of music via radio and TV that pummels us to boredom and distraction with some really bad songs...and some really good ones too...by overplaying them to the saturation point and beyond while completely ignoring the other thousands of fine songs they could be playing for us if they had a single gram of imagination or artistic sense in their money-addled brains and their cold, empty hearts.

Too much repetition can ruin anything.

You are so right. It is the reason behind the tyranny of the playlist which means that DJs/presenters have little or no control over what is played and are not permitted to exercise their judgment.

One of the reasons that John Peel in the UK was such a good DJ was that he refused to submit to the tyranny of the playlist.

OTOH the tyranny of the playlist is one of the reasons why Mike Harding's folk music programme on R2 (UK) is so unadventurous.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 11:25 AM

The Pina Colada song is a strong contender, for sure. Other than being just a whimsical bit of fluff, it's a cheap shot at things like health food, yoga, veggie-burgers, and other worthwhile stuff like that that Mr Joe-Average in the song is just WAY too cool and "normal" to ever want to engage in....

Somebody oughta strap that boy down and shove tofu down his gullet, I say! ;-)

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: michaelr
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 09:02 PM

The Pina Colada Song!

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 08:57 PM

You know what the real problem is? Commercial mass marketing, that's what. It is mass marketing of music via radio and TV that pummels us to boredom and distraction with some really bad songs...and some really good ones too...by overplaying them to the saturation point and beyond while completely ignoring the other thousands of fine songs they could be playing for us if they had a single gram of imagination or artistic sense in their money-addled brains and their cold, empty hearts.

Too much repetition can ruin anything.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:38 PM

I agree about Ode To Billie Joe.   It seems like a very true-to-life portrait of an ordinary southern low-income rural family and how they might respond to an event like Billie Joe jumping off the Tallahatchie Bridge. (The song kind of reminds me of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life.")

As I said earlier in this thread, there's a difference between a song being really bad and one just being played over and over till people get sick of it. "Jingle Bells" is a fine old song, but I'm already sick of it for this Christmas season, and we have 2 more weeks to go. LOL

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 06:55 PM

I retract everything I said about "Billy Joe" and, by extension, Bobbie Gentry. Dylan made a good point. I hope she has had a happy life after the limelight faded. The point about "one hit wonders" getting played to death harks back well into the 1950's. What creates a new idol often overexposes and destroys it soon afterward.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:54 PM

I think that "Ode To Billy Joe" was actually a very well-crafted and well-performed song, but what happened to it was what happens to many such songs.....it got played WAY too many times on the radio until a lot of people got heartily sick of it.

Bobbie Gentrie did very well with that song and got on TV quite a bit because of it. Her good looks definitely helped in that regard.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 02:03 PM

I'm including two stupid songs just because I genuinely love them.
The first with Hoagy - She's a mile wide...!
The second a grand description of just the way things are: Triangle wins.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:22 PM

That would be "Ode To Billy Joe"

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: PoppaGator
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 01:16 PM

TJ, I too got sick of that song back when it was on the radio all day every day.

Imagine my surprise many years later when I read that Bob Dylan described it as a great achievement in songwriting and one of his all-time favorites!

After reading his praise for the imagery, particularly in creating the setting of the family gathered around the table, and the irony of such chatter as "pass the biscuits, please" while discussing the death of a person the parents would prefer not to think about, I had to rethink my opinion of the song.

The artist (who did write it as well as sing it on the hit record) was named Bobbie Gentry. I don't recall the title, though...

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 12:43 PM

One I have not (mercifully) heard in a long while was written by some red-neck ignoranus(dumb-ass)about Billy Joe McAllister Jumping Off the Tallahatchee Bridge. Come to think of it, I believe a young lady wrote it - the name escapes me. I think her hair was longer than her career...

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 11:43 PM

So right, Toodler! *g*

One of the dumbest songs - yet sort of clever in a weird way - was "Incense, Peppermints."
The band that recorded it put together the lyrics just by going to a rhyming dictionary and using a bunch of words that were listed together because they sort of sounded alike. Total nonsense, but it became a hit.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST,Bill the sound
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 08:13 PM

Sospan Fach never made any sense to me -it's too silly to translate.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Tootler
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 06:06 PM

"I wish somebody would tell me what "Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo" means..."

It's a rather loose English translation of the original Gaelic "Well shirigim duraham da wack fall the daddy oh"

Actually as a result of changes in the English language over many generations it is what "Fa la la la la la la la la" became - and we *all* know what that means (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Tangledwood
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 05:44 PM

Sorry, Guest was me . . .another cookie eaten.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 05:42 PM

"I wish somebody would tell me what "Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo" means..."


It's a rather loose English translation of the original Gaelic "Well shirigim duraham da wack fall the daddy oh"

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Tootler
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 11:41 AM

Those awful sweetheart dies in tragic circumstances songs of which "Tell Laura I love her" and "Ebony Eyes" were prime examples.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 11:26 AM

MacAurthur Park.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST,goodnight gracie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 10:27 AM

Love Shack

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: bankley
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 09:39 AM

'Achey Breaky Heart' as sung by Hannah Montana's father, Bill Ray Cyrus

'tho it was a big line dancing hit..

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 07:10 AM

...............& more http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYo4KTzFi4 eat your heart out Chongo!!

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 07:05 AM

Another gem here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq6TRf2iMbI

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 01:14 AM

Righto. I didn't know for sure who wrote it...but assumed that Manilow did.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 11:52 PM

Little Hawk, you beat me to the punch, clarifying who the "I" is in "I Write The Songs."

I'm not crazy about the song itself, but I think the concept is fine.

However, Barry Manilow did not write the song "I Write The Songs."

That would be Bruce Johnston.

Genie

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: JedMarum
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 11:40 PM

... but I don;t like stupid songs!

;-)

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Cluin
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 09:07 PM

Yes. As usual around here, the definition has been stretched beyond all recognizability.

It was supposed to be about stupid songs, not songs you don't like.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 08:56 PM

The phrase "singin' Dow Wah Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Dum" does not refer to anything being sung by any of the characters IN the song (the girl and the guy). It simply provides a singable, repetitive, strongly rhythmic phrase in much the same way as....

"Fa la la la laaaa, la la laaaa la"

or

"How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now...."


The purposes of such phrases in songs (whether or not they mean anything) is to provide a rhythmic section that an audience can sing along with. They can be absolutely meaningless...such as "Fa la la la la" or "Hi, Ho, the Derry-O"...or they can have meaning, such as the line from the Stan Rogers song.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Acorn4
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 08:01 PM

..and "Windmills of your Mind" of course - totally meaningless garbage - Jeremy Taylor used to do a wonderful parody!

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Acorn4
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 07:46 PM

...and I think we should exclude c/w from this thread as it has an unfair advantage in the crap stakes!

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Acorn4
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 07:45 PM

If we include country music then we enter a different dimension of awfulness:-

"Little Rosa" by Red Sovine

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: evansakes
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 07:21 PM

Georgiansilver said

"There she was just a walking down the street,
Singing "Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo"

Have you ever heard anyone walking down the street singing those words.... even after the song came out???? "

I agree.

It's a great big mystery (and it sure is worrying me). I wish somebody would tell me what "Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo" means...

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 07:13 PM

"Surfin' Bird", no doubt about it. Its only redeeming feature is that it was used in the movie Pink Flamingos.

It was a pretty good choice as a song for a guy to "lip synch" with his asshole.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 06:35 PM

Poppa Gator - I have to agree with you that "I Write The Songs" is definitely one of the more annoying songs I have ever heard....but...you are doing Barry Manilow an injustice, and I'll explain why.

Here are the lyrics of that song:

I've been alive forever,
And I wrote the very first song.
I put the words and the melodies together,
I am Music,
And I write the songs.

I write the songs that make the whole world sing.
I write the songs of love and special things.
I write the songs that make the young girls cry.
I write the songs, I write the songs.

My home lies deep within you,
And I've got my own place in your SOUL,
Now, when I look out through your eyes,
I'm young again, even though I'm very old.

Chorus

Oh my music makes you dance
And gives you spirit to take a chance,
And I wrote some rock 'n' roll so you can move.
Music fills your heart,
Well, that's a real fine place to start.
It's from me, it's for you,
It's from you, it's for me,
It's a worldwide symphony.

Chorus x2

I am Music, and I write the songs.

*******


Now...Barry is not saying that he himself has been alive forever. He is saying that Music itself has been alive forever. He is saying that Music itself is what writes ALL the songs (doing so through the many human beings who put pen to paper and serve as scribes and voices and players for Music itself).

That's actually a rather interesting concept that Barry Manilow is dealing with there, giving voice in song to an eternal muse, Music itself, which inspires all people in all times and places and serves as the originator of every song.

That's a pretty cool idea!

The reason the song is annoying, despite the coolness of the idea it's based upon, is due to Barry Manilow's particular style and delivery, I think, not to any fault in his creative concept. He has a style and delivery which most folkies and rockers can't stand.

Where you are doing him an injustice is that you assume he is saying that Barry Manilow himself "writes the songs the whole world sings", etc....   He is not saying that. He is saying that Music itself, as a grand eternal muse, is writing the songs. He is just the individual singer who is giving that idea a voice, in this case, by writing a song honoring the spirit of Music.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 06:34 PM

Now, we are faced with another conundrum; what's the difference between "stupid songs" and "nonsense songs?" "A Horse Named Bill," which was collected, I believe, by none other than Carl Sandburg, falls into the latter category, according to many. There's a grand tradition of the ludicrous in music.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 05:48 PM

Now, there are some pretty awful 'country' songs....as in "Bobby Broke My Heart at Walgreens, and I Cried All the Way to Sears"

The stupidest, of course, are the ones which TRY to be poignant and serious, and come off as maudlin and syrupy and dumb....and sound like they were written stream-of-conciousness in 15 minutes.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: PoppaGator
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 05:29 PM

Excellent nomination, Jed.

All those Manilow songs can be pretty hard to take, but the one where he credits himself as "the" writer of songs is absolutley obnoxious.

Songs that "the whole world sings," no less!

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: JedMarum
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 05:09 PM

I gotta agree that Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" really was pretty f*cking dreadful, but to me the stupidest and most annoying song ever has to be Barry Manilow's, I Write the Songs. I could be prejudiced, I guess. I find everything about Barry's music annoying.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 05:03 PM

Oh, and, Bubblyrat, it's "Ossenfeffer," not "Hossenpfeffer" or "Hasenpfeffer."

Thinking of novelty songs (such as that one), I'd say probably the stupidest "novelty song" I've ever heard is the one Sylvia Sims recorded: "English Muffins And Irish Stew."
The chorus says "You'd never think they go together but they certainly do: the combination of English muffins and Irish stew."

1) Why on earth would anyone think they WOULDN'T go together?
2) If they do, who cares?

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 04:56 PM

I think a distinction might be drawn between "silly songs" and "stupid songs."
I kind of like the former.   To me, "stupid songs" are ones that reveal more, well, ignorance or stupidity than fancy or whimsy."

Probably the silliest song I've ever heard is "A Horse Named Bill."   Which is why it's fun.

Genie

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Genie
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 04:53 PM

Big Blue Frog isn't so much a novelty song (nor do I think it a stupid song) as a bit of satire aimed at racism (specifically, making fun of people who foresee all sorts of horrible results from interracial marriage).   Kind of like the Smothers Brothers' "Crabs Walk Sideways."

G

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Cluin
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 04:53 PM

Google "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy.


`nuff said.

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: PoppaGator
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 04:39 PM

As I recall, "Jimmy Brown" or "Three Bells" was recorded by The Browns, a Nashville act who were actually members of a family named Brown. A corny-enough song to my taste, but not nearly the stupidist ever.

One truly awful song that I don't remember ever hearing in full myself, but with which David Letterman has gotten many laughs recently just by repeatedly playing a brief excerpt, is something recorded by Jose Feliciano: "Old Turkey Buzzard."

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 04:35 PM

I'll play Suzanne for you when next we meet, dick. ;-) I think it's a lovely song that got damaged mostly simply by being covered way too often by way too many earnest young folksingers.

The first time one heard it, though, it was lovely. Fast forward ten years, by which time you've heard it at least 80,000 times, and mostly by people who gave it a rather callow and unconvincing rendition...and you could get quite fed up with it. As they say, "familiarity breeds contempt".

Subject: RE: Stupidest song you ever heard.
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 05 Dec 08 - 03:59 PM

To Acorn 4:

Not as a contradiction, but a matter of historic interest, the original piece on which the "Jimmy Brown" song was based was performed and recorded by an esteemed French vocal group called Les Compagnons de Chansons. An all male octet, they were formed in 1946 and became known world wide as contemporaries of Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf. The song was called "Les Tres Cloches," or "The Three Bells." The harmonies in the original were beautifully done.