When I think of “songs I never need to hear again,” I don’t necessarily mean songs I absolutely can’t stand. I do my best to avoid hearing those already, unless they happen to be on my husband’s playlists (I am in the car listening to you under duress, “A Horse With No Name”). There are other songs that I don’t actively despise, but in close to 35 years of paying attention to music, I have heard them so many times I just wouldn’t miss them if I never heard them again.
A sizable number of the songs that fall into this category for me are considered “classic rock,” but don’t take that to mean I’m not a classic-rock fan in general. I grew up on a lot of that music in the 1970’s and early ’80’s, and many of those songs are lifetime favorites that I’ve internalized – in a good way. But there are some songs that are just plain tired to me, and I’m tired of them. I have heard them enough times – or far more than enough – to last me the rest of my life. They can go away any time as far as I’m concerned, but they probably won’t.
Before I start my list – which will probably not turn out to be comprehensive or definitive – I would like to apologize publicly to my husband if he’s learning of my feelings on some of these songs for the first time via this post, and hope he will not be shocked by them. I honestly can’t remember which ones have come up in conversation and which haven’t during the last five and a half years.
Pretty much anything by the Doors: As a 1970’s/early ’80’s teen, I went through a period of fascination with the ’60’s and what I’d “missed” by not being born ten years earlier; some degree of fascination with the Doors was part of that phase. (And I knew a guy whose aunt had supposedly dated Jim Morrison…) But I’ve been over that for quite some time, and now their music sounds just sounds really dated to me, so I’m pretty well over it, too.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen: A song I can live without by a band I mostly like. It’s probably more popular now than it was originally, thanks to that second life it got from Wayne’s World (almost 20 years ago now!), but sadly, it’s much less popular with me personally.
“Life in the Fast Lane” by the Eagles: A song I have been sick of for years, but again, it’s by a band I like. The Eagles were the first band whose entire album catalog I owned (back in high school, on vinyl), but this song was never a favorite.
“Hollywood Nights” by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band: Come to think of it, this song covers similar ground to “Life in the Fast Lane.” Maybe that’s why I have similar feelings about it.
“Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd: My Southerner card is about to be revoked for this one, but so be it…
“Walk This Way” and “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” by Aerosmith: I’ll wait here. You can walk that way with that dude if you like, though.
I was curious about what songs other people might feel this way about, and I’d like to thank everyone who filled out the little survey I had posted here for about a week. Y’all knew I’d be sharing your responses, right? I love audience participation!
Harriet M. Welsch @ Spynotes and Bermudaonion (Kathy) : “The Macarena” (Are they still playing this one at wedding receptions? WHY?)
Jen @ The Introverted Reader: “Hit the Road, Jack” by Ray Charles
Amused (Leah) @ Amused by Books: “You’ve Had a Bad Day,” by Daniel Powter
Word Lily (Hannah): The “Wicked Witch Theme” from The Wizard of Oz
Literary Feline (Wendy) @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty: “I’m on Fire” by Bruce Springsteen (like some of my choices, a song she can’t stand from an artist she otherwise likes)
@RamsesTMagnum: “Fish Heads” by Barnes and Barnes (…and I admit, sometimes I will start singing this just to annoy him! But thanks for doing the survey and making it official, honey – I know you could have just told me.)
Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric: “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baha Men
Molly @ My Cozy Book Nook and Sassymonkey: “It’s a Small World” (one of the worst earworms of all time, seriously!)
Michelle @ That’s What She Read: “Mickey” by Toni Basil (also on my “embarrassing favorites” list, I’m embarrassed to say!)
Jeanne @ Necromancy Never Pays: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (The fact that this song is performed completely a cappella by one person is kind of impressive to me. Too bad the song itself is so, well…)
Mike @ Everything Under the Sun: “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” the Guns’n’Roses cover (No argument from me. I don’t love Bob Dylan’s original either, but Warren Zevon’s version – from his last album, recorded shortly before he died of lung cancer – is pretty good, if mildly ironic.)
Suey @ It’s All About Books: “Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band
Swapna @ S. Krishna’s Books: “Mambo No. 5” by Lou Bega
Chris @ Chrisbookarama: “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield (“Stick a fork in it…” she said)
@coffeelvnmom: Anything by the Black Eyed Peas
@PopandIce: “Thriller” by Michael Jackson
@jfaustus: “We Built This City” by Starship
Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness: Anything by Ke$ha (lucky me – I don’t know anything by Ke$ha)
The survey’s not up any more, but I’m still curious: what song(s) are you so sick of you’d be happy if you never heard it again? (And if you missed yesterday’s “songs you never get tired of hearing,” go and weigh in on that too!)
