The Worst Songs of All Time?

As the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I might add that one man's song is another man's noise. CNN recently conducted an online poll of its users as to what they consider the worst songs of all time. And, as might be expected, there was no shortage of nominees for the title.

As to what made CNN's list of the five worst songs of all time, well, here they are: 5. "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks; 4. "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene; 3. "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone; 2. "Muskrat Love" by The Captain and Tenille; and 1. "(You're) Having My Baby" by Paul Anka. I must admit that I am surprised by the results. It's not that I consider any of these songs could be good by any stretch of the imagination. Indeed, I would say every one of these songs are bad. That having been said, I am not sure that I would say they are the worst songs of all time.

Of course, I am not sure if I were to make a list of the worst songs of all time which songs would make my top five, but I can think of many contenders. "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus would certainly rank up there. I hate country as it is and this song is bad even by country standards. "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent also grates on my nerves. Rather than a song from a Broadway musical, it sounds more like Muzak to me. And then there is "The Macarena," Los Del Rios's hit which sparked a dance craze as well. I hated both the song and the dance. As to "Feelings" by Morris Albert, I think it goes without saying that it is one of the worst songs of all time. And don't get me started about "We Built This City" by Starship....

Having said all this, in all fairness, I must admit that if I were to create a list of the worst songs of all time, it would certainly show a bias against certain genres. I have said in this blog that I hate both rap and country. As a result any list of the worst songs of all time I would make would probably feature songs that rap and country fans would consider classics. I must admit that if I go without hearing "I'm Not Lisa" by Jessi Colter or "My Name Is" by Eminem ever again, I'll be very happy.

This brings me to something else surprising about CNN's online poll--some songs widely considered classics recieved votes. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens, "Leader of the Pack" by The Shangri-Las, and "Hey, Jude" by The Beatles all got nominations! I suppose this is proof positive that one man's song is another man's noise. I personally like all three songs.

Regardless of what I think, I am sure that many of my favourite songs are counted among the worst songs by someone else out there. And I have no doubt that some of the songs I count among the worst are someone else's favourite songs....