The worst song of the 90s?

[Gerontophile]

The worst song of the 90s?

If its any consolation, I just watched every single second of that. I am no longer a masochist: too much pain.

What the fuck?

[Auntie Beryl]

The worst song of the 90s?

Zombie by the Cranberries is better than I Just Shot John Lennon by the Cranberries.

Rednex. Cotton Eye Joe.

Doop by Doop is indeed shit.

But you need to get to the end of the 90s to find the worst of it. 5 Westlife number ones.

[MsD]

The worst song of the 90s?

I didn't mind Jagged Little Pill altho I can't be bothered defending it. I didn't have it but my flatmate did and played it a lot. To call Ironic the worst song is a ridiculous exaggeration.

Joking about the song (when it was current) worked well enough, caring enough to write an analysis is a bit try-hard and suggests too much spare time and not enough humour. Not impressed.

[Sean of the Shed]

The worst song of the 90s?

In a decade that gave us Roxette, The Spice Girls, Bad Boys Inc., 2 Unlimited, PJ and Duncan, Peter Andre and Hanson to name but a few, the worst song of the 90s has to be Luther Vandross And Janet Jackson - The Best Things In Life Are Free containing the immortal lyrics:

I'm keepin' my heart open, and hopin' you won't stab me in it

and (from the rap in the middle)

A lot of bone structure, I can make it last
A minute to win it, I deep fill the past

and of course:

I know you are my baby, my one and only baby
You said it twice, I'll say it thrice my baby baby baby

Truly fucking awful.

[Valentino Mazzola]

The worst song of the 90s?

I don't agree with Roxette, I thought they had some well written pop tunes that were obviously designed to go top 10.

I think this thread is vindication for an argument that mainstream pop went south badly in the middle of the decade, and pretty much stayed there for the rest of it. This also goes for the Evening Session types, especially after Oasis.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The worst song of the 90s?

Me luverly wife bought Jagged Little Pill, before she met me of course. It was shortly after a difficult break-up with a previous long-time lover. And, I'm guessing, a lot of the people who bought it were women who had a similar experience around that time. It was an effective and handy aid to catharsis I reckon.

[Crystal Staples]

The worst song of the 90s?

I'm not a woman, but I bought it and it was.

Flat Beat by Mr Oizo, unless that's considered a novelty record in which case Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain.

[Freestyling buck wilding Stijn Stijnen]

The worst song of the 90s?

My first thought was that song that was apparently released by record execs out of sheer curiosity as to how well it'd do, and it made it to number 14.

Vanilla - No way no way

Not sure if that'd be classified as a novelty song, so I'll go with Zombie by the Cranberries until someone mentions something else.

You know when you get some vocalists remind you of somebody else, in a good way? The lady out of that band reminded me of Ian Paisley, in a bad way.

A female Ian Paisley, yes that's the one.

Singing in an accent has always had me reaching for the volume, the others off the top of my head are Cerys Mathews Welshing it right up, and she didn't always do it on her songs which was confirmation that it was put on.

And that lass out of the *shudder* Ting tings, giving it the cockney Eartha Kitt, although someone told me she was from Salford, which is not true or even more reason to think it's fucking ridiculous to sing like that.

[Freestyling buck wilding Stijn Stijnen]

The worst song of the 90s?

I take back the cranberries, I'm going with Frontier psychiatrist, add to that 'That don't impress me much', truly awful, cheaply made head-fuckery that drills into your skull due to the knocked-together in an afternoon production, written by a 12-year old lyrics and constant overplaying on the radio, with the song I mentioned being borderline misandry toward most of the male population masquerading as fun, so much enforced fun.

The kind of fun you would imagine a group of embittered divorcees would have at an ex-husband effigy burning party.

Good shout FP, but fucking hell what a cacophony, and I quite liked 'Still the one' as well.

Also, Alanis Morrisette isn't in the same galaxy as some of these songs mentioned.

I get that ironic isn't that ironic, but at least it doesn't annoy like other songs.

[George]

The worst song of the 90s?

Valentino Mazzola wrote:

I think this thread is vindication for an argument that mainstream pop went south badly in the middle of the decade, and pretty much stayed there for the rest of it. This also goes for the Evening Session types, especially after Oasis.

I'll go along with this. The last two years of the decade were deadly dull. The previous decade had gone the same way, what with the rise of SAW.

Flat Beat by Mr Oizo, unless that's considered a novelty record in which case Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain.

Novelty record? Maybe. Hateful (both of them)? Certainly.

[historyman]

The worst song of the 90s?

Tactictoe wrote:

Singing in an accent has always had me reaching for the volume, the others off the top of my head are Cerys Mathews Welshing it right up, and she didn't always do it on her songs which was confirmation that it was put on.

Have to disagree here - I thought Cerys Matthews was one of the few bright spots of the desperately dull fag end of the decade.

I mean Travis were huge, for fuck's sake.

But for the worst song of the '90s I nominate this for now. Take the DUP's favourite word of the '90s and then repeat it twelve - yes TWELVE times in a row over a bog standard dance beat and you have a massive Euro hit.

[G-Man]

The worst song of the 90s?

Sean of the Shed wrote:

In a decade that gave us Roxette, The Spice Girls, Bad Boys Inc., 2 Unlimited, PJ and Duncan, Peter Andre and Hanson to name but a few, the worst song of the 90s has to be Luther Vandross And Janet Jackson - The Best Things In Life Are Free

It's a good, bouncy pop song with lazy lyrics. Those are a dime a dozen. "The Best Things In Life Are Free" is by no stretch even a nominee for worst song of the year, never mind decade.

SotS also mentioned Spice Girls and Hansson. Of the latter, I know only "Mmm Bop". It's a very good pop song, no matter how annoying those kids were. I think "Wannabe" is great. I didn't think it then, but it's a great pop song. I don't have it on my iPod, but if I had, and it came on, I'd let it play.

I've not studied the Spice Girls catalogue in great detail, but what I remember ranges from good pop to lazy mediocrity. But nothing that approaches an absolute nadir.

[dalliance]

The worst song of the 90s?

I liked Mr Oizo's Flat Beat and the album it was on was excellent too.

[MsD]

The worst song of the 90s?

Amor de Cosmos wrote:

Me luverly wife bought Jagged Little Pill, before she met me of course. It was shortly after a difficult break-up with a previous long-time lover. And, I'm guessing, a lot of the people who bought it were women who had a similar experience around that time. It was an effective and handy aid to catharsis I reckon.

Well yes, I would think nearly all women have had a "difficult" break up, and although that song didn't apply to my situation at the time, it was refreshing to hear a woman being angry, feisty, vulgar and witty about it; and it does have a good tune/structure IMO.

It does get a bit wearing hearing women forever tearfully warbling their noble forgiveness and "wishing only the best" to men who have acted like cowardly little shits.

I love Diana Ross but she had a few songs like that e.g. "Remember Me" with its "don't let me hear about you shedding a tear" lyric. No wonder she started dating pianos.

[MsD]

The worst song of the 90s?

Oh, and I love The Best Things, such a happy song, and Luther is the embodiment of tunefulness on it, like a chubby brown bell.

[Wyatt Earp]

The worst song of the 90s?

Yeah, it's an odd article. I mean, what's its rationale?

[Freestyling buck wilding Stijn Stijnen]

The worst song of the 90s?

historyman wrote:

Tactictoe wrote:

Singing in an accent has always had me reaching for the volume, the others off the top of my head are Cerys Mathews Welshing it right up, and she didn't always do it on her songs which was confirmation that it was put on.

Have to disagree here - I thought Cerys Matthews was one of the few bright spots of the desperately dull fag end of the decade.

I mean Travis were huge, for fuck's sake.

Historyman, the music wasn't bad, well I say not bad I found it quite twee and forgettable, but that wasn't the point I was making, the point was why the put-on accent which mysteriously vanished once she went mainstream?

Muldurrrrr end Sculleeeeeee?

That was news to me.

Late 90's? DJ Shadow was knocking out some magical stuff that influenced Timbaland, you had Finley Quaye's very good debut album, Roni Size was winning the mercury prize with his high-grade take on drum & bass with newforms, green day released Nimrod in '97, and that's a few mentioned off the top of my head.

The good stuff was there, you just had to go looking for it, mind you hasn't that always been the case?

Can't argue with the comment about travis though.

[E10 Rifle]

The worst song of the 90s?

No Way No Way by Vanilla's a good shout. I mean it's almost a novelty record, almost a 'sassy girl' record, but it's so half-arsed and inept in trying to be either that it's worth a secondary vote.

Zombie is also worth a vote, but it doesn't feel like a typically Nineties record - you can file it away with those similarly dismal attempts to tackle Da Oirish Problem by Simple Minds and Spandau Ballet in the late 80s.

But while we're on the subject of the reactionary and tedious Limerick culchies, it should be said that I always thought Linger was a beautiful, evocative heartbreak song. And I still do, so help me God.

[Fussbudget]

The worst song of the 90s?

E10 beat me to it, I was just about to post that Linger is a lovely song.

Generally I don't think the Cranberries are anywhere near as bad musically as they're made out to be. I've heard their first three albums a few times as my sister was a massive fan, and while Dolores O'Riordan's voice can be pretty grating and I would never choose to listen to them (except for the aforementioned Linger) most of their songs are decent enough.

Zombie is fucking horrible, mind.

[MsD]

The worst song of the 90s?

Yeh, agree. She has a lovely voice when she just sings, instead of doing a Siouxsie (or whoever). Maybe they made a conscious decision to go from fey, pretty pop to bellowing stadium rock or maybe it just went that way. Or maybe she'd always fantasised about being a big shouty rocker instead of a sweet voiced girly. Who knows.

[laverte]

The worst song of the 90s?

I approve the nomination of The day we caught the train. The "worst song of the 90s" has to encapsulate the decade somehow, and OCS's portentous insular dadrock does that. There were worse records — Millennium prayer is the obvious one — but I can't think of any that were worse in a stereotypically 90s way. Perhaps there's a Stereophonics record that might be, but I've forgotten them all.

Blur are contenders, and my least favourite Blur song is Charmless man, which I think sums up their nasty, jeering mid-90s period.

Also, let me put in a word for Stiltskin's Inside, a piece of corporate soft-grunge that whirled around my head for about five years even though I hated it. Or something by the Lemonheads.

[Fussbudget]

The worst song of the 90s?

laverte wrote:

Perhaps there's a Stereophonics record that might be, but I've forgotten them all.

May I suggest More Life in a Tramps Vest? Not sure it beats Ocean Colour Scene but it's certainly up there in terms of awful clichéd dadrock, with the bonus of trite sub-Parklife lyrics.

[Come along, Min]

The worst song of the 90s?

MsD wrote:

I love Diana Ross but she had a few songs like that e.g. "Remember Me" with its "don't let me hear about you shedding a tear" lyric. No wonder she started dating pianos.

I know the remark was made in levity, and prefixed with an admission to loving Diana Ross, but I would take Remember Me (RIP Nick Ashford) as a song over anything and everything AM had ever done.

I would also argue that Remember Me contains better coping advice for those in the throws of a disintegrating relationship, btw has anyone crowbarred a long-face joke in here yet?.

Also love Luther/Janet, which is, a sweet, crafted garage charmer.

And I'll admit to being lured to the The Day We Caught The Train Camp, and to loving Linger, although in my mind, I always visualise her writing it after someone (perhaps a lover?) has done a persistently smelly fart.

Cant get the idea of Ian Paisley doing a wicked version of Linger out of my head either.

[MsD]

The worst song of the 90s?

It's not specifically a problem with the song Remember Me, it's just the relentlessly noble doormat sentiments of the majority of chick ballads; "hey, you've found someone new, well I'll try not to annoy you and will wait patiently in case you change your mind." It's refreshing when someone doesn't stand by her man so much as knee him in the bollocks (figuratively). I know it's only pop but I still think "Saving All My Love For You" sets a bad example to young gels, and fat good it did Whitney.

I do indeed love Ms Ross, I just wished she'd shown in her music some of the attitude she'd shown at airport security that time.

"Caught Out Now" by Kelis and "You Oughtta Know" are kinda cathartic as Mr Cosmos suggests. Anger is an energy ..

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

The worst song of the 90s?

parklife/country house/charmless man/girls and boys made me want to start killing english people in the hope that i'd eventually get around to killing blur (coz i couldn't bring myself to remember what they looked like) I don't think you can try and be the kinks, and consume all that cocaine. you need the use of a clear brain for at least as long as it takes to write the song.

Mr Blobby can't be excluded from this discussion by deftly calling him a novelty record. he was a christmas no. 1. He had two or three theme parks, and was a national phenomenon, and in reality was the single greatest english cultural figure of the early nineties. It's sad but its true.

but surely nothing can be lamer than robbie williams' breakout individual single Faith 95,

and I can't believe that anyone could highlight a cranberries song when These little honeys had four consecutive uk no.1's and sold 3 million albums.