Posted on 05/23/2006 11:11:37 AM PDT by pissant
The world is full of bad songs and horrific singer-songwriters. Just tune in to any radio station, be it country, top 40, "classic rock", or alternative and you are bound to have your ears offended in short order.
But there is NOTHING more irritating than hearing some lunatic, left-winger try to elevate the pop song into some kind of overt, intellectual commentary on the evils of America or the glory of being a hippie. Sure, some artists managed to cut a decent song. I still like the Mommas and the Poppas "California Dreaming", for example. But the whole genre wreaks to high heaven.
The List:
7. We are the World -- Various Artists. An utterly hideous attempt to feed starving Biafrins. If these idiots would have just given the money it took to assemble, to produce, and advertise this turd and donated it to the charity, it would have saved us alot of misery.
6. White Bird -- It's a Beautiful Day. Sappiness, your name is White Bird. Don't even know what the song is about exactly. I turn the station too fast.
5. Sky Pilot -- Eric Burden and the Animals. While I generally liked this band, this song is unlistenable, and unintelligible.
4. What's Goin On -- Marvin Gaye. In my estimation, this was the beginning of the downfall for a talented Motown star. It was apparent that he had no clue of "what's goin on".
3. Big Yellow Taxi -- Joni Mitchell. I liked Joni's early, breezy brand of folk pop. Her album Blue is still likable. The problem is not the tune here, it's the insipid lyrics. Uhg.
2. Eve of Destruction -- Barry McGuire. Complete idiocy. Apparently influenced Algore and John Kerry. Apparently that was a long "eve" he was carterwauling about.
1. Imagine -- John Lennon. This was proof to me that Paul McCartney was the real talent in the Beatles.
Little Steven's "Sun City" at least had a catchy melody and beat.
"War! Ugh. Good God. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing"
is in its own category. That must be why it's not on this list.
SD
I don't have any idea. But I thought it was about race relations. It's been 20 years since I heard it and I always lump it in with The Year 2525 since they were both advertised on K-Tel's commercial for the Sounds of the Sixties. ;o)
S & G wrote some incredibly cheesy songs, those being but two. As for Dylan's Hard Rain, it's a masterpiece.
Thank you for the (multiple) corrections. LOL
They look like corpses now. though Mary is a plump one.
I tried to limit it to music. ROFL!
As I said earlier in another thread,95% of my favorite songs were released in the 50's and 60's.I love a lot of things put out in the 60's that was widely seen as being political.I just see these songs as music.If it "rings my bell",I like it.
I've been a Republican for some time,but I *still* love stuff from the 60's (including...*gasp*...Joan Baez) not because of the message but simply...well,just "because".
BTW,my Republican nephew is constantly ragging me over my taste in music,including my liking of Joan Baez.
Who was the guy that did the song "War" in the 60s?
Prednisone treatment for leukemia will do that to you. :/
If I had knwn about your fondness for her, I'd have been giving you crap too. To be fair, she at least recognized true greatness, since she hung around Dylan.
Exactly.
Needs work though.
Yes, absolutely nothing, except halting the Holocaust, liberating Europe, China, the Phillipines, etc., etc....
I had no idea. I thought it was the cream puffs.
I don't know. But I can't stand it. Springsteen's version is even worse.
This was the suckiest song that I ever heard period. Just thinking about it still makes my stomach queasy.
Artist: Paper Lace
Song: Billy, Don't Be a Hero
The marchin' band came down along Main Street
The soldier-blues fell in behind
I looked across and there I saw Billy
Waiting to go and join the line
And with her head upon his shoulder
His young and lovely fiancee
From where I stood, I saw she was cryin'
And through her tears I heard her say
"Billy, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life"
"Billy, don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife"
And as he started to go she said "Billy, keep your head lo-o-ow"
"Billy, don't be a hero, come back to me"
The soldier-blues were trapped on a hillside
The battle raging all around
The sergeant cried "We've got to hang on, boys"
"We got to hold this piece a'ground"
"I need a volunteer to ride up"
"And bring us back some extra men"
And Billy's hand was up in a moment
Forgettin' all the words she said
She said
"Billy, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life"
"Billy, don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife"
And as he started to go she said "Billy, keep your head lo-o-ow"
"Billy, don't be a hero, come back to me"
I heard his fiancee got a letter
That told how Billy died that day
The letter said that he was a hero
She should be proud he died that way
I heard she threw that letter away
That is a HIDEOUS song, without a doubt. Didn't they also do The Night Chicago Died?
She's not my favorite by any means.She couldn't hold a candle to,say,Judy Collins in her early days.And as for Dylan,my understanding is that she did a lot more than "hang around" with him...if ya catch my drift.
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