Songs You Hated, But Were Huge Hits

[tim]

Mar 24, 2014 15:36:34 GMT -5 Andy said:

Carrie Underwood - Undo It, Cowboy Casanova, Good Girl (be gentle Carrie fans... I like songs like "Wasted" and "Two Black Cadillacs" just fine)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stand the songs above. I find "Undo It" to be a horrid song all around. I thought Carrie made a huge mistake with this song. To this day I hit switch on the radio the instant I hear it come on.

The one song that always comes to mind that I really, really loathe is "Brand New Girlfriend" by Steve Holy. I mean, the chorus spews out "Playin' kissy-kissy smoochy-smoochy, talkin' mooshy-mooshy 'bout nothin." Enough said. How or why that ever became a hit at country radio is beyond me.

Tim has a lot of songs on my strongly disdain list, including but not limited to "Lookin' For That Girl," "Truck Yeah," "Southern Girl," "Something Like That," "I Like It, I Love It," and the way overplayed "Don't Take The Girl." And yet, Tim still has a lot of songs that I consider great. He's very hit or miss (more on the miss side as of late).

I also have to agree with Andy on "I'll Go On Loving You." Alan's vocals give off a mystique that intertwines with strings and a fiddle and steel guitar that hides in the background. It just all comes together on this one for me.

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 24, 2014 23:01:42 GMT -5 tim said:

The one song that always comes to mind that I really, really loathe is "Brand New Girlfriend" by Steve Holy. I mean, the chorus spews out "Playin' kissy-kissy smoochy-smoochy, talkin' mooshy-mooshy 'bout nothin." Enough said. How or why that ever became a hit at country radio is beyond me.

Oh yeah, that song is just horrid. Count me right there with you on that one. I've never liked his voice, so I don't really care for anything else he's ever released, and I'm sure if he wasn't on Curb he wouldn't even still be around at all, but that one is in a class of its own.

[Old Fart In NC]

Mar 24, 2014 15:03:55 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Wasn't the biggest fan of "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" either. Now I'm sure there will be problems. ;)

Interesting that you mention this on the 30th anniversary (to the exact day) of its ascending to #1. :)

[rjz]

Don't want to be too negative so tried to think of my quintessential #1 I hated.

I guess hands down "That's My Kind of Night"

I blame Luke (not FlGAL) for the whole bro thing; I think he started coming up with repetitive, lazy lyric danceable party fluff a couple of years ago to start the trend-although I know plenty like Jason Aldean, and all the current ball cap wearers have jumped on that train.

[carriekins]

There are so many in the past few years - That's My Kinda Night, Country Girl (Shake it For Me), literally anything by FGL - literally, Gotta Get Me Some of That, Drink To That All Night, Bottom's Up (actually anything by Brantley minus You Don't Know Her Like I Do), most of Blake's recent catalog but most notably Boys Round Here and Honey Bee (dieeeeeeeeeee)... Not a fan of Cowboy Casanova and Undo It, though I by and large am a fan of Carrie's (and love Good Girl?). Oh, man, Fastest Girl in Town - station changer! Everybody loved Eric's Like Jesus Does and I thought it was a snoozefest. And pretty much anything by David Nail bores me. Sorry. Oh, and, uh, Wagon Wheel. I enjoyed it the first 100 times I heard it. It will likely be years before I can listen to it again without wanting to scream.

Taking it back a few years, I really don't like Redneck Woman and ... Friends in Low Places. If I never, ever, EVER heard those two songs again I could be perfectly happy.

There are really too many for me to name. I keep thinking of a list and just adding to it in my head, haha... I could be here for hours.

[layne]

At the top of my list is Pontoon, That's My Kind of Night, Over You, Drink A Beer. Over You and Drink a Beer are station changers for me. Neither of them are sincere imo and the voices of both songs are horrible.

[drummerman2009]

Brad Paisley's "Little Moments" when it first came out and afterwards just didn't do it with me. It felt over the top with the arrangements and Brad singing in a higher key than usual.

[rgreen0625]

Tim McGraw- "Last Dollar (Fly Away)"

ZBB- "Chicken Fried"

Brad Paisley- "Old Alabama"

Sugarland- "Stuck Like Glue"

Toby Keith- "Red Solo Cup"

[Andy]

Mar 24, 2014 23:01:42 GMT -5 tim said:

Tim has a lot of songs on my strongly disdain list, including but not limited to "Lookin' For That Girl," "Truck Yeah," "Southern Girl," "Something Like That," "I Like It, I Love It," and the way overplayed "Don't Take The Girl." And yet, Tim still has a lot of songs that I consider great. He's very hit or miss (more on the miss side as of late).

I haven't heard the four songs on your list, which something tells me I should be thankful for (although I did attempt to listen to "Truck Yeah" once, but had to turn it off after about 30 seconds... *shudder*). The latter three I enjoy though, if only out of nostalgia. "Don't Take the Girl" was one of the songs that I thought was amazing when I was eleven, but now seems excessively sentimental. I can still enjoy it in the right frame of mind, though. I totally agree that Tim's music tends to either be horrible or amazing - almost as bad as Trace Adkins.

I can't believe I forgot about "Brand New Girlfriend." I admit the song is mildly amusing the first time your hear it (it seems to be a typical sad breakup song at first until the "twist" occurs), but it has a shelf life of maybe one listen, and the chorus gets real grating real quick. Country radio played the hell out of it in 2006. It was like being told the same moderately funny joke over and over again.

Mar 25, 2014 9:24:05 GMT -5 carriekins said:

There are so many in the past few years - That's My Kinda Night, Country Girl (Shake it For Me), literally anything by FGL - literally, Gotta Get Me Some of That, Drink To That All Night, Bottom's Up (actually anything by Brantley minus You Don't Know Her Like I Do), most of Blake's recent catalog but most notably Boys Round Here and Honey Bee (dieeeeeeeeeee)... Not a fan of Cowboy Casanova and Undo It, though I by and large am a fan of Carrie's (and love Good Girl?). Oh, man, Fastest Girl in Town - station changer! Everybody loved Eric's Like Jesus Does and I thought it was a snoozefest. And pretty much anything by David Nail bores me. Sorry. Oh, and, uh, Wagon Wheel. I enjoyed it the first 100 times I heard it. It will likely be years before I can listen to it again without wanting to scream.

Taking it back a few years, I really don't like Redneck Woman and ... Friends in Low Places. If I never, ever, EVER heard those two songs again I could be perfectly happy.

"Like Jesus Does" is alright with me, but I otherwise agree with all your points. Re: "Fastest Girl in Town": we get it, Miranda, you're a badass country girl who's not to be messed with. Great. Easily the worst track on her last album.

I've actually grown tired of all of Garth's megahits (Friends, The Dance, Rodeo, Thunder Rolls). Not to say those songs aren't good or great, but they've just been beaten into the ground. When it comes to Garth, my favorite songs tend to be less-remembered singles like "Wild Horses" and "She's Gonna Make It" or killer album cuts like "Alabama Clay", "New Way to Fly", and "Pushing Up Daisies."

[sabre14]

^ I must admit that I do enjoy "Brand New Girlfriend". I know it's a stupid song that I should not like but I do. Embarrassing I know.

The one thing though that makes me angry is that his previous two singles were way, and I mean way better with "Go Home", and "It's My Time (Waste It If I Want To)". But of course the one that many don't like is the one that becomes his once every 5 years hit.

[gonecountry]

Great thread! My songs are as follows and these are by artists I typically really enjoy, so if there is an artist I just don't flat out enjoy anything by, I left them off the list:

Blake Shelton - Drink on It and Over. (Was this really the Blake I knew and loved - i.e. Playboys of the Southwestern World and The More I Drink?? An occasional ballad is one thing but the singles output from this entire album was so "soft and safe". When Honey Bee (which I liked) has the most gusto of your single releases, "Houston we have a problem")
Miranda Lambert - Baggage Claim and Over You (When I love Miranda, I really love her - e.g. Kerosene, The House that Built Me, Heart Like Mine. Layne captured my feelings above about Over You, it just didn't sound sincere.)
Reba - Turn on the Radio (no, turn it off. Didn't care for this one at all)
Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel (I really love this song, I really hate his version. Love all the other versions, just not his)
Kenny Chesney - Never Wanted Anything More, Pirate Flag
Carrie Underwood - Glad I'm not alone w/ my disdain for Undo It. I wish she could "undo it" and not have recorded this and Good Girl. Love her voice, like most of her songs, just not these two at all
Sugarland - I can't determine if I dislike All I Want to Do or Stuck on You more. If Stuck on You weren't supposed to be country, I'd probably somewhat like it. Hated the rap portion of this country song.
Toby Keith - I like most everything he's done (I'm ashamed to admit some of the songs I like - I loved Trailorhood for example), but I never got the excitement around She Never Cried in Front of Me or Big Blue Note.
Jason Aldean - Big Green Tractor (I feel sacreligious even saying that, but I've never been moved by this song)
Keith Urban - Stupid Boy and Cop Car is catching up quickly
Joe Nichols - I was glad that Joe came back into his own with Gimme That Girl, but the autotuning just ruined what makes Joe's voice so special
Rascal Flatts - Stand and Why Wait
I would add Looking for that Girl by Tim McGraw to this list, but I'm hoping that I don't have to because it doesn't go huge.

Special recognition goes to Lady A who I really enjoyed their first album and think Looking for a Good Time and Love Don't Live Here Any More were classic. Everything that was produced to sound like Need You Now (parts II through X) just wore on me. I give them high marks for Downtown as it was an attempt to do something different.

[Deleted]

Oh so many LOL.

Off the top of my head, though...

Over You, Fastest Girl In Town, and THTBM
Rascal Flatts- Summer Nights & Easy
Country Girl (Shake It For Me) & TMKM
Any recent Toby Keith
Kenny Chesney- When The Sun Goes Down
Tim- Truck Yeah & (sadly), I've grown to dislike any of his older hits that are way overplayed
Sara Evans- Suds In The Bucket
Keith Urban- Kiss A Girl & Making Memories Of Us
Blake- Who Are You When I'm Not Looking & Boys 'Round Here
Any huge Gretchen Wilson hit
Lonestar- Amazed (Ugh)
Anything by FGL
Faith Hill- This Kiss
Thompson Square- Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not

And, the one I never, EVER want to hear again? Need You Now

[14887fan]

Regarding the Carrie talk in this thread: In terms of lyricism, I prefer "Cowboy Casanova" to "Good Girl". In terms of musicality, I prefer "Good Girl" to "Cowboy Casanova". I don't hate "Undo It" because I think it's got a fantastic beat, but the lyrics are about as bad as it gets for Carrie's catalog. That and "Mama's Song" destroyed everything that the Play On era could've had going for it. The day Kara DioGuardi picked up a pen and put it to paper to write those two songs with Carrie was the day that the era picked its poison.

Anyways, back to the songs that I hate. Can I just say 95% of the past 2 years and call it a day? Seems appropriate enough.

Mar 24, 2014 12:57:48 GMT -5 @dawson said:

• Florida Georgia Line, "Cruise"
• Florida Georgia Line, "Get Your Shine On"
• Florida Georgia Line, "'Round Here"
• Florida Georgia Line, "Stay"
• Florida Georgia Line, "This Is How We Roll"

/thread.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ I agree with your take on Cowboy Casanova vs. Good Girl, although I like both songs. I also like the melody of Undo It, and I don't have any problem with the lolcat-ish lyrics. I also liked Mama's Song, although most OTHER Kara DioGuardi stuff I've heard is clichéd garbage the likes of which I haven't heard since Diane Warren.

[sabre14]

Mar 25, 2014 21:23:43 GMT -5 @carrieflattsfan said:

Oh so many LOL.

Off the top of my head, though...

Over You, Fastest Girl In Town, and THTBM
Rascal Flatts- Summer Nights & Easy
Country Girl (Shake It For Me) & TMKM
Any recent Toby Keith
Kenny Chesney- When The Sun Goes Down
Tim- Truck Yeah & (sadly), I've grown to dislike any of his older hits that are way overplayed
Sara Evans- Suds In The Bucket
Keith Urban- Kiss A Girl & Making Memories Of Us
Blake- Who Are You When I'm Not Looking & Boys 'Round Here
Any huge Gretchen Wilson hit
Lonestar- Amazed (Ugh)
Anything by FGL
Faith Hill- This Kiss
Thompson Square- Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not

And, the one I never, EVER want to hear again? Need You Now

The only reason I agree with a lot of these one's was really just overplay. So I don't know if it's just a hatred for a particular song or having just heard it way too many times. In the case of:

"Amazed"
"Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not"
"Need You Now"
"When The Sun Goes Down"
"This Kiss"

I think I don't like these now, because I heard them every single day from the time they blew up. Come to think there aren't a super large quantity amount of songs I dislike pre 2012. Since you brought up "This Kiss" which I never had a big problem with; I just did not enjoy "Breathe" at all. It wasn't just overplay. I thought the song was just not lyrically good, and the hook was odd. "Baby isn't that the way love's supposed to be? I can feel you breathe". 

What's odd is Faith had her single "The Secret Of Life" just peak a few months earlier and it just seemed in one fail swoop that she went pop/country icon on us. Overall I do enjoy most of Faith's songs. Even other pop leaning one's like "Cry" I thought were very good.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ Exactly my opinion of Faith. "The Secret of Life" was amazing, "Breathe" was bad. But it was still better than "The Way You Love Me". The opening line of that song doesn't even make sense: "If I could grant you one wish / I wish you could see the way you kiss". That's not how wishes work! Also, the rest of the lines are padded like hell with "oohs" just to stretch out the meter, not to mention the incredibly overused baby/crazy rhyme…

[tim]

^^I was going to mention some of the same songs mentioned by sabre14 in my previous post but left them off. I agree on pretty much all of them, including "Amazed" (I've never liked it and was not true to Lonestar's real style imo), "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" (please radio, move on), and the again overplayed and not that great "When the Sun Goes Down."

One more song to add to the list...Kid Rock's "All Summer Long." I don't know why the stations here in Austin feel compelled to still play this song every day (I'm sure I've heard it every other day this past winter...even switching in-between the dial only to have it on again), but PLEASE CEASE AND DESIST.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Most of the stations around here don't tend to hang onto recurrents for long. I can't remember the last time I heard a post-2004 Kenny or Toby song unless it was a current single. The only exception is "Stays in Mexico", which WATZ plays literally every week. I honestly can't remember the last time I heard even as big a hit as "As Good as I Once Was".

[sabre14]

WYRK must have some kind of deal worked out with Curb records and Rodney Atkins, because I hear "Watching You" at least a few times a week it seems. Never though I would hear the word "Buckaroo" so much.

Couldn't agree more on "All Summer Long". When it came out I thought it wouldn't matter, cause I really didn't think it would take off. But not only did it take off, but it was played in heavy rotation the entire 2008/2009 winter. For some reason that's become a summer anthem that's OK to play year round.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ Reminds me of back in 2001, when WKJC was playing Phil Vassar's "Six Pack Summer" daily, well into the winter. At one point, someone actually REQUESTED it in December.

[bluedog6]

For many many years I always said that "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy" was what I considered the worst song ever. It took awhile for it to fall from its perch, but it has now been eclipsed by "That's My Kind of Night" and "This is How We Roll" (with "Cruise" and "Get Your Shine On" right behind). There have been a few others that I think are really bad but I don't consider them "big hits" - "Truck Yeah", "Kick it in the Sticks", "1994".

[midnightprism]

Mar 25, 2014 23:16:42 GMT -5 tim said:

One more song to add to the list...Kid Rock's "All Summer Long."

Worst. Song. Ever.

[countrygirl918]

I'm embarrassed to say that I actually really enjoy "All Summer Long," though I agree it's way overplayed. What makes that worse is it's not just limited to country stations - I think I've heard that song played on every single local station, country, rock, pop, doesn't matter.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I like "All Summer Long" a lot too. Doesn't seem to get overplayed around here, which is odd, since the song is very Michigan-centric.

[Andy]

-When it comes to Faith Hill's "Breathe", I'm partial to Cledus T. Judd's parody of it, "Breath":

-"All Summer Long" only annoys me because every time it begins I think I'm going to hear "Werewolves of London" and become excited, only to be let down. Other than that, I have no problems with it.

-The thing about "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy", to me at least, is yes, it's incredibly stupid and pointless, but at least it knows it is and isn't intended to be taken seriously (and yes, I realize "it isn't supposed to be good" is a lame defense). Or maybe I'm just wearing nostalgia blinders. One of the two. I can't help but enjoy it, though.

[sabre14]

^ Speaking of Cletus parodies, I'm partial to his one of Tracy Lawrence's "Paint Me A Birmingham" called "Bake Me A Country Ham". That's still funny to me. "How Do You Milk A Cow" instead of "How Do You Like Me Now" is another chuckle inducer.

I came up with 5 more songs I don't like today. I tried to avoid any song that I purely thought was overplayed. So if I bring up the fact these were overplayed, it was "unjust" popularity by my view.

-"Without You" - Keith Urban (This has to be Keith's most monotonous single he ever released to me. Never once did it hold my interest with no redeemable melody or lyrics)

-"My Maria" - Brooks & Dunn (The only Brooks & Dunn song from that era I don't like. It was one of the top singles in 1996 and had heavy recurrent play on many stations including WYRK. The song's just not noteworthy enough to justify it being arguably their biggest hit of the 90's. Instant channel changer when I was a kid)

-"Bonfire" - Craig Morgan (Craig's worst single of his career to me. Yes I know he had "Corn Star". This song is beyond annoying and borderline unbearable with the loud unnecessary vocals)

-"Kiss This" - Aaron Tippin (I liked Aaron's music until this song. The part where he says "And she let him have it again man" is corny as all get out. I also hate Aaron's delivery of the title. Didn't help hearing this song every single day)

-"The Shake" - Neal McCoy (This song makes no sense. The whole thing is just saying shake it anyway you like and anywhere you want. The chorus' lyrics are particularly elementary. By far Neal's worst effort) 

[Andy]

Mar 26, 2014 16:53:52 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

^ Speaking of Cletus parodies, I'm partial to his one of Tracy Lawrence's "Paint Me A Birmingham" called "Bake Me A Country Ham". That's still funny to me. "How Do You Milk A Cow" instead of "How Do You Like Me Now" is another chuckle inducer.

I came up with 5 more songs I don't like today. I tried to avoid any song that I purely thought was overplayed. So if I bring up the fact these were overplayed, it was "unjust" popularity by my view.

-"Without You" - Keith Urban (This has to be Keith's most monotonous single he ever released to me. Never once did it hold my interest with no redeemable melody or lyrics)

-"My Maria" - Brooks & Dunn (The only Brooks & Dunn song from that era I don't like. It was one of the top singles in 1996 and had heavy recurrent play on many stations including WYRK. The song's just not noteworthy enough to justify it being arguably their biggest hit of the 90's. Instant channel changer when I was a kid)

-"Bonfire" - Craig Morgan (Craig's worst single of his career to me. Yes I know he had "Corn Star". This song is beyond annoying and borderline unbearable with the loud unnecessary vocals)

-"Kiss This" - Aaron Tippin (I liked Aaron's music until this song. The part where he says "And she let him have it again man" is corny as all get out. I also hate Aaron's delivery of the title. Didn't help hearing this song every single day)

-"The Shake" - Neal McCoy (This song makes no sense. The whole thing is just saying shake it anyway you like and anywhere you want. The chorus' lyrics are particularly elementary. By far Neal's worst effort)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's not wild about "My Maria." Everyone seems to think it's the cat's meow, but I've always found the chorus to be boring and plodding, and the song just not very interesting in general. I don't hate it, but it's easily one of my least favorite Brooks & Dunn singles. I love "Red Dirt Road," which a lot of people seem to dislike in my experience, so I guess it evens out.

"Bonfire" is horrible. I think Craig Morgan is an excellent balladeer on songs like "Almost Home" and "The Ballad of Mr. Jenkins", so to see him record this kind of dreck is extremely disheartening.

"Kiss This" and "The Shake" aren't great songs by any means, but they both fall into the "guilty pleasure" category for me. Not songs I want to hear with any degree of regularity, though.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Mar 26, 2014 16:53:52 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

-"Without You" - Keith Urban (This has to be Keith's most monotonous single he ever released to me. Never once did it hold my interest with no redeemable melody or lyrics)

FINALLY, someone agrees with me on this song!

I also hated "You're My Better Half" because its melody didn't go anywhere, the production was boring, and the first line was nearly word-for-word plagiarism of "That's What It's All About" by B&D. The only part I liked was the line "They say behind every man is a good woman, well, I think that's a lie / 'Cause when it comes to you, I'd rather have you by my side."

I didn't like "Better Life" when it came out because I think the first two lines are clunky, but the rest of the song is good enough for me to overlook that. Oddly, I can't recall the last time I've heard it, even though it was a 6-week #1. (Same thing with, again, "As Good as I Once Was." What the hell, 2005?)

* I agree, "Breath" is probably Cledus's best parody since I hate the target song so much.

* I love "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" because it knows it's silly. Same reason I loved "Red Solo Cup" — in both cases, the singer is well aware of the song's jokey nature and just rolls with it.

* "Bonfire" was terrible. All that overwrought shouting. I've joked that by 2016, Craig will drop all pretense and just go for a growly death metal scream.

* There are people who don't like "Red Dirt Road"? I thought it was an amazing song.

* I agree on "The Shake" being a guilty pleasure. Hell, you could say that about 75% of Neal's career: he was always a light and fluffy artist.

I've also stated many times how I think Carrie Underwood's "See You Again" is terribly boring and clichéd, and how the slick, bombastic "whoa oh oh" production is ill fitting to the song's message. No one else ever seemed to get on board with me on this.

[carriekins]

Ahhhh! I'm not the only one who hated My Maria!!! And Bonfire. I also absolutely loathe International Harvester.

[Andy]

The first two lines in "International Harvester" make it seem like he's married to his sister:

"I’m the son of a 3rd generation farmer
I’ve been married 10 years to the farmer’s daughter"

I know he means to another farmer's daughter, but I've always found it funny how it can be interpreted this way.