Worst song on KROQ's 25 Most Requested Songs of All-Time (2006)

basket case sounds like sped-up badfinger

― mattresslessness, Thursday, July 10, 2014 3:42 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

a good idea!

I love "Under the Bridge" :)

the californication-era singles are the ones that drive me crazy since i've heard them way more

33. Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf

this has to be an LA thing.

And San Diego. I think that might have been the only Soft Cell song I heard until college.

"Under the Bridge" is a great song

Overplay has dulled a nice melody and good evocation of L.A.

yeah, those "Californication" songs hung around forever, apparently it is their best-selling album...?! MOR stinkers all, except "Scar Tissue" which at least was pretty to listen to. Predictably, it's the one I've heard the least in the last fifteen years.

"under the bridge" is about as old today as "fire and rain" was when "under the bridge" came out.

re californication singles, i like "otherside" a lot except for the really grating bridge

'scar tissue' bugs me the most because it has no melody but sort of pretends like it does

'otherside' is the one that i wouldn't rage at if it came on, since it kind of fell off the map after its initial run as a single

always had a huge soft spot for "under the bridge". looking at the lyrics now, it's not as treacly as i remembered. always loved the awayyyyyayyayyyyayayy refrain. but yeah, played to death. xp "fire and rain" is a good analogy, an earlier case of "you got me, asshole."

i enjoy 'by the way' and 'can't stop' the most of all the MOR-era rhcp singles, they briefly stepped it up a little bit for that record

I also don't have much of a problem with Under the Bridge, especially once it gets going. At first I think "not this again..." but it's a nice, well-constructed track.

never heard 'date rape' before. listening to it now. think i'm gonna cry.

Looking up some of the songs I don't recognize, I'm amazed at how many of them are completely lacking a melodic hook (Dramarama, Social Distortion) or even a chorus ("Brain Stew"). I guess they resonated with people solely on the basis of production & lyrical 'attitude'? (Cf. that recent paper on timbre as distinguishing mark for indie/alternative music)

the fuck is this geir shit

do you know what a melodic hook is? Regardless of how you feel about the songs, both "Anything, Anything" and "Ball and Chain" have clear melodic hooks

No you're right, I was being overly harsh. What I meant is that the hooks are boring as shit & the dudes can't sing :)

"I'll give you anything, ANYTHING" [plays four-chord progression for three minutes without variation]

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

lol dude you'll have that hook in your head literally for the rest of your life, maybe reserve comment on a song's hooks until a little longer than "I just heard this song just now"

even as a self-loathing former rhcp fan i don't really get the under the bridge hate.

Justice served in this poll, that song is anti-rape on paper, but actually treats date rape as a sleazy and "hilarious" joke.

too close.

I admire the Nirvana voter, whoever you be

15. Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized 0

^^good job ILM

they knew what they consequences would be

also wtf at the comments on Ball and Chain upthread, that song is immortal

what the hell, under the bridge is like the 2nd best song on here.

Maybe it's a west coast thing

I get "Under the Bridge" fatigue but when that shit was fresh it was welcome as hell

Such nice hendrixy guitar. The lyrics are pretty lousy apart from the first verse.

that ride-out riff from Frusciante is all-time

kiedis's wretched singing throughout, how can anyone bear it, I ask you.

normally I hate the sound of Kiedis' throaty singing voice and prefer when he does more of his funk staccato or doesn't draw attention to it, but he's very listenable on this track IMO.

RHCP instrumentals would probably be half-decent to good tbh but that man is possibly my least favourite vocalist ever & I'm not sure why

he has a grating voice and he's terrible live for starters

there was an mp3 of RHCP covering the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" live and I don't want to say Kiedis' dreadful vocals contributed to MJ's early demise but I'm going to say it anyway

I'm gonna stop arguing after this cuz I guess I have a weird conception of a "hook"; but to me, it's something that stands out from its surrounding musical setting--a melodic line, a vocal refrain, a dynamic swell, an unexpected & satisfying chord change, the entrance of new instruments or voices... the Dramarama song might qualify for the last of these, that trebley guitar that enters for a few bars at a time, except the guitar is playing the most boring imaginable straight-time up-and-down bullshit. I've already forgotten everything about the song except that it feels "tense" & I hate it

yeah the Dramarama song is total dogshit, easily the worst song from the '80s in the alt rock radio canon

but i too have been badgered by aero for daring to suggest that an enduringly popular song has a lousy hook so you have my sympathy

... okay I just listened again to refresh memory (sorry i'm also a little drunk) & I wouldn't have been nearly as harsh on the song if it didn't feel like one long verse spent waiting for a chorus that never arrives. So really my reaction is less "I hate it!" and more "... is that all there is?"

It reminds me of some Afghan Whigs song that I actually dig, is about the best thing I can say for it

No afghan whigs song is that catchy

yeah always found it more tiresome than hateable and have always taken KROQ's decades-long refusal to retire it from playlists as an endearing local quirk.

"ball and chain" is a total singalong song, very catchy if nothing else

the whole self-titled Social D album is an awesome hit parade

too close.

OTM

can only assume that 40 ILXors have not heard "date rape" by sublime