worst song on the 20th century poll

o superman, obv

Purely based on the fact I would never listen to it w/o a prompt from someone else, "Uptown Top Ranking". I don't find it to be objectively bad, though.

I thought about making this 49 and adding "I don't think any of these songs are bad"

but for those people just go with least favorite

o superman, obv

― iatee, Saturday, 4 December 2010 02:54 (15 minutes ago)

ban

way ahead of you

Two jumped out at me - Television and Kate Bush. I'll accept lobbying in either direction before I vote.

and there goes another one

no "worst", but here are least favorites:

o superman: can't get through five seconds of it, i just find it irritating
waterloo sunset: don't care much for the kinks, never liked this song
when doves cry: embarrassing lyrics, blah song
i put a spell on you: possibly more annoying than the laurie anderson song
blue monday: my least favorite new order song

I don't find it to be objectively bad, though.

There are a whole bunch of songs on here where I could say the same: never meant a thing to me personally, but its placement in the Top 50 is fine and even kind of interesting. There are even three or four I don't think I've ever heard.

Polls about polls--they're metatastic!

There should be a 'best discovery from the top 50' poll. I Feel Love currently winning my own

I had never listened to any Big Star – I know they are v well loved here, but when I listened to the youtube linked of "September Gurls," I totally didn't get it at all.

Listen to Thirteen instead.

Or Ballad of El Goodo, which wasn't even nominated iirc.

yeah I love big star but have always been pretty eh on september gurls

I think I voted for thirteen?

I've never gotten Big Star.

I love Big Star, but only really got into September Gurls in the last year.

i find myself enjoying big star less each year. and i can't say september gurls ever really blew me away, the way it seems to other ppl. the thid/sister lovers record has some great moments, but is also one of the most downer records ever, at least parts of it are...

Like a Rolling Stone.

Big Star - 'September Gurls' was one of the better songs of the ones I never heard before

i would probably vote for "o superman" but i pretty much feel like i don't get it & it's pretty much not for me

blue oyster cult on the other hand i get & i just think it's boring as hell

after that probably "once in a lifetime" which is another one that just makes me go \(o_O)/

agree about once in a lifetime.

i'm by no means mr. talking heads, phd over here or anything but i feel like they have to have at least 10 songs that are better than that one

more like 100 songs better than that one.

yeah i was being incredibly conservative there

huh, it's one of the only talking heads songs that i can deal with!

thread of "why you cloth ears braek hearts?"

'When doves cry' for me. I like Prince but that song bores me to tears... I'm not a big fan of ballads tho.

and there goes another one

"Marquee Moon".

"God Only Knows" and "When Doves Cry" close runners up.

Nothing here I really hate but I'm sick of hearing 'Teenage Kicks' on pub jukeboxes, so that.

"Good Vibrations"

Lyrically naff and the chorus melody is just too reminiscent of nursery rhymes I absorbed as a toddler. Even the theremin is pretty dull. I say this as someone who really digs me some theremin and ondes martenot.

BOOOOOOM

thread of "why you cloth ears braek hearts?"

― absinthe of malithe (Noodle Vague), Saturday, December 4, 2010 5:26 AM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yep.

xpost: yeah, I hate fun. I'm totally fine with "God Only Knows" though, and "Surf's Up" for that matter.

Gotta be "Marquee Moon", especially considering how high it got. All the other songs in the top 10 (even the Rolling Stones one which I don't particularly care about) have this "big", epic feel to them, like they deserve to rate among the 10 best songs of the century, but that tune is just... a bit of guitar rock.

'Teen Age Riot' for bringing least to the party. 'O Superman' appears to be complete horseshit, but at least it doesn't sound like anything else.

the Smiths (take yer pick)!

Ismael you're a bro and I want you to know it breaks my heart to SB you

So nothing older than mid-90s on this thread.

The financial crisis, the coalition government => we get what we deserve.

44 Pulp - Common People

that was easy

This is hard.

"Superstition" or "Strawberry Fields Forever", probably.
Or "This Charming Man" just because "There Is A Light" towers over it
These are a bunch of amazing songs

Hated The Smiths at the time, still hate them now. Preciousness and whining are always annoying, so "This Charming Man" for me.

FUCK YOU, THE SMITHS

good topic for a thread imo

Smiths. I was going to say Depeche Mode as well but I actually don't know how that song goes (or most of their other famous ones, tho I've heard them all)

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is one of the worst things Joy Divison ever did too

um, no

voting for "Love Will Tear Us Apart" but not because i think the band had better songs

^ YES, that is perhaps Morrissey's most brilliant insight.

actually sorta makes more sense than the actual top 10

I know, right?

Also, better than the actual top 10.

DJP = insightful

the top 50 reordered based on this list, then by placing in the original poll:

4 The Ronettes - Be My Baby 0
5 Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit 0
10 Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message 0
16 Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime 0
27 ? and The Mysterians - 96 Tears 0
28 Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come 0
30 The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back 0
36 Marvin Gaye - I Heard it Through the Grapevine 0
37 The Smiths - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out 0
47 New Order - Blue Monday 0
2 The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter 1
3 Donna Summer - I Feel Love 1
12 David Bowie - Heroes 1
13 Stevie Wonder - Superstition 1
19 Otis Redding - Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay 1
34 The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You 1
31 The Beatles - A Day in the Life 1
43 New Order - Temptation 1
45 Chic - Good Times 1
46 Desmond Dekker - Israelites 1
49 The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray 1
14 The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset 2
15 The Specials - Ghost Town 2
21 Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough 2
25 Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking 2
29 The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner 2
48 Sly and The Family Stone - Family Affair 2
41 Prince - Little Red Corvette 2
50 Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You 2
9 The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations 3
22 Prince and The Revolution - When Doves Cry 3
26 Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone 3
24 Big Star - September Gurls 3
40 Public Enemy - Bring the Noise 3
7 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 4
17 The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever 4
23 Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper 4
32 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart 4
39 The Undertones - Teenage Kicks 4
38 Deee-lite - Groove Is in the Heart 5
44 Pulp - Common People 5
11 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 6
33 Funkadelic - Maggot Brain 6
35 Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot 6
1 The Beach Boys - God Only Knows 8
8 Television - Marquee Moon 8
6 Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman 9
42 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence 9
20 The Smiths - This Charming Man 10
18 Laurie Anderson - O Superman 11

lol @ The Undertones being #39 in both rankings

i love "96 tears" to death but i'm surprised no one voted for it as worst, lots of people hate that song

Really??? I love it, too.

Be My Baby has been materialising in my idle thoughts like some crazed and haunting spectre - I deduce that it's actually quite good & redolent of mythic times

Ronettes @ #1 sounds 100% correct for a board started by belle & sebastian fans

but then the question arises: where be nick drake?

yeah, i almost posted something about how if this poll had been done ten years ago i would expect to see nick drake show up, but i think he's sort of fallen out of fashion again to some degree??

he's def not as trendy as he was in the early-mid '00s. Pink Moon is still an amazing, transcendent album to me tho.

i think he'd show up on an albums poll still

some classic pointless contrarianism itt

not that i condone an albums equivalent of this...

hard to imagine anyone in the usa voting for "This Charming Man", which is, as others have noted, delightful — guessing this was a uk-centric reaction to smiths/moz inescapability and music-press hagiography

― 'The Road'(a hundred less-than signs)'Taken' (bernard snowy), Monday, December 6, 2010 5:17 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

i'm an american, and though i didn't vote here, i'd probably have gone for "this charming man". it's not horrible, but i love hating the smiths. that or "wichita lineman", which is an amazing piece of songwriting, but i just can't stand the recorded/classic version. too schmaltzy by half.

otoh, and though i wouldn't vote for either cuz they're by two of my all-time favorite bands, i think "teenage riot" and "once in a lifetime" are actually the worst songs on this list.

i like all of those songs lol

some classic pointless contrarianism itt

like what? you think it's impossible for people to dislike any of these songs? or if they do, then they should stfu and just bow before consensus?

I considered voting "This Charming Man" if only because it's one of The Smiths worst songs and is grossly overrated, but I do have some residual fondness for it. "God Only Knows" is actively repellent to me; it's basically mealy-mouthed nothingness that would make me want to murder if I wasn't rolling my eyes so hard at it.

someone voted for the flamingos, smh

I find that more offensive than someone liking any of these songs, tbh (although if you like "God Only Knows" that much, please meet me outside so I can steal your lunch money)

"this charming man" confounds me because i can't figure out why it is apparently the default choice for the smiths' best single. i don't hear anything in it that could explain why it transcends the rest of their songs, like i do in "there is a light..." and some others. hearing it without any context i would have just assumed it was a back-end-of-the-album filler track.

^^^^ exactly

It seems like a massive "you had to be there" thing

I like god only knows. You're stealing fuck all off me though!
I dont dislike any of the songs here really. Even if they might not be certain bands favourite songs. If penny lane had been top 50 or that biggie track i'd have voted for one of those.

and its not like they were terrible, just tracks ive never cared much for

"God Only Knows" is actively repellent to me; it's basically mealy-mouthed nothingness that would make me want to murder if I wasn't rolling my eyes so hard at it.

― Yeezy reupholstered my pussy (DJP), Monday, December 6, 2010 11:14 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

i like "god only knows", but its placing in the final results is probably the single most revolting thing about the poll. it makes me feel glad that i cut it so early from my list of possible candidates and ashamed for my fellow man.

"god only knows" makes my skin crawl, there's just something about the production and vocal harmonies that i find really suffocating

"this charming man" confounds me because i can't figure out why it is apparently the default choice for the smiths' best single. i don't hear anything in it that could explain why it transcends the rest of their songs, like i do in "there is a light..." and some others. hearing it without any context i would have just assumed it was a back-end-of-the-album filler track.

really? weird b/c i feel the opposite-- this charming man was the first smiths song other than how soon is now, (which is the most atypical track by them) that really grabbed me and made me understand the appeal of the band and why ppl went on about how johnny marr was this shit-hot guitarist...whereas there is a light is just this pedestrian-sounding track to me, with morrissey endlessly moaning.

well, I'm kind of burnt-out on "There Is A Light..." but pretty much the entirety of The Queen Is Dead is a primer on how/why The Smiths were awesome, especially the title track and "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

xpost same here, it was the first song that I heard that made me go 'woah, these dudes rock!' — (nb this woulda been at some point in the 2000s)

some classic pointless contrarianism itt

Tbh, this list itself is pretty contrary to anything I'd consider a canonical, or even reasonable, list of the greatest songs/compositions from the 20th century, even if one were just considering popular music. (Things that I would rate before I picked a second song by the Smiths include: Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith [Why not "St Louis Blues" if "Strange Fruit"?], Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Gershwin, Porter, Irving Berlin, Willie Dixon, Jimi Hendrix, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", James Brown as LJ noted, ...)

absolutely, that was discussed a bunch during the unveiling of the results

OK, fair enough. I guess it's kind of douchey of me to show up at this point and put down the results.

no James Brown is SO WRONG

i'd agree that this is a shitty list to the extent that it pretends to represent "the greatest songs/compositions from the 20th century," but i don't think that's the dominant theme. it's better described as a list of the songs that ILXors, as a group, love best, as guided (but not dominated) by a sense of historical importance. and as such, it makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, I tried to point that out during the top ten counting down. So weird to me that he appears nowhere in the top 125.

(xpost re James Brown)

no James Brown is SO WRONG

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, December 6, 2010 11:51 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh, i dunno. there are so many omissions and peculiarities, so many failures to square with canon. after all, it's nothing more than a summary of what 80 message board posters happen to hold dear. i voted for "the big payback", but wasn't surprised that it didn't show. i was surprised that "sex machine" didn't make the top 125, but vote splitting took its toll, and i dunno, maybe we've collectively grown a bit tired of james brown over the last few decades (heresy). right or wrong, it's hard to get too worked up over it.

Let's not forget that the top 125 contained a 10cc song.

Contenderizer: Cool. I just thought it was ironic for someone to then comment on other people's 'contrarianism'.

Let's not forget that the top 125 contained a 10cc song.

hahaha so OTM

by total points received, a partial mollification:

1). The Beatles - 12904
2). The Beach Boys - 10896
3). The Rolling Stones - 9727
4). David Bowie - 9579
5). The Velvet Underground - 9103
6). Bob Dylan - 8662
7). Prince/Prince and The Revolution - 8246
8). New Order - 7816
9). Talking Heads - 6516
10). Kate Bush - 6446
11). The Smiths - 6220
12). Kraftwerk - 5466
13). Michael Jackson - 5393
14). Public Enemy - 5252
15). Joy Division - 5240
16). Fleetwood Mac - 5200
17). Pet Shop Boys - 5134
18). Stevie Wonder - 5130
19). The Clash - 5057
20). The Cure - 4407
21). Sonic Youth - 4310
22). Marvin Gaye - 4301
23). The Kinks - 4289
24). Elvis Presley - 4055
25). Big Star - 4041
26). James Brown - 4034

so vote-splitting is to blame for the most part

most surprised that sonic youth did that well, overall. i am not alone!

hey check it out:

0). Joy Division/New Order - 13056

^ besting even the beatles!

i seem to like exclamation points

*pukes*

some more basic number crunching - top 30 finishers by total votes received, with average points per vote:

1). The Beatles - 122 (105.77)
2). New Order/Joy Division - 120 (107.92)
3). The Beach Boys - 93 (117.16)
4). David Bowie - 90 (106.43)
5). The Rolling Stones - 87 (111.8)
6). The Velvet Underground - 85 (107.09)
7). Prince/Prince and The Revolution - 80 (103.08)
8). Bob Dylan - 79 (109.65)
9). Kate Bush - 66 (97.67)
10). Talking Heads - 62 (105.1)
11). The Smiths - 61 (101.97)
12). Kraftwerk - 53 (103.13)
13). Michael Jackson - 52 (103.71)
14). Public Enemy - 51 (102.98)
15). Pet Shop Boys - 50 (102.68)
16). Stevie Wonder - 48 (106.88)
17). Fleetwood Mac - 46 (113.04)
18). Sonic Youth - 44 (97.95)
19). The Clash - 44 (114.93)
20). The Cure - 43 (102.49)
21). James Brown - 42 (96.05)
22). Marvin Gaye - 42 (102.4)
23). Big Star - 41 (98.56)
24). Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - 41 (94.68)
25). The Kinks - 41 (104.61)
26). Scott Walker - 40 (100)
27). Brian Eno - 39 (101.97)
28). Sly and The Family Stone - 39 (101.13)
29). Elvis Presley - 37 (109.59)
30). Donna Summer - 36 (90.17)

kinda interesting that of the top artists, the beach boys, the clash and fleetwood mac scored the most points per vote, in that order, followed by the rolling stones, bob dylan and elvis presley. you could perhaps say that these are the artists most consistently loved by the people who voted for them.

at the other end of this spectrum you have the likes of donna summer and grandmaster flash. they appeared on plenty of ballots, but didn't score as many points per vote as most of the top finishers.

It's difficult to valourise Morrissey as someone who hates boorishness and animal cruelty when you remember he also isn't too keen on Arabs walking around Knightsbridge

Doesn't he hate everyone walking around Knightsbridge? At least all those who shop at Harrod's?

keep reading Geir, that exact point was made already

i'm not sure i ever realized how great roadrunner was b4

h8rs can jump