The Case for Popular 90s Travesties

Rolling Stone has released its (or its readers) list of the worst song of the 90s.

When I forwarded the link, I got a few surprised responses back: 

* Where is the Mr Blobby song?  (That one I think can be explained as this is an American list)

* Where is the Lemon Tree song?  (No idea about that one - I never really liked it, though it is relatively harmless)
* Why no Celine Dion?  (Possibly the song was fine, it was the Singer Sans Soul who is the real reason for revulsion)
* Where are the S-Club 7 entries?  (I think that's another Brit thing)
* And what about B*witched's C'est la Vie (... I have drawn a blank, as I have no idea why that didn't make the list)

But really, there are so many songs from that era (or any era really) that, on reflection (or even at the time) are fairly horrendous.  Perhaps, like songs from the 80s, future generations will look back with a sense of nostalgia for the egocentric lyrics of Vanilla Ice or the Nordic moronic-ness of Aqua.  And, to be honest, while I can appreciate their crapness, the more vapid the song (with no pretence of actual emotional depth), the easier I find it to enjoy the songs deemed to be awful. 

For me, a song truly becomes awful when there it is meant to be deep and meaningful - and when it so obviously and painfully fails. One person mentioned Mr Big's To Be With You (very early 90s).  One song that drives me bonkers in this way of recent years is One Republic's Apologize.  The song is pretty overwrought, and why oh why in the video does it look like the lead vocalist is being tortured when the actual singing sounds almost restrained while in the background everyone else in the band looks bored to be there?

And what about that other 90s wail fest, Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart?  Do you know how hard it is to explain what "unbreak" means to people who don't speak English? 

I am stumped why some of the Big Movie "wail" songs did not make the list.  Bryan Adam's (Everything I Do) I Do It For You must surely have been played at enough weddings so that even those who may have liked it would have joined those who only appreciate the movie for Alan Rickman's Christmas-cancelling performance.  And back to Ms Dion, are there really redeeming qualities whatsoever in My Heart Will Go On (I could not actually bring myself to watch more than a few seconds of the video below due to its incredible pomposity - and that was with the song itself on mute)? 

 


Of course, thinking songs are rubbish is easy, because there for every person that hates a song, another will step up to defend it (though perhaps not that hard).  And isn't diversity of opinion wonderful, even if the music sometimes is not?

Verdict: Well, this is my courtroom, and so things play by my rules.  I like what I like, though I will admit when what I like is (by some standards) complete nonsense.  But then, like some things, like Rugby (I had to mention it), should never be taken too seriously.  As to the Rolling Stone list, 6 Macarenas out of 10.