Now that we’re officially done with 2009, we can look back at the year in music without sounding pretentious! This week on Music Mondays: the most overplayed and/or worst songs of 2009.
2009 was a big year for new music (and I use that term lightly) with catchy new hits seeming to come out every other week. However, radio stations don’t know the meaning of “moderation” and feel the need to play the same song over and over again so often until you can vomit the lyrics on command. The worst offenders are, and in no particular order:
Worst/Most Overplayed:
Boom Boom Pow: The Black Eyed Peas
I really enjoy the BEP, probably more than any other mainstream artiste out there. But I really thought that this song was kind of…boring. I’m all for the onomatopoeia but when sounds outnumber actual words in the song, that’s going a little overboard. I mean, if you took away the background beats and read the lyrics by themselves, for most of the song, it would sound like you had a speech impediment.
You Belong With Me: Taylor Swift
Oh good grief. I hear this song at least once in my commutes to and from school. I’m sorry, Miss Swift, and I’m really happy for you, but…your songs are really overplayed. It’s not just this one, either, that other song about Juliet or something is constantly on as well, but I usually change it to another station, where the same song is being played on yet another station. It’s inescapable.
Single Ladies: Beyonce
Now I couldn’t put Taylor Swift without mentioning Beyonce, since that’s the new relationship thanks to the travesty that was the 2009 VMAs. Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoyed Single Ladies when it first came out. The lyrics were mediocre but goodness, it was catchy. Then the parodies and the parodies’ parodies came out and the whole thing just was blown out of proportion to the point where you couldn’t drive a centimeter without hearing some mention of it.
Blame It: Jamie Foxx
I blame the success of this horrible song on alcohol (someone must have been drunk to come up with this), among other factors, chief among them being severe, copious and unrelenting use of Auto-Tune. This song was not only overplayed, but it was horrible. While T-Pain has made a name for himself relying heavily on computer generated/assisted music, Jamie Foxx seemed like he could pull off a song without Auto-Tune. Regardless, the fact that this song was blasted so frequently earns it a spot on this list.
Don’t Trust Me: 3Oh!3
I don’t know how they pull it off, but 3Oh!3 turns their voices from grown man to 10 year old girl and back to normal, in a matter of seconds, just for the chorus. Ignoring that, the lyrics are trivial, (I like the vegetarian/”got beef” line though) and bring up Helen Keller out of nowhere.
Obsessed: Mariah Carey
I’m pretty sure everyone except your husband is far from obsessed with you Mrs. Cannon, and honestly, I think you’re a bit crazy, but that has nothing to do with the music you spew. The only obsessive thing about you is how obsessed radio stations are with playing your music, all the time.
Party in the USA: Miley Cyrus
Out of all the songs on the list thus far, this annoys me most, and this one is ranked with one of the songs played most often. Miley’s voice is grating and probably has the capacity to strip decade-old wallpaper with a single note. Even beyond that, in an interview a while back, when asked what Jay-Z song the horrendous song was referring to, she said she didn’t even like Jay-Z. Of course there’s no problem with that, but come on, you may not have written the song, but at least change it to something else you actually listen to…
I Gotta Feeling: The Black Eyed Peas
The only feeling I got from this song is that I’ll have a song I don’t even like stuck in my head from excessive overexposure. That and nausea.
Everything released by Lady Gaga in the past year
Lady Gaga has become a musical superpower in little over a year, with catchy tunes and completely insane outfits whenever she’s seen in public. But even with the title of being the current pop queen of music, there is such a thing as overkill, and radio stations do that well to every single song of hers.
Fireflies: Owl City
Not only is this the most overplayed song of 2009, but it’s just…awful. Adam Young relies so heavily on auto-tuning that (for this song, anyway) he sounds like he could do a speaking part for an 8-bit video game from the 1980s. Ignoring the horrible vocals, the lyrics sound like something a lovesick sixth grader threw up while Googling pictures of puppies. Due to the computer generated sound and the horribly wimpy, sappy, lyrics, Owl City is my estimation of the worst song of 2009. And honestly, I’d rather be electrocuted by the fireflies the song raves about than hear this song again.
That rounds out the most overplayed songs of 2009. But, what are the best? Tune in next Monday to find out.
