Since I’m on a roll with this, there are plenty more songs I don’t like. As is the case with most people, I guess, despite what self-proclaimed “lovers of music” would have you believe. Hell, there are entire genres I despise. No, it’s not rap, though that is an excellent, and close, guess. Jazz is the answer you’re looking for.
Typically this isn’t such a big deal to me, at least not anymore. I’ve matured since my younger days when I considered my musical preferences to be gospel and any disagreement tantamount to blasphemy. Nowadays, I’m content with the reality that different notes stroke different folks. In the case of my kids, I’m even enjoying their personal musical journey as they discover favourite songs and bands even if many of them secretly make me gag. Who am I to judge or demand artistic appreciation?
Where all this auditory altruism falls apart is when the hated song in question is one by a famous band with a rabid fan base resulting in unending radio play. Add a cover version by an (almost) equally famous band with an equally rabid fan base getting equally regular radio play and you quadruple my loathing and my pain. When both of these famous bands are ones I genuinely appreciate (I’ve featured them both in this My Life Is A Song series) the resulting toxin is more than I can bear. Listening to classic rock radio becomes a risky venture too often resulting in the equivalent of a thousand monkeys dragging a thousand fingernails down a thousand chalkboards.
I really hate this song. Like, everything about it. The ridiculous lyrics. The embryonic rap signature of the singing. The stupid “shoop” business. The simplistic bass riff. Did I mention the ridiculous lyrics? How this has become a hit song … twice … is truly beyond my comprehension.
But twice it did and thus it’s one that’s likely to raise the ire of the lot of you for being on my list of hated songs, be it the original or the cover. I hate them equally so I’m going to kick off your weekend with both. Calgary is under a severe heat warning today as temperatures threaten to topple records. I hate heat too. It’s thus a perfect day for a double whammy of ugh. From the 1969 album Abbey Road by The Beatles AND the 1978 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band movie soundtrack by Aerosmith, I’m kicking off your weekend with the dreaded “Come Together.”
Beatles Studio Version:
Aerosmith Studio Version:
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