Why do we love bad music?

Here’s a conversation I had yesterday – some friends were talking about the Worst Song of All Time Poll (and if you haven’t voted yet, click here now) and we started tossing around song titles. For every song title we threw out there, somebody would say this:

“No! I love that song! That’s a great song!”

This was said about such awful classics as “We Built This City,” “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” “Hangin’ Tough” and even – no lie – “Seasons in the Sun.” Seasons in the fucking sun. So there we were – five grown adults with supposedly good taste defending Terry Jacks and Starship with zeal and passion. It was a great Bad Song Brawl.

It strikes me every year that the songs people hate the most are also some of the songs people love the most. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the songs that top our Worst Song list every year also happen to be huge hits. The four songs mentioned above all went to #1 in the US. All four have stood the test of time and are remembered to this day. How do these terrible songs do this? What’s their secret? Can they be destroyed?

I’ve got theories on this:

THEORY #1 – OVER-SATURATION

A decent pop song can be deemed “bad” if it’s overplayed and over-heard. Songs that hit the top of the charts got to the top partly because of airplay, so they run the risk of over-saturation. For example, Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” has made our Top Ten Worst Songs list in the past – but after learning the song and playing it, we decided as a band that it wasn’t really that bad of a song. Of course, if we hear that song on the radio one more time we might take a hostage.

THEORY #2 – SUPERIORITY COMPLEX

People have an affinity for the awful. Bad music, bad movies, bad novels, bad television etc. – we enjoy hating. It gives us a feeling of superiority; we are able to judge correctly, much in the same way we judge something that is good. It’s why we watch American Idol -- there's something satisfying and addicting about using your own 'good' taste to cast stones down on the offenders. Of course, in doing so, we run the risk of elevating these offenders to fame and fortune (hello, Sanjaya.)

THEORY #3 – YIN AND YANG

The bad song and the good song strike similar emotional responses in the listener. “Wow, this rocks” and “Wow, this sucks” are twin sons of different mothers. The pop song is written to elicit a strong response and whether the passion is for or against almost doesn’t matter. Love it or hate it -- as long as you buy it.

THEORY #4 – PEOPLE ARE MASOCHISTS

People are masochists.

Theory #4 has a lot of appeal. Feel free to share yours. And if you can defend “Seasons in the Sun,” do your worst.