Embarrasing Songs That Get Stuck In My Head #11 (w/ bonus list)

I know I'm not alone in finding that the catchy-ness of Miley Cyrus' "Party In The U.S.A." greatly exceeds its quality. You already know how the song goes, so I figured I'd post Weird Al's very funny parody version instead of the original.

And, for good end-of-the-year-list-making measure, here be the other embarrassing songs that got stuck in my head this year:

Bananarama, "I Heard A Rumour"
Kenny Rogers, "You Decorated My Life"
Barry Manilow, "Let Me Be Your Wings"
Paul Davis, "Cool Night"
Weezer, "The Sweater Song"
Mark Wills, "Don't Laugh At Me"
Jesse McCartney, "How Do You Sleep" (feat. Ludacris)
Colbie Caillat, "Brighter Than the Sun"
Bryan Adams, "Can't Stop This Thing We Started"
Badly Drawn Boy, "All Possibilities"

Embarrasing Songs That Get Stuck In My Head #10

When you do an upbeat song with horns and strings, you really need a strong singer who can hold their own against the backing instruments (unless you're Cake, maybe). Instead, this song has a slacker, stoner type of dude with a weak voice.

Apparently this song came out in the early 00s but for some reason I've just now been hearing it on the sound systems at stores. "All Possibilities"? I'll take "All Apologies" instead, thanks.

(Mildly) Embarrasing Songs That Get Stuck In My Head #8

Colbie's jacking up my train of thought. Her latest sunny little tune has been replaying in my mind relentlessly.

This one's not embarrassing because it's bad, but because I suspect, as a 30-something family-guy dude, I'm not really in Colbie Caillat's target demographic. It's not the kind of thing I usually like, or should like.

But it's hard not to like her style of pleasant pop music: her sound is sweet but not too sweet, light but not too light, slick but not too slick, falling somewhere between the worlds of mainstream radio pop and acoustic-based singer-songwriters.

Sure, the fact that she's the daughter of a successful record producer has something to do with her stardom, but she's talented in her own right. And someone who puts an SNL comedian in one of her videos doesn't take herself overly seriously (who knows whether that was her idea or not), which makes her even more likable.

Colbie has a light touch, in a good way. But can she make her songs a little less unerasable?

Random note: The lyric "goes off like a gun" doesn't fit. Guns are too un-Colbie.

Embarrasing Songs That Get Stuck In My Head #7

The most embarrasing thing about this is that I actually like this song. I mean, if you put a gun to my noggin and made me listen to this or Bieber, it's a no-brainer choice. The synths sound cool, too.

R.E.M.'s Swan (Swan H) Song

R.E.M. finally broke up today after 30-odd years. I've followed the band very casually for the last decade, but was very into them during the mid- to late-90s and saw them live in 1999. To a lot of their fans, the band really ended in 1997 when drummer Bill Berry quit near the peak of the band's popularity(he'd suffered an aneurysm during a concert performance in 1995). But R.E.M. carried on, and while they'd lost some of their magic, they still had some strong moments. In honor of their career, here are my favorite tracks from each of their albums.


Chronic Town: "Wolves, Lower" (This was an EP, not a full album.)


Murmur: "Sitting Still"

Reckoning: "Pretty Persuasion"


Fables of the Reconstruction: "Feeling Gravity's Pull"


Lifes Rich Pageant: "Cuyahoga" (I think this is my favorite R.E.M. song, musically.)

Document: "The One I Love"


Green: "Get Up"


Out of Time: "Texarkana" (One purdy tune. Bassist/keyboardist Mike Mills sang the lead on this one.)



Automatic For The People: Tie between "Man on the Moon" and "Find the River" (This is their best album overall, although it's not representative of their 'classic' sound. "Try Not to Breathe" is also a real stunner.)

Monster: "Bang and Blame"


New Adventures in Hi-Fi: "Bittersweet Me" (Sonically, this is one of my favorite albums by any band. It sounded more raw and open than their other records to that point, and the music hit a sweet spot between their folk-rock and hard-rock sides.)


Up: "Daysleeper"


Reveal: "Imitation of Life"

Around The Sun: "I Wanted To Be Wrong" (This is their worst album. It's actually hard to pick a favorite off this one. I only like this track musically; the lyrics are irritating.)


Accelerate: "Hollow Man"


Collapse Into Now: "Discoverer" (This came out only six months before they announced they were disbanding. Somewhat of a 'return to form.')

Embarrasing Songs That Get Stuck In My Head #5

I've come around to liking a lot of Weezer's songs, but their first big single did nothing for me. It's one of those songs that gets into your head without being catchy (which is why it's on this list, come to think of it). It's musically and lyrically tedious, and the guitar solo just doesn't fit the song. At best, it's sort of a grunge parody.

For my money, this song is Weezer at it's best: