Recently there have been a few "worst song ever" lists and topping them all is Jefferson Starship's (or as they were known when they released the song Starship's) "We built this city". I am confused each time I see it garner the #1 spot. The song is far from the worst song ever and I will in fact say that I like the song. I always have. Its not a guilty pleasure or any other bullshit like that because I don't feel guilty for the things I like. In fact no one should be expected to hide the things they like just because certain powers that be think that it is something to be abhorred.I would like to explore possible scenarios as to why the song is hated.
*1 The 80s recording production values make it sound terrible: You really can't judge a song by its production, I've always felt that if certain songs were recorded with different techniques people would have vastly different opinions of them for example: if the Ramones first album was recorded to sound like Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run it would have sucked. Maybe it wouldn't make a difference at all though because all of Prince and Peter Gabriel's music production sounds like a huge sack of donkey shit yet they are still regarded as some kind of musical genius'. (Now that's something I've never understood and not because of the production but because I just don't "get" their music).
*2 The lyrics are fucking stupid: It was the 1985 I challenge anyone to find a pop song from the 80s (or now for that matter) that doesn't have stupid lyrics. Personally I would rather listen to Starship's half baked rebellion against corporations over anything Wham, Lionel Richie, or Phil Collins had to say (they had the top 3 songs of the same year) and on that point who the fuck remembers "Careless whisperer" by Wham which was the #1 song of the year, "We Built this city" certainly has stood the test of time over that forgotten relic. (ok upon downloading and listening to "Careless whisperer" it is known today but not to the extent of "We built this city").
*3 Jefferson Starship is a mere shadow of Jefferson Airplane: This is true, yet the song was a #1 hit and the #10 song of 1985 on billboard and the band was much more successful than Jefferson Airplane (Now I am not trying to justify success as a gauge of quality, but you cant erase history and in the mid 80s people were loving this song.)
#4 The Video was ridiculously shitty: This is also true but that's like saying rubbing your knuckles on a cheese grater really hurts. Its fucking redundant. Music videos are ridiculously stupid to begin with and besides the point a video is not a song, and its the song that's in question. If there was a video for "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones featuring a monkey and an old man dancing the fandango sure it would be an abomination but it wouldn't make the song any less good.
*5 The song is too catchy and it always gets stuck in my head: I think when people get annoyed with getting songs stuck in their head there is a deeper problem that needs to be explored. Obviously you're subconscious likes the song and wants to repeat it over and over but it seems your conscious mind is having problems accepting that fact. Don't let the pressures of the world make you feel bad for liking something, there's no denying that the song is catchy.
*6 Its just bad: Ok everyone is entitled to their own opinion but come on if you're gonna pick a worst song of all time don't pick something that's catchy and at the very worst cheesy. There have been enough trash recorded to pick a far worse song than this one.
Finally don't hate pop music. It's exactly where its supposed to be on the musical food chain. Pop music is candy. Pure sugar that offers no nutrition or sustenance. You cant/shouldn't live on it because if you indulge too much you're gonna feel extremely sick but you can't deny that once in a while you just want to dip your head in a vat of melted chocolate.
tags:music, songs, bands, entertainment
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I always liked this song too, and I never understood what music videos have to do with much of anything, including the quality of the music they are trying to represent. While I admit there are plenty of reasons to diss this song (heck, even Grace Slick badmouths it), I really don't see how anyone can call it worse than say, "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins.
ReplyDeleteMusicians call the tune that get's stuck in your ear thing an 'ear-worm', and there is a technique to creating them. In fact, because it makes for sales, they look to master this trick. They do it deliberately.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if anyone rembered the Saturday morning cartoon that "We Built this City" was the theme music for?
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with what you said in your blog. IMHO There is absolutely no *way* that anyone can make a reasonable case for this being the worst song of all time, period.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that it was a bigger hit in the U.S. than in the UK. Here it was a respectable, but not massive hit (it got to #12) and as such hasn't become an overplayed 80s staple. My gut reaction is that in the U.S. it's become a lightning rod simply because it was one of the most prominent examples of a 60s/70s counter-culture band going commercial.
Which still doesn't make it a bad song.
Even if you consider 1980s synth-heavy commercial pop/rock to be the worst thing ever, there are countless blatantly worse songs in that genre. Put simply, the reason it got to the top (or bottom) of the list had nothing to do with its merits per se and everything to do with musical politics.
Ironically, I first heard of this when it topped VH1's "worst song" list. From the little I've seen of the station and their output, they're the epitome of corporate, commercialised adult-oriented musical product. Pot, kettle, black.
Personally, I liked "We Built This City" at the time, and I like it today, and I'm not going to apologise for it either.
super-great post.
ReplyDeleteyour #4 makes me laugh out loud.
and yeah, i hate that damn song but i'd take it over anything by rush.