Saturday, December 19, 2020

YEAR END LISTS: The Top 15 WORST SONGS of 2020


 I think all of us can admit that 2020 was a rough year. A lot of hard times, a lot of anger, and a lot of confusion have been clouding over us ever since March. Usually, music can work wonders and will help bring us together, help us celebrate what we have but these songs definitely did not do that. In fact, I think a few of the songs on this list actually made this year just a little bit worse. Here are what I think are the 15 worst songs of 2020.

15. Lil Baby - Woah


I don't think this song is downright horrible, I just think it's incredibly boring. Lil Baby's voice manages to be front and center yet so buried in the mix at the same time. I'm not sure how it happened but I can't be the only one who thinks this song is too quiet? Like my brother will decide to play it in the car and it almost sounds like my phone is below 1/4 of the volume. Maybe it's just because the bass is weighing it down so much but it's always a hassle to have to turn the volume up, listen to this boring one-trick pony sing a bland rap song, then turn it back down to cleanse my ears. Once again, I don't think this song is horrible, it's decent enough to be a hit but it's stupid enough to hype up the 20 year olds that don't care about the lyrics, they just care about the vibe and how hard it goes. The same type of people that'll snatch up Rolling Loud tickets the second they go on sale just for the experience. 

14. blackbear
- hot girl bummer


I'm not sure what bugs me the most about this song. The super-flat beat, blackbear's annoying vocals, or the absolutely painful lyrics on the song. There's also this really random pitch-shifting throughout the verses that does not fit whatsoever. I don't get it. As I touched on earlier, the lyrics on this song are really bad, I don't even understand who he's trying to appeal to on here. The second verse might be the worst of all of it with blackbear rapping, "This that drip, it's more like oceans / They can't fit me in a Trojan / Out of pocket, but I'm always in my bag / Yeah, that's the slogan / This that, 'Who's all there?' / I'm pullin' up wit' a emo chick that's broken," and the repetitive "f*ck you, and you, and youUuUuuu" chorus drives me up the wall. I don't think I'll ever understand blackbear's appeal and songs like this don't help his case at all. 

13. Green Day - Take The Money and Crawl


Being the worst song on a really bad Green Day album seems almost like an achievement in itself. It sounds like Billie Joe found a few chords, went into the mixing booth and said, "that sounds good, layer it 30 times." The riff on this song might be the textbook definition of uninspired. If you sat me down in a studio, put a distortion pedal and a guitar in front of me, I could probably write a more inspired and interesting riff than this one. I really wish Billie Joe was doing something more interesting with his vocal performance on the song but instead he decides to just sing on top of distorted guitar that's hitting the same notes as his voice is, almost like he heard the chorus of the song Hook, Line & Sinker by Royal Blood and said, "I wanna do that the whole time." And the lyrics don't help the song one bit. The fact that Billie Joe is almost 50 and still drops lines like "You can take a walk or you can suck my c*ck!" is almost embarrassing. 

12. Travis Scott - FRANCHISE (ft. Young Thug & MIA)


I guess I shouldn't be surprised by just how average this song is. Maybe it's my fault for holding Travis to such a high standard musically and artistically but I know he's capable of so much better but he's been on a super cold streak ever since ASTROWORLD dropped. I can't even remember his last great feature on a song. Of all the lukewarm singles and features he's dropped in that time, this one is the worst and it hurts to say that because I was anticipating this song for a while after he played it on his Beats 1 radio show but now that it's here...eh. The siren that's constantly going off in the beat is annoying and serves no purpose, and while I understand that Travis isn't exactly a lyrical genius, his weakness really shows here, especially that one line where he says he and longtime DJ Chase B are "connected like we siamese." There's also a super confusing and out of place M.I.A. feature that feels so brief that I don't even understand why she's on the song, by the time you realize it's her she's gone. I really hope Travis snaps out of whatever funk he's in because if he keeps dropping songs at this quality level, we're in trouble.

11. Florida Georgia Line - Beer:30


Well if anyone was still trying to take Florida Georgia Line seriously, this song ought to be proof that you shouldn't be. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a good drinking song, but this song goes way past just being a fun drinking song, it actively makes me want to stay sober. This dead-serious might be the official anthem of alcoholism. I guess I should've sensed trouble from the opening line "It's beer thirty, and I'm thirsty," but just let the song keep playing out, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Tyler Hubbard's voice is still awful all of these years later, the drawl on his voice almost sounds forced at this point, like the band got popular off of that voice so now he has to keep it going to keep the fans happy. And I've never been someone to complain about mixing and mastering but whoever mixed the drums on this song needs to be fired, immediately. There's no way that they should be this front and center in the mix. The lyrics on the rest of the song don't save it either, with Hubbard singing in the first verse, "Get a bottle, get a can / I'll probably get a couple in each hand / Either I'm half-lit or there's a keg in the corner / I'm considerin' of doin' me a keg-stand." I hate using Florida Georgia Line as a punching bag for why pop country music is so bad today but they make it almost too easy when they drop songs like this. 

10. Justin Bieber - Running Over (ft. Lil Dicky)


Why is Lil Dicky still relevant in 2020? I guess the Hulu show sort of left him in the spotlight but I have no clue why he is as popular as he is off of what, 2 big songs, both of which were horrible. I think I have to blame Justin's team for this one for deciding to get Lil Dicky instead of Ski Mask the Slump God who was originally supposed to be featured on this song but was taken off because he wasn't "commercially successful" enough. And that hurts because Lil Dicky's verse on this song ruins it, truly and honestly. But before I waste any more time on Dicky, Justin's performances on this song aren't exactly perfect either. And if you need a testament to the effort put into making this song, Justin was accused of stealing a melody from singer-songwriter Asher Monroe, but the confusion came from Justin using a royalty-free loop in the song. Being honest, I don't hate the chorus on this song, but it's the verses that really dig the song it's grave, with Justin saying in his verse that he had to get "a lesson in anatomy" because his breakup was so bad, and once again, that Lil Dicky verse is just, why? I don't know which part is worse, the lines about him scrolling through his exes Instagram all the way back to 2015, or that awful "More buns than a Shop Rite" line, it's a really rough listen and I really wish Ski Mask could've been on it. 

9. Eminem - Stepdad


I'm lucky to have two parents that have loved each other for a very long time so I don't have to be in the position that Eminem was in growing up. HOWEVER, had I been in a situation like his, I guarantee you I would try my absolute hardest not to write a song about the experience quite as bad as this one. Whether it's the bars about the dad stomps on the family chihuahua for peeing in the house and the weird followup line after ("He killed my chihuahua! This motherf*cker") or saying that the reason he's always so angry inside is because of "this motherf*cker, who sticks his d*ck in my mom." I think this song hurts the most to put on this list because it is such a waste of a great beat from The Alchemist. I'm glad that Eminem is still making music and still enjoying his career, but it's songs like this that make me wish he'd thrown in the towel already. If you're almost 50 and still dropping bars like some of the ones in this song, it might be smart to take a step back and reevaluate yourself. 

8. Lil Uzi Vert - Money Spread (ft. Young Nudy)


Lil Uzi Vert had a HUUUUUGE 2020. Two brand new albums, tons of features, and tons of critical praise from all around the musical world, however, as someone who does enjoy his music, why was it these albums? Both Eternal Atake and LUV vs. The World 2 are overloaded with filler, odd production choices, and Uzi's very hit or miss lyrics. If there's one song across both projects that showcases all of his weaknesses in full display, it's this one. What annoys me the most is just how cocky Uzi is on the intro of this song, saying how all of his peers are working way too hard and how he just does nothing. He even goes as far as saying, "
Y'all want it? Come on, you can have it / Huh-huh-huh, huh, hurry up, hurry up, take this sh*t." The lyrics on the song are even worse with Uzi rapping in the chorus, "She said, 'Lil Uzi, please, can you eat me out?' / I said, 'No, I cannot, I could beat it out' / Put it in her, she screamin' like, 'Take it out' (Ouch)." I don't know who in the studio said that those lines were good but they need to reevaluate their life choices. The verses show his lyrical laziness on an even worse display, with amazing lyrics such as "I don't wear boots, but I'm off the boot," or perhaps the best lyric of the entire song, "Put it right in her neck just like a tie." And if you thought the Young Nudy feature was gonna save the song, it doesn't. Starting off his verse off by saying "Hahaha, I got your b*tch over here promotin' my nuts," is very bold but at this point, I'm guessing anything went. I'll always consider Uzi to be borderline overrated and it's songs like this that really prove that point. 

7. Sam Hunt - That Ain't Beautiful


I didn't have Sam Hunt using the word "slut" in a song on my 2020 bingo card but here we are. Now before I start this blurb, I do have to say that I am a little biased because I'm not a Sam Hunt fan, but I genuinely think Montevallo had some great songs on it. I don't think he's destroying country music but he's definitely not saving it either. But geez, rumor has it if you go to a dictionary and go to the term "gaslighting," this song comes up because that's essentially what Sam is doing over the song's 3-minute runtime. Pretty much telling her, "it's okay, you can do all of these bad things, but you could be doing better if you and I were dating." Sam's talk-rap style will always be annoying to listen to and on this song, it is on full display. He honestly sounds like he's offbeat for all of the verses and this style just doesn't fit the song at all. As I sort of mentioned earlier, the lyrics on this song don't help it at all. I wish I could tell you what Sam was trying to say in this song but I honestly don't have a clue besides the gaslighting I mentioned earlier. The first verse features true poeticism such as "And you can split an Adderal / With a stranger in the bathroom stall / Send a misspelled text to an ex / Who put his fist through your bedroom wall." The second verse makes matters even worse with Sam singing "Get pissed at your plus one / Even though he's just a friend / For lookin' up the girl from LSU on Instagram." I hope whoever wanted a new Sam Hunt album this bad is happy because this is barely the tip of the horrible iceberg. More on that next list. 

6. Meghan Trainor - Babygirl


Do you have a subwoofer anywhere near you that you don't use? Do you want to destroy it? Go ahead and throw this song on and your subwoofer will be gone in no time. I despise the beat on this song. Truly and honestly. The super-compressed bass mixed with those shots of synths sound horrible on top of each other. It also annoys me that Meghan's voice is so buried in the mix. It's no secret that she has an amazing voice, just listen to Like I'm Gonna Lose You. But someone behind the board decided, "you know what, let's mix this like a Billie Eilish song." And I like the message behind the song, it's empowering and motivational, but you won't get that from listening to it as Meghan's performance and delivery is rough. It's so underdone that it's hard to get any positive influence out of it. Also that "LOVE YOURSELF OOOOOOH" chorus is so, so, so annoying. It might just because I'm not Meghan's intended audience in this song but this whole thing comes off as super surface level, nothing really pushing the envelope or groundbreaking. I don't know how but this song manages to be so inoffensive and safe that it almost is offensive and a burden to listen to. I mainly blame that with how overproduced the song is. Just dripping in echo, a random choir pops up every now and then. This song manages to be so grand yet so flat at the same time. Now that I'm thinking about it, it's kind of ironic that a girl who sang a song named "All About That Bass" dropped a song this year that could destroy subwoofers and bass amps. 

5. Theory of a Deadman - Affluenza


This song might have the worst lyrics of 2020, point blank period. And I'm not saying I hate this singer or this band because he used to be poor and I'm not saying that writing about coming from rags to riches is a bad thing, I'm saying that writing about it in this way is horrible and I can't even sympathize for the guy because it's written so badly. There are so many cringe lines throughout the song, starting off hot in the first verse singing, "Had a matching shirt and slacks, yeah, my mom made those / Rich kids smiling ear to ear / Catch 'em saying, 'Smells like broke in here.'" Or even worse in the second verse singing, "SoundCloud rapper, all silver and gold / But he ain’t got enough to buy a soul / Get them Yeezys and cars for cash, ha / Ain't got a dollar to wipe his ass." There's also this horrible "We're all on welfare / Ain't that the life?" refrain that pops up close to the end of the song that just, sheesh. There's also the final verse where they're trying really hard to appeal to childhood innocence, singing about when "the worst thing in life was a brain freeze" and "ghost riding down the street by the Mickey D's," but the super monotone and lifeless vocals on this song don't really bring the same feelings across. Also, I can't go without saying that the instrumental here is super rough as well. It's probably the blandest pop-rock beat I've heard all year. There's also this awful clash near the end of the song where these overly distorted, blown-out guitar chords come in and collide with this super soft piano and drum beat that's been playing throughout the entire song. It's really rough and I really regret stumbling across this song because now that's it's in my life, I really want it to get out. 

4. Jason Derulo, Jawsh 685 - Savage Love


Before we start, I'll answer everyone's question. NO! I don't hate this song because it's a TikTok song. I hate it because the beat is horrible and Jason Derulo being relevant in 2020 blows my mind. This has to be the worst hit song of 2020 just because of that horn or saxophone or whatever the hell it is that's just looping through the entire track. It sounds so incredibly boring and honestly like something out of a bad children's TV show. I honestly thought that's what it was from the first time I heard this on TikTok, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this was a real song. And does Jason Derulo singing on top of the already horrible beat make the song better? Well. Polish a turd and it's still a turd. On the song, Jason is singing about a girl who is falling in love with him just to stick a finger to her ex. At least, that's what I'm picking up, but it leads to one of the funniest one-liners I've heard all year when he says "When you kiss me I know you don't give two f*cks." I also can't help but laugh watching the music video as Jason is hitting all these dance moves with a huge smile on his face but he's singing lines like, "
I just found out, the only reason that you lovin' me / Was to get back at your ex lover but before you leave." There's also a hilarious line in the second verse where Jason sings "Usually don't be fallin', be fallin', fallin' fast / You got a way of makin' me spend up all my cash." Tell me that doesn't sound like something out of a Nav song. Please tell me that it doesn't. I really hope this song just fades into obscurity and soon. Every time it came on the radio or every time I would hear it while trying to study or do homework in the Student Union Building, I would try my best to ignore it, but that damn horn sample and the jAsOn DeRuLo intro tag would always get to me. 

3. The Network - Flat Earth


As if Green Day couldn't do bad enough under their own name, they also had to be terrible as The Network, a new wave/synthpop side project that the trio still denies having any involvement with. It's not so much the music that I have a problem with, even though it's about as bland of new wave as you could ever create. There's also that super high pitched, almost bird chirping sound that plays throughout the whole song that drives me crazy. The vocals are also terrible and don't fit the song at all. There so monotone and emotionless that I don't feel anything listening to this song. And look, I'm sure this song is supposed to be satire, or a joke, but usually jokes are funny. This is just dumb. The chorus has this horrible phrase of "
If you think the world is round you're totally wrong / Flat Earth, flat Earth / It's what we're living on / If you think the world is round then you're probably a moron." The second verse is even worse with The Snoo(?) singing "Some say that Magellan / Circled 'round the globe / But there wasn't Google / So how could they know." For only being two minutes long, this song really overstays its welcome and if the rest of the album is anything like this, I will just go ahead and avoid it. 

2. Glass Animals - Melon and the Coconut


Dreamland had a lot of swings and misses and this has to be the worst offender, what in the world was Dave Bailey thinking when he recorded this one. I can tell he was trying to go for something super dreamy, sort of psychedelic, but that's about the only thing he does right as this song does sound like summer coming to an end. But when he starts singing, it's an instant nosedive in quality. The mix of Dave's voice and the chipmunk autotune in the background does not pair well together at all. The song is quite literally sung from the perspective of a melon and a coconut and if you think that sounds dumb from the jump, just wait until we dive into the lyrics because it gets worse, trust me. We're supposed to believe that this melon and this coconut were in a relationship and now they're just venting to each other about why they should end it. The second verse coming from the melon's perspective is possibly the worst writing on this album with Bailey singing at the beginning of the verse "
Melly said to Coco, 'You can't do this anymore / One day, you'll see you're f*ckin' wrong / Sometimes B-sides are the best songs." and even worse at the end of the verse is the lines, "Off-White Air Force Ones in boxes / You're a fucking coconut, can't even put 'em on / Even if you could, you couldn't even pull 'em off." But what makes this song so bad is the guitar solos here. I feel like what Dave was going for was something super raw and unrefined but what we get is guitar solos that sound like me when I'm trying to practice, horrid. It honestly sounds like Dave hit his head really hard on his desk before he started recording, forgot how to play guitar, but just left it there. I think it's telling that I had a hard time choosing between which song to feature on this list since there is a handful to choose from, but this has to be one of the worst songs that Dave has ever released under the Glass Animals name. 

1. AJR - Bummerland


COVID-19 symptoms begin mild, usually with a fever or dry coughs, possibly even losing the sense of taste and smell. They slowly progress in severity with new symptoms including shortness of breath, muscle and body aches, and body fatigue. A severe case will eventually land you in the ICU and hooked up to a ventilator but a mild case will start subsiding after about 10-14 days. There have also been studies that lasting effects include heart and kidney damage. And I would much rather endure that two weeks of hell than to ever have to listen to this song again. If you like this song, or if you think this song is good, I am begging you to either email me or DM me on Instagram to please explain how. There is not a single likable quality to this song. Whether it's the tambourine that starts having a seizure and doesn't shut up for the rest of the song 10 seconds in, or lead singer Jack Met doing his best Tyler Joseph impression for 4 minutes, it's painful. The lyrics range from bad to cringeworthy. The song starts off with the lyrical genius lines:

This month I got seven haircuts
And now my hair is all gone

And if it was possible, the second verse is even worse with Jack saying that he wants his bank account to hit $0 so that when he buys a beer next year, he'll "be a god damn hero." The chorus wants to be catchy so bad, it's on its hands and knees begging to be stuck in my head, and when it does, I'm instantly reaching for Ibuprofen to help my headache. Please avoid this song at all costs. I didn't think it could get worse than Bang! but once again, AJR has managed to outdo themselves. I don't want to rush an AJR album out because I honestly don't want it, but I want to see if they can manage to outdo themselves yet once again.

If for some reason you want to listen to all of these songs, here is a Spotify playlist with all of the songs on this list:
 

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