The 10 Worst Songs of 2021
I'm sorry.
Hey!
I hope this year's been good to you, if at least slightly better than the last, but if it hasn't- hopefully this list makes it a little lighter.
If you happen to like any of the songs below, well.. sorry about it.
xoxo
⋆✰⋆ Honourable Mentions ⋆✰⋆
#15- "Follow You"
By Imagine Dragons
#14- "Fancy Like"
By Walker Hayes
#13- "Beautiful Mistakes"
By Maroon 5 ft. Megan Thee Stallion
#12- "Bad Habits"
By Ed Sheeran
#11- "Am I The Only One"
By Aaron Lewis
#10- "Rockin Revolution"
By Corey Feldman
If any of you are familiar with the living meme that is Feldman's previous project, "Angelic 2 the Core", you'll be excited about this one.
The best thing about Corey is that he doesn't have to try to make "so bad it's good" music, he just does it effortlessly.
You'd rightly expect a "vintage" rock anthem about "change" in 2021 to be some obnoxious right-wing anti-masker crap, but amongst the terrible vocals, cheesy guitar riffs and confusing musical choices is a surprisingly leftist message about peace and equality, even if it is layered behind a clip of strangers shouting, "No Justice, No Peace", which feels eerily similar to David Guetta's George Floyd tribute from last year. Cringe.
#9- "I'm An Island Boy"
By Flyysoulja
I do think this one's on par with the viral "Chin up High" below, but it's catchier, so it made number nine.
All I can really say about this song is that I couldn't explain the Island Boy phenomenon to a Boomer if I tried, and there's something so pure in that.
#8- "Chin up High"
By Ame Bibabi
There are so many unintentional meme songs this year, it's actually really refreshing.
The beat is weird, Ame's "rapping" is uncomfortable, and the video looks like it was filmed on an iPhone- but it's glorious.
I typically leave these types of songs at the bottom, as they mainly serve as a great laugh, instead of the existential dread and depression the latter half of this list provides. But let's keep going, huh!?
#7- "I Miss 2003"
By As It Is
Pop-punk's recent comeback has been met with mixed emotions and a variety of different takes. For example: the band As It Is decided that instead of reinventing the style for a 2021 audience, they'd reminisce on the time when pop punk was at it's peak, which was almost TWO DECADES ago.
Now, okay, I don't know how old these guys are, but singing about how much you miss the 2003 pop-punk scene while making references to Avril Lavigne and MCR doesn't exactly make you sound hip. The song is crazy annoying, and just reminds you why the genre died out in the first place.
Maybe instead of bitterly whining about missing the past, you could keep up with the times while still enjoying styles from decades previous? No? Okay.
#6- "Papercuts"
By Machine Gun Kelly
Yep. That's two years in a row now.
Pretty sure Kurt Cobain is rolling in his grave with this one.
#5- "Way 2 Sexy"
By Drake
Nothing will ever make me like Drake. Ever.
I wish this was actually funny, but it isn't. I think the music video is decent, but this song is just too lazy to stand on it's own.
From the cheap beat to the annoying lyrics- it's certified unlistenable.
#4- "Don't Tell Me How To Live"
By Kid Rock
Look out everyone, here comes the edgiest of all lords. (I swear this has to be a parody.)
Somehow artists like Kid Rock think that swearing a bunch, holding up their middle fingers, and ranting against "offended snowflakes" proves that they're the anti-establishment rebel force of their generation, when in fact they're just proving that they themselves are the overly sensitive ones.
The seemingly $5 budget for the video just adds to the overall fever dream-ish feeling this song delivers. The biggest irony of this "rootin', tootin' country-boy rebel" grifter shtick is that Kid Rock grew up a rich kid, just check out his Wiki page.
"Tool in the shed, no, I've never been the smartest."
At least the video provides a few laughs.
#3- "I'd Rather Die"
By The Tramp Stamps
As a major Riot grrrl fan, this stuff seriously offends me.
For those of you unfamiliar, The Tramp Stamps are a "punk" inspired all-girl band who were exposed via TikTok earlier this year for being "industry plants". Having industry connections isn't a bad thing, but lying and attempting (terribly) to pass off as an indie, 100%-DIY feminist punk trio while being connected to multiple established publishing companies is pretty slimy and an obvious cash-grab.
Besides the disingenuous, over-produced trashiness of the track, the line about their partner being unable to keep it up because they drank too much sounds more than a little shame-y and borderline assault-y. Yikes.
#2- "This Has Gotta Stop"
By Eric Clapton
The Clap is back and blubbering his eyes out about COVID-19 restrictions again.
The blues rock Boomer is trying real hard to cement himself in history as the biggest jerk in rock music, following this anti-vaccine single up with a lawsuit against a woman who sold a bootleg copy of one of his CDs on eBay for £8.95.
It was bad in 2020, and it's still bad in 2021. Who thought trying to save lives would become so political? At least put a mask on, dude. It's not that hard.
#1- "It Was A... (Masked Christmas)"
By Jimmy Fallon, Ariana Grande & Megan Thee Stallion
The last thing anyone wants during this holiday season is to listen to YET ANOTHER song about COVID-19, but I got to hand it to Jimmy Fallon for always delivering exactly what the world wants the least.
Not only is the song boring and forgettable, but the video is painfully unfunny. Jimmy's countless "working from home" jokes are obnoxious, overdone and lazy, with no help from superstars Ariana and Megan who just sound asleep at the wheel. The holidays are supposed to be a time for escapism, not for exacerbating pandemic content.
There are so many horrific anti-vaccination songs dropping lately that, in theory, I should be grateful to see some mainstream celebs promoting boosters- but darn it guys, way to make getting your vaccines look extremely lame.
(Get vaccinated!)