Readers Poll: The Uncoolest Song on your iPod - Christine Kane

So, there I was.  At the gym.

I had my iPod on while lifting weights.

Suddenly, this guy was standing next to me looking like he wanted to talk.

I pulled out one ear bud and smiled at him.

He said, “Are you Christine Kane?”

I told him yes.

He said that he’d seen me perform and that he wanted to say hi.  We talked a little bit about music. I thanked him for introducing himself, etc.

Then, as he was walking away he said, “God, it’d be cool to see what’s on your iPod.”

And I smiled.

When you’re a musician, everyone thinks that you walk around listening to Miles Davis or Bjork or Phillip Glass, lost in your own tragically hip taste in music.

Only here’s the thing:

As he said that, I was putting my ear buds back in to hear Ton Loc singing Funky Cold Medina.

And here’s the other thing:

Funky Cold Medina is not the uncoolest song on my iPod. (Now, an iPhone.)

This week, I was panting away on the elliptical.  And, well, I’ll just go ahead and admit it right here…

Hannah Montana’s I Got Nerve came on and pretty much made my morning. (I turned my iPhone face down so as to hide her picture – lest anyone else who had “seen me perform” was nearby.)

I have musician friends who would crawl under a rock and die before they’d admit to some of their uncool iPod songs. In fact, most of them would mock me to no end for what I’ve written here.

So, I thought I’d open this one up to you, dear readers.

What is the uncoolest song on your iPod?

132 COMMENTS ADD A COMMENT
  • Dawn

    “Dim all the lights” by Donna Summer. Oh my God, I have loved that song since I first heard it on the radio way back when. Also “Rapture” by Blondie, and “Magic” by Olivia Newton John. Love the Xanadu soundtrack.

  • Ann

    The Partridge Family
    Come on Get Happy!

  • Lauren

    I’m new to this site. Hello everyone!

    I cannot BELIEVE that I am admitting this…on my iPod is quite possibly the worst song of all time….”Oops I Did It Again” by Britney Spears.

    Shhh…don’t tell anyone! 🙂

  • Melissa

    Okay, I just took a good hard look, and I think we can all agree that really, truly, I win.

    1) The theme song from the Banana Splits tv show
    2) Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush)
    3) Rough Sex featuring Delicious (what was I thinking?!?!?!)
    4) Waaaaay too many Megan Slankard songs… I purchased her album on itunes when she was a candidate on TLCs “What Not to WEar”. I have no shame.

  • Melissa

    Too funny, I’ve been inspired to download so many of these, so it will be quite a contest to determine the most officially uncool. 🙂 Right now I’m listening to Hank Williams Jr, “I’d love to knock the hell out of you”. 🙂

    I also like “Mind your own business”…. (HanK Williams Jr) and I have an unforgiveable amount of Willie Nelson loaded into the thing…

  • Thom Shepard

    So now all we have to do is get Christine to record her version of the 10 cheeziest songs on this list …. Weird Al Yankovich watch out !! 😉

  • Amy

    Christina
    Cool story
    And who couldn’t love the cheeseburger song….especially the part about wiping the dirty cheese off just for yoooooouuuu…..

  • Christina

    Rori and Amy
    I saw the Roamntics play in the early 80’s at a dive bar, just outside of Atlantic City, NJ. My Sharona still rocks and reminds me of High School…

    BTW I have the Punk Versions of “Come On Eileen” and “Take on Me” Two very COOL songs…

    And not on this current play list but waiting on my computer is “My Cheeseburger” by the Veggie Tales, I love that song

  • Dave Zeman

    I end up with 9 days of music on the lap top, but keep the iPod to some really select 500 songs… but I ended up blasting myself with my son’s Inside Out by YellowCard…. we share the same iTunes account and it snuck into my top rated songs… scared the dickens out of me.

    Dave

  • Amy

    Rori–That “My Sharona” beat is un-beat-able!! Now that you reminded me of it I want it on my iPod! Also reminds me of “Whip It!” 🙂

  • Rori

    C’mon, everyone knows the winner is “My Sharona”!!

  • erin

    Oh, God Lord, I just went back and looked at my 80s mix that I had made a while back. I think I have worse than “Nightshift.” I actually have “We are the World!” There it’s out.

  • erin

    Okay, I have to weigh in on this. I don’t have an iPod but my “uncoolest” song is “Nightshift” by The Commodores. I have no idea why I love this song so much but my husband thinks my unexplainable love for this song is hysterical. I guess I have a deeply repressed love for Lionel Ritchie. Can anyone say “Hello?”

  • Renee

    Oh my God!!! “Indiana Wants Me” — I haven’t thought about that song in years!! Sung by R. Dean Taylor, the ultimate in one-hit wonders — here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoeLOD9zD6A

    I was a kid when that was a hit on the radio, and I remember when it came on the car radio the siren sounds drove my mom crazy thinking that police she couldn’t see were after her….!

  • Mike

    Neat topic! Too many way uncool songs to choose from, but I enjoy ’em all (along with the “cooler” stuff). A small sampling…

    — “Little Arrows” by Little Leapy Lee
    — “Indiana Wants Me” (I forget who that was, but such drama!)
    — “I had a Dream I was a Beatle” by Donna Lynn
    — The song/answer song combo of “The Wild Side of Life” (Hank Thompson) and “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” (Kitty Wells)

  • Cid

    colleen- I LOVE ELVIS! there, I said it 🙂 He and Barry each have a big part of my heart, lol

    un-coolest song on my iPod- Take on Me by A-Ha; it’s the Britney Spears (I’m A Slave 4 U, Toxic and Boys) that make me flip the screen over though 🙂

    and as for as Atlantic Starr, my high school boyfriend and I sang Always as a duet at one of our choir concerts- total CHEESE!

    Recent iTunes purchases that may make you go “hmmmmm”- Dan Fogelberg’s Believe in Me, Gotta Go My Own Way from HSMusical 2, and Tommy Lee’s album Tommyland: The Ride!

    okay, I’ve exposed way too much…..

  • Colleen

    Wow! I’m amazed at the great variety of super-cheese we’re all listening to. 🙂

    I have to say that it doesn’t look like anyone mentioned Elvis… until now.

    I suppose it depends on your taste but I’ve got some early Elvis b-sides as well as some serious Vegas Elvis on my iPod.

    Just imagine me running on the treadmill singing along poorly to ‘Way Down’. Uncool doesn’t begin to describe it.

  • Chris

    “Head Over Heels” by the Go Gos.
    Berlin “Blowing Sky High” takes a close second.

    Are you sure this can’t be traced back to me?

  • Sunny

    You guys have mentioned quite a few of my own, but “Rainbow Connection” (Kermit) still does it for me, as do Sinatra’s “High Hopes”, Sammy Davis Jr.’s “I Gotta Be Me” and “Climb Every Mountain” (The Sound of Music) — all from my Pick Me Up Off The Floor playlist.

  • Stephani

    Oh, I almost forgot, Michael Bolton Swings Sinatra. A classic.

  • Stephani

    I have two (yes, two) John Travolta albums on my ipod. And I’m not talking about Grease.

  • Renee

    My entry: “Sweet Home Alabama,” a hip-hop version by two obscure white guys who call themselves B.A.M.A.

    Like Christine, I turn my iPod upside down when their album cover comes up! I heard this song by chance in a Pilates class several months ago and had to buy it, as I was a student at the University of Alabama while the Lynyrd Skynyrd original was a hit. Any song I can exercise to, that mentions the Crimson Tide and brings back happy old memories, is great to me! But very uncool.

  • Jodi-lee

    I just uploaded Rufus Wainwright sings Judy Garland to my ipod. Zing goes the hamstrings and my heart!!

  • Peggy

    Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might be Giants. Takes me back to 1990 in a flash.

  • David

    No I-pod. Does anyone remember Bob Weir’s solo album Heaven Help the Fool? I pulled it out from the LP pile a few days ago. “Bombs Away” sure sounds dated! Fortunately it had stopped spinning by the time my twenty year old niece arrived for a little visit. Still, I guess should rip that LP to mp3 . . .

  • Deb

    I thought I answered this, but no.

    Most uncool song? Funky Poodle by the Wild Horses.

    Popular in Cleveland in the early ’80s. Imagine a kind of ghetto-raggae song about getting seduced by a rich dame looking for her poodle in the ghetto!

    “I thought to myself, this chick’s crazy! A poor dog like that would end up in burger king.” (and NOT eating there.. more as the tasty entry.

  • Lisa

    Definitely “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake. I don’t think anything comes close to this…

  • Thom Shepard

    I think I may have you all beat but first a few comments.

    1. Hanana Montanta would be “too-cool” which is not necessarily a good thing. 🙂

    2. Funky Cold Medina is awsome and I think it is too cool it is on your music player.

    3. I think “musiclectric” may have me beat with “achy breaky heart” but maybe not.

    4. I think a lot of the songs all of you posted are really cool, so am I totally un-cool?

    6. I am with Jer, I am too cool to own an I-pod. They are way too expensive for a simple guy like me. I am plain old levis and cheap white cotton tee’s, not fancy pants. Plus they are evil because they don’t want you to be able to put your music on an MP3 player, and their software messes up all my other music players and I really don’t think this is an accident. So I-Tunes is banned from my computers.

    So here it is: probably the most embarasing song that a 40 year old guy, still trying to be cool, could have on his MP3 Music Player: ( sing with me now if nobody is watching )

    The song, “Come On Eileen” from the album “Too Rye Ay” by Dexys Midnight Runners.

    Go ahead, try to tell me I am not un-cooler than all of you. 🙂

  • Amy

    Colin–I am with ya on the chant, have a whole album on my Pod…love it, love it, love it…and it’s not uncool!

    As for the uncool, guess my confession would include Sinead O’Connor–“Nothing Compares 2 U”. A few weeks ago it popped into my head while I was in the shower…I was still singing it 3 days later so I gave in and bought it. Love to sing the “fancy restaurant” part really loud and southern-like : )

  • Jim

    Boy, what a touch question. I’ve got thousands of songs on my old iriver. I am very ecclectic in my taste, everything from Ayub Ogada to The Ditty Bops is on that little hard drive. Basically once disco hit, I stopped listening to most pop music, and concentrated on world, new age, bluegrass, jazz, and folk.

    Among the ones I’d least like to have others know about are:

    Harry Truman by Chicago
    96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians
    Wipe Out by the Surfaries
    Dog Eat Dog by Adam and the Ants
    Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles
    I Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow
    Tubthumping by Chubawamba
    Our Lips Are Sealed by The Go Go’s
    I Melt With You by Modern English
    Lady by Styx

    I am sure there are other songs on there that would cuase someone else to cringe, but these are a few of the ones I secretly enjoy.

    Another thread that might be fun to start is 5 great songs on my mp-3 player that nobody knows about.

  • Caren

    All right, look – for a short time, it was “cool” to think John Denver was uncool. Especially around here, when John Boy & Billy (redneck DJs) would make fun of him endlessly. But he was never actually uncool. He was a wonderful songwriter and great performer and activist. I’m really glad I got to see him perform before he died. Not every song was great, but Annie’s Song? It’s beautiful! John Denver was, and is – FAR OUT! /end soapbox

  • Gretchen

    How hilarious! I just came from the gym and Hannah Montana was playing on my iPhone while I was there. Actually it was mostly from Miley’s new CD, but some other Hannah songs played at random.

    My uncoolness….Most folks would be surprised to find that sandwiched inbetween Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Skillet and Aerosmith is the complete collection of the Carpenters and Carole King. 😀

  • Christina

    I loved reading all comments so far…I do not own an ipod although my daughter who works at Apple said she’s getting me the Nano for Christmas (So much for the suspense and expectation) I do own a sansa that was a hand-me-down from a friends father…I love it…it holds about 60 songs…just enough for me…so as for “un-cool” music on this current playlist I’d have to list in order of uncoolness
    1. I Need Love (Wilson Phillips)
    2. Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull)
    3. Come out and Play (Offspring)
    4. Superman (REM)

    All this intertwined with Tom Petty, Nat King Cole, Various Gospel, Worship, and Praise songs.

    Oh…and Christine I checked I currently have 3 of yours mixed in also…but they are most assuredly of the cool variety…

    And lastly for the workout queen in me I never leave without…Life During War Time (Talking Heads) Pump-it (Black-eyed Peas) Vent (Collective Soul) and Spirit in the Sky (Punk Version)

  • Tammie

    Good ones – a musician friend and I call them “Guilty Pleasures” and we recently exchanged “mix CDs” filled with them….it was fun and interesting.

    I was going to say “Ice Ice Baby” – and I see someone has already beaten me to it. So, I’ll go with:

    “Must Be The Money” – by Deion Sanders – as in “Primetime” – the pro baseball/football player, that one is pretty bad! I’m slightly embarassed to admit I own this CD!

    “Wham Rap” by Wham…..wham, bam I am the man…..LOL! Funny stuff!!

  • Rick

    Okay…I saw Captain and Tennille mentioned a couple of times: what about a group from the same time period, the Starland Vocal Band? “Afternoon Delight” is resident on my iPod.

  • Jen

    My sweetheart’s just moved X-county, so as this long-distance thing commences, I’m filling up my Shuffle with a ratio of 1/3 “gone” songs and 2/3 other stuff–the sappy ones we love together included. I think for least cool, it’s a toss-up betwen Carole King’s “You’re So Far Away” and the several John Denver songs (“Leavin’ on a Jet Plane,” “Annie’s Song,” “Follow Me”). But sometimes you just gotta wallow.

  • Leslie Ellis

    When it comes to working out, it’s all about Loverboy. “Queen of the Broken Hearts” and “Hot Girls In Love”. 🙂

  • cynthia

    This is too funny…

    Last year my daughter asked me to buy Hilary Duff’s song, “So Yesterday” with lyrics and the karaoke version because she wanted to sing it A cappella at her school’s talent show. I downloaded the song to my ipod to help her out and never took it off. Every so often it comes up when I shuffle the songs and I’m reminded of my daughter.

    btw, she did a bang up job and has way more chutzpah than I did when I was in 4th grade.

  • iletitgo

    Glad to know I’m not the only person still without an ipod or mp3 player. I’m looking to get one soon. I know I’d add my Enya “a Day without Rain” cd to it. This may not be uncool to some, but I remember a best friend, one who plays the violin (and now is in an orchestra), said that Enya was “Fluff music!” But I just love “Flora’s Secret”

  • chrissie diangelus

    How could I have forgotten Neil? And Kentucky Woman?! FABULOUS tune! I only wish he played it the other night at his concert here in Philly!!

  • Peggi Habets

    I can’t believe how many comments you got on this, how funny. I have a Neil Diamond song with “your so Sweet, horseflies keep hanging ’round your face, buzz, buzz, buzz, Kentucky moonshine will never take your place.”

  • Becky

    Wait, the Muppets and John Denver are uncool? That’s not right….

  • Becky

    Hmmm, I may be a contender here. Last month, I kept dreaming a dream with a song in it. Since it made me laugh every time I woke up and remembered it, I ordered a Perry Como CD just to get “Catch a falling star”. He had such a mellow voice, and the song just makes me smile.
    There are several neat songs on the cd. But, he was probably the king of uncool, no celebrity attitude, no scandals, no ego. And I suspect he was happy with that!

  • Laurie

    Hey Hey We’re the Monkees and people say we monkey around!

  • Kara

    Great question! Everyone seems to want to play; I most definitely do.

    Here are my closet-ed ipod tunes:

    Elvira by The Oak Ridge Boys
    Let’s Get Together from Disney’s The Parent Trap

    the worst of the worst.. almost too bad to admit

    Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Bot Bikini by Sha Na Na

    I was uh… downloading it for someone… well, that someone was me, but I wasn’t feeling myself that day. 🙂

  • seventh sister

    ‘He spent his days with horses
    His nights with Rosa Lee
    He spent his pay on whiskey
    That was made in Tennesee’

    is this Chris Ledoux?

  • seventh sister

    No MP3 player for me but I do some Jimmy Buffet that I don’t mention to certain people.

  • Kaela

    I have a ton of songs by Avril Lavigne. I actually don’t like some of them anymore, I just never deleted them from my iPod 🙂

  • leah

    hehe, this is a fun topic. and i would think everyone’s idea of what embarrasses them would be different.

    for me, i get a little embarrassed about britney spears’s song, “toxic” being on there and destiny child’s “lose my breath.” sometimes those poppy songs are just what i need to get moving! i have them on my cleaning mix for when i need some motivation to clean up my apartment. 🙂

  • TWM

    I do not have an iPod — I still listen to stuff the same way I did last millenium, with the Windows Media Player on my pc. I have some mashups which might fall into the uncool category: Britney / The Pixies; Hanson / The Beatles; ABBA / Echo and the Bunnymen.

    Regarding HM — I was in the car with my wife’s ten-year old niece a couple weeks back, and I got to hear the new cd. Twice. It’s actually not that bad…

  • Cynthia

    The entire John Denver’s Greatest Hits… The more I listen to it the more I like it.

  • Danny

    Lynne, the song you are asking about was recorded by a group called Perfect Stranger. The title of the song is “Remember The Ride” and appeared on their debut album “You Have the Right to Remain Silent”. It was written by Kim Williams and Michael Harrell.

    See if that helps with your search. 😀

  • L.A. Linda

    Too funny! I remember club dancing to Tone Loc, haha.

    I think gym music is a whole other category! We are allowed :^).
    If we’re confessing here…Y’All have to admit one of the best cardio songs is “Ice-Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice!

  • pati

    What great comments! I’ll second the person who talked about the definition of cool. I like my iPod songs (although there are only a few and I play them over and over — Christine’s is one of them!).

    This summer I had a wonderful time going through my albums. I don’t have a player so I went to iTunes and ran through the songs I remembered. It was so peaceful. I think some things would probably be considered uncool today (Partridge Family and Archies, for two), but I had fun with them then.

    For those of you who follow Lost, I found the PDB album they showed on the season finale. I still like it! The best finds of the bunch? Steve Goodman — the album cover alone is great. Poisette’s was . . . different. I won’t take up more space here, but if anyone wants to know more about what a great time that was, let me know.

    p

  • chrissie diangelus

    Oh Lord, where do I start? When I was training for a half marathon 3 years ago I purposely downloaded a TON of cheesy club/house music (lots of Daft Punk). What the neighbors must have thought when I was sprinting at full speed??? Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” and anything by the Pointer Sisters. Hearing the Neutron Dance makes my day. And let’s face it – Kylie Minogue’s “I Should Be So Lucky” takes anyone back to the mid-80s.

  • Stacy C.

    This one really embarasses me…Barry Manilow “The Kid Inside”. I can
    just see him playing that piano…then halfway through the song…as it
    builds…he stands with the microphone, and throws that arm out to the
    side! The song gives me chills every time, making me think of high school,
    but I’d die if anyone but my daughter and husband knew it was there!
    (They totally understand!)

  • Dawn Goldberg

    Sometimes we can’t see our own uncoolness. 🙂 So I asked my husband what the most uncool song on my iPod was. He said anything by the Muppets or John Denver. I don’t agree, so I’ll offer this one up: I have an entire CD of Lawrence Welk. 🙂

  • Katie Baird

    Hilarious. Public use of iPods has caused me some odd moments, but mostly the “public” consists of my adult kids who say, while I have iTrip blaring and they are captive in my vehicle, “What the heck is THAT mother?!”

    A couple of mine would be “Baby Mine” from the Dumbo soundtrack and “Sixteen Tons,” by Tennesee Ernie Ford.

  • Sonia Simone

    Ha ha, I love this question! Uncoolest *music* on my ‘pod is probably the entire ABBA greatest hits CD, followed closely by Disco Hit of the 70s. (I maintain that Play That Funky Music White Boy is redeemed from uncoolness by a killer bass line, tho.) But uncoolest *recording* is surely the Tony Robbins stuff. 🙂

  • Jesann

    This is just reinforcing the idea that cool is in the ear of the listener. 😀 I think every song we have has the potential to embarrass us because there’s always that one person out there who can’t stand it.

    Remember the Simpsons episode in which Bart was tricked into running outside in his pajamas? Nelson laughs and says something like, “Nice pajamas, Simpson. Did your Mommy buy them for you?” Bart answers, “Of course she did, who else would have?” Maybe there’s a potential snappy reply for us in that: If anybody says they can’t believe we listen to a certain song, we can just say, “Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?” 🙂

  • sheri

    well, am so ashamed to admit it, but I’am a very UNCOOL person!! I bought a MP3 player last week for a upcoming trip to Alaska!! well, after 2 days of trying to learn how to work it, I’am still in the dark!! do I know the difference between the IPOD or MP3 player,uh NO!!! I think God left out the braincell for technical toys!!
    Christine,I love ur Music, does that count? and if anyone wants to jump in and help,oh my gosh u would be my best friend for life!!braindead in MO. sheri

  • chris zydel

    Hi Christine,

    Fun post! First off, thank the goddess, but I’m too old to have to worry about being cool anymore! However, I think that John Denver falls into the questionable category and even though I don’t listen to him a lot, he IS on my iPod.

    And…. Who’s Hannah Montana?????

  • Colin

    Anyone out there for 12th Century Gregorian chants? No? I love ’em.

  • libby

    And don’t get me started on the Godspell soundtrack

    Love it! Makes. Me. Cry. Every single time! I just recently bought the DVD… but you didn’t ask about the most uncool DVD we own… 🙂

  • Christine Kane

    deb – no guilt for southern gospel! This whole post is meant to be a celebration of our funny diverse tastes! (and there’s a coolness in that, as we’re all seeing.) Besides, I was in the Catholic folk mass — and I can still sing all those songs and get choked up. (And don’t get me started on the Godspell soundtrack.)

    And I will side with mark on the opinion that bruce springsteen is about as far from uncool as you can get! (though the opening lines of thunder road bring out all my drama-tween angst in a VERY uncool way!)

  • Jennifer

    Deb….you are a woman after my own heart with your musical collection. I just listened to some of Avenue Q this morning on my commute into work! That is my dream show right now – meaning, I want to BE in the show.

    Oh, and Abba – I’ve got it! I love it – it makes me dance while doing the dishes!

  • Sabrina Morgan

    Hmm… Salt ‘n’ Pepa on my nonPod (sansa), pretty much the entire Hot Cool & Vicious album. It makes me feel twelve again, but in a good way.

    It wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t singing along at the top of my lungs, driving around with the windows down and car dancing…

  • Dana

    Okay. It may be cool to some but to my family and friends they think Shania Twain’s “I Feel Like A Woman” is uncool. And I love it!!! Especially at the gym. She makes me want to move. And those people around me start to question my sanity because I start singing along with her.

    Dana

    P.S. Amylia, I’m with you. Who cares? I just love that fact that you can mix Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Classic, and Oldies and let her rip.

  • deb

    and jennifer? wicked?
    i’ve got it DOWN…..anything with idina or kristen in it.
    and i’m in.
    😉

  • deb

    first….to the person who listed “taylor the latte boy” by kristen chenoweth….i have that one too and LOVE it! (ha) love to sing along with it.

    i’ve got tons from musicals. (wicked, sound of music, evita, hairspray, spamalot, les mis….you name it, i’ve probably got it….even the music man.)
    (by the way, i still worship at the feet of julie andrews too.)

    i have tons from the 80s and tons of pop and even some natasha bedingfield that i love.

    but i bet i’ll win this one.
    because i was raised (ouch) on southern gospel music.
    actually, it served me well it my life. it’s the way i learned how to hear harmony at an early age (comes so easily now that i had no idea it was a talent). it’s also the way i learned how to sight-read (for church….i’m a p.k.)

    so yeah.
    i get these nostalgic moments sometimes.
    and i actually have some southern gospel on my iPod.
    (strangely enough, this in no way reflects my actual religious or political views. really. i’m serious. please don’t judge me based on my strange guilty pleasure music on my iPod)

    so i’ll raise you anything listed above as a “guilty pleasure” with a…oh…let’s say…southern gospel a cappella song by the martins.

    (seriously. i’ve never admitted that to anyone!!! ha)

    all the best!
    deb

  • Lynne

    Hi Christine,

    LOL, too funny. Hmmm…maybe I don’t have a really uncool song on my iPod afterall. (after reading all of the above)

    This song might be considered uncool by some. It’s a country song by a band that I had never heard of but downloaded a portion of it several years ago and actually I’ve always really liked it. The bad thing is that I’ve looked several times and can’t find the original singer/writer or their website.

    Here is the portion of the song that I have. If anyone recognizes the lyrics and can send me to their website, I’d like to read more about them again and possibly buy the CD with this song on it.

    He spent his days with horses
    His nights with Rosa Lee
    He spent his pay on whiskey
    That was made in Tennesee

    As I was growing up
    He spent a lot of time with me
    Once I asked him about cowgirls
    He just grinned
    He said, Son, I know horses like the back of my hand

    And he said, some were born to run
    Some will stomp you just for fun
    And some have got the devil in their eyes
    Well there’s some that you can trust
    But some will leave you in the dust
    And the wild ones will tear you up inside

    But you’ll always remember the ride

    Thanks!

    Lynne

  • Amylia Grace

    P.S. I thought if you had an iPod that automatically made you “cool,” despite your possibly “uncool” taste in music and TV shows! Shows what a dork I really am, I guess! 😉

  • Amylia Grace

    “Pieces of Me” by Ashlee Simpson and “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mixalot, but I think Mixalot is “cooler” than Ashlee Simpson!

  • Andi

    Funkytown by Lipps Inc?

  • Mark

    I was just in a coffee shop and the Bee Gees’ “Too Much Heaven” came on. I was like “Holy crap this is beautiful and I’m going to add it to my list of uncool songs on Christine’s blog.”

  • mka

    PS Taylor the Latte Boy is awesome.

  • mka

    I love this – what fun! That dance album that Cher did in the 90s (hangs head in shame) and some Julie Andrews – a broadway album and a Christmas one (Julie is totally cool though and she’s singing again after 12 years, isn’t that great)!

  • Jannie

    I guess I’m the only one in America without an iPid yet.

    But if I had one… the coolest song would be “Right About Now– Funk Soul Brother.” (Chemical Brothers?) And maybe the dorkiest would be Paul Simon’s “The Arc Of A Love Affair,” which actually is pretty cool too.

    Jannie

  • Kathy

    I’m so uncool I don’t even HAVE an ipod. But after seeing all the uncool songs I COULD have on there, I am reconsidering asking Santa for one. “we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun…….” now it’s stuck in my head!!

  • Caren

    alyson – Uncool? You’re breakin’ my heart! Those aren’t uncool! How ’bout a little Shaun Cassidy – Da Doo Ron Ron

    And this one’s not on my iPod – but I left a phone message for my boss, Ben, the other day – I sang him Michael Jackson’s song “Ben”. I knew every. single. word. I didn’t even know I remembered it! Just started singin’, and there it was. I LOVE the line: “Ben, you’re always running here and there. You feel you’re not wanted anywhere…” Ummm… Ben’s a rat! LOLOLOL I remember being SO moved by that song. tee-hee

    Also not on my iPod, but I sent the iTunes track to my sister to make her laugh: Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks We used to LOVE that song.

  • Rhiannon

    Well I think most of my ipod music would fit into the “uncool” category…but the one that I would keep the most quiet about is “Dragostea din Tei ” otherwise known, apparently, as the “Numa Numa” song. I’m sorry…but it makes me think of a sunny day dancing by the Black Sea……

  • Musiclectic

    I’m uncool enough to not have an IPod. I’m also uncool enough that more than half of the music I like, I have on tapes or records so it would take too much time to move it all to an IPod. But, if I did have all the music I like on one:

    “Can’t Smile Without You” by Barry Manilow,
    “Achy Breaky Heart”
    I love “We Built This City on Rock & Roll” which often ends up on lists of the worst rock songs ever.

    Thanks for posting the Hannah Montana song – it’s fun!

  • zach

    I’ve got the world’s Most Unwanted Song. Is that uncool?

    Or is it, in fact, the coolest thing ever?

  • Alyson B. Stanfield

    PS: Don’t so many uncools add up to cool? 🙂

  • Alyson B. Stanfield

    Oh, no! Is REO Speedwagon really uncool? Then I guess you’ll bust me for Helen Ready “I Am Woman”; Cher “Gypsies Tramps and Thieves”; Doobie Brothers “Black Water”; Jim Stafford “Spiders and Snakes”; a few John Denver; Willie Nelson “Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”; and Paper Lace “The Night Chicago Died.” I’ll second Captain and Tenille as well. And I’ll tell you that I downloaded these when I decided to get rid of the 45 collection that my brother and I had when we were kids. What a riot. Now I want to listen to all of them–except maybe Cher and C&T.

  • melanie

    heatherfeather….i had totally forgotten about those boys called SNOW.

    Informer, classic 90’s 🙂 made me smile remembering that being a hit song!

  • Bek

    Obviously I don’t think this song is uncool 😉 But whenever I share Lesley Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows” with others, they roll their eyes and groan. I, on the other hand, sing along at the top of my lungs and dance around the room (or drum along on the steering wheel).

    That song is better than any antidepressant for me.

  • Barbara J Carter

    How come nobody has mentioned Abba yet?

    Oh, I guess I just outed myself… 🙂

  • Mark

    Hey heatherfeather – I love “The Hustle” (my dad had the 45 when I was a kid.)

    “U Can’t Touch This” and “Ice Ice Baby” came out the same time – the year I finished college. I was so mad at those songs and truly dismayed at how popular they became. It felt like the End Times – the death of original pop music as I knew it and loved it. I’ll take ‘Superfreak’ and ‘Under Pressure’ over those any day!

    But that said, I laughed at your Hammer quote. (I’m a big fan of artists mentioning their own name in their songs. Christine, how bout it?)

  • erika

    oh boy!

    Several songs from Mary Poppins
    Bye Bye Birdie
    Chicago’s “Beginnings” “Feelin Stronger Everyday”
    Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty
    Lots of Michael MacDonald and The Doobie Brothers
    I get a lot of flack for being a 26 year old girl who has the entire Steely Dan discography on her iPod
    a few old school Hanson songs
    a few Jonas Brothers songs (as a joke i swear!)

    but probably the most embarrassing thing for me is that i have the audio book “The Secret” on there. If anyone asks I just say that I was doing research:)

  • Danny

    This is GREAT! Facing up to our uncoolness, is so….

    COOL!

    I have Several Debbie Gibson songs on mine. I LOVE the Acoustic version of No More Rhyme from the Electric Youth album. As a sound technician, I have quite often used it as a reference to fine tune sound systems for myself and for my customers.

    As a side note, I have the soundtrack from The Little Mermaid in the CD player in my car, at the moment. I LOVE that soundtrack, and I don’t care who knows it.

  • heatherfeather

    I appear to have neglected to list Tiffany’s self titled album and Debbie Gibson’s Out of the Blue…

  • heatherfeather

    I’ve got quite a bit to choose from… This is just a sampling of the stuff that I feel so bad loving as much as I do.

    “Miss Independent” – Kelly Clarkson
    “The Hustle” – Van McCoy
    “Naughty Girl” – Beyoncé
    “Farewell Andromeda (Welcome to My Morning)” – John Denver
    “Just Lose It” – Eminem
    “Informer” – Snow
    “Sugar We’re Going Down” – Fall Out Boy
    “Toxicity” – System of a Down
    Bert & Ernie’s Greatest Hits (as well as The Best of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!

    An album I created on DawsonsCreekMusic.com that I think I should feel more embarassment about than I do but dang they had some great music on that show.

    And yes, Mark, I’ve got “U Can’t Touch This” because I’ve been around the world, from London to the Bay. It’s Hammer! Go Hammer, MC Hammer, Yo Hammer and the rest can go and play.

  • Jennifer

    Uhm….I have both of Joey Lawrence’s CDs on my iPod — man was I in love with him – my Mom still thinks he sounds like a young Frank Sinatra. I also own the Xanadu Broadway soundtrack and sing along all the time. Oh, and the Quantum Leap soundtrack (yes, from the TV show) – and I’m a singer living in New York City working on my own cabaret show so I have about every Broadway soundtrack ever made (okay…not all of them, but most of them from the 1970s to now — Wicked anyone?)

    But Joey Lawrence is the one thing my husband makes fun of me for – he’ll even ignore my 80s hair bands, but not my Joey love – Whoa!

  • Colin

    Good on ya’, Mark!

  • Cara

    Can I list an uncool album? I have Night Ranger’s Greatest Hits.

  • Mark

    Yes, Charlene was a sweetie. Where is she now?

    Hey I have issues with some of you guys and your selections. Last I checked there was nothing remotely uncool about Springsteen, Billy Joel, Dean Martin, or Van Halen.

    Show us your inner WHAM, your Paul Williams, your Partridge Family…I know you’ve got ‘Color Me Badd’ somewhere in your mix, cowards! 😉

  • Tracy

    OK, I admit it–“I can’t fight this feeling” by REO Speedwagon. It’s part of my “Good Sap” playlist….

  • Caryn

    Oh, no. Guess what just came on while I was reading the other comments? “They’re Coming to Take Me Away” by Napoleon XIV. DEFINITELY one of the worst songs on my iPod.

  • Caryn

    Urban Dictionary terms it “shuffle shame” when the worst song in your collection is playing just as someone walks by and hears it. I have some pretty bad ones on there, some of which I have because they’re so bad that they make me laugh. “Lovin’ You” by Minnie Riperton is one such song. So is “Mr. Tambourine Man” by William Shatner. But as for songs I actually enjoy, well, I grew up in the eighties and nineties, which shaped my musical tastes. (See me justifying?) So songs like “Ice, Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice, “You Can’t Touch This” by M.C. Hammer and and “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred bring back some memories. I would probably least want my friends to hear some of the country music I have on there, though. I don’t think they’d understand.

  • carey

    hey, there is nothing uncool about “taylor the latte boy,” or john denver and the muppets (best christmas album ever).

    my ipod, on the other hand, includes “motownphilly” by boyz ii men (my favorite song when i was in eighth grade–my next-door neighbor and i had a dance routine for it and everything), tiffany’s version of “i think we’re alone now,” “jump” by van halen, “more than words” by extreme, “right here, right now,” by jesus jones, and like three songs by debbie gibson.

  • Colin

    Dean Martin and Henery Mancini movie themes.

  • Carol

    It’s a tie between the greatest hits of the Raspberries (*I* think they’re cool!) and “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.”

  • Aimee

    Pour Some Sugar On Me… I sing it in my band or I wouldn’t touch the thing.

    That’s skipping all of the musicals on my iPod. I’m not embarrassed by Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, NSync or Weird Al, the video game music, the Disney songs… but Pour Some Sugar On Me? Definitely don’t want anyone to catch me listening to that casually (or, gasp, singing along to it).

    Funky Cold Medina is classic, man.

  • Sue

    Ok, how about Karma Chameleon by Boy George??? My kids even know it now, which is shameful fun!! For whatever reason it makes me happy.
    Oh and the Atlantic Star song took me right back to high school!!! I think i remember writing my boyfriend a note including that song while my friend and i were drinking wine coolers and thinking we were soo freaking cool 🙂

  • carissa

    What a great entry. Initial thoughts:

    “Don’t Disturb This Groove” by The System, and “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” by Robert Palmer.

    1987 was a very rad year for music.

  • Sandy

    I have an unnatural addiction to Billy Joel that I completely blame on my mother. The worst part is that whenever it comes on I feel the urge to sing and dance at the top of my lungs, and I was not blessed with a voice or rhythm at all, so it is not a pretty picture!

  • Don Mak

    I just took a lot of heat the other day for saying I thought “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys was a great song. I countered with the argument if you eliminate the dance moves and prancing around from your mind it’s actually a pretty good song – and yes – it’s on my iPod.

    I also took a lot of crap for an article I wrote saying I thought KC was a good songwriter:
    http://www.bloggingmuses.com/2007/04/25/kc-from-the-sunshine-band-is-a-master-songwriter/

    … and yes, I have a lot of KC on my iPod.

    Hopefully I have destroyed all songwriting street cred I ever had. Will it help that I bought tickets to Iron & Wine in November at the Orange Peel?

    Haha.

    Great post, thanks!

    Don Mak

  • Mindful Mimi

    Christine,
    Although I have heard about Hanna Montana I have actually never listened to one of her songs (she is practically unknown in Europe). I can see why you like this song – especially in the gym or running.
    Never ever heard about Ton Loc.
    When I run I like to listen to Bruce Springsteen.
    Uncool songs on my ipod? I wouldn’t call them uncool, more un-mainstream. How about Dean Martin’s That’s Amore?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtmsIq0-T54
    you know ‘when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie’… nothing like your ‘I am the moon’ song but I just like the 50ies black and white feelings it gives me… no no, I am only 38…
    I do have some classical music on there as well like Bach piano concertos. Not music I run to, but while painting they can be nice and neutral.

  • Janine

    I think mine might be “We’ve Only Just Begun,” by the Carpenters. (And I also have Close to You and It’s Going to Take Some Time.) I don’t know how cool my collection is, but I love the eclectic mix on my iPod!

  • Paul S

    Going out on a limb here and guessing… the Barry Manilow collections? Or is it Barry Gibb and Barbra Streisnd? Yeah… that’s the ticket.

  • BarbV

    Ok. “Seasons of Love” (from Rent) I love this song but.. I downloaded the Donny Osmond version. (When I was 9, I was sure I would grow up and marry him and have a pet shop).
    “I Say A Little Prayer” the cast version from “My Best Friend’s Wedding”. Probably one of my all time favorite movie scenes and every time I hear that version I just gotta sing along!

  • Christine Kane

    irene – i loved the footloose soundtrack too. what’s not to love??

    lance – bobby mcferrin is brilliant. dukes of hazzard? well, that might classify here!

    mark – aw. charlene sounds like a sweet memory.

  • Mark

    Yes! I win! (so far).

    My quick story about the Atlantic Star song. It came out in the summer of 1987. I’d just graduated from high school and was working at a pit called “Ocean State Job Lot”, and they played “Always” over the intercom about 20 bazillion times a day. I was also dating a hottie that summer named Charlene, and she liked it, so there you go.

  • Lance

    Hey, I haven’t heard a good Tone Loc song in quite a while!!

    My choices:
    Theme song from the Dukes of Hazzard
    Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin

    Now there’s some good competition for you…

  • Christine Kane

    kelsey – yes indeed. It’s ALL about your own definition of cool. I, for one, happen to think This Kiss is WAY cool because it was written by three great songwriters. (LOVE that song.) Taylor the Latte Boy was played for me by someone on the ballet tour that I did. What a GREAT tune!

    nancycz – it’s good to know there are other people who listen to books more than once. The first time is sheer entertainment – and the others are for bathing in the story and the words and the humor. (I re-listen to Carl Hiassen a lot!)

    jer – too cool for an iPod? That IS cool!

    Mark – ding ding ding! We may have a winner! Atlantic Star – wow!

    libby – “shake your love” is in stiff competition with mark’s atlantic star. you two could hook up and share songs!

    walter – ‘love will keep us together’ is one of my favorite classics.

    sonia – we’ll leave the christmas stuff out of this – cuz my chipmunks can trump your john denver any ol day!

  • Irene

    No IPod. No Uncool songs. Use to think and was embarassed by my song choice however I learned that we all have different taste. My friends use to mock me about Footloose sound track. I guess it can be considered an uncool songs. I love everyone freedom of being daring and share their “uncool songs”

  • Kelsey

    Wow, that really depends on your definition of “cool” doesn’t it?

    My contenders are probably:
    “Karma” by Jessica Andrews
    “This Kiss” by Faith Hill
    “Taylor the Latte Boy” by Kristin Chenoweth
    “With You” by Jessica Simpson (That should probably win the prize)
    “The Book Report” from You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

    Libby’s ringtone admission made me realize that my Debbie Gibson CD is not on my iPod and I think I need to correct that immediately, which would probably add another song or two to my uncool list.

  • Jer

    Well I’m too cool to own an Ipod, so I have a Creative Zen instead. 🙂
    But I recently pared down my collection of music on it to the bare essentials. Which eliminated most of the cheesy 80s stuff and whatever embarrassing pop may have been on there. Though, there is plenty of Enya still.

    And I saw Xanadu mentioned above…that’s a great soundtrack! Olivia Newton John and ELO…it doesn’t get any better!

  • Marcy

    Besides Helen Reddy’s greatest hits, it would have to be The Theme from Wayne’s World by Wayne and Garth. It’s party time, Excellent!

  • NancyCz

    What an awesome question. I have so many… probably this random Adam Sandler song from the movie “Mixed Nuts”. Also, in my “Audiobooks” section I have all of the Louise Rennison books (Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging) et al. They are GREAT but most people can’t believe I read them (again and again and again and again).

  • Mark

    Here’s three:

    “Always” by Atlantic Star (“and I will love you so, for alllways.)

    “A Different Corner” by Wham/George Michael.

    “Karate Kid Soundtrack” by Bill Conti.

    I can confess these things because the rest of my iPod is too cool for school. (I spent yesterday listening to my Todd Rundren mix.) But then again, I love all of the above music. Even Barry Manilow. (oops. I left him off the list, didn’t I.)

  • Libby

    Not my iPod, but my ringtone is Debbie Gibson’s “Shake Your Love”!

  • Sonia

    My “uncool” song also happens to be one of my personal faves – Mario Frangoulis’ remake of The Moody Blues classic “Nights In White Satin.” While my friends mostly listen to hard rock/metal music, I have a HUGE selection of alternative, new age, classical, and 70’s-90’s music sandwiched in with the music they enjoy too. They just don’t get my love of most music types, LOL.

    Oh, and come Christmas time, John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album will be on there. 🙂

  • Walter Hawn

    I don’t have an iPod, but I did pull out The Captain and Tennile the other day. On vinyl. Pretty good stuff. Also, I’ve had England Dan and John Ford Coley’s “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” running through my head the last coupla days. *That’s* beginning to wear on me. And I once had a crush on Annette. (still do, if the truth be told)

  • ChickiePam

    Don’t have a single song I’m embarrassed about. I have oldies, hip hop, rock, classical, new agey massage music, folk (of course) and even some boy bands from the 90’s. I also have a bunch of books on my iPhone after you recommended Audible a couple of years back. I have Depak Chopra, and Eckhard Tolle right beside Sweet Potato Queen and novels with names like “Delicious” that make me almost blush when I listen to certain parts! I have no shame!

    Thanks for the insight into your music listening
    Pam!

  • Tim

    “She thinks my tractor’s sexy”

  • melanie

    it would have to be Colbie Caillet “Bubbly”. very pop-py and girly. i do like to ‘car sing’ to it when i feel a little down in the romance department 🙂

    can’t wait to see just what people will admit to…

  • Christine Kane

    Ariff – perhaps. (But Xanadu would DEFINITELY count!)

    Jesann – I think Crush on You wins that toss up for sure! Annette’s kind of cool now that we can look back at “the good ol days.”

  • Jesann

    D’oh! “Chipmunks'”– grammar. brain. on. vacation….

  • Jesann

    No iPod, but lots of songs on iTunes, about half of which are potentially embarrassing. Annette Funicello’s “Pineapple Princess” probably wins, followed by “Crush on You” by The Jets. There’s a subset of songs that are ultimately very cool but would be ridiculed because most people wouldn’t listen past a couple of seconds before judging (try getting someone to listen to the Canned Heat version of the Chipmunk’s Christmas song without them rolling their eyes during the first 17 seconds…).

  • Ariff

    Does the Enchanted soundtrack count?