Thursday, 17 April 2008
Most Unwanted Song
So apparently these two Russians did extensive polling of Americans to discover our tastes in music. They then compiled the results and created (with the help of musician Dave Soldier) one song that statistically was the song that Americans most wanted to hear… and one that was statistically what Americans least wanted to hear. From the article:
“…over an accompaniment of bagpipe, tuba and accordian (statistically, America’s least favorite instruments), an operatic soprano (our least favorite type of singer) raps (ditto) about cowboys (ditto). Their research indicated that the most hated lyrical subject is holidays (disliked by 33%), so the song is suitable not only for Christmas, but Easter, Labor Day, Veterans’ Day, and Halloween. These interludes are introduced abruptly by a children’s chorus (“Hey everybody, it’s Yom Kippur!”), who couple their refrains with cheerful commercial messages. By the end, the subject has shifted to human slavery and genocide. The whole thing, going on for nearly 22 minutes (the least favorite song length), is as impossible to ignore as a car crash.”
When I listened to The Most Unwanted Song I nearly wet myself; I was actually crying with laughter. It is truly one of the most spectacular pieces of music I have ever heard. I also thoroughly enjoyed The Most Wanted Song, with its absolute over-the-top blandness and inanity of lyrics (including an over-abundance of “baby”). I thought both were hilarious. Go on. Click those links. Listen for yourself and then decide for… yourself. Here’s some more info (and a link to buy a CD of the songs).
(via tangentbot, in a round-about way)
