Christopher Cross wrote this tranquil song -- for his self-titled 1979 debut album -- about his fond teenage memories of sailing with his best friend. He says the waves took his mind off his daily worries, and if you let yourself go for a minute, the music can put you right on that boat with him, too.
Naming the single after a lyric in John Lennon's song 'God,' and taking lyrical inspiration from books given to Wright by George Harrison, the singer-keyboardist created not only a classic rock radio staple, but the definitive go-to track for any movie scene where one character falls instantly in love with another. A recent example: Ken meets Barbie in 'Toy Story 3.'
Here's yet another example of a bad song being somehow perversely inspired by some of the best popular music in history. The lyrics in the chorus of this extremely over earnest plea for reconciliation ("Take these broken wings / And learn to fly again") are a quote from the Beatles song 'Blackbird.'
Hill overshares on this ridiculously dramatic, yet quite catchy piano ballad from his 1977 album 'Longer Fuse,' confessing to absolutely amazing levels of insecurity, confusion and conflicting feelings about his girlfriend and their relationship. We're betting good money that she never again asked, "so, honey, what's on your mind" after he uncorked this one.
You may ask, who exactly decided this was a bad song? None other than Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, who told Classic Rock Revisited, "I didn't think it was very good," but then went on to say he's glad he doesn't pick any of his album singles, as this huge hit helped propel 1982's 'Toto IV' to multi-platinum sales.
Carmen's having a sad, lonely day. Making love "just for fun" has lost all of its appeal, and nobody's answering his phone calls. What's an earnest songwriter to do? Sit himself down at the piano and let loose with seven overblown minutes of personal drama. Thankfully, somebody in his camp cut the song down to a more reasonable length for radio play.
If you're gonna write the theme for an early '80s comedic superhero show, about a nerdy teacher who gets special powers from a red suit, but loses the instruction manual for it, you might as well make it a corny, bad song, right? Well, then Scarbury hit it over the moon with this slice of daily affirmation from 'The Greatest American Hero.'
Such wholesome vocal harmonies, and yet... such frank, sexual lyrics. It's as if your sweet aunt Mildred comes over and tells you how she and your uncle just had the best "nooner" ever. Yuck! Of course we're also going to shout out to one of the funniest scenes from the 2004 flick, 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.'
If you're setting out to write an awesomely bad song, here's a great way to start lyrically: re-enact just your half of a telephone conversation to your former girlfriend. Bob Newhart made legendary comedy albums using that concept in the '60s, but it doesn't work quite as magically on this easy-listener from 1976's 'Nights Are Forever' album.
We're guessing jazz hated Johnny too, especially as this insistent bit of pre-fabricated keyboard pop was ruling the UK airwaves back in 1987. A couple European bands (and a Russian pop singer) have recorded their own versions of this song in recent years, but none made it over to the States, and on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
What Songs Are You Ashamed to Love?
C'mon, we've shared our guilty pleasures, now let us know your songs in the comments section below. You can also find some more cheesy gems in our lists of the Top 10 One Hit Wonders and Best '80s Hair Metal Songs.
Listen to Sailing Away Radio
1. Alone Again, Naturally by Gilbert O'Sullivan. A remarkable song that people always make fun of!
Posted at 10:27AM on Aug 1st 2010 by Jack