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Songs That Should Not Exist

Five Auditory Crimes Against Humanity and One Glimmer of Redemption (Sam Spinelli's Unofficial challenge)

By Tim CarmichaelPublished 4 months ago Updated 4 months ago 2 min read
Top Story - September 2025
Songs That Should Not Exist
Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash

There are so many songs I could add to this list.

1. “Friday” – Rebecca Black

Listen here

“Friday” is the aural equivalent of stepping barefoot on a Lego. Every note is a testament to what happens when ambition meets no discernible talent. The autotuned vocals are robotic, the lyrics read like a diary of a caffeinated thirteen-year-old, and the beat is an unrelenting metronome of despair. Listening to this song is simply unpleasant. It is an experience of existential torment wrapped in a pop veneer.

2. “Chinese Food” – Alison Gold

Listen here

A masterclass in tone-deafness, this song is a neon-colored assault on both taste and cultural awareness. The lyrics are aggressively banal yet somehow invasive, repeating the phrase “I love Chinese food” like a mantra designed to haunt your dreams. The melody is sugary enough to induce nausea. This is music that does not flirt with cringe. It moves in and makes itself at home, rearranging your sense of decency as it goes.

3. “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” – Ylvis

Listen here

Here lies absurdity made flesh in auditory form. The electronic circus of nonsensical sounds masquerades as a song, and the fox vocalizations will claw at your eardrums long after the track ends. It is hypnotic in a way that feels malicious, an endless loop of silliness that threatens to fracture your perception of musical reality. Humor exists in abundance, but enjoyment is optional and fleeting.

4. “Baby” – Justin Bieber

Listen here

“Baby” is a study in repetition, pop monotony, and adolescent whining compressed into a factory-polished product designed to dominate the airwaves. The chorus repeats with relentless insistence, hammering the phrase “baby, baby, baby oh” into your subconscious like a poorly trained drill sergeant. Even the glossy production, meant to soothe, only serves to highlight the emptiness beneath. This is a song that can make millions simultaneously regret the existence of pop culture.

5. “Barbie Girl” – Aqua

Listen here

Bubblegum pop becomes a surrealist nightmare in “Barbie Girl.” The vocals are high-pitched, the beat thin and plasticky, and the world of Barbie’s shiny paradise is a sonic hallucination you cannot escape. Listening as an adult is an exercise in cognitive dissonance. The song gleams with artificiality so bright it hurts, a reminder that music can be both colorful and cruel.

Bonus Track (I Actually Like)

“One Less Lonely Girl” – Justin Bieber

Listen here

Even the author of “Baby” is capable of creating something sweet, simple, and genuinely charming. This is proof that the human capacity for musical brilliance and musical atrocity can exist side by side in a single artist, like oil and water reluctantly cohabitating.

Rationale

Each song on this list represents a different flavor of auditory torment. Rebecca Black embodies social-media-fueled horror, Alison Gold is cultural cringe set to an aggressive nursery rhyme, Ylvis delivers absurdist assault with a wink, Justin Bieber enforces overproduced monotony with mass appeal, and Aqua offers childlike hyper-pop that overstays its welcome. Listening to these songs in sequence is like watching a car crash in slow motion. Fascinating, horrifying, and profoundly regrettable. The bonus track reminds us that even creators of sonic nightmares can, fleetingly, reach for something beautiful.

Sam Spinelli's Unofficial challenge: Do Your Worst! (unbearable music recs) click link below to enter.

https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/unofficial-challenge-do-your-worst-unbearable-music-recs%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="14azzlx-P">.css-14azzlx-P{font-family:Droid Serif,Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:1.1875rem;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.01em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.01em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.01em;letter-spacing:0.01em;line-height:1.6;color:#1A1A1A;margin-top:32px;}

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About the Creator

Tim Carmichael

Tim is an Appalachian poet and cookbook author. He writes about rural life, family, and the places he grew up around. His poetry and essays have appeared in Bloodroot and Coal Dust, his latest book.

https://a.co/d/537XqhW

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Comments (13)

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  • Sam Spinelli3 months ago

    I'm pretty late to reading this! The link wasn't working from the challenge page, but I'm compiling the finals and I noticed I hadn't read yours yet. I tracked it down through your post history! Glad I did-- because your write up was outstanding! Also, very mad I did, because that Chinese Food song was miserable, and before your list I didn't know it was a thing. How that ever got the go-ahead, I'll never know! It's bad on every front-- unpleasant sound and lyrics that vacillate between mundane and cringe. Yuck! Great list Tim!

  • Kay Husnick4 months ago

    I almost put "Baby" on my list before I narrowed things down. I'm glad to see the song made it to someone's bad playlist.

  • Susan Fourtané 4 months ago

    I didn’t know about these rubbish “music” until now. I couldn’t listen to more than two seconds each, they truly hurt my ears. So yes, I think you’re right in your assessment. I don’t even like the last bonus one. Not music in my world, simply fabricated marketing for the younger generation.

  • Raymond G. Taylor4 months ago

    Makes me feel so uniformed except that I have to rate Barbie Girl. Why? Beats me. Well done and congratulations on the TS

  • I'm in complete agreement, except on the Alison Gold song, only because I've never heard it. Based on your very descriptive dislike against the song, I have decided to spare my ears from listening to it on my own. Congrats on the Top Story!

  • I laughed out loud at this one...I can wholeheartedly back your choices....

  • Tiffany Gordon4 months ago

    LOL! This was uber-charming & extra funny! Thx 4 sharing, Tim! 😁☺️

  • Paul Stewart4 months ago

    Have you heard Gang Fight by BLR? It's a much better version of Friday. I feel sorry for how people treated Rebecca Black as she was a kid at the time, but the song is pure utter pish. I agree with the others too. Baby is inane rubbish, What Does The Fox Say? was funny for a minute, and Barbie Girl is horribly annoying and quietly features from horrible objectification lyrics. Loved your reasoning and thoughts and agree with your choices. Well wrought, sir!

  • JBaz4 months ago

    Nailed it…..where the hell did you find the tone deaf Chinese food girl…lol Ooh I agree with each and everyone. Now I have to go listen to some real tunes

  • Lamar Wiggins4 months ago

    A masterclass in tone deafness 🤣🤣🤣 Hilarious stuff, Tim. Looks like Barbie may be the forerunner for the crown of disgrace so far. It made it on my list for the very same reasons. So glad you jumped in on the challenge. Great entry.

  • Sean A.4 months ago

    Poor Barbie Girl, between you and Paul, just getting no love, no time to party.

  • K.B. Silver 4 months ago

    Very fun. I do like Barbie Girl; it has some of my few good memories attached, but I wouldn't claim it is a good song. LOL

  • Amy4 months ago

    Absolutely great read! The first song choice just made me laugh! I couldn’t agree more

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