Awful Songs by Good Bands

I was going to make a numbered list on this subject, but realized that it'll work better as an ongoing project. Every band has at least one song that is awful, so why not give myself to explore the subject at my leisure? Just because I'm only including one song from a band, don't believe that I don't recognize there may be more. The songs I'm selecting are just the worst. Feel free to add your own in the comments and I'll feel free to agree or to remind you that that band was never any good.

Neil Young -- Sample and Hold
Neil Young is known for shaking things up musically. His catalogue is littered with experiments, not all of which panned out. Here, he discovered computers! Upon re-listening to Sample and Hold, I almost reconsidered its position. It's oddly hypnotic. Then I remember it's eight minutes long and immediately want to bail. The song also sounds more like Electric Light Orchestra than Neil Young to me.


Coldplay -- In My Place
This song is the reason I say "Good Bands" in the title of the post and not "Great Bands." I haven't listened to the last two Coldplay albums at all and have barely listened to X&Y, but I believe that A Rush of Blood to the Head is legitimately great. Except for In My Place. How it became the lead single from the record blows my mind and is an exemplar of why I don't purchase greatest hits albums. You miss a world of great music for what the record company wants you to hear. On the other hand, it's been in my head ever since I decided to include it, so what do I know?


The Beatles -- The Long and Winding Road
Before including this, I listened to the Let It Be... Naked version of The Long and Winding Road just to make sure it belonged. The Phil Spector-(over-)produced original version drips with emotional manipulation (it feels like a really bad film score from the 40's).While the Naked version is indeed better, it still comes off as cloying and, ultimately, dull.


Bon Iver -- Woods
Woods is from the Blood Bank EP and while Justin Vernon has done amazing, non-irritating things with the vocoder, this isn't one of them. There's an ethereal beauty to some of it, but it winds up feeling like an experiment that got too complicated and went on for too long in the end.


Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -- Death Is Not the End
I was going to put Green Eyes in this place (accidentally name dropped two Coldplay songs in one sentence fragment), but remembered how much of a drag Death Is Not the End is. Murder Ballads is one of my favorite albums of all time (and damn the person who borrowed it and never gave it back!). It's full of energy and sadism and great imagery. Just a masterclass on how to be badass (seriously, Stagger Lee sounds like it belongs in Deadwood) yet maintain one's soft side. Then it ends on the dreadfully dull Death Is Not the End. I don't know how a song that features multiple vocalists and actual verses, a chorus, and a bridge can feel more repetitive and longer than a 14-minute ramble on the same album. It's an awful way to go out on an amazing album. While the original doesn't feel quite so bad, it's not very good, either. But we'll get to Bob Dylan some other time...