The Worst of the Worst of the Worst: "Rude" vs. "All About That Bass"

Rude's lyrics win this for me. The whole childlike whining through the chorus about this girl, then ending with "I wanna marry you anyway" = induce teeth grating

I have a different take on this:

"Rude" is more pseudo-ska fodder for Sublime-worshipping dude bros who are generally horrible people, or at best have poor priorities, make bad decisions and need to grow up. This song gives them something else to listen to while taking a bong hit.

"All About That Bass" opened up more discourse into topics such as self esteem from body image, fat shaming and our cultures very complicated and damn near hypocritical opposing forces of being one of the fattest nations ever while having a media that promotes unrealistic body shapes as the norm and billions are spent dealing with weight. Despite sounding like a throwaway pop song, in the age of social media and slacktivism, it had legs beyond that.

The choice is pretty clear to me.

Hammer where did you say that originally? i need to know if i can trust your future posts

NYCNative i think the poll is about musical content, not sociological extrapolations re: probable audience

sublime worshipping dude bros are all in their 70s now and every single #1 hit for the past 5 years has spawned mountains of thinkpieces, fuck a "discourse" lol

NYCNative i think the poll is about musical content, not sociological extrapolations re: probable audience

My criteria for what I like and dislike about music is my own and I don't believe you or anyone can tell me otherwise.

qualx seems unaware that there's a whole new generation of dude bros out there with their tribal tatoos. I had the misfortune of sitting in a pizza place attached to a bar filled with them just a week ago - lots of vapid conversation heard over a jukebox playing Drowning Pool, Bob Marley and yes, Sublime.

Can we talk about how unworthy Rude is of its AMAZING Zedd remix? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Q4-wcPDBQ

qualx seems unaware that there's a whole new generation of dude bros out there with their tribal tatoos. I had the misfortune of sitting in a pizza place attached to a bar filled with them just a week ago - lots of vapid conversation heard over a jukebox playing Drowning Pool, Bob Marley and yes, Sublime.

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, January 21, 2015 7:08 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

people who listen to drowning pool, bob marley and yes, sublime, do not really factor into the success of six-week #1 hits

a song is not going to stay at #1 for six weeks because of any demographic smaller than "young people"

Sorry, but those people exist and are a demographic. I don't like them either but I am cognizant of the fact that just because I don't like a group of people doesn't mean they don't exist. I also feel they exist in far greater numbers than you suspect.

And just because I said the song appeals to them doesn't mean it appeals ONLY to them. Sheesh.

this was not a thread i was expecting to get sheeshed in

why you gotta be so rude

the thing is, i would love it if a GOOD song touched on any of those issues re: body image etc etc, it's just tjay aabtt does this in the hackiest and least thought out way possible, like someone posted the title to their facebook, waited two hours, and gathered the lyrics from comments and imageshares posted only by their immediate family. it's not insightful, it doesn't mobilize and it doesn't even have the excuse of being clever or inventive. they got to 'bass/treble' and stopped.

why you gotta be so rude

see in addition to being not very bad at all the song has incredible conversational utility

'rude' is at least funny for how surprised and let down the dude is at the failure of his halfassed, badly planned attempt to win over the jackass dad, 'awww Maaaaaaaaaaan! This bites!' ...particularly in the video where he apparently is trying this on an impulse at eleven am on a saturday, having had the idea at the spur of the moment on the way to the mall... what went wrong???!

the thing is, i would love it if a GOOD song touched on any of those issues re: body image etc etc, it's just tjay aabtt does this in the hackiest and least thought out way possible, like someone posted the title to their facebook, waited two hours, and gathered the lyrics from comments and imageshares posted only by their immediate family. it's not insightful, it doesn't mobilize and it doesn't even have the excuse of being clever or inventive. they got to 'bass/treble' and stopped.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 5:43 AM (1 hour ago)

otm, but you forgot the part where it completely fucking rules anyway

It certainly rules a "worst of the worst of the worst" poll, that's true.

victory!

Rude's lyrics win this for me. The whole childlike whining through the chorus about this girl, then ending with "I wanna marry you anyway" = induce teeth grating

― dutch_justice, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 12:58 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He's not whining about the girl, he's whining about her rude dad, maaan.

i've never been more sympathetic towards the antagonist in a song than I am with the dad in "Rude."

I have a different take on this:

"Rude" is more pseudo-ska fodder for Sublime-worshipping dude bros who are generally horrible people, or at best have poor priorities, make bad decisions and need to grow up. This song gives them something else to listen to while taking a bong hit.

"All About That Bass" opened up more discourse into topics such as self esteem from body image, fat shaming and our cultures very complicated and damn near hypocritical opposing forces of being one of the fattest nations ever while having a media that promotes unrealistic body shapes as the norm and billions are spent dealing with weight. Despite sounding like a throwaway pop song, in the age of social media and slacktivism, it had legs beyond that.

The choice is pretty clear to me.

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, January 21, 2015 1:47 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Honestly if this is going to be the criteria for evaluating pop songs going forward, it's going to be a very boring future.

'rude' is at least funny for how surprised and let down the dude is at the failure of his halfassed, badly planned attempt to win over the jackass dad, 'awww Maaaaaaaaaaan! This bites!' ...particularly in the video where he apparently is trying this on an impulse at eleven am on a saturday, having had the idea at the spur of the moment on the way to the mall... what went wrong???!

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 8:47 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

IMO this is exactly the charm of the song.

rude is the song our tedious dystopian future deserves

Couple weeks ago on the M11 bus going up 10th Ave around 6PM. A middle-aged woman and her teenage I guess daughter plunk down next to me on the back bench. "Could you make room for my friend?" Sure no problem. So she's not yr daughter? Whatever. They're both wide-eyed and enthusiastic, speaking loudly and soliciting eye contact like, well, tourists from the midwest or mildly nutty attention-seekers. Suddenly they break into song. "I'm all about that bass etc" Just the chorus hook, over and over, in unison. Desperately looking around now like why won't these grumpy commuters join in the fun? Finally the older one NUDGES me and asks "Have you ever done karaoke?" "Uh no." Decide not to say I've always wanted to. "WELL WHY NOT?" I don't have an answer and at this point everybody else in the bus is busy hiding behind cell phones or newspapers. Undaunted, the dynamic duo resume their duet. "No Treble!"

voting Rude

when/if I do karaoke it'll be "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" or "Smoke On The Water"

m coleman's post is a vision of transit hell

"Rude" was originally based on a real-life situation. The lead singer of Magic!, Nasri, had been in an unhealthy relationship with a previous girlfriend. One day, after his girlfriend was mad at him and started to become harsh, Nasri began singing the lines "Why you gotta be so rude/ don't you know I'm human too" in what he describes a "dark vibe." However, the concept did not work with the band well so it was revised and eventually made into a man talking to the disapproving father of his lover.[1]

Genre: reggae fusion

― LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Monday, 14 July 2014 14:53 (6 months ago) Permalink

One day, after his girlfriend was mad at him and started to become harsh, Nasri began singing the lines "Why you gotta be so rude/ don't you know I'm human too" in what he describes a "dark vibe."

I hope this means the girlfriend was still there, becoming harsh.

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 14 July 2014 15:31 (6 months ago) Permalink

I was half-expecting the next sentence to be how they found the girlfriend's body in a closet, all deformed like she'd watched the video from The Ring

― Star Gentle Uterus (DJP), Monday, 14 July 2014 15:33 (6 months ago) Permalink

continuing to become harsh

meghan trainor comes up on the related videos if you're watching taylor swift songs on youtube, thus is more unavoidable for my personal demographic

i just watched half of rude, i am worried it will infect my youtube recommends

Brad hilarious & otm itt

"the kids still like hairspray, don't they"

Dunno, but I do! "Bass" is a kitschy trifle I've heard maybe five times total and don't hate it. I have a pretty high tolerance for this kind of stuff. Voted "Rude."

An interesting theory about Rude: there may be more to it than meets the eye. Nasri is apparently of Palestinian descent, and the video subtly suggests the father is Jewish. At 1:21, he clearly mouths "L'Chaim" while toasting his daughter's presumably Jewish suitor. At 1:41, a Jewish star is visible on the peephole of the door, and indeed, at 1:48, the father literally looks at Nasri "through" the Jewish star, as Nasri sings "I'll never get your blessing til the day I die." Israel cannot accept the Palestinian people unless they are dead. Hence the plaintive "don't you know I'm human too?"

lol sike

these two really are a pair - banal heteronormative minstrelsy that can seem overfamiliar to the point of negligibility or excruciatingly foul depending on how you approach it. "this one is like whatever, but this one feels like the end of days" and you could be talking about either

oh god they could totally record a duet

a Peter Frampton cover

it is funny how so much stuff today feels like mid-80s rehashes but these both reek of 70s schmaltz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79r_XaUU7yE

this would be a great way for them to move the sound forward, synergize their brands and celebrate the birth of damien

FWIW, I think Anaconda is far worse than either of these songs and yet it made the 77 best list.

"anaconda" is slight and protracted enough that i get its haters but for the self-awareness re: "dumb shit" alone i rank it higher

Rude has that brilliant guitar solo to save the song from critical oblivion.

that solo is truly amazing, it sounds like it was recorded direct to Garage Band through the worst filters/patches he could find.

While being inspired by the shreds videos on youtube.

I will not vote because I cannot understand how could these, admittedly mediocre-but far from awful, tracks could be the finalists in a year of piles of truly horrible songs to choose from.

banal heteronormative minstrelsy

argh, least helpful dismissal award. bad croupier, bad.

lol sorry it's not helpful

that's a neat way to complain about someone using words without denying their accuracy

well, "banal" is too subjective to quibble over. no issue there. it's the "heteronormal minstrelsy" that i find objectionable, laden as it is with the implication of moral condemnation. i don't see trainor's passing mention of "boys" as heteronormative in any but the most meaninglessly generic sense. and "minstrelsy" invokes something that has no clear place in this discussion, only fouls the well.

but that's just me.