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Have you ever heard a song, almost felt embarrassed about it being played in the same room as you because it's that bad, yet felt the need to listen to it again just because it's THAT cringey and stupid? Like almost to validate that yes, it really is that bad?
For me, it was Cotton Eye Joe and The Git Up.
This is a fun thread, OP. :)
"...almost felt embarrassed about it being played in the same room as you because it's that bad..."
I thought I was the only one alive whom ever felt that way. Like how is it possible to be embarrassed of something you had no responsibility over? Well, it CAN happen for sure.
Cotton eye joe fits that bill very well. UGH!
For mine -
Yeah it is a song in a commercial but this is one that made me feel embarrassed to even be on the same planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTSdUOC8Kac
I believe the term is "secondhand embarrassment." See if you picture yourself feeling it with this like I did a long time ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DY_SeOeyO4
"second hand embarrassment". I can see how that term would fit.
EDIT - seems "Vicarious embarrassment" is the technical term, also known as "cringe" even though cringe is used for other things.
Now that video - Yeah I can understand how that would cause it. Lindsey Buckingham had some real crappy songs/videos. That one sucked pretty hard.
I noticed though the person holding the LP was standing over a Technics turntable. Only a stereo buff would see that.
Swalla by Jason Durelo, the message is literally “drink my jizz” yet it was played all over the radio.
how about this absurdity from the 80s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4O1A-mmBWw
Anything Rap, but I won't listen at all unless forced to. I'd rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard.
Oh and since my room mate is not on the forum, I will share her casts for cringe-worthy songs -
Free falling by Tom Petty. She HATES the part, "I'm a bad boy..."
Also some song called "rude" by Magic. It sounds like white boys trying to do reggae.
Those are actually good songs!
...and also
https://youtu.be/mlYJf6CJXV8
https://youtu.be/9wWySln4sY0
Those songs don't make me cringe though.
The Moss - Cosmo Sheldrake
Come listen up all ye fair maids to how the moral goes.
Nobody knew and nobody knows.
How the pobble was robbed of his twice five toes.
Or how the dong came to own a luminous nose.
Or how the jumblies went to sea in a sieve that they rowed.
And came to shore by the chankly bore, where the bong trees grow.
Where the jabberwocky's small green tentacles do flow.
And the quanglewangle plays, in the rain and the snow.
Now... I suck at English. But I don’t think these words exist.
But I love this song anyway
You're right, they're neologisms invented by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll.
Lear wrote a lot of nonsense poetry, including the Dong With The Luminous Nose, The Pobble Who Has No Toes and The Jumblies.
Carroll is most famous for Alice in Wonderland, but he also wrote the nonsense poem Jaberwocky, as well as the long (and quite challenging to read aloud) poem The Hunting of the Snark.
The final four verses of the latter are:
"It's a Snark!" was the sound that first came to their ears,
And seemed almost too good to be true.
Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers:
Then the ominous words "It's a Boo—"
Then, silence. Some fancied they heard in the air
A weary and wandering sigh
That sounded like "-jum!" but the others declare
It was only a breeze that went by.
They hunted till darkness came on, but they found
Not a button, or feather, or mark,
By which they could tell that they stood on the ground
Where the Baker had met with the Snark.
In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away—
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
Sick. I love that nonsensical shit.
All of my favorite songs or media quotes either use a bunch of “fake words”, or neologisms like you said, or just say a lot of nothing. Also have always been an odd fan of abstract or ‘shitty’ art.
My brother would always put two proverbs or idioms together that would either just cancel eachother out, or not make any sense at all, to piss my father off. It would make me laugh every time.
Will look into English “Neologisms” and your writers. Спасибо, thank you
There's the song "Mr. Xcitement" by They Might be Giants and Mike Doughty.
https://youtu.be/-VS2ySyepT0
I can't tell if I like the song, or if it's so absurd that I just feel like listening to it again.
I haven't listened to They Might Be Giants for literally decades.
I now remember why.
I know why! You didn't want to burn yourself out on them so you could enjoy their music for a lifetime?
That's the worst TMBG song I've ever heard; don't use it as an example. Here are some good ones.
Istanbul:
https://youtu.be/xo0X77OBJUg
Bee of the Bird of the Moth:
https://youtu.be/yiyZmQhuM4w
Dead:
https://youtu.be/bPgXYPJC2uA
Your Racist Friend:
https://youtu.be/JFGQdvYIJ0M
Whistling in the Dark:
https://youtu.be/pBN4sOQbYxk
ECNALUBMA:
https://youtu.be/4zR-jASWaKE
Let's Get This Over With:
https://youtu.be/zSV06UBrJag
Ana Ng:
https://youtu.be/t5BNDI5IExs
When the Lights Come On:
https://youtu.be/HKd9ZgKSLXs
If you're thinking I put too much effort into this list, I used it as an excuse to listen to these songs again. Especially ECNALUBMA; it's been a while since I've listened to that song.
Hands Up by Ottawan.
"Let me be your Romeo, your wonder boy. And your super champ."