10 Singers Who HATE Their Own Songs
They wrote them, they sing them, but they can't stand them.
Like any art form, music can be viewed subjectively or objectively. More often than not though, some of the biggest critics of a particular song are none other than who brought it to life in the first place.
When you think about it, you can see where they come from. Many people have stories or poems they wrote, paintings, short films, songs, or other works of art that they made that they may have been proud of while working on them, only to trash them and erase them from existence when they realized they sucked.
Unfortunately for these singers, the songs were already recorded, released and became very popular. As much as they wish they could erase them from existence, the songs have been immortalized in popular culture. To add insult to injury, they still have (or had) to sing them in concert.
Many of the songs on this list are very popular songs and beloved by millions, but these artists are definitely not among them.
For this list, it has to be the singer who hates the song, although other band members can hate it too. Honorable mention to The Who's Pinball Wizard, which is despised by writer Pete Townshend. Since Townshend isn't the singer, though, it's been excluded from this list.
10. Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night
Released in 1966, Strangers in the Night topped the charts in both the UK and the U.S., which was the legendary singer's first No. 1 hit in 11 years. It also won two Grammy awards in 1967, and has become one of the singer's most iconic songs.
Despite its success, or perhaps because of it, Sinatra did not like the tune at all.
Sinatra's widow, Barbara, wrote in her book, Lady Blue Eyes: My Life with Frank, that Strangers in the Night did nothing for him because "the words weren't subtle enough or 'too on the nose'," and he dreaded singing it at every concert.
Some of Sinatra's quotes towards the song include:
"Yeah here’s a song that I can not stand. I just can not stand this song, but what the hell." (1975-11-27, Jerusalem, Israel)
"The worst f***ing song I’ve ever heard." (29-08-1982, Dominican Republic)
"Here’s a song, the first time I heard Don Costa played it for me some years ago. I hated it! I hated this goddamn song the first I’ve heard it. And I still hate it! So sue me, shoot bullets through me. Shoot." (New York Set, Cd 4)
Needless to say... oof.