Top 10 Most Annoying Songs of 2016

Top 10 Most Annoying Songs Annoying Songs of 2016

There are many, many great songs that found their way to the airwaves in 2016. But there are some that one can hear far too many times before they’re ready to punch a wall. I’m not saying any of the songs on this list are bad (okay, maybe I think some of them are bad), and this is one person’s sole opinion, but I wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t hear them for a while after this year.

​It’s also my opportunity to rant, because I really haven’t had a chance to do a not-so-PC opinion piece this year.
 
These are the top 10 most annoying pop songs of 2016. 


Dishonorable Mentions:


"Lost Boy," Ruth B

Cliché. Cliché. Cliché. Make one more Peter Pan reference and see if I’ll get it. Try me, Ruth B. I appreciate your attempt to be Christina Perri, but I’m going to pass. The entire song feels like it was written by someone in middle school, from the basic piano, to the juvenile lyric writing. I also heard it far too many times this summer, especially in a time when there was such great summer music going on. Ruth B’s voice is pretty, but I think she can do much better than this one.



"This is What You Came For," Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna

This one’s not that bad. It’s a reasonable club banger. It’s got some interesting editing done during the hook with Rihanna’s vocals. But it’s annoying as hell. It’s everywhere. I can’t get the hook out of my head, and the tension-filled buildup before the drop isn’t that great when it’s for the 19th time in one car trip. 



"Don't Let Me Down," The Chainsmokers feat. Daya

These two are both featured on my Top 25 Songs of the Year list. This one is not one of their best. It's mostly because the song doesn't have too much to offer, not really doing anything in the lyrical department, and offiering a less-than-stellar instrumental hook. I expected better from these two, who had stellar years despite this omnipresent earworm.



The Top 10:

10. "Black Beatles," Rae Sremmurd feat. Gucci Mane

Am I missing something with this song? This was a number-one hit? This is the song that accompanies the viral “Mannequin Challenge” videos on YouTube. I read a Rolling Stone article ranking this song as the best pop song of 2016, stating that it was the pop song “we needed,” in spite of everything going on with the election and all that. But I’m not sure this is the one we needed. I mean, I get the need to make a name for yourself, but if you call yourselves the “Black Beatles” with your “John Lennon lazers,” and you fizzle out as a one hit wonder, you’re gonna look pretty stupid. Also, I'm pretty sure that neither of them are playing actual instruments.


9. "Perfect Illusion," Lady Gaga

Cue the rage quits in three, two, one. I don’t like this song, kids. For all the hype of the Joanne album, one would have expected “Perfect Illusion” to be Gaga’s magnum opus. Unfortunately, it’s anything but that. It’s nothing she hasn’t already sung about in her previous albums, not to mention the unimpressive melodies and desperate key change at the end of the song. I respect the hell out of Lady Gaga. I think she’s ridiculously innovative, dare I say revolutionary. A generational talent. But she can do better. “Bad Romance” still remains the best song she’s ever done, and it isn't close when you pit this song against it.

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8. "Broccoli," D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachty

First thing’s first. The names. D.R.A.M. stands for (and I’m not joking): Does. Real. Ass. Music. And what kind of a name is “Lil Yachty”? I.... I don’t know. I’m also not sure what either of them look like, but one of them has beads from 1999, and it looks like someone put a red mop on his head. ANYways. The tone of the voice in comparison with the high piano and extremely deep bass is so out of left field. It sounds lazy. Drake kind of does the same thing, but he’s established himself as a great rapper, so I’m okay with it. But this? Eh. Can’t do it. I'm not even going to talk about the Fifty Shades and Hulk Hogan reference.


7. "Don't Wanna Know," Maroon 5 & Kendrick Lamar

For those of you who are still with me, I promise there will be a lot more for you to hate me for by the end of the list ;) I like Maroon 5, I really do. This is not one of their better songs. From the opening, overly repetitive lyrics, there’s not much I can do from restraining my fingers to change the radio station. The addition of Kendrick to a Maroon 5 track is a nice touch, but it can’t save the song as a whole. NEXT.


6. "Hymn for the Weekend," Coldplay

The most notable thing about this track is that Beyoncé has uncredited vocals on the track. And even then, there’s not much that’s impressive about this one, other than the fact that it managed to find its way onto every top-40 station imaginable. We’re all aware that Chris Martin likes to play the piano. And it’s not bad, for the most part, except for the abrasive lick where he plays some kind of melodic scale from the top of one octave in the bass down to the bottom. And Coldplay singing about “feeling drunk and high?” Come on. You’re the last band I would expect to do any kind of hard drugs. Also, I’m not sure why Beyoncé would want to collaborate with Coldplay, but I suppose the queen has her reasons.


5. "Just Like Fire," P!nk

Do you think Alice would have wanted to set fire to her radios after hearing this song for the millionth time? This was written for the 2016 film Alice: Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to the 2010 Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland. I’m not sure why the filmmakers got P!nk to write a song for them for a movie that literally takes place between Victorian England and LSD-world. Regardless, if I hear the out-of-tune guitar intro to this song, and P!nk’s fake rapping one more time, I will destroy all speakers in the world. Just like fire.


4. "Let It Go," James Bay

James Bay listened to “Stitches,” by Shawn Mendes, “Love Yourself,” by Justin Bieber, “Thinking Out Loud,” by Ed Sheeran, and “Let Her Go,” by Passenger, and thought “yeah, writing a sad-boy love song isn’t so hard! Let me try!” And so, we got “Let it Go.” It begins with a whimpering, almost crying Bay crooning about walking home and talking with someone who isn’t giving him the love he wants. Not to mention the unsurprisingly catchy chorus. Or perhaps it’s too catchy. Either way, I could pass never hearing this one again. SKIP.


3. "Treat You Better," Shawn Mendes

Shawn. “Stitches” was amazing. And then you tried to do pretty much the same thing with “Treat You Better” and pretty much fell flat on your face while trying to turn all your vowels into the first vowel sound in the word “apple.” Once again, you begin with a soft acoustic guitar that’s on the off-beat, so your listeners get delightfully thrown off. Then, you’re singing us a song literally all of us have heard before. “I’m a better guy for you than that guy.” And then there’s the “bahtah thahn ‘ee caaahn” during the chorus which is flat-out annoying. And hard to listen to. 


2. "Cheap Thrills," Sia feat. Sean Paul

And this is probably where I lose the people I didn’t after putting Lady Gaga on this list. Remember Sean Paul? The dude who did “Temperature?” Well, he’s back, and he’s collaborating with Sia… for some reason. No, I don’t mean to knock Sia. She’s the first woman over 40 since Madonna to have a number one at the top of the U.S. Charts. But I hate how much this song caught so much momentum, especially when “Alive” is a much better track from the “This is Acting” album. Sia’s high flying vocals are nowhere to be found in this one, and it makes her seem like every other female pop star these days. “Chandelier” is one of the most important songs of this century, and “Cheap Thrills” just feels like an attempt at a second hit, but falls way short. And don’t even get me started on Sean Paul. I don’t know why he’s there. 2007 is over, dude.


1. "Stressed Out," Twenty-One Pilots

top-25-pop-songs-of-2016.htmlAlright. So Twenty-One Pilots is reasonably okay. Their lyrics are pretty good. I’m not the biggest fan of their sound, but “Ride” and “Heathens” aren’t half bad. Then there’s this mess of a song, as the guys pander to the hipster-millennial generation. “I wish we could turn back time to the good old days,” sings Tyler Joseph, putting far too much emphasis on the letter “d” in “good old days.” The hook bugs the crap out of me. Of course, everyone wishes life was simpler when they were a child. But people grow up. Deal with it. Get a job like everyone else. It’s part of being an adult. You get stressed out. What's more interesting is how you work through being stressed out instead of whining about the times when it was easier for you. The alternative/rap/rock/indie-EDM thing is too much for me in this one. And it goes without saying that I could not escape this track when it first hit the airways in early 2016. I know the beginning thumps of this song so well, it’s become muscle memory to change the station as soon as I hear them. “Stressed Out” earns the top spot on this list for the year.


What songs drove you crazy this year? Leave a comment down below.

Be sure to check out our list of the top 25 pop songs of the year HERE.
​And be sure to check out According to Andrew's full "Best of 2016" spread HERE.