The Dumbest Songs I Ever Loved

You’re in your car, rushing from point A to point B, when suddenly a song comes on the radio that you just can’t help but love. Go ahead, sing along. You know you want to.

It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.

It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.

They have everything that you need to enjoy

You can hang out with all the boys.

Some songs are just too infectious to resist.

Pretty soon you’re belting out the lyrics at the top of lungs, accompanying arm motions optional. Only after you’ve performed your best karaoke version of this song do you realize that your windows are open and the occupants of the cars around you are laughing.

It can’t be helped. Such is the power of a catchy tune.

What I can’t figure out is why these tunes also tend to be some of the dumbest songs composed.

They certainly cannot stand up to the oral recitation test—you know, where you recite the lyrics aloud without the instrumentals, as if you were delivering a speech. Picture it…

I'm too sexy for my car too sexy for my car

Too sexy by far

And I'm too sexy for my hat

Too sexy for my hat what do you think about that

It just doesn’t quite have the same depth and meaning as a song such as U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, or John Lennon’s Imagine. Yet we still love the dumb songs.

Why?

Is it because they usually have simple lyrics or a short chorus that is easy to remember? Is it because there is no deeper meaning to the song and it doesn’t challenge us to think or examine our lives in any way?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?

These are probably questions for greater philosophical minds than mine.

For whatever the reasons, we like what we like. There is just something about a silly song that makes it particularly appealing. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. These tunes wouldn’t have become popular if we didn’t all share a love of the slightly ridiculous. Some of them even made it into the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.

I’ve got my own particular favorites, and I have even downloaded a few of them to my iPod so that I can listen to them whenever I feel the need for a little silliness. Here, in no particular order, is my top 10 list of the dumbest songs I ever loved.

I’m Too Sexy, Right Said Fred

Achy Breaky Heart, Billy Ray Cyrus

Who Let the Dogs Out, Baha Men

Kung Fu Fighting, Carl Douglas

Mmm Bop, Hanson

Macarena, A.D.B.

Tubthumping, Chumbawamba

Just a Friend, Biz Markie

YMCA, Village People

Safety Dance, Men Without Hats

This list only dates back a few decades. I'm sure delving back a few more decades would render an even longer list of songs. A quick survey of some family and friends yielded these honorable mentions: Chicken Dance, every wedding band in existence; Copacabana, Barry Manilow; Eye of the Tiger, Survivor; Rockin the Beer Gut, Trailer Choir; Wildfire, Michael Martin Murphy.

If you’re driving along Route 19 one day and hear some noise that sounds like dogs howling coming from a car nearby, don’t be alarmed. That’s just me singing along with some of my favorite dumb tunes.