Worst Song Survivor: The Nineties

[Axver]

Please vote for your LEAST FAVOURITE song(s).
The FIVE SONGS with the most votes go to the grand final. DO NOT vote for songs you have not heard.

Welcome to Worst Song Survivor, a spinoff from Best Song Survivor v2 that shouldn't be taken too seriously. This is a quickfire tournament for shits and giggles, to see what Interference's least favourite U2 song is. The selection criteria was simple: every song that received 0-5 votes in the album rounds of Best Song Survivor v2 automatically qualified, while each album had to contribute a certain number of songs according to a seeding system - the less popular the album was in the latest Best Album Survivor, the more songs it had to contribute. Hence the appearance of some songs that exceeded five votes. These rounds will last 48 hours and will be multiple choice polls where you vote for your least favourite tracks (within reason). Remember that there is a tradeoff: if you vote for more songs, the power of each of your votes is dampened, but if you vote for fewer songs, you get to spread your influence less far.

Only original U2 songs with official studio releases will compete. However, you are free to vote on the basis of live versions, alternate versions, remixes, etc., as in the normal version of Survivor. Basically whatever you think best represents the song in your mind.

The late eighties round had a decisive leader, with Drunk Chicken/America receiving more than twice as many votes as any other song. It raced into the grand final, followed by Desert of Our Love, Wave of Sorrow, Love Rescue Me, and lastly Beautiful Ghost. A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel and Rise Up missed the grand final by a single vote. The Unforgettable Fire era has become the first in the tournament to send absolutely no songs to the grand final; JT has sent four (though admittedly none of them were released until 2007), War three, and Boy, October, and RAH have offered up one each.

The grand finalists so far:
Boy/Girl
J. Swallow
The Refugee
Red Light
Angels Too Tied to the Ground
Beautiful Ghost
Desert of Our Love
Drunk Chicken/America
Wave of Sorrow
Love Rescue Me

 

[Axver]

I'm focusing my vote on easily the three worst tracks here: Babyface, Heaven and Hell, and especially Elvis Ate America. I expect most of the Passengers material to really cop it here, which will be a shame because most of those tracks aren't bad.

It's a shame that Where Did It All Go Wrong?, Some Days, and I'm Not Your Baby snuck into the tournament under the seeding system. They're quality tracks. Yes, even Some Days. I'll happily defend that song. The lyrics aren't even that stupid compared to some of the nonsense that's appeared on the last three albums.

 

[LadySpinHead]

Elvis is the only song that deserves a vote here.

 

[LemonMelon]

Some Days actually has a vote? Fuck that. It's leagues better than everything else here.

I haven't heard the Achtung "remaster" stuff and I don't dislike anything else enough to vote for it (except EAA), I just wanted to voice my moral outrage.

 

[digitize]

I fail to understand why we voted for Down All the Days to be here, but not Blow Your House Down. The latter is embarrassing.

 

[Axver]

I'm surprised I'm Not Your Baby has got some votes in early polling, and I've never understood this place's dislike for Ito Okashi. It's not one of the top tracks on Passengers, but it's not bad either.

I fail to understand why we voted for Down All the Days to be here, but not Blow Your House Down. The latter is embarrassing.

Blow Your House Down missed the tournament by literally one vote (it got six votes and Achtung had already satisfied its quota); likewise, one more vote and Down All the Days wouldn't have been here (it got five votes, making it an automatic inclusion). Wish that result had been the other way around. Down All the Days is the best of the Achtung bonus tracks.

 

[namkcuR]

I fail to understand why we voted for Down All the Days to be here, but not Blow Your House Down. The latter is embarrassing.

Why is BYHD embarrassing? I love it. It's catchy, it's got a retro late 60s vibe to it that is infectious, and the harmonies at the end are

Curious to know why you don't like it.

 

[cobl04]

Where is Oh Berlin? I'd vote for that if it was here. I can't vote for any of these songs.

Disgusted by the votes for Down All The Days and Some Days.

 

[Axver]

Where is Oh Berlin? I'd vote for that if it was here. I can't vote for any of these songs.

It got enough votes in the Achtung round to avoid qualifying. What have you got against it? I'd say alongside Down All the Days it's the only remarkable unreleased track we got in the Achtung set.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

viva davidoff has nine votes (or 50%)? i'm having horrible flashbacks here.

 

[gareth brown]

haha makes sense...hopefully it'll be the runaway winner. on another note, i'm surprised by the amount of votes Ito Okashi has at this stage

 

[cobl04]

It got enough votes in the Achtung round to avoid qualifying. What have you got against it? I'd say alongside Down All the Days it's the only remarkable unreleased track we got in the Achtung set.

I think it's really overrated.

 

[digitize]

Why is BYHD embarrassing? I love it. It's catchy, it's got a retro late 60s vibe to it that is infectious, and the harmonies at the end are

Curious to know why you don't like it.

I find it really generic, unenthusiastic, and boring. And I take issue with how many lyrics Bono tries to fit in. It kind of ruins the melody to me. And those lyrics aren't particularly interesting.

It reminds me of Glastonbury, another recent U2 song that I think is awful.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Can't vote for any of these, i like them all.

 

[Axver]

Can't vote for any of these, i like them all.

Even Elvis Ate America?

 

[gareth brown]

It reminds me of Glastonbury, another recent U2 song that I think is awful.

haha WOW I'd totally forgotten about that song somehow, jesus...360 really is a long time ago already

I liked it a lot (in parts) when I first heard it...but listening to it again while I type this the lyrics were bloody awful and to be honest it feels like they really dodged a bullet not playing it at Glastonbury as planned

 

[lov12113]

Basically, almost anything off Passengers gets my least fave vote here

 

[digitize]

I wish I could give negative votes to a bunch of these songs.

 

[Axver]

I wish I could give negative votes to a bunch of these songs.

It would be interesting - but probably tedious - to run a Survivor where you can vote either for or against a song. It probably wouldn't affect the most popular tracks, but I imagine it would change the make-up of the finals a bit. Some of the more polarising tracks might not just sneak through as they have in the past.

 

[The Panther]

More threads about opinions, and not music...?

 

[LemonMelon]

He's making the same expression as you

 

[Globo14]

He's making the same expression as you

Holy crap, that's uncanny.

 

[Vlaco]

Elvis; I can get behind the concept, but the execution is just bad.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

Elvis Ate America is actually quite funny... "oops I made a slippy" not to mention that hilarious half-hearted falsetto at the end.

Voted for Viva Davidoff which sounds more like a distant toilet getting flushed over and over again.

 

[Galeongirl]

Babyface.


I don't hate the rest, just am indifferent to a lot of them(Passengers, lots of the bsides). But yeah, not enough hate there.

 

[An Cat Gav]

Even Elvis Ate America?

Afraid so

Though it is the worst one here if that's a consolation. I'll even throw it a vote to keep us sweet

 

[LadySpinHead]

Voted for Viva Davidoff which sounds more like a distant toilet getting flushed over and over again.

I lol'd

 

[Von Schloopen]

This is rather hysterical.

All these calls for U2 to be more experimental in their songwriting, yet, when U2 fans are called upon to vote for U2's worst songs, all their experimental tunes top the list.

Something doesn't add up.