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Monday, May 04, 2009

Worst songs for weddings

I started a new blog and I'm putting my Pratie Head and Mappamundi mp3 recordings of my favorite wedding songs on it - it's Best Wedding Songs.

Yesterday, somebody found it searching for "daughter daddy songs" and thinking about that I found the following funny list from answer.com of awful wedding songs. (For some of my own ideas, see below the box.)

Strange Break-up Songs and Other Mood Killers

  • Every Breath You Take – Police (Unless you're marrying your creepy stalker, this is not a romantic song!)

  • I will Always Love You – Dolly Parton/ Whitney Houston (It's about a break up. Please, no talk of "bittersweet memories" at your wedding.)

  • Lips of an Angel – Hinder (The angel's great lips are enough to make him think about cheating on his girlfriend).

  • My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion (She's singing the song to her dead boyfriend. Dead and weddings don't mix that well.)

  • Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton (Yet another death song I've heard at too many weddings. I know there's the life insurance policy, but it's a little too early to be talking about death, don't you think?)

  • I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor. (Not only have I heard this at a million weddings, but I've also seen it on lists of "popular wedding songs!" People, it's a song about surviving a horrible breakup! Don't play this at your wedding.)

  • Jesse's Girl – Rick Springfield (Go ahead. Fuel rumors that the bride is sleeping/has slept/will sleep with the Best Man.)

  • White Wedding – Billy Idol (Idol himself says that the song is about hating his sister's fiancé.)

  • Love Stinks, You Gave Love A Bad Name, Tainted Love (all self explanatory).


Here are two of my favorite bad requests made by brides for weddings we played at:

She Moved Through The Fair - I think they heard the line, "it will not be long, love, till our wedding day" and didn't listen to the rest of the song - the fiance is dead and comes back in a dream.

The Last Rose of Summer - this is the worst ever. It implies the bride is the last one standing. In fact, I must quote this one for you in its entirety so you can marvel that I had a hard time talking her out of it:
'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
To give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one!
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter,
Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
From Love's shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit,
This bleak world alone?


As always, I'd love it if you'd leave suggestions (good or bad) in the comments.

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10 Comments:

At 12:16 PM, Anonymous Peter Hennes said...

As someone who leads a wedding band, I can attest to the fact that what the wedding guests care about is having music they like dancing to, thus I Will Survive, etc. They really pay no attention to the lyrics at all! What I find strange is when brides and grooms pick a song for their bridal dance that's about a couple breaking up, and believe me it's happened!

 
At 12:21 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Great to hear from you, Peter! And tell me, what are some of YOUR favorites and most hated numbers for weddings?

 
At 3:53 PM, Anonymous Rick said...

I always like when a wedding has unconventional (i.e. less mainstream) choices for music. How many times can I really dance to "YMCA" in my lifetime?

 
At 5:16 PM, Anonymous Peter Hennes said...

Ok. You kind of have to understand my perspective here. I've played all the songs that get played at weddings so many times, that I've gotten to the point that my favorites are the ones that people will consistently dance to. It's how I make my living. As long as they're on the dance floor and my band is playing the heck out of whatever song we might be playing, I really don't care! I just care that the guests, and especially the bride and groom are having a great time. I'm fortunate to have a band that has a great time no matter what, and they're all fantastic musicians. I do have to admit, though, that YMCA and the Electric Slide can be rough, which is why I never play them unless they're requested by the bride or groom! Check out our site if you're interested http://www.peterhennes.com.

 
At 7:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Ain't No Sunshine" as played for David Arquette and Courtenay Cox's first dance. It struck me as such a weird choice that I still remember reading about it in some celebrity mag almost 10 years ago. It's almost like they were planning a cold, lonesome, neglectful marriage!

 
At 1:31 PM, Blogger Alma said...

I think the best wedding song is "Un rinconcito en el cielo," a Ramon Ayala standard. It basically says "I'm going to find a little corner in heaven where we can go hide out together" It's a simple but beautiful song that seems so appropriate for newlyweds.

 
At 3:07 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Hi Alma, thanks for the tip! I downloaded the song from Amazon and when I learn it I'll post it on my new Best Wedding Songs blog.

 
At 5:23 PM, Anonymous susanlynn said...

At our wedding, my dad got a terrible band ..guys who worked with him at Mack Trucks . They were awful. However, our daughters had an anniversary party for us a few years ago , and hub and I danced to one of my favorite love songs of all times ''At Last'' by Etta James. I love the lyrics and her soulful, bluesy sound.

 
At 8:14 AM, Blogger melinama said...

That's a great looking site, Peter. Did you do it yourself?

 
At 5:55 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Thanks for the compliment on our website, melinama! Yes, I'm the designer.

 

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