[simoon]

Way too hard to narrow down to just one, or even a short list for that matter.

Almost all rap.
Sorry, but Susudio and Dust in the Wind are brilliant compared to rap.

Anything with auto-tune. 

Tons of annoying pop in almost any era.

[OzarkTom]

My second worse is Peter, Paul, and Mary, Leaving on a Jet Plane.

[electricbear]

Rolf Harris Stairway To Heaven. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMzuQFHJVU .
The man should have been strung up by his gentleman vegetables for that one.
Norah Jones singing any of her songs comes a close second.

[JoshK]

Anything with auto-tune. 

This ^^  !!

[SlushPuppy]

This is one of the worst I've ever heard. It was the background music in a bank commercial a few years ago. So horrible 

Kelley Stoltz- "Birdies Singing"

Link

[FullRangeMan]

My second worse is Peter, Paul, and Mary, Leaving on a Jet Plane.

PPM are naive angels.
In the early 20th century the monk and author Lobsang Rampa said the worst human beings had not yet been born.
In my country there is varios ''musical'' styles that are miles ahead in badness and venon, as samba, pagode and pancadão.
This last also is called funk:
Deleted
Rampa was right.

[JackD201]

This one out Kirks James Tiberius

[ArthurDent]

Ok, a blast from the future past...........

early music video    

[pumpkinman]

Ok, a blast from the future past...........

early music video    

Come on now I like that one AD........

[FullRangeMan]

Ok, a blast from the future past...........

early music video    

Sweet, seems this does not qualify for this topic,
Too good ah ah

[Sparky14]

I've always thought of MacArthur Park when "worst song ever" is mentioned. Certainly the worst lyrics ever.

[elasticnorseman]

No hate (other than mine) for "Don't Worry, Be Happy" ?

[Russell Dawkins]

I've always thought of MacArthur Park when "worst song ever" is mentioned. Certainly the worst lyrics ever.

Dave Barry agrees!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Barry%27s_Book_of_Bad_Songs

[FullRangeMan]

This singer outdone himself and even won a Grammy with this song, a unequivocal indication of poor quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJAqJtyEEKg

[Russell Dawkins]

Mahna Mahna is pretty bad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFGQBU_UJBs

[kevin360]

This one out Kirks James Tiberius

How about one from Spock?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU

---

There's some awful stuff listed so far, but there's lots more out there. I have to agree with 'simoon' - impossible to narrow down to one worst song.

[FullRangeMan]

How about one from Spock?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU

---

There's some awful stuff listed so far, but there's lots more out there. I have to agree with 'simoon' - impossible to narrow down to one worst song.

Acting is an unpleasant occupation, have to undergo humiliating presentations like this is really unacceptable.

[pconley2]

How about a slightly different question, what is the worst song by an artist who actually counts as important, for example Revolution #9 which continues to be painful almost 40 years after its release.  The Stones have a number of painful songs in their middle early period including songs on Between the Buttons and Satanic Majesties Request.  Neil Young has already been mentioned "hey, hey, my, my, " but what about other songs from otherwise crucial artists who have left you scratching your head.
My favorite artists, the Beach Boys, have a number of really awful songs that they added as fillers to their albums and they are really painful, "a young man is dead" from Little Deuce Coupe, and many others on various albums.  to explain, both the Beach Boys and the Beatles were putting albums out at a furious rate in the early 60's.  the Beach Boys put out 5 albums in less than 2 years, clearly some filler was incorporated, the Beatles put out 6 albums between '63 and '65, some filler on those albums as well but nowhere near the number as on the Beach Boy Albums.
As a final note, let me add Petulia Clark's "Don't sleep in the subway, darling" as the worst song ever recorded by anyone who claims to be a talent, which she was.

[Scroof Neachy]

Born In The U.S.A by Springsteen. I don't like the guy's music to begin with, but this song sounds forced, rushed, congested, and with Springsteen yelling throughout the entire song, it just sounds terrible. Same groove for the entire 4 minutes plus. No melody change, no nothing except for a minor tempo change towards the end. You would think he might of put in a key change somewhere to liberate the listener from this drudgery. One of the most unimaginative songs I have ever heard. YUCK!!!

[kevin360]

How about a slightly different question, what is the worst song by an artist who actually counts as important...

How about whole albums, like ELP's 'Love Beach'? Something terrible happened to progressive rock music as the '70s came to a close.