Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Guilty Pleasures: An iPod Game

A friend emailed me last night and said that he'd been talking with people at work about the most embarrassing songs on their iPods. Their gulity pleasures.

His is REO Speedwagon: Roll With The Changes.

Here's my problem - I'm not always sure what should be embarrassing. I mean, I was raised overseas, with very little access to Western pop culture, and a father who listened exclusively to opera and show tunes. My brother and I didn't know the Beatles till the end of the '70s. We could, however, sing every single line to every song in Evita.

I asked my colleague T, who said, without hesitation, "Oh, well, some Britney Spears and some Justin Timberlake."

"But do you really have to be embarrassed about those? Everyone has some Britney and some Justin. I just bought that Sexyback song."

"Yah, you're right. OK, then, this definitely qualifies: Paris Hilton: Stars are Blind."

"Yes, that definitely qualifies."

"So what are yours?"

It turns out I have quite a variety. I have some Barry Manilow - I love that Copacabana song, I seriously do. I have Delta Dawn by Tanya Tucker. I have Brandy, You're a Fine Girl, by I don't even know who.

These are things one could definitely make fun of me for.

It got me wondering about the fabulous array of possibilities. What's on your iPod that embarrasses you? Any guilty pleasures?

13 comments:

  1. i don't even know where to begin... my easy listening playlist has classic elevator music. it reminds me of being a little kid visiting my grandparents. i like to think the monkees are brilliant 60s pop, but i suppose they might be a little embarrasing. and then there's that song "like a yo-yo" by the osmonds. there's no good excuse for that one.

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  2. I don't have an ipod and I just recently lost my MP3 player. However, it may interest you that my guilty listening pleasures are definitely hard-core rap songs...you know the really dirty one that objectify women and talk about sex alot? Well, yeah that's pretty much what i listened to when i had an MP3 player...so sad. Do you think i should stop my guilty ways? I mean, i do have an innocent baby listening now too :( Maybe he'll be a little ghetto just like me!
    -Maggie

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  3. "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. There, I've said it! :) In my defense, I bought it because Mr. T kept singing the lyrics all wrong and it was irking me, and this was the only way to prove he was wrong.

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  4. Oh, and I just remembered...I have a whole "album" of really cheesy Kenny Rogers songs that sound like something from a very sleazy Vegas bar show. You know: "When a man loves a woman", "Wind beneath my wings", really cheesy stuff like that...

    I could go on and on (sadly), but I think I'll stop before I humiliate myself more.

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  5. Recently heard in the back seat:

    Friend of Daughter: "What station IS this?"

    Daughter: (in martyred tone) "The oldies station. You can tell because my mom knows the words."

    Me: belting out Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."

    I'm officially an embarassment to the tween set.

    Karen (a reader, not a blogger)

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  6. Oh, you all are great! This is fun!

    John - I'm going to bet you've got the only Osmond song of anyone I know.

    Maggie - I know you, and I am certain your kid is having a great time in utero. I can't wait to meet him!

    girl and dog - Spice Girls are fun! And, the trugh is that I can sing every song on Kenny Roger's greatest hits. I love that Gambler song.

    Karen - That's fabulous! You have to keep singing and embarrassing the tweens.

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  7. i can't even say that i recommend the osmonds song to anyone else.

    but since when have journey and reo speedwagon been bands to be ashamed of?

    next thing you'll be telling me asia, toto and the tubes are "guilty pleasures."

    in the words of journey... "don't stop believing... hold on to that something something something"

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  8. John - it's true - I have no idea what one should be ashamed of or not.

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  9. well... i have one more confession then. last year i was in las vegas for a convention. and while i was there i saw reo speedwagon live.

    i even sang along to "can't fight this feelin'"

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  10. Okay, as you can see I'm not willing to let people know that I am the with Paris Hilton on her iPod, but after a long workout, I love stretching to it...guilty pleasure that is well worth it!

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  11. I don't even have an ipod. I do now have an mp3 player, but don't yet know how to use it. This is
    very frightening. I hope I'm not really turning into my mother who
    really appreciates it when someone who knows how to work the victrola(her word) plays something nice for her. But not too loud.

    Now that I'm married to a bit of a music snob, some of my previously
    innocent pleasures have now become guilty, such as Keb'Mo (too poppy to be fully respected) and James Taylor. My more classically guilty
    pleasures are Neil Diamond (and I'm not even remotely alone there, in fact I even went to a concert with Mitch) and a recently acquired
    Glen Cambell album. Boy does he improve the prospect of doing dishes. I have to admit I also find my Dixie chicks album slightly embarrassing.
    ~Maude

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  12. Ummm, the Abba Gold album. For real. Also the soundtrack to Mamma Mia. Which I sing to. Loudly.

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  13. Maude - I love your mom!

    Heather - I run to Abba Gold! It's fun!

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